Sarah gives Apple Fest a definite maybe.....

Under relentless pressure from Johnny Ryan to commit to playing this Fall's Southington Apple Harvest Festival, Sarah Borges graciously gave her best "Yeah, let's see what we can do about it" last night prior to performing at Cafe Nine in New Haven.

And there was PLENTY of time for such negotiations because Diamond J and the Rough, an assemblage of eight that seemed like eighty, took over an hour to set up equipment for their opening act. Even Kerouac, looking down on us from above the bar, looked beat (sorry). Unfortunately, good does not always come to those who wait. DJ&TR gave us waiters (and waitresses??) loud, plodding, mediocre country rock, while being heckled by SOMEONE in the crowd (we won't mention Johnny Gumbo for fear of retaliation) who kept yelling "Yeah, one more!" after the FIRST song! DJ was not amused. We were.

The evening started early, the full compliment of hotkennedys (plus Aaron) cruising down I91 listening to the Yankees trying to beat up on Anna Benson's husband, yet only scoring one run in the first inning despite crushing the ball. So we parked (deftly) and left Chien-Ming Wang to protect the 1-0 lead (he didn't). Happy Hour was in progress as we grabbed a good viewing table next to the bar. Hey, look at that guy's Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols shirt! Well, the guy, Andy Gray, a weathered 50-something, was suddenly on stage treating us to a very tasty set of accoustic Pistols, Clash, Sublime, Who, etc. He has been doing the Friday night happy hour gig for the month of April, according to Cafe Nine's website. Keith/Sharie can't make it, Trish/George have to deal with a migraine, Johnny/Mary show up fashionably late.

Sarah and the boys (no mention of the "Broken Singles") finally took the stage just before 11:30 and played for about an hour, showcasing her Silver City stuff, but also mixing in a generous selection of songs I had not heard from her before, including a very nice Charlie Pride number. The bandsmen (Binky on bass, Rob Dulaney on drums, Mike Castellana on guitar/pedal steel) were in good form and seemed to be enjoying themselves, with Southington native Binky acknowledging Aaron's frequent "Yo, Binky!" yells after each song. Aaron and G-Man had been chatting earlier with The Binkster.

With the set over to a rousing applause, but no encore, we settled the tab with our very nice waitress (The Reet's assessment)and headed out to the street where we again chatted with Binky (suggesting to him that Jake Brennan play The Nine) and Sarah (telling her we may see her in May at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge) before piling into the car, Reet at the wheel, for the SLOW trip home. Good show. These late nights kill me. I'm going back to bed.

Awake again. I screwed up again by not using the cell camera to snap some pics, but I vow to figure it out soon. Borges 'N Boyz played at the Narrows Center for the Arts (prior review) in Fall River (close to Sarah's "Silver City" hometown of Taunton, MA) on Saturday night. It's a great venue and Stephen Louis Hug does good recap of the shows, with photos, on his blog. I will link to that review as soon as it appears on their site. HERE!