Blog posts
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Nov 27 2008, 06:39 PMPetty Theft from the Archives - Halloween 2008
Petty Theft - Dan’s Bar - October, 2008 Blog
Another rainy night, what the fuck? It was pouring the whole ride over and especially during load in. We were drenched!! It didn’t matter though, a little rains not gonna slow us down. Besides, the night started with a big party at Sushi Groove. Brittany Shane was there, and so was Jenna Lavoie as well as friends from San Francisco and Los Angeles. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we lost track of time, and we hit the stage a little on the late side.
The band was really locked in and fully fueled; it was some of the best playing we have done to date. Jenna sang “stop dragging my heart” with us again and the crowd loved it!! It was gonna be a good night. And then it got a little strange.
A few rabid Petty Theft fans were pushing people around claiming they knew us and were big fans. They claimed that they “kind of owned us” because they had been to so many of our shows. There is nothing quite as lame as middle age drunks. One of them broke some bottles and shattered glass was everywhere, and another one got kicked out of the club. I remember breaking bottles and getting into fights at The Fab Mab in San Francisco in 1978. But I was 19 years old and that’s what you had to do to get thrown into the club.
PEOPLE: We are just a cover band!! -
Nov 27 2008, 06:15 PMPetty Theft from the Archives - October, 2008
Petty Theft - MBC - October 10, 2008 Blog
It was a cold night at Larkspur Landing as we set up for our final outdoor show of the season. The wind was wiping through the courtyard in the usual fashion, so we had to batten down the hatches and get to work, (Beers and shots at Noonan’s).
We opened the night with “Learning To Fly”, which is the first track off “Into The Great Wide Open. It’s a beautiful song with great guitar lines, and we were happy to have Michael Papenburg with us on guitar. He was on loan from Brittany Shane and he nailed the slide parts perfectly, and together with Bob Spector created that wonderful guitar sound that Keith Richards describes as “The ancient art of weaving”. This band is second to none with Bob and Michael swinging their axes.
As if that wasn’t enough, everyone was all treated to a great performance of “Stop Dragging My Heart”, featuring the lovely Jenna Lavoie on vocals. It was her first time performing with us, but it wont be her last. She sang her heart out and her vocals blended perfectly with Dan. You will be hearing more of her soon. -
Nov 27 2008, 11:44 AMPetty Theft from the Archives - Rock'n Blues By The Lake - Sept 27, 2008
Petty Theft - September 27, 2008 Blog
We finally played the Blues By The Lake. We had been asked to play the show a few times but our busy schedule kept getting in the way. This year we were finally all available.
It was another one of the hot summer days out at Stafford Lake and the temperature on stage was sweltering. Sweat was dripping and beer was flowing. Bob got attacked by a bee on stage, and kept jumping around to avoid the sting of that nasty little bugger. To his credit, he didn’t miss a beat, lay a clam or even get stung. He is and always will be the consummate professional.
The Plain White T’ and Third Eye Blind were hanging back stage and they were talking with Django and Dan about how much they enjoyed our show. Django did explain to them that we are just a cover band. -
Oct 06 2008, 11:43 PMPetty Theft from the Archives - August, 2008
Petty Theft August 2008 Blog
We had a relatively quiet month as a band although the individual members were very busy. On Friday August 8, we played a corporate party in Novato and while these jobs pay good money, you never know what to expect. This was an afternoon gig. It was hot with the mid day sun and there was a swirling wind all around, plus the stage was facing a lake. Needless to say, we didn’t get any complaints about the noise. I’m not sure what the crowd heard, but the cows grazing on the hill 1/2 mile away seemed to be chewing in rhythm and their tails were swaying to the beat.
As soon as that job was over Dan split to play a gig in Mill Valley with Revolver. Bob took off to set up at the Sweetwater Station for his gig with Brittany Shane. Django and Rory got the rest of the gear together for Petty Theft’s gig also at The Sweetwater later that night. We took the stage at 10:00pm after Brittany Shane and did two short sets. It was the 2nd Petty Theft gig of the day but for Dan and Bob it was their third. We were all a little tired but none worse for the wear and tear. And we weren’t done just yet.
The next night found us at Slim’s in San Francisco. We did a blistering 45-minute set and we were all feeling pretty good about pulling off 3 shows in 2 days. Dan and Rory each played gigs with different bands the Wednesday and Thursday before so if you add them all up, between the 5 guys in Petty Theft were in a total of 21 shows in 4 days.
The next day Dan took off for vacation. Django and Monroe were busy with their band The 85’s, and Bob was working with Brittany Shane. Rory played a show with The Hot Club Of Marin at 19 Broadway.
We did one more show at the Marin Brewing Company the next week, and later in the month Django and Rory caught Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park. Django and Monroe had more gigs with the 85’s and Dan was working with Revolver and other projects. Bob had a gig in Wisconsin and Rory was hanging out in LA with Jake Hanna, watching baseball and playing playing Jazz.
In September we play some private parties and Blues by the Lake in Novato, stay tuned.
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Aug 15 2008, 10:25 PMPetty Theft from the Archives - Pre-Super Bowl Bash - Feb. 20, 2008
Pre-Super Bowl Blog:
We had a Pre-Super Bowl Bash (PSBB) on Saturday night at Maggie McGarry's in North Beach. It was a dark and stormy night (it was!!), and after the band had a nice Italian dinner, we hit the stage, full of pasta and red wine.
