December 24, 2008 - Wednesday

Hey Everyone,
Our show at Les Deux went really well, there was a ton of people there celebrating life, the holidays, and Grey Goose. Thanks so much to Tuesdae for setting up the show and to Les Deux for throwing such a steadily rocking bash. We will be returning to Les Deux really soon, we'll keep you all posted.
This is all of our first Christmas away from home. We aren't sad, we are staying strong. We have each other and our friends and family back home have each other too so everywhere there is Fat City Family there is love, warmth, and togetherness. We've got some new LA shows up and as soon as we know when we can come back to the East and rock boxes we are so there and you'll all so know.
Mole Daddy made us a feast tonight and tomorrow (Christmas Day) he will do it all over again. We're eatin good, we're safe, the weathers fine, and we are jolly.
We do this every year so here it comes....

'Twas the night before Christmas, but it wasn't cold
Not a creature was stirring, not even the Mole;
Our Philly boy stockings, by the chimney with care,
In hopes that the UPS guy soon would be there;

The band were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sold out arenas danced in their heads;
And Bob in his fitted hat, and Mike Rowe in his pj's,
We had all just lied down because we were sleepy,

When out on the boulevard, there arose such a clatter,
We sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window we flew like a flash,
Thinking the cops were here to raid our stash

The moon on the breast of the palm trees below
Gave the lustre of April to objects below,
When, what to our half shut eyes should appear,
But a ballin sleigh, and eight ballin reindeer,

With two drivers, fresh to death Philly folks,
It was Daryl Hall and his boy John Oates
More rapid than crack heads from cops they came,
They whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Rich Girl! now, Private Eyes! now, Family Man!
On, Out of Touch! on Sara Smile! on, Eater of Man!
To the top of the crib! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild fires fry,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the ballers flew,
With the sleigh full of money, and Hall and Oates too.

And then, in shock and awe, we heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each ballin hoof.
As we started gathering weapons to defend ourselves,
Down the chimney Hall and Oates came by themselves.

They were dressed all in spandex, from head to shoe,
And they were doing an a cappella of Make Dreams Come True;
A bundle of forties they had flung on their back,
They said I hope you have something that we can pack.

Their eyes -- how they twinkled! drinking had made them merry!
Their cheeks were like roses when they dropped the cherry!
Their little mustaches were tied up with bows,
The looked around the room very very slow;

The stump of a pipe each held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head was skunky and green;
They had high hair and a little round bellies,
That shook, when he they coughed like a bowlful of jelly.

Hall looked like David Hasselhoff did it with an elf,
And we laughed when we saw him, in spite of ourselves;
A wink of his eye and blown kiss to Frank,
Made us realize how much they had drank;

They spoke not a word, but went straight to their work,
Oates pulled presents and popped pills from Merck,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
He nodded at Hall and up the chimney they rose;

They sprang to their sleigh, to their team gave a whistle,
Cranked their own music and off they went like a missle.
But we heard them exclaim, as they drove without roads,
"Happy Christmas to all from your boys Ballin Oates!!"

Currently Listening to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" by Vince Guaraldi

December 6, 2008 - Saturday

Fat City Reprise INTERVIEW on Phrequency.com
We did this interview over the phone right before we came home, check it out :)

CHECK CHECK CHECK IT OUT!!!
Currently listening to "Me Against the World" by 2Pac

December 5, 2008 - Friday

Hey Kids,

'Tis the season for House of Blues Corporate to book really expensive Christmas parties in the Foundation Room. So rather than drag you people through the muck from one venue to another we are going to just officially re-launch our Thursday residency at the House of Blues in January. This way, it will actually happen on Thursday at the House of Blues for a month straight. The continuity will be nice, you'll see.

For now, we are playing O'Brien's in Santa Monica tonight (12/5) and Les Deux on the 22nd of December. These are our LA shows for December and we hope to see all you beautiful bastards there.

Merrily,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Merry Christmas" by Johnny Mathis

December 4, 2008 - Thursday

The Week in Philly

Hey Kids,

As hopefully all of you know, we spent last week in the golden metropolis of Philadelphia. It was a crazy and incredible week that couldn't have been better or busier. We didn't get back to LA until uber late on Monday so here, for the first time, is the week in short.

We arrived at Philadelphia International Airport with no problems at all. Poppa Mole was there with Sarcone's bread stuffed with delicious cold cuts and exotic cheeses, which we gladly devoured. We all scattered into our own little holes in South Philly to get some sleep and see our respective Mommys'.

Monday was the only day that we had a chance to relax a little. We spent the majority of the day trying to readjust to Eastern Standard Time and comb the airline peanuts and gum out of our hair. Tuesday brought us to Apex Rehearsal Studios on 6th and Bainbridge, the place where we crafted most of our second album, where we not only got to brush the rust off our chops but we got to see our buddy Shawn and his awesome dog Plague. Shawn let us use his room for practice and as a storage area for all the (shameless self promotion) FAT CITY REPRISE HOODED SWEAT SHIRTS and other miscellaneous odds and ends we brought to Philly or borrowed from gracious hosts. Thanks to Chris Lee, Ronnie D, Brian from Fooling April, Stevie and Joe Cummings from El Fuego, Jamie from The Crash Motive, and Chuck Treece for letting us borrow your gear during the week, you guys saved our lives.

Tuesday night was awesome, we crashed the Retro-Weird Click sessions at Silk City and played five songs for the kiddies hanging out over there. It was a blast and a half, thanks to everyone for coming out and thanks to the Davis Sisters' for bringing those ricotta canolis from Potito's, when we finally got to eat them they gave us boners. Thanks to Chuck and everybody down at Silk for having us out, it was a great night full of laughter and good friends. To everyone who came to the Silk show, we love you guys, you're the best. If you don't know who Chuck Treece is, check out his band McRad on our top friends. Chuck has played with everyone from Bad Brains and the Goats to The Roots, Billy Joel, and Santogold. He's also one of the most ill skaters you've ever seen in your life. And he brought us the warm embrace of our favorite acai berry treat: Zola.

Wednesday was very similar to being in a war. We made long runs in and out of our territory to pick up supplies in order to properly perform our major operation at the TLA on Friday. Long rides to pick up musical instruments combined with pit stops to say Hi to old friends left us dead tired. Wednesday night was spent relaxing at our sister Tina's house. Thanks the party TK Killa, and everyone who came, we had a great time being able to feel at home and chill with everyone, just like old times. It was a great night of unwinding after one of the most hectic days we've seen.

We also stopped by an awesome show thrown by the fabulous WMMR featuring Silvertide, Jealousy Curve, Downtown Harvest, and Dive. Killer sets were turned in by all, we had a blast hanging out with Jaxon again. Jaxon, you're the man. Speaking of Jaxon, it is time for Local Shots Five. It is being released tonight (Dec 4th) at Brownie's 23 East. Our new song The Last Waltz will be featured as the lead off track so be sure to head out to the show, check out our friends Melophobiacs, Jonah Delso, Shannon Cole, Feathertops, Dive, Victor Victor, Stone Thrown, Nowhere, Spy The Thinker, Surgeon, Grind City, Smyth, Da Rezarekt, AR Band, and Whiskey Train. And of course to support Jaxon, WMMR, and our whole family over there who have been helping us out for years now. For more details click here.

Wednesday was also the day we were simultaneously featured in the Philadelphia Weekly and the South Philly Review. You can check out both of those articles by clicking the links below:

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

SOUTH PHILLY REVIEW

Of course Thursday was Thanksgiving so big thanks to God, Mike Lowe, and all of our families for another year full of stuff to be incredibly thankful for. Much like every year for the past five years that we have been Fat City Reprise, this one was full of more love and success than we ever could have dreamed up. When we first started on this journey, we had no idea where it would take us. This year just falls into the long line of years that the love and support of our friends and fans has carried us through whatever kind of adversity we have encountered. Thank you guys so much for another great year.

Friday was showtime. It wasn't easy taking the stage after it was profusely raped and beaten by El Fuego, The Feathertops, Ike, Stillicide, The Crash Motive, and Halestorm. We definitely felt the intimidation of six bands that kick ass having left their rock and roll residue all over the stage. Our set started with the debut of our first music video. It featured the song "Long Gone" and was created by our brother/lover Cesar Kuriyama. We met Cesar through this bug we call MySpace and then had a few conversations and finally met with him in New York City. Cesar did every stitch of the hard work and we just showed up when we were called upon to have our minds blown by his amazing artistry. You can check him out at Cesar Kuriyama.com or on our top friends. Everyone who liked the video, please email or MySpace Cesar and let him know because the guy is like Michelangelo and he is way too modest. If you go to our last blog, you can see the video. It is also now embedded in our profile. We sincerely cannot thank Cesar enough for his work, vision, and most importantly: his friendship. We are honored to have you in our lives Cesar, you're awesome. Don't think we forgot about you Tommy (director of photography), Kasia (the star of the video), Erin Hubbell (the little girl from the video), Omid (thanks for letting us not make a porn at your crib, now you can prove it to your parents haha) and everyone else who helped make the video possible: you guys are the shit.

Thanks to all of the bands that played with us on Friday, TJ, Brian Dilworth, Live Nation, the staff at the TLA, Mole, Bobbie, Tina, and Mike Lowe for all your work on at the TLA. Videos and pictures will be up really soon so look out for that.

On Saturday, we went to Doc Watson's for a surprise show. Thanks to the MLM's, Naeemah, and El Fuego for rocking the shit out of everyone. We took the stage late and played every song we knew. At one point, we all had tunnel vision from the fatigue of a long week of rocking boxes but it was one of our favorite shows ever. Thanks to Vince, Double V, Doc's, Jaxon and C Lee (Honorary Rhythm Guitarists of the evening), and everyone else who came out for the wall-to-wall festivities. It was more than a pleasure to be back in the same room that started the ball rolling with a lot of the same exact faces in the crowd as our first show. All in all, it was a very emotional week for us, we got to catch up with a ton of people we have been missing. To everyone that we didn't get to say hi to or chill with, we're really sorry but it was an insane week. We didn't really have a chance to breathe all seven days that we were home. We can't wait to get back to Philly again and we'll let everyone know as soon as we get a time frame. For now, we'll miss you Philly, keep in touch and we love you.

Our bumbling and tumbling stint at the airport was even more hilarious than the antics of the week. We were flying from Philly to Houston and with a layover where we were supposed to stay in the plane and wait for our new flight crew and some new passengers and then take off for LAX. Before we even got onto the plane, we started having problems. Frankie forgot his ID in his pants, which had recently been loaded under the plane and had to answer five million questions to prove he was Frank Pedano and not some imposter with long hair and the rugged good looks of a young Michael J. Fox. We got onto the plane and flew from Philadelphia to Houston with no problems. When we were waiting to take off again, a man, woman, and child came onto the plane and the man bumped into one of us, while arguing with his wife and switching back and forth from one seat to another. This man was already angry when he got on the plane because his wife was giving him a hard time. The member of our party who got pushed said "the words are 'Excuse me' man," and the guy's wife started telling us how her man was going to whoop all our asses. The man, who had no idea what was going on, got into the conversation and claimed that he never bumped into anyone. It got loud for a second and his wife said once again that we were going to get our asses kicked when we landed at LAX. Everyone calmed down and dropped it and got ready to enjoy the flight home. The wife's suggestion that we were going to fight made everyone on both sides, except her, realize that things had already gone too far and we all sat down. At this point, some pencil necked male stewardess kicked of one of us, the man, his wife, and his kid off of the plane. No warning, no nothing, four people booted from a plane. Our solo person told us to not worry and left with a smile on their face. They claimed that they were going to find a new flight and beat us to LAX. We all stayed on the plane except for our one ejected member because we didn't know if it was going to cost a thousand dollars for all six of us to leave the plane and show solidarity. Money isn't growing on trees these days with what the rich people have done to the economy. We started talking amongst each other and one of us said that all of this stuff was really unfair. No one screamed it, no one announced it to the plane, it was simply said in a private conversation between two passengers that paid cash money for their tickets.

