Full Circle

Friday night things came full circle (sort of) when the Hank Band opened for the Puke at RePunk 2, held at Manny Theiner's Garfield Artworks. After a short set by Tom Moran and his wife Stephanie Vargo of the Deliberate Strangers (backed by myself on drums), the Hank Band (Hank, Jim, Mark Gaudio, and me) played a 25 minute set warming up the "crowd" for the much-anticipated Puke reunion.

Original members Bill "Bored" Von Hagen (on laptop PC) and Kim "Pat D. Hearse" Walters (on acoustic guitar) were joined by Kim's mother (on harmonium), who took the place of the late Joe "Barney Scum" Wargo. Their 5-minute set started with "When I Get Bored I Play One Chord" with guest vocalist Larry Rippel. Jim Bird then made a surprise appearance by sitting in to sing "You Piss Me Off". Fun was had by all.

The Hank Band added an extended psychedelic improvisation based on (the late) Harry Wagner's "Holiday in Pittsburgh" and a cover of the Jam's "Funeral Pyre" to several of Hank's standards.

The Deliberate Strangers were joined by Bill Loiselle's daughter Cassie, making her first public appearance playing acoustic guitar on Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot".