this one

Molly Hatchet

By Pete Strojny

On Thursday night, Nov 12 it was guitar heaven" once again at Jim Porter's By the time I arrived the place was "packed to the rafters" with just enough room to move about. The Other Smothers Brothers were on stage playing a lot of pretty good covers and some originals, receiving a great response from the crowd They definitely got the crowd ready for what was about to come — Molly Hatchet.

With a good half-hour intermission, everybody had plenty of time to grab a beer or two. By the time the band took the stage the crowd was ready to rock and Molly Hatchet gave them what they wanted. The bass player motioned for the crowd to come down to the stage and in no time the band was surrounded by eager fans wanting to get a close glimpse of the individual members.

The group played most of their old standards, "Flirtin' with Disaster," "Junkin' City," "Gunsmoke Whiskey Man," "The Creeper" and countless other favorites, to which the crowd responded with shouts, screams and calls for more. Molly Hatchet fired back with more of the same high-energy boogie the fans have come to expect.

Molly Hatchet's Bobby Ingramand his axe. Photo by Pete Strojny

What really makes this band is their ability to interact with the crowd, which was evident from the first lick. This is a band that can communicate and manipulate the crowd into a frenzy. About midway through "Dreams I'll Never See" it seemed the volume got a healthy kick (not that it wasn't loud to begin with) and everybody got their fill of some mean guitar licks, courtesy of lead guitarist Bobby Ingram. The band went through one and a half hours of some high-strung jam and took a closing bow to enthusiastic cheering from the throng.

Later I had a chance to talk with the band members. They told me that this is a 16-city, 17-day tour and they were coming down from Dayton, Ohio, through Louisville on to Alabama.

When asked how the band got back together they said that in January they decided to re-form under the original name and, after replacing the members who didn't want to tour, they hit the road in November.

Ingram seemed very excited to be on the road even with the grueling schedule. When asked about the guitar he was playing he proudly said he got it personally from Neil Schon, who is well respected in rock circles as one of the greats. Ingram proved he is a master of his instrument as he handled all the difficult parts with gusto and great ease.

Ingram spoke. about the song "Beggar Man": He wrote it in memory of an old gardener who was very dear — like family to him — and died four years ago, a poor man, which gave Ingram the inspiration to write the song.

One of the fans wanted to know about getting his songs copyrighted. Ingram replied: first get a record, then worry about copyrights... and never get so wrapped up in music so you don't have time for your family. Don't make them suffer while you're trying to prove yourself in the music business.

Mike Kach said he was in the middle of a bad cold, but even that didn't stop him from performing his duties behind an organ which was a nice addition to the sound of the band.

Vocalist Danny Joe Brown, a diabetic, was absent from this concert because he was in the hospital suffering from an insulin reaction. He is scheduled to rejoin the tour the first of December.

Before I departed, once again I commented on the great show. If you haven't caught the band yet, do yourself a favor and see them live next time they're in town — it's a must for any serious rocker.