We all got kicked off the plane. The pencil necked peanut jockey removed us all. The plane had actually started backing out of the airport and the pilot had to pull back up to the gate to let us all out. We made sure we told everyone on that plane exactly how we felt about the situation on our way out. There were threats of the FBI and Homeland Security coming to arrest us because we interfered with the plane's route. We pointed out that we were just having a conversation when punk ass power tripping pencil neck stepped in and told the pilot to go back to the gate. Really it was him who was interrupting flight patterns, not us.

Anyway, they let the guy, wife, and kid back on the plane because they wanted to separate us and then they rerouted us from Vegas to Burbank. So instead of one flight, we were now taking two more flights to get home. We flew from Houston to Vegas and when we got there the flight from Las Vegas to Burbank was cancelled due to heavy fog. We were given the choice of flying to Ontario, California (one hour from our house) or sleeping in the Las Vegas airport to leave for LAX at 6:00 AM. We said fucking F that and flew to Ontario where our good buddy A-1 (better known as The Sauce) picked us up graciously in the Blasted Van.

We miss Philly but we also glad to be back. We're still at the House of Blues every single Thursday and we're playing O'Brien's with Nick Dixon on Friday night. It's going to be a great time, we hope everyone can make it out. We're chock full of new content so keep your eyes on our updates over the next week.

Much Love in the Evil Sound,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Illmatic" by Nas

December 3, 2008 - Wednesday

NEW VIDEO FOR "LONG GONE"

Good morning west coasters, good day to those on the east side. To all those that joined us in Philly for this video premiere thank you so much for coming out and showing us love. For everyone else you can check it out right here. To put the video on your page you can just point to the screen, click "embed", copy the code, and paste it under your "about me" section. A very special thank you goes out to Director: Cesar Kuriyama and Director of Photography: Tommy Agriodimas






Fat City Reprise - Long Gone from Cesar Kuriyama on Vimeo.


Music Video for "Long Gone" from Fat City Reprise
Director: Cesar Kuriyama
Director of Photography: Tommy Agriodimas

:PRODUCTION NOTE:
No Video cameras were used in the production of this music video. It was created entirely from 45,000 Photographs taken by a Nikon D200 DSLR.

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:
El Fuego
http://www.myspace.com/itmeansfireinspanish

November 27, 2008 - Thursday

Two Awesome Articles on Fat City & Happy Thanksgiving

Hey Everyone

As some of you may know, both the Philadelphia Weekly and the South Philly Review did special write-ups for our upcoming TLA show, which will take place on 11/28. Thanks to the two papers and Doug Wallen and Tim McGovern for combining such a righteous set of keystrokes to make these two articles. Here they are in all of their glory.

PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

SOUTH PHILLY REVIEW

We hope everyone has a safe, warm, and Happy Thanksgiving. Much like every year since we started this whole mess, we have so much to be thankful for. Mike Lowe, Mole, and Bobbie Potatoes, we're thankful for you guys because you ARE this band, you make the secret wheels go around. We're thankful for our house in LA, our awesome roomies Amarit, Artist Dave, Pam, and Sue. We are thankful for having the best extended family of friends in the world in both Philly and LA and everywhere in between. We are SO thankful for the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies and all the karn we get from heaven. Thankful to be home seeing our families for the holidays, thankful to be back in Philly for a few days, and thankful for the constant love we have gotten from everyone of you. We've said it before and we say it again, without all of you, there would be no us.

We can't wait to see everyone's beautiful smiling faces as El Fuego, Feathertops, Crash Motive, Ike, Stillicide, and Halestorm rock them off. Doors are at 6 and we will be there waiting to hang out with everyone from six on. Be there or be square, have a safe holiday everyone. As the old man on the corner in South Philly says, don't eat too much turkey!

Thanks and we love you,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Thank You Lord!" By Various Artists

November 23, 2008 - Sunday

BACK IN THE ILLADEL!!!!

Hey Everyone,

This is our first chance to saddle up on the internet since we squeezed into a steel tube and barreled across the country in a jumbo jet. We had a lay over in Denver because we had to have a drink with Adrienne and then we hopped back into the sky. We tried to tell the pilot that there wasn't enough road to get up to eighty-eight miles per hour but he said that where we going we didn't need roads. We traveled not only 3,000 miles but 3 hours back to the future to Eastern Standard Time and the marvelous metropolis of Philadelphia.

Home of Ben Franklin, Edgar Allen Poe, John Coltrane, Marion Anderson, Mario Lanza, Al Bruno, Larry Fine, the Capitol of the US, first public library, first fire department, first American flag, first piano built in America, first zoo, first daily newspaper, first computer, writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia is the city of our origin, born and bred inside the actual city of Philadelphia in South Philly.

All the Vivas ladies were there to welcome us at the airport, even Alyssa. Thanks so much for the warm welcome home. Poppa Mole (Mole Daddy's Dad for those who don't know) showed up with a hoagie tray on Sarcone's bread at the airport. You my friend are a scholar and a gentleman. You never saw some guineas suck down cold cuts like we did when we hit the 32 degree weather and that beautiful bread, made with hard water, hit our lips. It's so good once it touches your lips.

Don't forget, TLA this FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Our video debut along with performances from Halestorm, Stillicide, Crash Motive, Ike, El Fuego, and the Feathertops. It's going to be a night to remember!

Chilly in Philly,
Fat City Reprise

PS: Everyone look for us on Phrequency.com, inside the Philadelphia Weekly, in the South Philly Review, and in 215 Magazine. Lot's of cool interviews coming out the next two weeks in Philly papers and publications and all of these publications are hot! We'll keep you posted. 
Currently listening to "Illadelph Halflife" by The Roots

November 6, 2008 - Thursday

Do you like the Backstreet Boys?

Well Kevin happened to be in O'Brien's when we hit the stage on October 30th. He was there when we were setting up and decided to stay and check us out. He loved the show and we got to hang out with him for a little after it was all over. And there you go, that's all the more reason you should come check us out live. :) House of Blues on Sunset tonight and every Thursday at 11:30pm in the Foundation Room. And we're back in Philly at the TLA on November 28th with Halestorm, Ike, El Fuego, Stillicide, The Feathertops, and The Crash Motive!!!!!

Currently listening to "Backstreet Boys [ENHANCED CD]" by Backstreet Boys

November 3, 2008 - Monday

HOUSE OF BLUES NOVEMBER 6th BACK ON!!!!!!!!

Tell your friends!!! House of Blues was going to cancel our show on November 6th so that they could have a corporate party but our friends Chris and Jaclyn at Can of Jam called the Ghostbusters and when Venkman, Spengler, Stanz, and Zedmore showed up with nuclear accelerators on their back the House of Blues bent and the SHOW IS BACK ON!!!!!!!!!!
See you there!
Fat City Reprise October 31, 2008 - Friday

HOUSE OF BLUES - NOVEMBER 6th - CANCELLED

Here's the story... House of Blues corporate is throwing a party in the Foundation Room on November 6th and we aren't playing it. It's a private party and our residency will just have to wait another week That means that the first day we are playing our residency at the House of Blues is November 13th. Here's our updated November schedule...

NOVEMBER 4th: CANTER'S KIBITZ 419 N. Fairfax Ave, LA with the AUTOMATIC MUSIC EXPLOSION

NOVEMBER 13th: HOUSE OF BLUES - FOUNDATION ROOM 8430 W. Sunset Blvd, LA

NOVEMBER 14th: MOLLY MALONE'S 575 S. Fairfax Ave, LA

NOVEMBER 20th: HOUSE OF BLUES - FOUNDATION ROOM 8430 W. Sunset Blvd, LA
And then we're coming home to the city of World Champions PHILLY Son! for our TLA show. All you Philly cats better be there, the other bands are in Philly right now selling their tickets like hot cakes and if you don't buy some from us soon you just might not get in because this event is definitely selling out. We hope everyone had a safe time at the parade, we wish we could have been there. South Philly was standing straight up all over the news out here as they broadcast the Broad Street mayhem. We can't wait to come home and eat some Primo's, Cacia's, and Sarcone's.
Holla at your boys,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Things Fall Apart" by The Roots

October 27, 2008 - Monday

Fat City Update - Go Phils!

What luck we have! The Phillies are about to win the World Series and we're 3,000 miles away from Broad and Oregon! To all you lucky South Philly people who are going to be in the city for this momentous event, go to Broad Street and drink a cold one for us. If you don't go to Broad Street you're crazy. We found a bar in Santa Monica called The Shack and it is a full out Phillies-Eagles bar owned by a guy who grew up in Havertown. So all the West Coast Philly people can get together and rock out in unison. Fox Eleven was in the house for game one and Bobbie Potatoes got his Fat City shirt in the camera shot and Nick got his South Philly shirt on the other side. It was a great night. But man we want to be on Broad Street :) We've been playing all around the city, did the Derby with Can of Jam and that was awesome. Played the Celebrity Center on Franklin Ave with ICandy productions and that was really cool too. Thanks ICandy Style for hooking that one up. And this Thursday we head to Santa Monica again with the boys from the Naked to play O'Brien's. It should be a great time, we hope to see everyone there. Other than that, our House of Blues residency starts on November 6th and we will be there EVERY Thursday at 11:30pm rockin out with our Italian Sausages out.
You're all pogo sticks,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Harry Kalas: Voice of the Phillies"

October 19, 2008 - Sunday

NEW VIDEO BLOG!!! - FAT CITY'S FIRST MINI-MOVIE!!!

