The Cryan' Shames Hillside Fest ,Hillside, Il. August 27th, 2000

It was a beautiful summer day for a concert highlighting two of Chicago's greatest 60's bands; The Cryan' Shames and The New Colony Six. There were numerous venders present offering a large selection of food, games, and rides in a carnival setting. The fest was small but nice and the admission was free with close parking.

We missed the first of the Fest's opening bands "Puttin' on the Hits", but arrived in time to catch Infinity, a 70'-80's rock band. Their Dorian guitar intro (done on a twelve string) on Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or alive" knocked our socks off. They did covers for Styx, Foreigner, Kansas, Journey, Boston, Van Morrison, and The Beatles to name a few.

Following " Infinity" was John "Records" Landecker and the Legends. John, a DJ with Radio Station WJMK, 104.3 FM entertained the audience with a wide selections of 60's hits which are featured on his radio show, along with comedy skits. John played guitar and sang, accompanied by his band that included a brass section. John and his band put on a great show covering just about anything you could think of from the 60's.

Near the end of John's last set, Jim Nudd, The Cryan ' Shames sound man showed up to do initial sound checks and visit with friends as he and Jim Pilster at one time lived in Hillside. Paul Wood, The Shames's keyboard player/ guitarist and music director arrived next to unload the bands equipment, and was followed by Jules and Kent Follett, The Cryan' Shames photographers who were also covering The Buckinghams and The Ides' of March tonight.

Next was The New Colony Six. Originally from Chicago, Il., The Colony began in 1965 and is now comprised of Ray Graffia, Bruce Mattey, Mark Eskin, Gary Greenman, Bill Szostek, and Rick Barr.
The Colony surprised their audience with Ronnie Rice joining them for the night's performance. Ronnie Rice is presently performing as a solo act, and covers a wide range of music spanning the 40's to 60's. Earlier, we asked Ronnie if he was performing with The Colony tonight, and he cheerfully replied "I wouldn't mind it, I'm all jazzed for it!".
Shames staff Gloria Knuth, Marlene O'Malley, and Sue Patterson joined us backstage for The New Colony Six's performance while we visited with Florence Eskin, wife of Mark Eskin the Colony's guitarist. The Colony was exceptionally tight with their hits; Thing's I'd like To Say, Cadillac, I Could Never Lie To You, and You're Gonna Be Mine. They also did great covers for American Breed, The Ides' of March, and The Shadows of Knight. Ronnie Rice joined them on "I Will Always Think About You", and "Little Sister", an excellent cover that made us look for Elvis on stage! It was great to see Ronnie perform again with The Colony. The Colony concluded their performance with "I'm Just Waiting".
Arnold and Alan De Larisch (from Florida) covered The Colony's photos for us while the Folletts were covering The Buckinghams and The Ides' Of March ( who were also performing tonight). Near the end of The Colony's last set, the rest of The Cryan' Shames arrived; J.C. Hooke, Tim Rutter, Larry Coveny , Rocky Penn, Mike Ayers with Ron Brandt proudly carrying his new limited edition Fender guitar that he just acquired.

There was a big turnout for The Cryan' Shames which were in tip-top form on all their Hits. With Tom Doody (Toad) absent for the night's performance Larry Coveny covered the lead vocals on; First Train To California, If I Needed Someone, Cobblestone Road, Dennis Dupree From Danville, and I Wanna Meet You- which featured more of Ron Brandt's great guitar licks.
Tim Rutter covered lead vocals on Greensburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith, And Jones, and Beginnings, a Chicago cover which Jim Pilster (J.C.Hooke) did a great conga drum finale with Mike Ayers. J.C. Hooke captured the moment with his rendition and dance moves on Steely Dan's Chicago Blues.
Ron Brandt (The Fishin' Musician) sang the lead on Up On The Roof which was simply beautiful and received quite a reaction from his fans in the audience, and Paul Wood suprised us by doing the mandolin licks on his guitar. Ronnie Rice joined the Shames with I Will Always Think About You, and a few 50's hits. The Shames proved their versatility with some Ides' and Bucks covers, which culminated with IT Could Be We're In Love and Sugar And Spice which drew instant applause from the audience. A Santana cover ended their set with more great conga drums by Jimmy P.
We visited with The Shames and fans after the concert, and regrettably turned down the band's kind offer to stop with them at a nearby restaurant. We did interview Rocky Penn on how he got started as a musician. Rocky explained that he wanted to undertake a challenge at age 13, and was torn between sports and music (drums), when providence style, a music teacher suddenly appeared behind him while he was discussing it with his friends.Not one to question such a revelation, Rocky's decision was made! Rocky explained that his teacher got him into playing along with other instruments immediately, instead of just learning drumbeats.
Paul Wood told us about his 3500-mile motorcycle journey which covered a good portion of the eastern and southern U.S. Jim Pilster confided to us that the stage was slippery, and he thought he was going to add a new twist to his cymbol kicking performance on a few occasions during the show!.
The Cryan' Shames, The New Colony Six, Ronnie Rice and John Landecker signed autographs and posed for pictures after their performances for their fans. This was a great Concert!
More Pictures to be posted soon, stay tuned

Barb, Pat, Marlene, Sue, Jules, Kent, and G.L.O.R.I.A.
The Cryan' Shames Home Page Staff

Slide Show One
The Cryan' Shames

New Colony Six Hillside Photos


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