6/19 HOB Show

[ingt]

thanks Leslie!! awesome stuff

[rockfan]

So many shows, so little time to post. I've taken tons of pics and lots
of video from each show. I'll be posting them ASAP when I get home.

[cfbj01]

Hello everyone
I just got home. The weekend was great.
The HOB's show was just like leslie posted. The band was awesome and the songs, both old and new fantastic.
No camera at the HOB, so no pics from me but I'll try and post a few from the other events that I made it to.

[Cindy]

Great to hear from those of you at the shows this weekend. Please do post your goodies when you can. Anything really nice that you want to send to use on Marty's site on the photo galleries page, please email to me at [e-mail]

Thanks!

[jupiterjane]

HI Everyone! I am whooped after this weekend. I promise, I took off tomorrow to recooperate, so I will try to get everything uploaded and up...I know how hard it is to wait to see our guys!

Here are some pics from the Freedom Rally in Marseilles, IL on Saturday, June 21, 2009. I've also included a clip of "Ring of Fire". I had to shoot in Night Setting most of the night because the fog machines and lighting made it difficult to get good shots. I also apologize for anything out of focus while I did video- the humidity was tormenting my auto focus. Forunately, I think the audio remained pretty true. Enjoy and sweet Lovehammer Dreams!

Since it is so late, please forgive me....I'm just going to include the link to where I posted this on the LH board!

lovehammersforum.com/index.php?showtopic=7808

[BBE]

WOW!!!!! What a great weekend!!!!
I am totally wiped out--can hardly keep my eyes open. I had less than 3 hours of sleep last night. I'll post reviews and photos as soon as I can.

"Your Time, My Time" has gone earworm and burrowed into my brain!

"Heavy Crown" (the song)--they played it only once this weekend, at HOB, but it made me cry.

They played "Hunt" at HOB!!!! Never thought I'd hear that one live!

OK, time for zzzz.

[BBE]

Jun 20, 2009 11:19:51 GMT -5 Missjanell2u said:

Thank you Leslie for the update. I was dying here!!! They did not peform clouds??!

Janell

Janell, they played Clouds at the motorcycle rally show and at BAM Fest.

[starcrossed]

Awesome reviews and picture's!!! Thank you for sharing with us everyone

[Missjanell2u]

Jun 22, 2009 1:52:45 GMT -5 BBE said:

Jun 20, 2009 11:19:51 GMT -5 Missjanell2u said:

Thank you Leslie for the update. I was dying here!!! They did not peform clouds??!

Janell

Janell, they played Clouds at the motorcycle rally show and at BAM Fest.

Thanks Nancy!! So glad to hear you had a great weekend, can't wait to hear details and see pics.

Janell

[jillywilly65]

Thanks JJane for sharing those pics and the video...
Its so very appreciated.

[bostongirl]

I am so blown away at what I saw this weekend, I want to try to capture it while it is still fresh.

I want to say to each and every fan, if you think you know the band Lovehammers, THINK AGAIN!!! These guys have taken a monumental step forward in their craft and it is spectacular to watch. The diversity in type of music is fun and each band member has brought a new edge and more depth to the table. I was in awe all weekend. Everyone needs to take a leap of faith and order the cd. You will not believe your ears.

Ok, now for the story. Friday was a day of challenges that lead up to the show. I took the red eye in from LA and landed a bit tired but excited. I was waiting to meet other fans at the airport when a storm came through the airport that definitely rivaled some Florida hurricanes that I have witnessed. OMG!!! OHare had to evacuate the tour b/c of tornado warnings. Friends were diverted to other airports and the texts and calls started coming. In the end, my friends made it in time for the show. We did miss the pre-party but given the circumstances we were all grateful to be there for the show.

I always end up in front, even when I don¡¦t try. And as always want to thank the kindness and generosity of folks who continue to open the path and tell me to move forward so I can see. I was at the fence behind two fans from Canada who have been on the boards for years but this was their first show. Marty was all over the fence where they were for the night and at one time sat down on the fence beside them singing. They are still a little speechless. I do think we will be seeing them on the boards and at more shows!! I will let them call out and intro themselves on the Newbie thread. After all, it is their story to tell.

