Hockey night in Hartford (Bobcat hockey, that is)

Scored some Quinnipiac v Harvard hockey tickets from Jimmyk and invited Johnny Gumbo to come along. Can't get there too early, so we parked along Bushnell Park and sauntered up Ann Street to Tapas for a pre-faceoff drink - Stella for me, Newcastle for Gumbo. Lots of construction around the Civic Center with the tearing down of the mall, replacing it with high-end, high-rise apartments and retail space. But we finally negotiate our way through the build-out maze up to the GMAC corporate box where our host is Ed Sweeney, '88 QU hockey captain, who played in the alumni contest earlier in the day. A very entertaining game before an enthusiastic crowd of about 5,000. The Bobcats (nee Braves) STUN the Crimson (was Tommy James from Harvard?) 5-2 in their virgin ECAC match!!!

What better way to celebrate such an IMPORTANT win than a walk down to Blackeyed Sally's for a nightcap and some good music. The doorguy, once he was able to unglue his eyes from the entering talent, informed us that the Savage Brothers Band, with complete horn section, would be going on presently. We, no fools, quickly added another half hour and felt it was still okay - we'd commit. The 'Bros finally take the stage and go non-stop for the next hour-plus until we decide to call it a night. No original material in the songlist, but a great selection of songs played in a tight, funky manner to a crowd that most likely has seen them quite often if we observe correctly. The list: Starting with two Stevie Wonder songs (we thought it might be a tribute concert for a moment) - Very Superstitious and (I forgot, must ask Gumbo), Sam & Dave's Hold On, Wild Cherry's Play That Funky Music, White Boy, Santana's Oye Como VA (sounding very Iguanas-like), Tower of Power's What Is Hip? and ending with Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On (great song, also done by Jack Black on the VERY fine Hi-Fidelity soundtrack). I've missed some, wil fill in after consulting with Gumbo.

Listened to Al Anderson's Pay Before You Pump on the way home and Gumbo recognized one of Al's songs having been recorded by zydecat Wayne Toups. Later.