The crowd was a little thin when we started playing, but by the time we hit our stride the place was packed. With the rain outside and hot sweaty bodies dancing inside, the club soon took on the aroma of a sweat lodge, with lots of cheap perfume and cologne. During the set breaks we had a hard time getting out to the street, so we were forced to stay in the club and drink at the bar. It's the price you pay!!
It was a fun night and we continued the party well into the morning, and then next day at Rory's Super Bowl Bash, but that's another story.
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Aug 10 2008, 10:25 AMPetty Theft from the Archives - November 2006
Petty Theft November 2006 Blog:
After working every weekend in September and October, it was nice to enjoy some time off in November. We started the month with a show at The Tradewinds in Cotati, on Friday November 3. Since it was our only show of the month, we put a little extra into the performance and it paid off, not one drink was spilled and no one tried to crash the stage or throw bottles at us. What a night!!
The next night, the band headed over to Oakland to catch The Rolling Stones. We got there early and hung out back stage and wined and dined on the feast they put out before each show. Charlie Watts came out to say hi to Rory, and we all hung out and talked with him for a while. That was cool, he’s a class act! Narada Michael Walden was hanging out with Lisa Fisher, and he came over to say wuzup? Narada knew Dan from a few years back, so they hung out and caught up. It turns out Rory took some drum lessons from him 30 years ago.
A little while later the Stone’s hit the stage, and we were treated to another amazing show. That band seems to never get old.
That was it for November although Rory headed off to Vegas to catch the Stone’s again and loose some money at the Tables. He even got to have Thanksgiving dinner with Jim Keltner, Charlie Watts and Jake Hanna in Los Angeles. That must have been one swinging dinner with some tasty drumsticks!!
www.PettyTheftRocks.com [http://www.PettyTheftRocks.com] -
Aug 05 2008, 06:17 PMPetty Theft from the Archives - Bay to Breakers - May 20, 2007
Petty Theft - Bay to Breakers Blog:
We had a 6:00AM load in…. Are you fucking kidding me?
Some mornings I haven’t even been to bed at that time. It was a great morning though, nothing like setting up your equipment while you’re still half asleep. Playing for 150,000 plus people running by is something else. Fueled by lack of sleep and a steady supply of Irish Coffee, we played our first note of music as the first runners flew by, and I mean they flew!! The first runners were the pro’s, they run faster than most people drive!!
The great thing about playing a race is that you can repeat songs and extend the guitar solos all you want, cause you have a new audience each minute. We must have played American Girl and Running Down A Dream 4 or 5 times as people seemed to respond to those songs the most.
It was a great gig with many runners stopping by and dancing in front of us and even the cops were bringing us beers to drink.
We were happy to have special guitar slingers Pete McRae and Erik Schramm with us for this gig, so there was some serious shredding going on.
After the gig we re-fueled on breakfast at Mel’s and then I was home and on the last train to snoozeville by 2:00pm. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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Jul 30 2008, 12:14 AMPetty Theft from the Archives - September 2006
Petty Theft - September 2006
We ended August on a high note with another show at Finnegan’s in Novato. While this is a small restaurant gig, we always draw a raucous crowd.
Rory split the next day for the LA Jazz Festival but survived the weekend in one piece and made it back for the gig on Labor Day Monday at The Cedar Mnt. Winery. The red wine helped him with the jet lag he suffered after the long 1 hour flight from LAX to SFO, at least that’s what he claimed.
The next weekend we had back, to back gigs in Calistoga and at The Mystic in Petaluma. There were great crowds at both shows but for some reason there were lots of bridesmaids at the Calistoga show. There was talk of an after show mud bath party, but it never happened.
The next Saturday we had another crazy rocking night at Dan’s Bar in Walnut Creek. That place is always packed and the crowd doesn’t leave until last call. We earn every dollar we make at those shows.
Rory flew to Boston the next day to catch The Rolling Stones kick off yet another leg of another tour. From what we heard it was another amazing show and he got to have dinner with Charlie Watts….again. Maybe one of these times he’ll bring along the rest of the guys in the band along with him.
Once again he made it back in one piece on Thursday just in time to sit in with The Brittany Shane Band at The Sweetwater in Mill Valley. Petty Theft hit the stage on Friday night at The Back Cat Bar in Pengrove and The Blackthorn Bar in San Francisco on Saturday. It was our Black Weekend.
We ended the month with a windy show at The Marin Brew Co. on Friday night, lot’s of fun but lot’s of wind. The next night the band showed up at The Greek Theater to catch TP and the Heartbreakers. What a great show!! We all ended up in the first few rows and even made it back stage. (Thanks Django!!) We got a chance to talk with Steve and Ron for a while, and later Benmont came out and said hello. It was a very cool night indeed, and that band is so good, it’s freaky deaky!!
September was a very good month for Petty Theft.
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Jul 20 2008, 06:51 PMSummer is half over and Petty Theft is rolling right along!!
After playing clubs, festivals and private parties, Petty Theft showed up for the Annual Marin Brew Co. Brew Fest. in a jovial mood.A rocking 25 song set was followed by a photo shoot where the boys sent their bass player Django a "we miss you" photo.Django had to miss the gig as he was in Los Angeles working with VH1 Rock Honors and The Who.It was all in good fun and now the boys are looking forward to playing with Django again at The Park Street Art and Wine Festival on july 27, and Slims August 9th.