The show was a really cool mix of old and new. But the old was new too. Cousin Bill was on the rhythm guitar which freed Billy up for what I have to say was the best treat of the evening. I have seen a lot of shows over the last few years but I have never seen Billy play like this. He was off the charts AMAZING. They changed up the intro to some songs, added new riffs, and Mr. Sawilchik dazzled us with many solos. And I mean dazzle. I have never seen him play with the passion and skill as he did this weekend. It made the old songs fresh and new. I hope that they make this 5th LH a permanent position b/c it has made a huge difference in freeing Billy to soar!!!! I really loved that they played songs not often previously played, including Clinic. Funny personal story about that song, but will save it for the Sunday shows story.

The new songs that we heard are each very distinctive. It only took two performances of Black Angel, My Time Your Time, and Oh My Baby for them to get embedded forever in my brain. Heavy Crown is breath taking. It caught me off guard and left me in a puddle. So let me warn you all, it is gut wrenching. Break out a new box of tissues before you listen.

Btw - Did I mention that Bobby came out shirtless?

Dino - was the happiest man alive Friday night. And was really tearing it up!!!! He was so engaged in the show and with the fans. It was fun to watch.

Marty - Let me try to stay objective about this,,,, Never mind. What's the point??? He looked like he was having the time of his life and he delivered a performance for us all to remember. The Mad Conductor is BACK!!!!! He lit up that stage and demanded every single person's attention and participation. His vocals were terrific and his humor as sharp as it has ever been. And he looked terrific!!!! I do have a small question about the fuzzy tail dangling in the back that I forgot to ask him about, but other than that, wow!!! (you know how he sometimes will put a tie in the back belt loops and tie it?, well he had some odd belt like thing with many strands hanging down - when he did his dancing, jumping thing it looked like a tail swishing in the back - lol. Awe Marty, just teasing ) He was just ELECTRIC and it was a pleasure to watch.

After the show was the after party at Angels and Kings. It was a really cool place and much more conducive to meeting up and chatting than Rockits (IMO). It was so much fun meeting up with friends and just having fun. The guys were there, and we all closed the place. A group of us headed to Mother Hubbards for me more fun and pretty much closed that place also. Good times, really good times. Someone ask YCERNY about her taxi ride home¡Klol!!
We ended Friday at about 4:30 am Saturday.

It was such a treat to see Lovehammers back on stage and so genuinely happy and ready to kick a&&. Their performances and new music is in a different stratosphere. Each one has brought their A game and it feels that they are united and determined to make their mark. How lucky are we to be on the ride with them!!!!

As good as the HOB show was, the Marseilles show was even better. Promise to write a review on that asap. I know what it is like to be waiting to read reviews and see pics. I did not have a camera at HOB but did get a few shots Saturday.

Later,
Liz

[dlh]

Liz, ditto! Thanks so much for the detailed review of HOB. I also was dazzled and blown away by Billy's riffs. It really raised the bar going forward for a LH concert. We were all smiles that night. I'm still smiling. Looking forward to the Marseilles review.

Thanks also to all the other posted pics and videos.



Den

[JoanACanada]

This was my first show ever and what a show and Liz I am still speechless.......
Having Marty sitting right beside me singing was one of the most amazing moments of my - more then I could have ever dreamed of
The show the guys put on was phenomenal- Marty is the ultimate showman, Billy is a fanastic guitarist, Dino was amazing and Bobby with out a shirt - priceless

Amazing as the band is the hammerheads I met are just as great. Thank you to all who welcomed us, took us under their wing and shared their Loverhammer knowledge with us - you guys made this the best weekend ever

[rockfan]

As I work on my pics, here's some videos I took at the HOB show . I have one more coming after these -

Baba O'Reilly


Lets Get Wasted


Real Man

[cfbj01]

Liz - that was a fantastic review and I fully agree I think I'm still pretty much speechless about the whole weekend.

Heavy Crown was such a beautiful song.

Joan when Marty sat down in front of you on the stage I thought how perfect for your 1st show.

[cfbj01]

Thanks for posting the vids rockfan, they are

It's nice to get a view from above the stage

[bostongirl]

If you have facebook, check this out. There are short segments of some of the new songs played throughout the interview. THanks Cara!!!

www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=97320895783&h=IgNBC&u=ZS_08&ref=nf

[mcmaniac]

Thanks so much to all of you for the wonderful reviews and videos. I can't imagine what is was like to be there...I can feel the excitement when I watch the videos. They were on fire!! It's so good to see them together and sounding so awesome. I cannot wait for the new CD.

[rockfan]

Here's another one. I could not shoot any videos of the new songs per the band's request but you can still enjoy the older songs .

[klees]

Here's my review of the Marseilles show.

