THe Free Beer Blog
December 2016 back to December 2013
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RETIREMENT HAPPENED HERE
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It IS the Most Wonderful Time to Drink Beer! Beermas 2016.
The next to last show.
The Final BeerMas had Free Beer playing an early set
People actually watched our Facebook Live Feed! T'was the most wonderful time to drink beer. Our last official Beermas as a band. If you remember this tradition started way back on 12/11/96, almost twenty years ago to the day at the New Way Bar. It was the New Way's Holiday Party with Gus and Tina mixed with Free Beer's holiday party. We started inviting other bands from the neighborhood and next thing you know, it's a tradition. This year we switched things around a little to cater to our aging audience. First we kicked off with Domino Effect featuring Free Beer fill in bass player Mike Weilgat at 9PM. As usual they rocked musically and brought a great crowd with them. At 10PM, Free Beer did a pop up 45 minute set so the folks who can't stay up to see our full set could still enjoy one last dose of Free Beer. Good news was that they all came and saw us play. |
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Back to back at Cowley's for a post thanksgiving Feast
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Two shows, two weekends, one Saturday, one Friday
Free Beer is big on Tradition. And two traditions will came to an end at the end of November and the beginning of December at Cowley's in Farmington. THANKSGIVING SATURDAY. This is our traditional Thanksgiving show. This started out on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at the Library Pub in Novi almost two decades ago, people waiting in a line out the door to get in. It moved to the Library Pub in Novi and eventually to Cowley's on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We've found it to be a bit more controlled environment than those Wednesday Night blowouts. Fewer kids barfing on their shoes, more older kids rocking out and enjoying a homecoming of sorts that Thanksgiving always provides. Our last Thanksgiving show was on Saturday November 25th at Cowley's in Farmington. AND IT WENT NOTHING LIKE WE EXPECTED. |
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THE LAST FIRST FRIDAY. A decade of tradition here with Free Beer settling in to a regular spot in the Cowley's rotation on the First Friday of each month way back in 2006. Somehow, as all the other bands dropped off the list and new ones joined, Free Beer has been the lead off hitter in the Cowley's lineup of bands for the last 10 years. This December, we join those other bands and step aside to let another band occupy the first position in the line up.
It was great to see so many of our regular faces and those of some friends who haven't been coming recently but wanted to take the bike for one more ride before we put it away forever. That included Marty Beam, bass player #2 who brought his wife up to see the band and promised to sit in on January 27th. It also included Julia who came up to sing Suffragette City with us once more. There were also a number of Free Beer virgins who were just finding out how much fun we have, with only 2 shows left to go. There were few dry eyes when the last chord of Love Me Two Times rang out to end the evening. We did get a few photos to document the event. |
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We had a Hall of a time!Old Friends, Great Costumes and Northville Hospitality Make Our Last Hall O Ween Party A Big Hit!
NORTHVILLE MI FRIDAY OCTOBER 28 2016 -- It was a rare convergence of a place that loves us and old friends returning to visit Free Beer one last time before we retired. Since this was the Northville Eagles Halloween party, it was plenty festive before we even walked in the door. The locals had some great costumes (see the Tall Uncle Sam and Jelly Fish in the PHOTOS) plus Free Beer fans brought some serious costumes, especially Keith reviving the Free Beer can after 15 years to make it part of the winning costume entry "Free Beer Pong" with the help of Mary Kay and Audrey as Red Solo Cups. As for the guest artist list, Jeff was kind enough to let Dewey Larkin join us on stage for a set. Buddah (Josh White III), who we haven't seen in at least 3 years came up and sang a song. Bobby White joined us on Drums letting Tom Daldin come out front and hassle us! Local "Mazda" sang a Beatles song with us and Kurt's friend "Michael" tore up Remedy by the Black Crows for the final set. If the band ever decides to get together and play another Hall - o - Ween party, we will make sure to have it at Northville Eagles. We'll miss this place. See photos on our Facebook page or right here on the website. |
Harvest Moon at Cowleys
"If you empty the beer tent, you'll fill the bar!"