As a lot of you should know, we have been producing our own short video blogs with our own little video production company: Fifty Dollar Bill Productions. After a whole bunch of driving, editing, and shooting Bobby checking in with the folks at home we have finally come to our first milestone in cinema. We have finally made a mini-movie. So here it is, the first Fat City Reprise mini-movie...
Bobby Remembers: The Original Singer

Currently reading "Beatle!: The Pete Best Story" by Pete Best

October 10, 2008 - Friday

Back to the House of Blues/Fat City Reprise meets Dave Grohl

Yeah so yesterday was crazy. We're outside the House of Blues waiting to go on and Morrisey of The Smiths comes in. As if that wasn't enough to top the night off, we see Chris Pontius (Party Boy/Jackass) wandering around drinking a beer and then out of the corner of our eye spot Pat Smear of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame. So at this point we are absolutely reeling in the crazy list of celebrities at our gig not to mention that we had to get our stuff ready to play. So Frankie goes to the bathroom to take a load off and drop some number one into the urinal when out of the darkness comes the biggest rock and roll star on the planet right now: Dave Grohl. Frank continues to look straight ahead and casually says, "Yeah! Pissin next to D. Grohl!" At which point Dave Grohl yells, "That's right!" This is the man who has saved rock and roll not only once but twice. We're not talking about the Dave Grohl you graduated high school with who works at Del Taco on La Cienega and Santa Monica. We're talkin drummer for Nirvana, Foo Fighter, drummer for the D, drummer for the Queens of the Stone Age and the Eagles of Death Metal, jams with Brian May, Paul McCartney, and John Paul Jones, and the reason we all got into playing rock music back in the nineties Dave Grohl. The man is our generation's Paul McCartney. We all talked to Dave and gave him a CD before we went on and he ran back downstairs when the crowds started getting too hectic. He was a really cool and down to Earth guy. We started playing our set and things were going really well. About an hour into our show Dave Grohl was back and he was in the back slugging beers and having himself a good old time. We talked to him after and all shook his hand and thanked him for being one of the reasons we were in LA and making music. In short, Dave Grohl is the fucking man, go buy something that he will get paid if you buy it.
THANK YOU so much to Chris and Jaclyn at Can of Jam, you guys are the absolute best. Thanks also to everyone who came out, to the House of Blues, and to Dave Grohl for the inspiration, the tunes, and the picture. We're in Huntington Beach this Saturday (the 11th) with our home-boy Joe Sykes and his band Thrill Deluxe and then we're getting geared up for the Battle for Los Angeles at the Derby on the 23rd. It's almost time for our residency to start AND it's almost TLA show time!!!! Keep your eyes peeled for the GREATEST VIDEO BLOG OF ALL TIME coming in the next few days! The kitchen is poppin off and we've got all kinds of delicious things coming at you at a rapid pace. Keep up if you can!!
Love,
Fat City Reprise
PS: 2-0 Phillies...the boys are coming to La La Land and the Dodgers better be on their toes. South Philly what what
Currently listening to "Foo Fighters" by the Foo Fighters

October 6, 2008 - Monday

NEW VIDEO BLOG!!!!!!

That's right kids, Bobbie Potatoes and the guys at Fifty Dollar Bill Productions are back at it again with all new bi-monthly video blogs! Bobbie will be sending out the latest Fat City Reprise news and video clips as often as possible to keep you guys updated and entertained!! Check out number one right here....
Bobby Blog - #22

Currently listening to "No Pologies" by The Skunks

October 3, 2008 - Friday

Sippin on Booze at the House of Blues

So last night we played at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. As always it was a crazy night. As a lot of you know it was Frankie's birthday today (Oct 3rd) and we celebrated at midnight at the House of Blues and shortly afterward celebrated again by playing a set. Thanks to everyone who came out, thanks so much to Jaclyn and Chris at Can of Jam for always taking such good care of us, and thanks to Rita and Chelsea for getting together the whole after party for Frank and letting us use Rita's house as the four walls containing the insanity. Willie Chambers, of the Chambers Bros sang Frank Happy Birthday with his arm around his shoulder. It was that kind of night. At the end of the evening Jaclyn, being incredibly wonderful, offered us every Thursday at the House of Blues in the Foundation Room. It turns out dreams really do come true because we will be playing EVERY THURSDAY at the House of Blues (8430 W. Sunset Blvd) with Can of Jam at 11:30pm. We ARE playing the House of Blues again this Thursday coming up at the same time (11:30pm) but our residency doesn't officially start until November. In the meantime we have a ton of great shows coming up all over LA as well as our big TLA show coming up back in Philly. We're playing the Stone Bar on Hollywood and Western tomorrow at 9pm if anyone wants to come hang out and dance for 45 minutes or so. It's going to be Ballin Oates so don't miss it!
Go Phils,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Seasame Street - Old School, Vol. 1 (1969-1974)" September 29, 2008 - Monday

Fat City and Halestorm live Nov 28th @ TLA!

Yepp, both back in town to rock Philly once more....Ticket info on the way folks...stay tuned!
Currently listening to "The Odd Couple" By Gnarls Barkley

Weekend One: Crane's and Cat's

Good Morning World, We're live at Fat City HQ with a briefing on the weekend's happenings and an update on the last week. The man with those huge invisible pipes came and installed the internet as some of you may have noticed. He put a big invisible shoot through the back of our house that pumps knowledge and communication into the wireless ports of our computer. The man with the not so invisible pipes also finally turned on our gas and we all got our first hot showers on Friday. Oh those pipes and their magical gifts. We played Crane's Tavern on El Centro this Thursday for our good friend Chelsea's birthday. You guys probably remember us talking about Chelsea when we were on tour our here in the winter time, she's done a ton to help us out in the past, present, and future and we love her. Thanks for having us out Chels, it was a night to remember with killer sets by Paul Chesne, Automatic Music Explosion, and the Vicious Licks. We had a great time and got to see our friends Rita, Sheryl, Melody, Amy, and the boys from the Naked. All and all it was a total blast and we'd relive it everyday just like Groundhog Day. We had Friday off and a lot of people might think that we went out and got hammered because it was our first Friday off in Hollywood but instead we all just crashed out. After packing our whole lives into boxes, moving the boxes into trucks and cars, driving 3,000 miles, emptying the trucks, emptying the boxes, constructing and moving the incredibly huge and heavy baffles to soundproof our house, rehearsing, and finally playing the show: we were metaphorically dead. Saturday was a whole different story being well rested and all. We played the Cat Club at 9pm, thanks to Dessica for the show we love playing the Cat Club. We had a great time and after the show went to O'Brien's in Santa Monica, where we're playing with the Naked on October 30th, to catch a set or two by the Paul Chesne Band featuring the guys from the Vacation. If you guys haven't heard of Paul Chesne, The Naked, or the Vacation you should seriously check them out because they're three bands that kick your asshole into tiny pieces when you see them play. Right now we are recording some stuff at home and getting ready to rehearse. We have killer shows coming up at the House of Blues on Sunset, two Thursdays in a row (Oct 2nd and 9th) at 11:45pm. They're Can of Jam shows so you know it's going to be a great time. We're going to do our best to tear the roof off and we hope to see all you crazy Angelino's there.
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: Music From The Motion Picture" By Various Artists

September 20, 2008 - Saturday

Yes we are alive, yes we are in Los Angeles

Hey Everyone, Sorry this blog is a little late, we hope no one was worried. The car adaptor for the internet blew up our router and we're currently sitting at the Coffee Bean on Hillhurst Ave taking our first break from driving/moving to check in with all of you. Car Ram-Rod, the 26' U-Haul truck captained by Frankie and Mole Daddy left Philadelphia on September 14th around 9pm. They barreled through the country at 6 miles per gallon and made it here in 69 hours. Along the way they slept on fire ants in a field in western Oklahoma, slept on an Indian reservation in Arizona, barely got out of the Mojave desert running on fumes, and were chased out of a rest stop in New Mexico by someone howling at the moon. But other than that everything went swimmingly. Team Marlboro pulled out in the Blasted Van with Bobbie Potatoes and Nick at the helm at 7:15 pm on September 15th. They arrived at our new house in 57 hours. Along the way they ate six packs of Jolt caffeine gum, smoked five packs of cigarettes each, and took the entire trip on with no GPS or maps. They got lost twice in Oklahoma but they figured it out. Team Janine piloted the RV from Philly to LA with our good friend Bob-O at the helm and Mike Lowe and Vivas in tow. It took them a little longer than Team Marlboro but they got here safe and sound anyway. The RV barreled through the desert blasting Judas Priest the entire way. Team PB and J is still on the road, Jay and Pam stopped in Texas to see her Mom but they will be here shortly. Our new house is the perfect house for us, we will be sending some pics soon. Once the band room is all set up, we'll be broadcasting shows on Justin.tv from our house. We're still getting settled in but the place is starting to come together nicely. We just wanted to let our friends know we're ok. To all of our LA pals, we're here! We are playing Crane's Tavern on the 25th and hope you can make it out. For more shows you can check on our main page. And to all of our Philly friends, we miss you guys already. Our TLA show is going to be on November 28th, the day after Thanksgiving. Our buddies Ike, Stillicide, Crash Motive, El Fuego, and the Feathertops are on the bill with us and it promises to be an unforgettable night. Like the kind of night that can only happen within the reality boundaries of a Disney movie. Magic. We'll be online a lot more as soon as we get the internet pumped into our house through those invisible internet pipes they have.
Peace and Love,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Band!...The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood

September 2, 2008 - Tuesday

IMPORTANT NEWS/THE RUMORS EXPLAINED - MOVING TO CALIFORNIA

Hey Everyone, There have been a lot of rumors flying around about us moving or not moving and when exactly these things are actually happening or not happening so we're here to finally set the record straight. We have been planning to move to Los Angeles and try to crack things open there ever since we spent six weeks there in February. Our lease is up on September 15th and and we are going to go out there and try and shake things up. We will be shoving off for Los Angeles to move into our new house and start working out there. We know this is all kind of all of sudden but the opportunity presented itself and we had to jump on it. We love Philly more than we can ever say in words. We were all born and raised in South Philly and the entire city will always have a special place in our hearts and always be our home. We're really sad to leave everyone and everything. We'll be back as often as we can to play Philly shows and visit everyone. We miss it already and we're still here. Mole Daddy, Bobbie Potatoes, and of course Mike Lowe are going to come to Los Angeles with us so don't worry, we'll be safe. We also have a ton of friends there who we met last time we were out and they will take care of us too. Again we'll be back to visit as much as we can. The good news for all of our Philly family is that we'll be back to play the TLA Thanksgiving weekend with El Fuego, Stillicide, The Feathertops, and others. We'll see everyone then and we'll have our new album ready to be released by then. It's just about all recorded and ready to go. We're finishing it up as we speak. We're also throwing a goodbye show blowout bash with our friends at J.C.Dobbs on September 12th. It's going to be our last Philly show until the TLA so we really hope everyone can come out for one last dance before we have to step out to LA. We really hope you all know we'll never forget about all of you.
Thank you all so much for all of your love and support,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "The Sound of Philadelphia: Gamble & Huff's Greatest Hits"

August 10, 2008 - Sunday

Maybe we're crazy...it would explain a lot

Everyone is asking so here is the scoop. We had a gig at the Tritone this weekend. We were scheduled to play with our friends Preston Swift, El Fuego, The MLM's, and The Feathertops. The Tritone was closed for a little while due for some L&I issues and we're all about sticking it to the man and we know that the man is keeping us down so we held strong and didn't cancel when we heard the place closed. Now here comes August 9th on the calendar and all the bands are hanging out outside the Tritone, all the gear is inside, and we're waiting for Joe Reno to get released by the police officer who pulled him over for blowing a stop sign on the way to the gig. Next thing you know the owner of Tritone is telling us that El Fuego, Feathertops, and Preston Swift can't play because there are members under 21 and others who just forgot their ID's. In the state of Pennsylvania, it is 100% LEGAL for someone over the age of 18 to work in a place of business that serves alcoholic beverages as long as they are working, getting paid, and not drinking. Vivas just turned 21 on July 28th and we have dealt with this for a long time. We have played every club in the city while he was under 21: Grape Street, The Khyber, Johnny Brenda's, The Fire, The North Star, Doc Watson's, 218, Abilene, Lickety Split, Dave and Buster's, The Five Spot, Brownie's 23 East, The Chestnut Room, The TLA, The Trocadero. How the hell did we play all of those places if it's illegal for someone under 21 but over 18 to play a gig at a bar? Every musician was working, they would only have been in the bar for the duration of their set and they were all getting paid. But Tritone wouldn't budge, so we went home. We're sorry to everyone who came down and didn't get to see the show. We just knew that everything could have gone off as planned because we have done it a million times before but everything fell apart and we had to roll with the other three bands. If we hadn't had prior experience and hadn't actually played every club in the city with a member openly under the age of 21, we would have believed that L&I would have shut the bar down if band members were under 21. But we know for a fact that you can perform if you're under 21 and over 18 so we had to leave. We hope everyone understands. On a MUCH lighter note, it was our buddy Cheech's birthday on Friday and we got spend it with him at his club Penguin's in Baltimore. We made a bunch of new friends and got to spend time with our brothers and sisters in Da Rezarekt. big shout out to our boy Ronnie for running sound. Ron, the pleasure is all ours man. Three Legged Fox was in the house to and of course there was Let The Monkey Go. Check out both of those bands, they both turned in awesome sets. It was a great night and we partied until we got kicked out. Happy Birthday Cheech, thanks for hooking it up. We will be seeing you New Yorker's on August 16th at the Bitter End. And we'll be rockin and rolling with the Crash Motive at their record release party on August 23rd and there is NO WAY that is getting cancelled. Can't wait to see you guys there!
Love,
Fat City Reprise
Currently listening to "Costello Music" by The Fratellis

