Bastard Bearded Irishmen at Hard Rock Café 10/26
Photos and Review by Randy Jarosz
Staley’s Comet Photos by Reina Peli
105.9 The X brought their 6th annual Halloween Bash back to Hard Rock Café, Saturday, October 26. It was a night of fun, costumes, dancing and drinking. The gathering was hosted by Tim Benz and Bob McLaughlin of The X Morning Show.
Fresh off their 2nd consecutive best rock band in Pittsburgh win, as voted by the Pittsburgh City Paper, the Bastard Bearded Irishmen closed out the annual bash with their high octane irish fueled set. The five piece outfit led by Jimmy Bastard on guitar and lead vocals, Danny Rectenwald on mandolin, Paul Dvorchak on fiddle, Ben Jaber on bass, Jon Pitcher on guitar and tin whistle and Dan Stocker on percussion blew through favorites like “Drinkem, Drankem, Drunkem” and classics like “Whiskey in the Jar.” The band dressed as Devo, complete with yellow jumpsuits and red energy dome headgear, took the stage around midnight with a guest spot by Mike Hall for a cover of “Whip It.”
Jimmy Bastard (also known as Jim Smerecky) with his Devo costume suit half ripped off and knee pads in place for sliding across the stage, barely had his eyes open all night while ripping through the 75 minute set. I don’t think he stood still at all making his way from one side of the small stage to the next, jumping into the crowd for a guitar solo, doing splits and a few air kicks. At one point Bastard propped one foot on the side stage railing like a wild man.
An hour into their set Danny Rectenwald and company pulled eight people on stage to drink from a glass boot. “Its real easy, it goes, drink, drink, drink the beer, drink, drink, drink the beer, drink, drink, drink the beer until the boot is bare,” tells Rectenwald. With that phrase being recited, each member on stage drank as much from the boot as possible and passed it along to the next person. A female contestant in a pink dress with candy shapes wearing pig tails nearly finished the entire boot her self!
For those of you that think this might be a novelty band that can only perform on St. Paddy’s day, think again. BBI’s refined sound and dynamic stage performance makes them a premier act in Pittsburgh but with a 2nd album on the way they have a chance to really get recognized on a national level.
If a band could pillage and plunder without actually stealing or using violence then The Bloody Seamen did just that, opening up for BBI. There was no need for costumes as this band is full on pirate all the time. Check these guys out they are really good. You might actually see some fire breathing, sword fights or guitars being drilled to the wall. Also on the bill was Alice in Chains tribute band Staley’s Comet.