FARMINGTON MI SEPTEMBER 16 2016 -- It was an atypical Harvest Moon Festival at Cowley's. There were plenty of people spilling in from the Beer Tent early in the evening. Seems there was more interest in seeing Free Beer at Cowley's than there was hanging out at the Beer Tent, so there was no en masse migration at 11PM. Still, it was a great crowd as we celebrated The Sixth Beer Emily's birthday and Dan, who's lovely wife said "Say It's Dan's Birthday as many times as you can. She had no idea. We did put a bit of a damper on the evening by announcing that Free Beer was retiring as a band ... there was an audible gasp with some knashing and wailing! Lex Kuhne showed up and Bobby White from the Love Junkies showed up and sat in on Drums (now that he knows our entire set!). Deedee Judy took some video of SOB and Leave Your Hat On to document the occasion. And you can enjoy all of the Sock Monkey photos here. |
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FREE BEER ROCKS THE ROCK STAGE AT ARTS BEATS AND EATS
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DETROIT AUGUST 27, 2016 -- Tom Daldin couldn't make it to this gig, so Steve Tocco sat in on Drums which is always a blast. We didn't have time to practice this week with Steve, so we were surprised when we found out he had learned a different "So American" than the Motor City Mutants. No problem. Steve listens to the song and 3 minutes later, we are kicking off the set with it. Great event! 15 or 20 of the best burger places all cook slider versions of their best burger. You pay one price and walk around eating little burgers until you can't. Not many people were paying attention to Free Beer with all that great food but we still had dancers and a good group of fans that watched and enjoyed. See the pictures here!!
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School of Rock Joins Free Beer For First Friday
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FARMINGTON AUGUST 5, 2016 -- Once a year, we have the Farmington School of Rock Adult Band warm us up and this was the evening. They took the stage at 9PM, did a very nice 7 song set and brought a lot of their friends with them. Greg St. James and Steve Kostan both showed up so we had a little Radio reunion. We went on about 10PM and their friends and our fans got up, danced and had a generally good time. We took a short break, and when we got back on stage, there were only 12 people in the bar! What?!? We've heard about the type of night where "you could introduce yourself to every member of the audience", so we gave it a shot. First we met Melody and Deb, played a song. Then we met Don and Kathy, played a song. Then we met Delores and Marcel, played a song. Then three young blondes named (not kidding) Kirsten, Kristin and Chris bounded up the back steps ... What do you want to hear? BON JOVI! We play Bon Jovi, they dance with everyone and leave out the back door after one song. Then we met Johnson and Keith, played a song. It ended up being really funny and a good time. We have pictures of all of them right here!
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Farmington Founders Fest
FARMINGTON JULY 15, 2016 -- Farmington Founder Fest ended up being a blast. No First Friday in July because of the 4th of July Holiday so we had to wait two more weeks from our hiatus as a full band due to illness induced abscences. It was worth the wait. The bar started out full, and when the beer tent down the street closed up, it got fuller. We ended up doing three sets with a new female band member or two helping us out with those difficult tambourine duties. It sure makes us a better looking band! By the time we shut it down (at Cowley's request) the dance floor was still packed. Left em wanting more.
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Free Beer is sick man!
No, we mean Ill! Physically Sick!
Happy Birthday TOm! He's too sick to play!
FARMINGTON MI, FRIDAY JUNE 3 -- It was about 6AM when word started to get out that Tom was just too sick to play. While shooting an episode of Under The Radar Michigan on Mackinaw Island, Tom either got a case of Food Poisoning or the worst flu ever. But Free Beer has a secret weapon, Steve Tocco! He's one of those musicians who can listen to the entire Free Beer set once and then sit behind the drum kit and play it! We are lucky to have Steve Tocco sitting in because we had a big night planned. It was AJ's birthday and he brought a bunch of his friends to celebrate. Plus, three of the ladies from the Social Club (Marcy, Terra and Marilla) were celebrating birthdays too! It was a great night on what could have been a disaster! Want to see the Sock Monkey pictures? They're HERE!
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No picnic in the metroPark.
HARRISON TOWNSHIP, SUNDAY JUNE 5 -- By Sunday, both Tom and Jim were suffering and by 1PM we had to make the call to the Metroparks to cancel. They were very understanding, and due to the storms that had run through the park all day, there wern't going to be too many disappointed folks. We will look for another day this year when our schedules match up for a do over.
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Free Beer Hall Party
Friday May 13th was our lucky day in Northville
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NORTHVILLE FRIDAY MAY 13, 2016 -- Jeff caught some sort of epic cold / flu / sore throat thing and lucky for us Dewey was in town from one of his lengthy road trips to fill in. This was also the night that Jim went out and bought a new audio board with the Guitar Center Gift Card we gave him for his birthday last week and decided a live gig would be the best place to test it. Worked out for us! Bobby White from the Love Junkies was in the room and told us we sounded (not content, but actual sound quality) better than ever so it worked! Lucky Jim. Lynn was a great host again and the bartenders and cooks were great. Everyone stuck around and even got us to do an encore! There were still people streaming in as we were tearing down. We are putting together a list of dates for Hall Party 3.0 later this summer or early fall. See all of the pictures HERE!
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First Friday!