August 5, 2008 - Tuesday

Greetings from Fat City

Hey Everyone, We just realized it's been a while since we've checked in so here is the official update. YES, we have been playing Philly a lot, we missed Philly and are trying to play as many places we haven't played yet as possible. We've been hanging out with our friends The Feathertops, El Fuego, The MLM's, Mike Tyler, and Chuck Treece a lot lately and we've been getting it in with Silk City and are working on going back to Johnny Brenda's. We also were blessed enough to spend some time with our other great friends Head, Ike, Preston Swift, Soraia, Mikey Potatoes, Stillicide, and Jaxon and Eddie from the Grape, at Adrienne's goodbye party and over at Doc's. We've been making a lot of friends over at Dobb's too and are in the Beta Hi-Fi events at the World Cafe. Just trying to really get around Philly and see all the amazing acts that are playing rooms everywhere right under your nose. Lot's of good music, jamming out, and good times on that front. YES, we have been in the studio on and off since March. We're getting close to finishing up our new album. We promise that we're working on it as quickly as possible and we're going to give you guys some new stuff to spin really soon. We just want to make sure it's as ballin as it can be. YES, we are working as hard as we can on getting back out to California to rock the West Coast and see all of our friends. And YES we are working as hard as we can on getting back to Ohio, Indiana, and everywhere else we have friends and family. We're working hard on a lot of things right now that we don't want to spoil for you so we won't even mention them here. All we can do is ask you guys to be patient and know that we have a bunch of surprises cooking slowly in a big pot of Mole Daddy's secret spices. We miss all of our out of state friends terribly and to all of our Philly homies and homegirls, it's been great seeing you guys so often lately. Can't wait to catch you all over Philly in August.
Much Love,
Fat City Reprise

Currently listening to "The GREY ALBUM JAY-Z Meets The BEATLES[Mixtape]" by DangerMouse

July 13, 2008 - Sunday

Oh Ohio!: July 11th and 12th

July 11th, 2008 : All Roads Lead to Athens That just happened! That's right we went back to Athens, Ohio this Friday and took the stage once again at the lovely Jackie O's. Thanks so much to our brother Junebug for hooking us up with a last minute show. As you guys know, our show at Dobb's on July 12th got cancelled by the city because of the Greek Picnic and Bug got us a gig together in a day or two. Thanks also to Jackie O's, Jonathon, and Jones For Revival for the hospitality, Jone for Revival ripped their set wide open jamming for hours. We had a great time with all of our new Athens friends like Amy, Jamie, and Bryan. Thanks for the constellation lessons, we'll see you guys in a lucid dream real soon :) We'll be back in Athens really soon, so we'll catch you cats when school starts. Thanks again Junebug, having a place to crash is the most amazing thing and we are totally thankful for it. You rock brother. July 12th : Sippin on Booze at a Bar Called Brews (or) Goin goin, back back, to Granville Granville It was a total family reunion at Brew's Too on Saturday night all remarkably architectured by our Hookah Mom/Best Friend Liz. If you live in Ohio and you have good vibes, you know who Liz is. She made flyers, pumped the show to everyone in a three state radius, arranged for Old Nat to come out and mix our sound, booked the show, let us stay at her house, fed us, threw a party after the show, and generally continued to amaze us all night. We can never thank you enough Liz. Thanks to Sean and Cassidy for letting us stay at their house and slep on the floor and couches, we know how much it sucks when you get kicked out of your own room by your parents because some dirty musicians are coming over ;) Thanks guys. Thanks to Nat for doing a great job with the sound, you're a rock star man. Next time we come out we'll get some Old Ham Hock. Thanks to Sean for opening the show, you killed it. Check out Sean's band The Burning River Band, they kick serious ass. It was great to see you and Nancy and we were honored to share the stage with you. Brian from Brew's, Randy, Christina, Holly Pockets, Janine, and everyone else, we love all you guys. Ohio has a huge place in our heart and we can't wait to come back. We'll see you guys really soon, a lot sooner than you think :) Thanks again Liz, we love you. We'll be attending Hookahville 30 if anyone is interested in hanging out and having their faces melted. Much Love, Fat City Reprise
Currently Listening To: "Things Fall Apart" by The Roots

July 06, 2008 - Sunday

Band on Band Vol. II : Fat City Interviews Dice Raw


The Roots have been among Philadelphia's greatest spokesmen since 1993 when they first tore up Europe and released their debut album Organix. It's fifteen years later and they have not failed to rep Illadel for one second, with a string of musical and lyrical masterpieces that have raised the hip-hop bar higher and higher. There's the sick freestyles on Illadelph Halflife, the truth of Tipping Point and Game Theory, the pure musicality of Organix, and the total package of Things Fall Apart. And when it comes to live bands, you will have a hard time finding a better show. These guys rip the crowd a new one every time. If you have never heard these albums, shame on you and if you have never seen them live, you are only cheating yourself. In short, The Roots are the truth and they travel the world with Philly on their sleeve. We have been blessed with the privilege of working around the Roots at Larry Gold's Studio 215 for the last two years and it has been incredible to say the least. When we first met them, they were just finishing their last album Game Theory. They were mixing in the back room and we were cutting our first record out front. It was during these recording sessions we first met Black Thought, founding member and MC of the Roots, ?uestlove, founding member and drummer, Chappelle show actor, world renowned session drummer, musical director of everything cool, and Kamal, keyboards, Frankie Knuckles, percussion, and Captain Kirk on that wicked guitar. It was also during these sessions that we met and became friends with Dice Raw, a longtime Roots collaborator, sick MC, and North Philadelphia native/international representative. Dice has been spitting hot shit on Roots albums since he was 15 years old. After being discovered at a talent show by our other friend Kelo (not only has Key penned some of the Roots hottest beats but he is responsible for Bel Biv Devoe's Poison), he hooked up with the Roots on their first major studio release Do You Want More?!!!??! and has been collaborating ever since. From his freestyle on The Lesson Pt. 1 to famous verses on such classics as Clones, Adrenaline, Ain't Sayin Nothin New, and Don't See Us, Dice Raw spits hot fire every time. And if you really want to hear this MC at his finest, you'll check out his solo album Reclaiming the Dead. Recently, we got the pleasure of sitting down with Dice at The Studio and talking about The Roots latest release Rising Down, sharing some tour stories, and finding out he really is "smooth as a Rolls Royce." Fat City Reprise: Thanks so much for sitting down with us Dice, we know you're busy man. Dice Raw: "No problem, no problem. I'm just waiting on a few people to do a session anyway." FCR: Are you performing at the Root's Picnic this weekend? DR: "Oh yeah for sure for sure." FCR: We heard a rumor that you guys were going to perform Things Fall Apart all the way through. Any truth to that? DR: "Haha, shit I don't know. I think that might have been a plan for a different show. If we're doing that, I hope somebody lets me know, haha shit." FCR: So what is your favorite track on the new album? DR: "I would say my favorite is The Show (Must Go On). I'd say that was some of the illest shit I've heard Common say in a long time man. And Riq (Black Thought) like I know I've been around him all the time for a long time now and I always hear him spit ill shit but that was definitely some of the illest shit I ever heard Riq say too." FCR: We think you could say that about a lot of this album. At one point you describe yourself as "W.E.B. Du Bois meets Heavy D and the Boys." Do you think that kind of sums up the tone of the entire album? DR: "Well I mean we were definitely in a dark situation when we were writing this album. I think it is all there in the tone of the whole thing. We're in some dark times but it's going to get better. We're coming out of it now. I mean look at the 80's, I don't know if you guys are old enough to remember this but shit was fucked up when Reagan was in office. There were food shortages, I mean people didn't have any food. The government had to step in and give out food. Powdered milk and shit like that. You guys remember the government cheese? That shit was fucked up man but there just wasn't any food. Even with the first Bush it was still bad, but shit got better for a while. When we were working on Rising Down, we were thinking about how shit got dark again." FCR: You told us you weren't acting like yourself in the Get Busy (Rising Down) video once before, can you elaborate? DR: "Yeah man that shit wasn't me at all. I mean it looked real good and I like the way it came out in the end but they had me in a two dollar shirt and a fifty cent tie and they made me punk that guy walking down the hall. That shit's not me, I don't go around punking little dudes man. But I guess it looked good in the long run, I like it now." FCR: Do you think hip-hop is dying? Can it be saved? DR: "It definitely is being saved right now. Have you heard Little Wayne's new record? He has Jay-Z, Babyface, Fabulous, Busta Rhymes, Robin Thicke, man everybody is on that shit. He has this one track where he is a doctor and he is operating on MC's. He's like 'What's wrong nurse,' and the nurse is like 'well doctor he's lost his swagger and his floss is down 85%' and then he goes to work and operate on the MC in the verse. It's ill. Hip-hop is definitely going to be saved, saving it right now."

FCR: What was it like being successful so young? DR: "How do you define success? I didn't see myself as successful, I mean we had rep and we were touring but if you're talking about money the Roots didn't start making money until Things Fall Apart when they did that joint with Erika (You Got Me, featuring Erika Badu)." FCR: I mean at fifteen we were still playing in diners in our neighborhood. DR: "Well yeah there's that but again at fifteen was I even trying to be successful? No, I just wanted to be a rapper. I'll freestyle on this, oh yeah I'll freestyle on that too. Sure, I just want to rap. You know?" FCR: Do you have a favorite tour story? DR: "Ha! Well when we used to go out and we wanted to get the girls out of the room I used to just tell them to leave. I didn't care. But then after a while we started just asking them if they wanted to have an orgy. I mean we just wanted them to leave and they always would, they'd storm out like 'I can't believe this, I hate them. These guys are ignorant let's go.' Then this one time we were out and I was getting tired so I pulled out my orgy shit and these girls were like "hmmmm…an orgy sounds great! Let us just run down to the club and get our girlfriends.' Yeah that's my favorite one." FCR: What else is new with you D? DR: "Well, Nikki (Nikki Jean, lead singer of Dice's side project: Nouveau Riche) is getting home from touring with Lupe soon so we'll be at Silk City on June 17th. I have another solo album dropping on August 1st. As always my LLC Raw Life is pumping. Skillz has a new album coming out and then of course there's the Money Making Jam Boys, which is a group with me, Riq, Truck North, P.O.R.N., and Skillz. All kinds of good shit and it's always poppin off with something new." As far as Dice Raw and the Roots are concerned, hip-hop is being saved and the conditions around us are going to get better. Don't miss out on Dice and Nouveau Riche at Silk City on June 17th and don't forget to check out Rising Down by The Roots. ALBUM REVIEW Album: Rising Down by The Roots Reviewer: Fat City Reprise It was January when we first heard the siren song of Rising Down, the 8th major release by Philadelphia's The Roots. We had stopped by Larry Gold's The Studio 215 to grab some gear and heard music coming from the mixing room. We waited for it to stop, knocked, and entered. Inside the room was Black Thought, who was sitting with his laptop plugged into the mixing board, Dice Raw, and studio manager Montez. After apologizing for interrupting, we started talking. Dice asked about our California tour and Montez asked about our new rough mixes. We kept cool until Thought asked us if we wanted to hear the new shit. We've followed and looked up to The Roots since we were kids, especially being from South Philly. Now we're sitting across from Black Thought, previewing the album months before its release. Of course we wanted to hear it! It was like a dream. And then he clicked play. We were floored, the sounds that came pouring out of those monitors were absolutely intoxicating. We counted the days until April 29th when we could buy the album and absorb it properly. Rising Down is a show of brute hip-hop force. From the intro track of Quest arguing with a suit all the way to the bells of Rising Up, it is pure passion. Throughout all fifteen tracks we found grooves that burnt into our brains, lyrics that were inspiring, and an underlying sense of purpose that tied it all together. The sheer continuity of the album is enough to impress the most hardened musical cynic and the all-star cast of MC's each take their turn handing in their some of their best work. While it has a grittier and more synth driven sound than any of its predecessors, the vibe matches the darker lyrical content perfectly. Organic, authentic, and you can bump it. What more can you ask for? Guest appearances include: Dice Raw, Malik B, Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Styles P, Peedi Crakk, Jazzy Jeff, P.O.R.N., Truck North, Saigon, Wale, Mercedes Martinez, and Chrisett Michelle. Stand out tracks include: Rising Down, Get Busy, Criminal, I Will Not Apologize, and Rising Up.

May 27, 2008 - Tuesday

HOOKAHVILLE REVIEW

The siren song from the never ending parade of drunk females into the we hours of the morning. Hoooooo KA? Like cats in heat; they repeat their seductive, insane, and sometimes annoying message throughout the night. This was just one of the highlights from Spring Hookahville 2008. It started with a 5 hour wait in line for me. Once the agonizing wait was over, I was welcomed by the warm flashing lights and hypnotic sounds of Lotus. We quickly made camp and set out to see what could be seen. My friends Patrick and Alexa couldn't decipher the cryptic instructions to setup their tent and opted to just wait until sunrise. Even in the light of day it was a frustrating endeavor. My ez twist performed excellently. I ran into some old friends and met some new ones. This guy was tripping his balls off being pulled in a wagon past our camp. We tried hard not to laugh at him but it was hard since he was pointing at the sky and laughing defiantly. It was too cold to sleep at night and too hot to sleep during the day. I tried to catch a couple of cat naps just after dawn and just before dusk. I remember the amazing site of someone's tent and ez up being launched nearly a hundred feet into the air by a whirlwind. Legend Valley is known for these powerful gusts of wind. It was reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz to witness someone's entire campsite being suspended in mid air intact. Some guy also climbed a tree and wouldn't come down. It might have been the same guy that was on another planet being pulled in the wagon earlier. We were camped near the top of the valley so we saw many interesting things that others might have missed. Apparently there was a Dunkin Donuts across the way from us as it seemed like the sheriff's golf cart lingered at the corner next to our camp much of the weekend. Someone got the brilliant (probably drug induced) idea to ride one of the firewood wagons down the hill. It looked like a lot of fun and I cheered him on as he passed the soup kitchen. In the distance it looked like he crashed near the bottom but I doubt he felt anything. I don't think a sober person would ever attempt something like that. I met one of the bands new to Hookah, Fat City Reprise. Really cool cats and they know how to rock! I think I inhaled enough smoke from campfires to cough up a piece of charcoal. There was no corner store this year. The store that remembered the stuff you forgot, ended up forgetting to show up I guess. I know Bill with 632 from years of shows and the grab bag had a lot of the stuff I forgot. I bought a nice blanket from him for $7. Disco Pizza was there of course making their most excellent pies. I had a slice for breakfast before my dawn nap. The porta potty situation wasn't the best this year. Not sure why the cleaning schedule was so slow in one of the most populated Hookahville's in years. I got lucky a couple of times but I heard some horror stories from my friends. Apparently their was a pile of feces in front of the seat on the floor. Missed it by that much. Which means someone leaned up against the door with their feet on the seat to do their business. The shear mechanics baffle me. Later when the sanitation crew came through we saw a worker open the door to one of the porta johns, he looked puzzled almost in disbelief, shook his head and closed the door again. There were a lot of really good unknown bands at the show this year. I like that most about Hookahville. Music is an exploration for me. I like discovering new sounds. The old sounds were good too. Sweeney in usual form rocked! I'm convinced he sold his soul to the devil in order to play guitar that good. It's like watching a possessed Muppet. ekoostik hookah puts on a good show. A lot of people still have a bad taste in their mouth from the long line at the gate. The venue was experimenting with a new bar code system to deactivate bracelets when you exit. This way you can't sneak your friends in. They eventually abandoned the system as it was pissing off the masses. Hippies fear change. They have publicly apologized for the mishap. It's unfortunate that a few gate crashers got things off to a rough start for the majority. I met many interesting people in line and ran into some people I might have not even seen if we weren't being treated like cattle. Multiple lines at the gate and separate exit re-entry area might have gone a long way to streamlining things. Over all I would give Hookahville 08 a passing grade. I can recommend it because even though there were mounted police permitted inside they were just looking for stupid people. Some guy was giving 14 year old girls date rape drugs. I don't think the police even found out about that, hippie justice prevailed. I had a good time and will be returning in the fall for more of the same. Here's that band I talked about. See if you like them as much as me. http://www.myspace.com/fatcityreprise Go ahead and add them. They rock! ADD FAT CITY REPRISE POSTED BY: QUACK KILLS

May 22, 2008 - Thursday

Memorials of Weekends

We had such a blast in NYC the other night, thanks to everyone who came out. Thanks to the Bitter End and to Joanie, Andrew, Jackie, TK Killa, Steph, Summer, Cesar, Kasia, Bella, and everyone else who came out. Thanks to our new friends from Japan and our buddies from the UK, and thanks to Pam and Leslie for letting us borrow their cars. Also thanks to Mike Lowe for making it all happen and to the big guy upstairs. We had a great time and hope everyone has a great time this weekend. We will be in Ohio at Hookahville, a rocking fest of epic proportions. We hope you all have a safe trip and we are crazy pumped and ready to go to Ohio this weekend. See you in the valley, Fat City Reprise

May 5, 2008 - Monday

Jaime Pannone Reviews TLA Show for Deli Magazine

Wait, Wait…It Gets Better: Fat City Reprise Plays Memorable Homecoming Show at the TLA When Fat City Reprise took the stage Saturday night at the TLA it was evident that something had made this great band even better. Maybe it was the time away from the east coast in the warm California sun, or the good energy from their towering banner of a guitar-carrying Ganesh. It might have been their attractive suits or impressive four-piece horn section that garnered a new level of showmanship. Whatever the reason, there was something particularly special about the evening and their return to play in front of a hometown crowd. The band opened with three back-to-back Fat City standards, "Cowgirl", "You're Fired" and "Sheep Skin" before letting the audience catch its breath from nonstop dancing and singing along. The set then weaved through the hopeful "The Love Song" and the heartbroken "Waste" that gave way to enthusiastic clapping from the entire crowd during "Same Old Song". And the lively "Cool Cat" even had some people swing dancing. The band demonstrated its unique ability to keep their listeners on a string, with songs ranging in topic and emotion and frequent shifts in rhythm, tempo, and spotlight. A feverish version of "Take Me Dancing" closed the night, turning the place into a high-spirited welcome back party. And for four guys who already had the reputation as one of Philadelphia's top rock acts, Fat City Reprise's commanding performance on Saturday proved that they are continuing to grow and evolve as a band. Let's see where their next step forward takes them. Fat City Reprise plays NORTH BY NORTHWEST with Grindcity on June 9, 7165 Germantown Ave

May 2, 2008 - Friday

No Sleep Til Philadelphia by Jaime Pannone of Deli Magazine

No Sleep Til' Philadelphia: Fat City Reprise Plays First Hometown Show After Extensive West Coast Tour If you're longing for a repeat performance of their February Khyber show or still watching reruns of Bobby's video blogs to get the latest California update…the wait is over. The guys from Fat City Reprise have parked at every Wal-Mart from here to Malibu, crossed the Arizona desert, dodged tornadoes in Oklahoma, and crossed 13 states in 32 hours to play their homecoming show this Saturday at the TLA --- and all you'll need to get there is SEPTA. They have journeyed through an impressive rock-n-roll odyssey, playing at the Roots pre-Grammy party, Whiskey-A-Go-Go, the Viper Room, and other legendary rock venues, in front of audiences that included Prince, Beyonce, and Corrine Bailey Rae. But don't expect celebrity and fame to change this South Philadelphia band, and hopefully it will never make them cut their hair. They are known for their brotherly camaraderie onstage and towards their fans as much as their musical virtuosity and energetic live shows. If this is your first Fat City Reprise show, you might get the feeling that you're at a family reunion with a mix of The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Black Crowes on the radio. Their loyal fan base is welcoming even to the newest concert-goer and prior to the show there is the sense that everyone is there to support the band and help in some capacity. And once they take the stage don't expect to be standing still for long. All four band members make sure the audience is engaged, entertained, and somewhere in between looking, listening, singing-along, and dancing during the show. Bass player, Mike Vivas, often plays his instrument behind his head and is a wind-up toy under the spell of drummer Jay Miraglia's beats. In between frontman Frankie Pedano's powerful and soulful vocal/keyboard arrangements and Nick Anastasi's Hendrix-inspired guitar solos, these guys find time to talk to each other and to the audience, ensuring the ultimate goal that everyone is having a good time. Don't be surprised if you're humming "Waste" or "Cowgirl" the whole way home and feel compelled to send them a MySpace picture of yourself in your new Fat City t-shirt. After your first show you'll understand that their most extraordinary and intangible quality is that people want them to succeed, and be there to watch it happen. Fat City Reprise heads to Hookaville in Thornville, Ohio on May 24 and is currently finishing a new EP. May 3 @ the TLA, 334 South St, doors open at 6:30pm. Also performing: Soraia, Burndown All-Stars, Adam Monaco, Stillicide, and 28 North