“Sometimes, shows like this end up being the best ones,” I said to my friend Debbie as we waited for Lovehammers to take the stage. Yes, the House of Blues show the night before had been amazing. Big stage, big crowd, big show. Incredible. But here we were in Marseilles, a small town we had never heard of before and which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Had we been crazy to drive 90 minutes out of our way just to see the band play again? I must admit that the thought crossed my mind as we arrived at the event, feeling more than a little out of place amongst the local crowd. But as we listened to the night’s MC talk about the Freedom Run, I realized why the guys had wanted to play this show. The people here were passionate about their cause - honoring fallen soldiers. Many of them had lost sons, daughters, spouses, siblings. It was personal for them. It reminded us that this event was more than a concert. When they announced that they were selling dog tags with soldiers’ names on them, my friends and I each bought one, trying to pay our respects in our small way. It was touching to read the name on my dog tag, and it made me wonder who he had left behind.

After the next band finished playing, we decided to head towards the stage to get a good spot, ending up a few rows back, between Marty and Billy. A comfortable and familiar place for us. We saw many familiar faces, especially up close, but for the most part, this was a local crowd there to support a cause and have some fun at the same time. Most of them had probably never heard of the Lovehammers before. But they appreciated good rock and roll, and I had a feeling our boys would win them over.

Finally, it was time for the Lovehammers to take the stage. We wondered what song they would start with as we watched them take their places one by one. Then Billy played the opening riff to “Straight as an Arrow”. Bob, Dino, and their cousin Bill joined in, Marty yelled that familiar “one, two, three, four!” and we were off.

I never remember set lists in order, but I do know that Ring of Fire was the third song….I think. “This is one everybody will know,” Marty said, and I knew I was about to hear one of my favorite covers. It had been a long time since I’d heard them play it, and it was just as great as I remembered and seemed to get the local crowd going. During this song, and throughout the show, it was apparent that the guys were having a blast up there. They seemed to be relaxed and loose, but at the same time, the music was tighter than ever. The familiar songs like Clinic (it blows me away every time!), Hold On, Call of Distress, Eyes Can’t See, and The Tunnel just seemed to have an extra energy and passion to them. This Town and Low Life Insurance (including the Tricky section…I love that!) worked the crowd up as usual. The new songs are awesome, and sounded even better to me the second time around. Black Angel completely rocks. The song Bobby wrote (sorry, but I can’t remember the title) may just end up being my favorite new one. It’s really melodic and catchy. Guns was incredible and even more poignant given the setting. I really noticed the lyrics this time and was touched by Marty singing about all “the sweet lives” that have been lost to war. Trees seemed to be an odd transition at first, but the guys played it a little heavier, and Marty’s vocals started off a little darker. Then they went into the break when it is just the drums, and Marty started dancing in a more playful way and invited people up onstage. Before you knew it, there were people of all ages up there dancing along with Marty.

Another highlight for me was Real Man. They had played it the night before at HOB, but for some reason it hadn’t blown me away. This time was a different story. There was an extra intensity that I hadn’t felt the previous night. As Billy started to play a solo, I just had this momentary feeling like “look out, this is gonna be good.” I guess the other guys could feel it too. They left the stage and Billy just took off. I have never seen anything like it. Bob came back onstage to back him up, and then the other guys joined them. The crowd was going wild. Afterwards Billy said “that was just a gag,” by which I assume he meant it wasn’t planned.

Another song on which Billy’s playing always amazes me is Baba O’Riley. Again, I swear his guitar work on it this night was even better than usual, if that is possible. Marty didn’t have the bongo drum this time, so he went back behind Bobby’s drum kit and grabbed some sticks and started playing along. I believe this was the last song they played before the encore. As they left the stage, the MC announced that if they would come back and play one more song, he would give them each a dog tag of a fallen soldier. The guys were obviously touched by this. Marty grabbed his acoustic guitar, and I thought we were going to hear Heavy Crown or, or perhaps Wish you were Here. For some reason it surprised me to hear them go into Clouds. What a touching way to end an incredible night of music.

Maybe it was the addition of Bill, like Liz said, which freed Billy up and gave the songs an extra layer and texture. Maybe it was the atmosphere, the cause, the crowd. I don’t know, but I have seen them play many, many times now, and I have to say that this was one of my favorite shows. It made me remember why I have traveled so many times to so many places to see them play. It reminded me of all the wonderful friends I have met because of this band and all the things this band and these experiences have opened up inside of me. At one point during the show I turned to my friend and said “this was so worth the trip!” As if there was ever really any doubt.