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ALS BENEFIT!
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LANSING MARCH 26, 2016 -- Free Beer travelled north to Lansing to help out Roger Burghdoff's sister Simone Brewster who recently was diagnosed with ALS. On November 5, 2015 Simone Brewster (Burghdoff), was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Simone is 54 years old from Dewitt, Michigan. She is a mother with four children and six grandchildren and has happily been married for 21 years. When Free Beer showed up a few hours before the show, the place was pretty full already. People were pretty excited and wanted to help raise money. By the time we went on there was no parking in the lot and it was standing room only. The kitchen had a one hour wait for food!! We hit the stage and for the most part people watched the first set. By set two, the crowd was getting warmed up and Simone requested "Mony Mony". We never have played the song, but it seemed simple enough so we went for it. By the time we finished, Kurt (who had been sick all week) had no voice left and the dance floor was filled with partygoers asking for an encore. Wow. Glad we could help out. If you want to help, donate to Simone's cause at https://www.gofundme.com/simonebrewster. See all of the photos here! |
ST PATRICK'S DAY!!
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NOrthville Eagles -- everyone is welcome, no membership required
Free Beer plays through a short power outage and celebrates Laura's Birthday!
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016 -- It was a gig that was a long time coming but it was worth it! Lynn and the rest of the crew made Free Beer feel right at home at the Northville Eagles Hall. People were worried that it was a private club. Not a problem, everyone could come. And they did. The place was fully decorated for us when we got there. They gave us a Love Monkey! They had some great food waiting for us. They covered our bar tab. They danced to every single song, even during the first set. They had two 50/50 raffles which Free Beer Fans won! It was Free Beer Superfan Laura Colavecchia's birthday and we celebrated that! Strangest part was in the middle of Hard To Handle, the power for all of downtown Northville went out. Then it came back on 1 minute later. So we started up where we left off. Good times. I am sure we will be back.
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Second Friday at Cowley's
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First Gig of the New Year and Free Beer Has A Baby!
Jeff Brookmyer and Rachel bring our new baby Oksana to cowley's!
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FRIDAY JANUARY 8 2016 -- So back in December Free Beer Bass Player Jeffery Broomyer and Rachel had our band's baby, Oksana Christine Brookmyer! We are all so proud and it was a real treat to bring Oksana up to meet all her Uncles and Aunts for our first gig of the New Year at Cowley's. She got her first (of many) pictures with the Sock Monkey and everyone got a chance to hold her. First Friday (which was actually Second Friday) celebrated the many many birthdays falling on January 8th and 9th. So we played the music of Elvis Presley and David Bowie, both January 8th Babies. We played nothing for Richard Nixon (Jan 8). Plus we celebrated birthdays from Denise and Ann-Marg-Roc (Jan 8th) and Teresa (Jan 9th). One strange thing did happen. There was a group from Germany sitting in the front row who insisted that we play Black Betty from Ram Jam. Didn't actually know it, so we lipsynced it. Everyone seemed to enjoy it just a little too much.
If you would like to see all of the photos we took with Oksana, The Sock Monkey and The Band, click here. |
Beer Mas at the New Way Bar
It's the most wonderful time to drink beer, even though it might have been the Candy Band's Last gig!
SATURDAY DECEMBER 12 2015 -- The 14th edition of BeerMas was a tad bittersweet as The Candy Band is calling it quits after this gig. But that did not stop everyone from partying with vigor! Our annual Christmas celebration started with Domino Effect. Then the Candy Band hit the stage and did their regular set. No gimicks or games. One last time, some kids music to soothe the adults. Next up was Paula's new band "Paula, Rob and Hippie Bob" who were full of surprises including a surf version of the Lions fight song "Gridiron Heroes" (Scott's Favorite Song!) Free Beer set up our gear and only had to wait for Jim Edelman to arrive from his family dinner, unfortunately scheduled for the same evening. The set kicked off with a Motor City feel including The Mutants and Iggy Pop. Then the party light turned on and the dance floor filled . There was a bit of a mishap at the start of The Grinch for our Holiday set, but we laughed it off, did the song correctly after our second start and finished off the evening playing whatever the crowd wanted including Brittany and Rocky Horror. Hopefully the Candy Band reunion tour starts on Beermas #15 next year.
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The Last First Friday of 2015 at Cowley's
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When black Friday comes to cowley's
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Free Beer and the "Have a Heart for Ernie" Benefit Raise over $4,000!
All Day Music Fest features Montrose Street Project and Paula Rob and Hippie Bob!