April 23, 2008 - Wednesday

Electoral Colleges and Nightcaps at Doc's
Current mood: Zen

So Pennsylvania's registered voters were called upon by their country to help decide who the Democratic Party would offer as their official Presidential candidate. In one corner, Barack Obama. In the other, Hillary Clinton. For one day, liberals across our vast state cast aside their "not Bush" style of voting and got down to the nitty gritty against each other. With shouts from both sides of what has your candidate even done as a Senator, lines were drawn in the sand and Hillary Clinton emerged victorious. We like to rock out with our Barack out, he's intelligent, well-spoken, and calling for some nice reform. When you talk about ending the war, reforming education, and creating jobs you are talking our jive. Crime is up because income is down, here in Philly we know this all too well. We were routing for you Barack, you can still do it man! But all that aside, we also vote "Not Bush" so hopefully all of us can get together and get all these war criminals back to civilian status. In lighter news, Doc Watson's was a whole fuck load of fun tonight, we kicked it with Stillicide until they melted our faces with rock and then we had to go home and recover. Thanks to Vince, Double V, and Doc's for the awesome time. It's almost TLA time, do you have your tickets because we are almost sold out! That's right, The TLA only holds 1000 people and tickets are currently running out. Get yours now by messaging us! See you soon, Fat City Reprise

April 12, 2008 - Saturday

Those Wedding Bells are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine

We just wanted to use this blog as a virtual toasting of glasses of alcoholic beverages to our brother Jaxon. As most of you know, our friend Jaxon is the evening rush hour DJ for 93.3 FM WMMR, Philly's biggest rock station. Jaxon has been more than a help to us over the years musically and he has also been one of our closest friends. In short, he's family. Today, April 12, 2008, Jaxon and his lovely lady Michelle tied the knot in front of their friends and family. To Jacko and Michelle, we wish you nothing but years and years of utter bliss and many congratulations to you both. We love you guys and are so happy you found each other. Michelle, we're sorry we've sent him home so drunk so many times, but at least we don't get him as drunk as Morgan, Lexi, Michael, and Stillicide :) Matrimonally Yours, Fat City Reprise PS May 3rd bitches

April 3, 2008 - Thursday

Requiem to the Teeth

Over the course of the last year, many of you have heard us talk about a Philly band that has been doing amazing things and making amazing music called The Teeth. These guys were probably the most intense quartet we have ever seen take the stage, seeing them live was a pleasure and a roller coaster. Their music was beautiful yet it smashed you in the face like a lead pipe. We are going to miss the Teeth and just wanted to publicly thank them for the music they’ve made. Seeing or listening to The Teeth always reminded us of the power of good music and the fun that music gives everyone. Thanks for the tunes guys. We hope that everyone who we told about the Teeth is kicking themselves in the ass for not getting out to see them live before they broke up. Take this as a reminder that live music only happens while it is being played and at any moment that might never happen again. Get out and see the music Philly has to offer! There are a million tight bands in this city and they need your support. Philly has to stand up for Philly’s music! Support your hometown. Fat City Reprise

March 24, 2008 - Monday

High Voltage Magazine features Fat City Reprise

Hey Everyone, Dig this swanky article. Make sure you leave them some comments on their site! Thanks guys :) Fat City Reprise PS Keep your eyes on the bulletins Philly...hint hint
from High Voltage: "Fat City Reprise: The Return of the Virtuoso Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t write music reviews. I’m a musician and writer, but I’ve always thought it a waste of time to comment on what anyone else was doing. But then along came this band, Fat City Reprise, who from out of nowhere (otherwise known as Philadelphia) blazed into Los Angeles and took us all by storm. And I had to sit up and shout, "Someone get me my laptop!" I have to tell the world that these guys are that good. Just when you thought virtuoso rock has been MIA since the 80s, here come the Fantastic Philly Four who are poised to wrestle the mainstream music scene back from kiddie pop and I-got-shot-in-da-club digital thumping. In fact, their sound is so unique, I’m having trouble classifying it. I’m tempted to say "Hard rock meets Honky Tonk" but that doesn’t really do it. There are traces of funk and Fats Domino and Led Zeppelin, but it’s re-imagined for the 21st century. You can dance your ass off to it, or just stand with your jaw on the floor as these guys turn their instruments into putty. Even those of us with serious rods up our patooties (like yours truly, when sober) can’t help but tap some body part along with the beat. And anyone with a trained ear will appreciate Fat City’s intensely rhythmic and original songwriting – not to mention the virtuosity of the performers." ...more article by clicking here :)

March 14, 2008 - Friday

Still Alive

Hey Everyone, Just letting you all know we are still alive over here. The West Coast pics are still coming, about 70 are up right now we think there are like 100 more. We are playing New York City on March 27th at the Bitter End at 11pm and don’t worry Philly, we ARE getting a Philly show together really soon. We’re also in The Studio mixing our EP this week and demoing five more new songs, popping up live at shows near you. We’ll see you guys at Doc’s on Saturday :) Fat City Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "Illadelph Halflife" By The Roots

February 28, 2008 - Thursday

D-Day +35 (Somewhere Over the Whisky Rainbow)

What a great night! We played the legendary Rainbow Bar and Grill at 9 tonight, which was amazing. It has a roped off section for the Hollywood Vampires, group that consisted of Alice Cooper, Keith Moon, Ringo, John Lennon, Mickey Dolenz, Harry Nilsson, and Keith Emerson. To get in the club you had to out drink them. We rolled out of there and took ten legendary steps down legendary Sunset Blvd from the legendary Rainbow to the legendary Whisky A Go Go for our headlining set. Thank to Selena for hooking up such a great show and to Matt for hooking up the sound. And of course thanks to all of our LA friends for coming out to see us. You guys forkin rock! And then to cap off the whole night, when we were pulling the RV out a little Toyota cut us off. The guy practically hit us coming out of a gas station, we all jumped up and started Yo Cuz-ing and Yo Bo-ing and cursing at him. And then we realized that it was Ron Jeremy. That's right, Ron Jeremy cut us off. What a town! The Countdown is On, Fat City Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "Disraeli Gears" By Cream February 27, 2008 - Wednesday

D-Day +34 (The Sun Sets and Rises Again)

Tonight was absolutely wonderful. The Kibitz room was on fire because it was Brendan from The Naked's birthday. There was all kinds of crazy M. Effers sitting on the seats and dancing on the chairs. The whole night was going spectacular, we met new people, made new friends, drank beers, ate corn, and watched The Naked kill their set. We started playing and the crowd was really digging it until all hell broke loose. Vivas broke Naked Mark's bass amp and when Mark tried to tell him it was ok, Vivas started getting cocky. Like really cocky! He grabbed what was left of Brendan's cake, lifted it over his head Moses style, and smashed it all over the concrete. And with one foul swoop, the Naked all piled on Vivas for Indian burns and noogies. None of that happened, well some of it did. Amps were broken, cakes were dropped, noogies were given, but none of it malicious or on purpose so it was very nice. After the show we went to Mark and Mark's house in Venice for tequila, Jameson, and acoustic Beatle jam circles. It was another night full of music and another one that ended with Nick and Frank eating guacamole bacon burgers at Carls Jr. at 9:30am. No wonder Biggie came back to Cali. See you soon Philly, Fat City Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "Songs from the Big Chair" By Tears For Fears

February 23, 2008 - Saturday

D-Day +29 (The Longest Yard)

Boring as ever today we creeped into the parking lot at Venice Beach for some empanadas and sleep. After staying up all night, and we mean all night with no sleep, we sat our asses in the sand by the Pacific Ocean and took power naps. After a short jaunt down the boardwalk we decided to pack it up and pack it in and head to the Malibu RV Park. This place really is spectacular. Not only do we get to plug our RV into the ground and get cable and electricity without burning any gas but the view is breath taking. It sits on top of a mountain over the Pacific Coast Highway an Pacific Ocean. We went food shopping so Mole Daddy had some raw materials to work with and bunked down for the night with Blue Harvest, the Family Guy Star Wars saga. Shit was like bomb bomb! Peace in the East, Rest in the West, Fat City Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "Alive & Amplified" By The Mooney Suzuki

February 22, 2008 - Friday

D-Day +28 (Vernacular? That’s a Derby!)

Our jams were canned last night as we were once again graced by Jaclyn and Chris with a Derby VIP Lounge show. Thanks so much you two, for making us feel at home and for setting up the show. Thanks to all of our LA fans who came out to the show and to all the new people we met, welcome to the family. It was a thrilling and stupendous evening that ended at 10am over breakfast on 1900 Sunset Blvd. See, what happened was Chris and Jaclyn invited us back to their house to jam with them and their friends. What we didn't know was that their house was a venerable Sam Ash full of gorgeous guitars, tablas, hand drums, key boards, and a big old PA. We jammed straight from 2:30am until 8:30am when we went to breakfast. EVERYONE! Check out Jaclyn and Chris from Can of Jam, they are on our top friends. If you are friends with us you will leave them a friend request with a comment saying you love them. Because if you loved us you would love them because we love them so much. It's a fairly simple line of thought :) Kisses, Fat CIty Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "A Hard Day's Night" By The Beatles

February 13, 2008 - Wednesday

D-Day +19 (Let’s Kibitz About Fake, I’m Psychic)

Hey Campers, Well we played Canter's Kibitz tonight and it was cock diesel. Thanks to Chelsea from High Voltage for setting everything up. It was a great evening of music in LA once again. Don't forget to tune in tomorrow, same Fat time same City channel for our how at the Cat Club. Love, Fat CIty Reprise


February 10, 2008 - Sunday

D-Day +16 (The 50th Annual Grammy Awards)

It just gets crazier. We went to the Grammy's today and it was a trip and a half. We got to meet some of the music acts we look up to and listen to the most like Big Boi from Outkast (Big Boi was cool as shit, he took the time to shake all of our hands and then took a picture. That dude is real, so awesome), Musiq Soulchild (Mike Lowe and Musiq have known each other forever, he's a big Naeemah fan in fact), and the Shins (oh we love those guys, and they were super cool too). We got to watch Beyonce and Tina Turner, Kanye West, and our favorite Jerry Lee Lewis along side Little Richard. Note to the public here, Little Richard blew every single performer straight off the stage and into their wet panties. The guy is like 80 and he sings like he is 15, plays like no one you have ever seen, and performs like a wild stallion. This guy was every piece of himself that Jimi, James Brown, Prince, and anyone else ever lifted from him. Incredible. We went to the official Grammy after party. There were tables and tables of food, each one from a different culture with a different cordial. We did about 100 shots of lemon cello at the Italian station. There were Cirque De Soleil performers on stations, human statues, mountains of shrimp, open bar everywhere with tequila ice luges, and Natasha Beddingfield and Cyndi Lauper performed. Cyndi slayed it, ripped it a new one. She was everything a Goonie could ever ask for. See you guys tomorrow for our first day off in a while. Who knows what hijinx will ensue! Love you all, Miss you Philly, Fat City Reprise


February 8, 2008 - Friday

D-Day +14 (The Whisky A Go-Go - FULL SONG INCLUDED)

