Last Saturday afternoon my buddy Buzzard and I went to the free Jr.Gone Wild show at the Cask & Barrel. This would be like no other JGW show before, as with the passing of JGW drummer Larry Shelast on November 6th of a heart attack. There would be no drummer backing up the band.
This show was dubbed Songs For Larry! By showtime the place was packed with family, friends and fans. It started with lead singer Mike McDonald of JGW playing two solo songs by himself on acoustic, after that Mike asked for "what's left of JGW to join him on stage". That would be Steve Loree on guitar and Dove on bass.
This would be my 12th time seeing Jr.Gone Wild play. This must have been an incredibly hard show for the guys to play. It seemed so weird to see the band perform without Larry behind the band. The show was good, lots of classic songs played and some new material that the band have been working on for a while now. There were some Larry stories told through out the show, some laughs, some tears and some rock n' roll. There were a few hiccups, one song they had to start over three times as the band seemed to really miss Larry on that one who would usually count the band in. I wish I could remember what song it was, but when it takes me a week to write about the show, well my memory isn't what it used to be. Mike even said they felt lost up there without Larry, but they did manage to pull it off. Who knows what is in the future for the band. There is new material written, so hopefully that will see the light of day, and there is also a documentary film in the works.
The show was a great tribute to Larry Shelast. Condolences to Larry's family, friends and band-mates. Rest In Peace Larry!!!
Raise a glass to Larry Shelast!
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