The Monday after the Tempe Block Party, you would be within your rights to scratch your head and ask "Did that really happen?" And duly, "Did John Popper (of Blues Traveler), Shurman and Jono Manson fly in to play a free show with free food and drink in an apartment complex on South Terrace Road?"
The answer to all three would be yes, thanks to the generosity of the new apartment owners, and if you missed this seeming mirage of a live event, The Serene Dominic Show will recreate some of the magic and the madness that comes from having too much of a good time. (Parts 3 & 4, featuring Shurman and John Popper will be posted later in the week, after we've cleared it with their legal team. Ha! No seriously, Popper Aaron Beavers of Shurman were feeling no pain. Stay tuned for that out -of-control vidcast, with Popper practically running the Road Booty proceedings!)
In part one, I visit with my dear old friend Jono Manson. Anyone who lived in New York in the Eighties and stepped out of their house for firewater on a weekend knows Jono on a first-name basis. His bands Joey Miserable and the Worms and the Mighty Sweetones ruled Saturday nights, achieving legendary Big Apple status without a record deal but with a following that people with a two-figure record deal would kill for.
Acknowledged by many as "The Godfather of the NYC music scene" that spawned a horde of bands from Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, and the Joan Osborne Band (and much much lower on the list, one chap named Serene Dominic), Manson's resume continues to bloom. He's the only musician in the world who can claim to be cinematically featured in both The Postman and Kingpin. I wrote about him in 1995 with the release of The Jono Manson Band album, Almost Home. Since then, he's continued performing solo and in various group projects and ventured into production (the Blues Traveler side project John Popper and the Duskray Troubadours in which he also performs being one of the most recent).
In Part 1, Serene worships at Jono's feet, Serene Dominic Jr™, (freed from operating the kid cam from last episode), interrupts the proceedings with a very important announcement, and Jono favors us with a Direct-to-You Performance™ tune from his well-worn Gibson.
In part 2 Jono plays The Lightning Round™, so often copied but rarely duplicated. "Tempe Block Party" or "Blocked Artery"--the choice is yours.
"Direct-to-You Performance™," "The Lightning Round™" and "Serene Dominic Jr™" are all registered trademarks.
