Line Up:
-
Mike Gibbins (drums/vocals)
- and friends:
-
Allen Hewgley (music archivist)
Jack West
Greg Loxley
Gary Redwine
Glen Vandervort
-
Here is a fans account of Mikes first Solo outing. Many
thanks to Randy Justesen and Dave Amara.
ORIGINAL STORY 4-12-99:
I had the great pleasure of watching
the performance of Mike Gibbins and his band perform in Casselbury, FL
on Saturday April 10th. Ron Griffiths flew in from England to
play bass in what became a Ivey's/Badfinger reunion of sorts.
Another English band member who beefed up the all-star line up was UFO
guitarist Paul Chapman. It was a powerful full sounding 8 piece
band. They had a strong rhythm section with two drummers.
Opening the show with Sue Me from Mike's debut solo CD Mike started on
the drums and eventually jumped down to center stage where he lead the
band as the front man. Sue Me was one of the highlights of the
set! I have to say, Mike looked great, sang great, and was an
overall blast to watch perform. Ron Griffiths was also in top
form. He looked great, played excellent, and was very
entertaining with expressions and moves reminiscent of the "Maybe
Tomorrow" footage off the Badfinger video documentary by Gary
Katz. Another highlight was when they played Come and Get It
which Ron sang. Ron was right on the money and sounded
right at home while he effortlessly played and sang through the hit
McCartney song he recorded with the band. The Layaway song was
also another highlight of the show, mostly because it is one of Mike's
strongest songs. They played No Matter What and Day After Day
which were sung by a very good guest musician (I can't remember who he
was, local Florida guy I think). They were performed well, but I
told Mike I would have rather heard him or Ron sing them. He
told me he could not hit the notes so he did not want to sing them.
I really think he could pull them off great as he has his own style
and sings great to me. In summary I have to say it was an
incredible thrill watching a couple of my favorite musicians rocking
out who still looked and played in top form. I video taped the
performance and took a roll of film from which I have posted a few
pictures on this page. Fellow Badfinger Internet fans who made
it to and met at the show were; John Nelson and Dave Amara. We
were also quite honored to hang out, chat, and sip some cool drinks in
the Florida heat for a few hours after the show with our favorite
musicians!
IN GENERAL/AFTERTHOUGHTS/
Mike Gibbins put together a really
great band for his solo artist debut show this past April 10 in
Casselbury Florida. Billed as Madfinger with special guest and former
band mate Ron Griffiths, the band's performance was powerful and very
satisfying for the audience. Also playing that day were Modern
English and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, among others. Below are a
few of the photos of the day. After the show Mike and Ron
graciously hung out with some of us die hard fans and we all chatted
about everything under the sun. They were both friendly, told
stories, watched the other bands, and generally just had a good time
hanging out after a great show! Great guys and great musicians
who brought a lot of joy into peoples lives over the years with their
music! As you can see it was clear blue skies and about 90
degrees out so it was pretty much a picture perfect day!
Madfinger played what I believe was the title song off his upcoming
album called "More Annoying Songs". It was a rocker
with great hooks and great lyrics. With an 8 piece band powering
the sound the music came across very big! They
played 3 songs off "A Place In Time," a couple off Mike's
"More Annoying Songs," 3 Badfinger songs, and ended with a
Jeff Beck song if I recall it right! They had a very good guest
vocalist come up to sing Baby Blue and Day After Day while Ron
Griffiths stole the Badfinger part of the show singing Come and Get
It! Not surprising, Mike sang and played great! He had no
trouble coming off the drums for a number of songs to do the front man
lead singer role showing his charm and charisma which added to a very
memorable show! I can hardly wait for another show!!! I
hope this is just the 1st of many!
Home