Wikipedia says.... "The Whisky played an important role in many musical careers, especially for bands based in Southern California. The Byrds, Alice Cooper, Buffalo Springfield and Love were regulars, and The Doors were the house band for a while-- until the debut of the "Oedipal Section" of The End got them fired. Van Morrison's band Them had a two-week residency in June, 1966, with The Doors as the opening act. On the last night they all jammed together on Gloria . Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention got their record contract based on a performance at the Whisky. Jimi Hendrix came by to jam when Sam & Dave headlined. Otis Redding recorded his album In Person at the Whiskey a Go Go there in 1966. The Turtles performed there when their newest (and biggest-selling) single "Happy Together" was becoming a hit, only to lose their new bassist, Chip Douglas (who had arranged the song), to the Monkees; guitarist Michael Nesmith invited him to become their producer. (He returned to the Turtles a year later, to produce them.).Neil Diamond also played at the Whisky on occasion. Chicago Transit Authority (later Chicago) was also a house band until discovered by Jimi Hendrix and brought on tour in 1968. Many British performers made their first headlining performances in the area at the Whisky, including The Kinks, The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Roxy Music and Oasis. Dustin Hoffman's character 'Benjamin' can be seen running out of The Whisky in the 1967 film The Graduate. The Whisky was a focus of the emerging New Wave and punk rock movements in the late 1970s, and frequently presented local acts as diverse as The Germs, The Runaways, Quiet Riot, X, Mötley Crüe and Van Halen while playing host to early performances by the Ramones,The Dictators, The Misfits, Blondie, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, XTC and The Jam. A number of hard rock and metal bands, including Guns N' Roses and Metallica, rose to prominence in the 1980s. During the early 1990s, the Whisky hosted a number of Seattle-based musicians who would later be dubbed "the godfathers of grunge", including Soundgarden, Nirvana, Mudhoney, The Melvins, and 7 Year Bitch."
WE say... It was an honor to play the Whisky A Go Go, we absolutely loved it! You could feel the energy dripping down the walls and you can almost hear the screeches of Jim Morrison still echoing through the rafters. We feel blessed to have been able to rock the stage where some of the best have hung their hats and we couldn't have had a better time. Thanks Mike :) And here it is, live from the Whisky, Bobby will take you there right now... See you tomorrow for the Roots 5th Annual "Twas the Night Before the Grammys Jammys." Your Brothers in Ballin' Fat City Reprise


February 7, 2008 - Thursday

D-Day +13 (Ketchup and Liquor)

Hey Guys, So today...cough cough...Thursday Feb 7th was our first official day of tour. We spent the day riding through Burbank talking with some people from the writers guild. They allowed an exception for their strike to the Grammy's and the Recording Academy because they believe songwriters are losing their cut just like writers. On record, Fat City Reprise supports the struggles to receive payment for the work of all artists. A lot of artists don't get proper payment for their work and the business men clean up. Rock on strikers. We played the Derby tonight which was awesome as all hell. Thanks to Can of Jam, Jaclyn, Chris Ford, Mike Lowe, and everyone who came out to support. We wanted to get you guys some video but we weren't allowed to bring in a camera. We had a great show, made a whole bunch of new friends, and even got invited to a private party after. It was so exclusive that the windows were taped shut and you needed a password to get in. So Swingers it was ridiculous! We had the best time ever, shout out to Johnny White our new buddy from downtown. John, you're the man. We can't wait to play the Derby again. Much like Randy Newman, we love L.A. See you tomorrow at the Whisky, Fat City Reprise


February 6, 2008 - Wednesday

D-Day +12 (Slacking on the Blogs)

It's been the most ridiculous set of days in the history of time. I know we've been slacking on the blogs and all lately but the last few days have been the most hectic and intense of our lives. The blogs are coming we promise. This is the video blog from February 6th and the rest are going to keep coming as fast as we can get them. Take it away Bobbie. Fat City Reprise


February 5, 2008 - Tuesday

D-Day +11 (Lost in the Hills)

While the written blog and the video blog usually go hand in hand, today is going to be a little different. We have very good video of everything else that happened today but none of when we got lost so we will tell the story and leave out the rest of the day for you to hear from Bobbie. So we went to this RV park in Malibu for the night with full electrical and cable hook up. It was really amazing, we were on top of a mountain right over the Pacific Coast Highway with a full view of the Pacific Ocean. So on the way out we had to go drop off a few press packages and what nots so we took a right onto the PCH. We had to turn around so our GPS system tells us to make a right. We forgot that we had set it on avoid highways and it took us onto Winding Way. This is a road barely big enough to house our RV and extremely high in the mountains. We have no footage of it but it was some of the scariest and most scenic moments of our lives. We were thousands of feet above the Pacific Ocean with waterfalls and mansions as far as we could se, peppered into the mountains as if they were dropped there by helicopters. Unreal. Another great day, take it away Bob. Max Cherry, Fat City Reprise


February 4, 2008 - Monday

A Footnote in History: Grape Street Closes Its Doors

There are always different buildings that become associated with periods of your life. For us, there have been a lot of these, some still around and some are gone. When we lost 429 South Street, the building that housed Abilene's, where we began our acoustic weekly shows and worked and drank since we were 17, we were definitely melancholy for a long time. All of those years and friends were gone and homeless. We had to find a new home away from home where we could play, make friends, and gig with bands we loved. When we first played Grape Street we were all under 21 and had to sit on the bench the whole night. We heard load-in was at 8:00pm and showed up at 7:45pm to be punctual. That was August 2004 and from then until today we grew together with Grape Street. We went from a Wednesday to a Y-100 Tuesday to weekends, WMMR Thursdays, and our weekly Tuesdays. We played 45 consecutive Tuesdays. We came to be best friends with That Rob, Eddie, Billy, Frank Tucker, Drew, Franco, Steve, Steve Singer, Keith, Barb, Dave Quicks, Jaxon, Trish Long, Kristen, Marissa, Ashley, Rob, WMMR, Naeemah, The Celebrities, Head, Ike, Jealousy Curve, Stillicide, Preston Swift, Even the Res, Soraia, Anthony Renzulli Band, Mike Fitch, Dani Mari, Dephonic, Noveau Riche, Josh Kruse, Mikey Potatoes, Franklin Bridge, Adam Monaco, Souls on Ice, Burndown, Chili Stu, Monster Hands, and all the bands and people we ever met or played with there. We had a million nights of a million memories at 4100 Main Street. And even though the building is gone and its doors are closed, it's the people who matter. The people who were in the building are the real thing we will miss and we hope that all the people we ever met there will keep in touch and we'll see them at whatever new building becomes the new place. Thanks Grape Street, we'll never forget the love we felt there and the shows we played. Sincerely, Fat City Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "Life After Death" By The Notorious B.I.G.

February 3, 2008 - Sunday

D-Day +9 (Fred Barney Rumble)

Thank God someone took down the New England Patriots and smacked that ccky look off of their face with a freshly won Lombardi trophy! We never thought we would say this but go Giants! We spent the entire day trying to hone in a signal to see the Superbowl and laugh at the commercials but all we could get was colored fuzz. We're spending the next few days in Malibu and Venice Beach, booking shows and hanging out. We've got the big string of shows coming up, we're real excited. Miss you Philly, Fat City Reprise


February 1, 2008 - Friday

D-Day +7 (Strange Days and New Happenings)

Another day spent on Hollywood Blvd pulled in another ridiculous series of costumes, characters, and insanity. On any given day the whole street is flooded with freaks and geeks dressed as every movie icon imaginable. The flood of faces was never ending and constantly evolving. After successfully navigating the terrain of a 3-D Sgt. Pepper cover of characters, we were about to head over to Ron Jeremy's book signing when we got a message from our friend Jessica. She said there was a band who had cancelled at the Good Hurt in Venice and that we should play. A few phone calls later and we were rocking our first L.A. show. It was a great time, thanks to everyone at the Gurt (hu hu, gertner) for a great time out and for a great first show. We're absolutely in love with paradise and there is no way to ever express how much we love California. We might have to drop ye olde anchor. Love Fat City Reprise


January 31, 2008 - Thursday

D-Day+6 (Holloway Motel Peenyo Poppers) Blood was boiling on Hollywood Blvd when we hit the street yesterday. With top Democratic representatives like Obama and Hillary in town, the streets were a mob with people protesting everything. Protesting the war, protesting the torture of prisoners, torture of the American people, military state, invasion of privacy, the depreciation of the dollar, and even protesting protesting. Apparently a huge chunk of people are unhappy with the way that the government has been treating them and their fellow countrymen and women and they are a little agitated about it. Imagine that! In other news, the sky was officially pronounced blue today, ending a 20 year and 20 billion dollar research project on the subject. We had a great evening, thanks to Chelsea from High Voltage for inviting us out to Kibitz's on Fairfax for a little nosh and some cold beer. The music was slamming and we bumped and bobbed all night long. We made out way back to our motel where we are holed up awaiting our first gig at the Airliner tomorrow afternoon. We'll see you fuckers there! L.A. is totally pimping and we cannot express enough that we are in love with this place. It's about time to show L.A. what we can do. Maybe they'll ask us to stay :)


January 30, 2008 - Wednesday

D-Day+5 (Vivas Edits the Video, That's Why It Never Makes Fun of Him)

Hola Broski's Just kidding, we're still yo cuzzing and yo bo-ing around L.A. and representing Philly as hard as we can. Yesterday we slept in the sun and lazily walked up and down the Sunset Strip, enjoying the weather. There is something magical about all the trees being palm trees. Just seeing the general disposition of the public as they meander through the Lots of things get done but there's not so much of a rush. Why rush when there's a beautiful mountain of trees and mansions to your right and a valley of gorgeous twinkling city lights to your left? We went to the Viper Room for a walk through last night and it was awesome. It came on the tail end of our visit to Fatburger, which was delicious as well as nutritious. We have officially begun to learn our way around West Hollywood, even though that's the only place we've really been to so far. We were going to go to the Key Club but the line was two L.A. blocks long. They better be giving out tickets to Disney World if we're going to wait in line for two hours, that i some bullshit. What could possibly be going on inside of that club that is worth that line? Everyone is really cold here but it's only about 50 degrees at it's coldest. They have winter coats on and are shivering but we are walking around with no jacket because it is beautiful here. We love this. We're going to the Whisky tonight, you should come hang out! Love, Fat City Reprise


January 29th, 2008 - Tuesday

D-Day+4 (Whisky and Salt, Hold the Glass)

Hey Kids, So we had our first full day in Los Angeles today and it was all of the things we always thought it would be. We got to wake up right on beautiful Sunset Blvd with the sun in our eyes and the cool breeze in our hair. We walked the length of the street, a feat everyone seems to scoff at here. When we say we are walking somewhere everyone laughs at us but we can walk places and we will. We went ot the taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live with special guest Nikki Taylor who everyone remembers being hot as hell especially on those Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editions. It was a great time and the warm up comic, Don Barris from Windy City Heat, was amazing too. He invited the whole audience to his set at the Comedy Store, which is a famous stand up venue right on Sunset Strip. We started our LA nightlife with a trip to the legendary Whisky A Go-Go, the place that housed the Doors, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Chicago, and everyone else ever. The sound guy played our CD on the speakers. Three Fat City songs blared into the Whisky a mere 20 hours after we arrived here. We left the Whisky to catch Don at the Comedy Store where we were included in his stand-up as part of a lesson. He was trying to tell an aspiring comic to go for it and work out his routine and be in LA every Monday doing stand-up and trying harder. He told him to take chicken shit and turn it into chicken salad. It was an honor to be included as examples in the type of lesson being taught. We had a great time, laughed our asses off, and went back to Food for Less and took a nap. Tonight's plan.....more shenanigans! Bobbie.....prick! Love you, Fat City Reprise 1-877-468-5874 call that shit


January 27th, 2008 - Sunday

D-Day+2 (Chipped Shoulders and the Police)

Well it turns out that D-Day +2 was our first official day of tour since it brought seven new states, our first official pee pee dump, 1200 more miles, and of course our first run in with police. It turns out Arkansas police officers are reasonably generous with letting people go and they like rock music. We gave our new friend, Trooper Joe, a Fat City CD on the promise it "wasn't any of that hard shit." When we cracked into New Mexico, a state we didn't expect to see for two more days, we knew that Frank was no longer a little girl, but he was a little woman. An unexpected rain in the desert later and we had to pull into a rest stop that was more like a gravel pit. We've been eating Wendy's and McDonald's because we don't want to dilly dally with sit down meals, we need the Pacific Ocean in our faces. The second we passed Texas it became clear to everyone that there was no turning back now, fuck no not today thank you kindly. We are like a monster reincarnation of the Doors, men on the move and just sick enough to make it. There is something oddly soothing about flying down a desolate desert highway with an RV full of musical instruments and a bag of songs about loving each other and living your dreams. As always, touring and recording have made us feel exactly where and how we should the last month, thanks to Mike Lowe and God everything is just right. We have the guarantee of Frankie Trucks that we make it to West Hollywood by the end of the night on D-Day+3. Ike would have been proud. All you California kids better save us a piece of that karn too! Top of the Karnin' to Ya! Fat City Reprise


January 25, 2008 - Friday

D-Day (Frank the Beast)

We are writing from Greensboro, North Carolina. Frankie drove straight from our awesome show in NYC at Midway to here. It is noon and we are delirious. We are going to bed right now and more details will arrive at a later time. We already miss home but we can't wait to get out of this cold weather. Thanks to everyone for coming to the hspow and thanks to Universal Motown for setting it all up. Today's Fat City Special was Chex Mix and Gatorade. Yum. Much Love, Fat City Reprise
We are writing from Greensboro, North Carolina. Frankie drove straight from our awesome show in NYC at Midway to here. It is noon and we are delirious. We are going to bed right now and more details will arrive at a later time. We already miss home but we can't wait to get out of this cold weather. Thanks to everyone for coming to the hspow and thanks to Universal Motown for setting it all up. Today's Fat City Special was Chex Mix and Gatorade. Yum. Much Love, Fat City Reprise


January 23, 2008 - Wednesday

(Let the Games Begin!)

Hey Everyone, Our show last night at Doc Watson's will forever go down as one of our favorite and most cherished Fat City moments. Thanks to WMMR, Jaxon, Tricia Long, Rob Ashley, Doc Watson's, Vince, Double V Booking, Stillicide, Diet Kong, Ike, Head, Even the Res, Whiskey Train, Distant Orange, Phantasm, Emotron, and all of our other friends who made the night absolutely wonderful. Doc's is the place where Fat City Reprise was born, it's the only Philly club we could have played our send off show before California at and the only night we'd want to do it was WMMR night so it ended up being perfect. And to all of our fans, old and new, you guys are the reason we're still around. Without your love and support Fat City Reprise would have ended before it started. So it is for you guys that we go out there and try to kick the largest amount of ass possible. Best night ever. And now men we come to the battle at hand. Today, January 23rd, 2008, is D-Day minus two. We embark on our tour on January 25th, 2008. The code for the operations of that day is D-Day. Everyday after that will be represented in terms of D-Day (D-Day +8 is Feb 2nd at the Airliner). The RV is lubed, improved, and ready to groove. Frankie has his driving face on and we're just a mere 48 hours away from day one of the tour. D-Day will begin when we land on the beach head at Avenue B in New York City where we'll be playing Club Midway at 10:30pm. And then as soon as we are loaded up it is straight on into frantic oblivion, down I-95 to the South and straight across to gold nuggets and saline breast implants. We'll be writing a blog everyday from now on and it is going to be a long seven weeks or so but we promise to keep healthy, stay safe, and webcast and blog. Time for real life Oregon Trail in real time!!!!!! See you on the road and hello California! Fat City Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: Music From The Motion Picture" By Various Artists

January 19, 2008 - Saturday

Counting the Days (New RV Vid Inside)

Wonderful evening we had last night wasn't it?!! Thanks to Spanish Blue, Dialects, and the Hustle for letting us on the bill and for sharing the stage. What an honor to be part of such a line-up! And thanks to everyone for coming out to support because it was a fantastic showing and we felt the love times ten. Well we are shoving off on Friday right after our New York City show. We can't wait to leave and yes we miss home already but so is the life of the traveling salesmen. We'll see all you Philly cats at our send off show at Doc Watson's on Jan 22nd. Be there or don't get to say goodbye because we...are...out of here! Love, Fat City Reprise


January 15, 2008 - Tuesday

Dreams of Californication

Hey Kiddies Things are really heating up over here. We got our Grammy tickets, we got our new shows at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go and the World Famous Viper Room in West Hollywood, and our bags and RV are just about packed. All that is left is this Friday at the Khyber. It's Tina Kelly's Birthday Bash so everyone better be there to wish Tina a Happy 23rd. Then its an MMR night at Doc Watson's and a last minute New York show away from California. We'll be shoving off for that sweet manifest destiny as soon as we are all done at Club Midway on the 25th and plan to pull into Venice Beach for a little tanning by January 31st. Ballin Daddy, straight ballin. Peace and Grease, Fat City Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "Magical Mystery Tour" By The Beatles

January 1, 2008 - Tuesday

Goodbye 2007: A Year in Review

Hello Children, What a difference three hundred and sixty five days makes! January last year, our first show of 2007 was Music for Megan. It was us, Pepper's Ghost, Pawnshop Roses, and our buddies Jealousy Curve. We felt like freshmen finally getting to sit with the seniors at lunch. It was a wonderful way to start a wonderful year. A few Grape Street Tuesdays later and our MySpace got deleted. We played the Trocadero on January 26th and then it was February 2nd, when we got to play the Spectrum during the Phantoms game. It was a dream come true to play our set on the same ice that the Flyers beat the Russians on, that Rocky knocked out Apollo Creed on, where the boards went down everytime Dr. J sunk a basket in someones face. For four South Philly boys, it couldn't get much better but it continually did. Every month brought a new amazing thing. On March 17th for our one year anniversary with Jay and Mike, we shoveled half of Passyunk Avenue by hand with borrowed shovels just to do our outside Philadelphia show and then drove straight to New York City to rock Arlene's Grocery for the first time, another goal of ours for a long time. April brought more Tuesdays and more double headers. On April 14th we returned to Doc Watson's, the place where we played our first show ever as Fat City Reprise. The original sticker is still on the wall, it's big, yellow, ugly, plain, and awesome. Dewey Beach Pop Fest and the Rotunda with J Curve and Ike came in April too, two great days. May brought the Hightide Jam Fest and another dream come true when we played outside at LOVE Park. May 18th was our 21 and over album release party which was a blast. It was our first full length album, we got to master it at Sony Studios, New York City right down the hall from where Kanye was cutting Late Registration with the very man who worked with Biggie, Diddy, and mastered Stankonia by the Outkast: Mr. Dave Kutch. We got to record it in a world class studio with a Hammond and a Leslie, a beautiful Steinway piano, a '68 Marshall, an SSL, and all sorts of other toys. Right down the hall from where the Roots were finishing up Game Theory, we were working on our album with our engineer and boy Jim Bottari. Thanks to Dave, Jim, Larry Gold, and of course the most honorable Mike Lowe for the album recording experience of a lifetime. June brought our all ages album release at the TLA. Another amazing day and a dream, to relase our album with a TLA show. We played many a Tuesday and many a weekend Grape Street show throughout June and July. We got another dream to come true when we played downstairs at the World Cafe Live for the first time July 15th. We also played the shit out of New York City this summer. We played the Bitter End, Knitting Factory, Piano's, Arlene's Grocery, Fat Baby, Mercury Lounge, Club Midway, The Annex, and Lion's Den. New York City became our second home this year, we even know how to get into the city through the Goethals, Verrazano, B-Q-E, Manhatten Bridge route. July 24th brought the last Grape Street Tuesday night rock show for us. Again, thanks to the Grape and all the bands who played night after night to packed houses and some nights for us and Eddie. Forty-five weeks in a row we did those Tuesdays, they were some of the best nights of our lives. We can't thank everyone enough for all of their love and support and for making it all happen. August was the beginning of our new lives without Tuesdays. We started with a bang by opening for Paolo Nutini at the Borgata. We got to go to Las Vegas to get really drunk for three days for free. We didn't make it to the airwaves on the first episode of Fox's Next Great American Band but it's cool, we got to go to Vegas for free and we met our friends the Queue, who were part of our motivation for planning our Midwest tour. We played some more New York shows and then another dream, the Electric Factory. September brought us opening for Hanson at the Electric Factory to a crowd of 4000+. The list of names who have brought down the house at the Electric Factory is rock and roll royalty. Thanks to T.J., Brian Dilworth, and Mike Lowe for making our 2007 spectacular with that one. September also brought us to our first show on the other side of the Appalachians in Cincinnati and our Class A Motorhome/Pimp-mobile Janine. Thanks again Mike. We took her to Dewey Beach for the Music Conference and then to Cincy for Midpoint Music Festival and she was broken in and ready for October. October brought the airing of our CBS Sunday kickoff show and our ABC special. We played some Philly and New York shows and thus began the Midwest tour. Talk about dreams coming true, we went to Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. We have never seen any of the things we saw on tour and now we have a third home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Thanks to Mike Lowe, The Queue, The Orange Opera, Mindy, Nina and the girls, TRAPPER!, the Appleton Hooters staff, the bonfire kids from Stevens Point and Waupaca, R2-Wal2, Junebug and Nate, Liz and the whole Granville crew, Elle in Chicago, Lindsay at the Doobie, MidCity Grille, Renee from Omaha, and everyone who we forgot because we had too much fun tonight and those nights. It was the best three weeks ever, we finally got to go on a real tour and everywhere we went was amazing. We did our after Thanksgiving TLA show and rocked and rolled to the Khyber for the first time. That and the Fire were two more rooms we always wanted to play and got to play there this year. We played World Cafe Live with the most esteemed company of J Curve and Ike. It was an honor to be on the show just like it was an honor to get to play the Mercury Lounge this year, and Doc Watson's with the lovely Orange Opera. Which brings us to New Year's Eve at the Bitter End in New York City. At the stroke of midnight last year we all agreed we wanted to play the Bitter End on New Year's Eve and we made it. We ended the year as we began it, like little kids at the cool kids table in New York City. The Bitter End was insane, balloons, champagne, crazy hats, fights, making out, dancing on tables, throwing up, eating.....if you missed it you seriously should feel guilty. Like real good old fashioned Catholic guilt because it was the best time ever and we will never do another bus trip again. Thanks to our bus-cateers for braving into the best place to be on New Year's Eve. Thanks to Paul, Kelly, Karen, and everyone else at the Bitter End for making us feel so welcome since day one and for always taking care of us. We promise to remember cheesesteaks one day Paul, we swear. 2007 was the best year ever and 2008 is ready to top it. We are going back into the studio this month to record some new stuff, including The Love Song. We're also editing some video for a DVD of our first tour with behind the scenes footage of shows and parties and lots of driving. We're filming for a music video for one of our songs too that our friend Cesar is working on also. And then we're going to California to meet some new people and play some shows in San Diego and LA. It's going to be spectacular and we're looking forward to writing this blog for years to come. Thanks for still caring everyone, we love you all. And thanks to God for giving us all of this, and for giving us Mike Lowe. Thanks Mike, you're the best. Love you guys, Happy New Year! Fat City Reprise CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: "Golden Slippers" By Various Artists