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14 2015 -- The Montrose Street Project has been one of Free Beer's friend bands since they asked to jump into our lineup at Beermas a few years back. One of their members, Ernie Balcueva has a rare heart disease that has taken the live of his 4 brothers and required he get a heart transplant. He needs our help and we are glad to lend a hand.
Saturday November 14th was our chance. Erniefest! at Norm's Field of Dreams. They had a silent auction, raffles and great music all day! There was a different band almost every hour. It was acoustic during the day and amplified during the evening. The PM session kicked off with the world premier of Paula Messner (Roommates, Motor Dolls, Verticle Pillows, Candy Band) and her new band "Paula, Rob and Hippie Bob". Next up was Free Beer (we brought our PA System too!) and we got a great reception from all of Ernie's Family and Friends. We even brought a few of our own friends. Last, as a special treat to Ernest Balcueva, his most recent band, the Montrose Street Project reformed with every MSP member ever, from the moment they first played a basement on Montrose Avenue. MSP included Veronica Gabriel, Steven Dubicki, Paul Tranchida, Amy Shaw King, and Jon Liu! And MSP also stole Scott Brown and Dewey from Free Beer and singer/guitarist Charlie Sunne, who did sets at ErnieFest Part 1 from 3-7 PM. All tolled, we helped raise almost $4,000 for Ernie's heart transplant medical bills. if you missed it and still want to donate, you can find adresses and the like on the "Have A Heart For Ernie" Facebook Page or Event Page. |
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First Friday of October at Cowley's
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 2 2015 -- Our First Friday installment was made great by Deedee Judy and her gang that usually show up at the Stay and Play Social Club gigs. Everyone got there between 9P and 9:30P (we were worried) including Keith, Mary Kay, Tom, Coco, Bob, Ilene and a bunch of our other friends joined by some new folks we have not seen before. Dance floor was full for the entire night and we even got Mary Kay and Audrey up to sing "I Will Survive". We are taking November's First Friday off so it will be almost 8 weeks before we return to Cowely's.
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Harvest Moon at HOWLEY's
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18 2015 -- Well it kinda happened just like we thought it would. At 9PM there were two big reserved tables ... one for the "Guiness Cup Golf League", the other for a wedding rehearsal dinner ... and the rest of the place was our friend as we all waited for the Harvest Moon Festival down the street to dismiss the Beer Tent. Brand New Sock Monkey was instantly soiled when the Bride accidentally dipped his foot in her ketchup, then on her gown, then for this picture. There were some early Beer Tent patrons on site who hit the dance floor for set one. We started set two and that's when karma doubled down. Not only the did the Beer Tent close, a thunderstorm began and everyone ran into Cowley's. There was one "ugly" incident when a fan tried to steal the Sock Monkey, but Patty Brown fought her off and returned the Sock Monkey to it's rightful owner! See all the pictures here.
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Free Beer / Second Saturday at Cowley's
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12 2015 -- This is the weekend stuck between Labor Day and The Harvest Moon Festival. Free Beer got a jump on the partying! Michigan defeated Oregon St. earlier in the day, so Kurt was happy. All of us Sparty's in the band had to sweat it out as Oregon took on Michigan State starting at 8PM. Jeff is so much of a Sparty that he went to the game instead of filling in for hte prodical Dewey. Mike Wielgat jumped in for the last minute bass playing duties and learned our new songs during the week. We went on as the first half ended and set one took us through the middle of the 4th quarter, so we all sat and watched until the Sparty's won! Some fund things about the night? Word was out early that it was Dan's Birthday, so we spent most of the set celebrating that. Marcel brought his Mom to see Free Beer all the way from Singapore! Sean (Shawn?) got up and sat in on Drums for Tom during the second set.
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Free Beer at the Ford Arts Beats and Eats!
Picture this! We didn't!
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5 2015 -- Free Beer got booked on the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort ROCK STAGE. That's on Fifth Street between Woody's on the north and O'Tooles to the south in front of the train tracks. We were right smack dab in the middle of the festival, smack dab in the middle of the afternoon. Yes a train went by while we were playing. No, it was not during Johnny Cash! Also, the Rock Stage featured some other great acts like The Howlin' Diablos (Saturday) and the Reefermen (Monday). On Saturday afternoon, if you got there a bit early you enjoyed being warmed up by The Beatles (Dig a Pony) and followed by the J. Geils Band (Raputa)! There were lots of great moments on stage at Arts Beats and Eats for Free Beer. One of our favorites was when Scott pointed the mic at the crowd to kick off “Add It Up” with a count off, and the entire crowd responded in unison with “1-2-3-4”. But we have no visual record of our performance. It all happens so fast, getting on and off the stage, that we forgot to hand someone a camera. So if you happen to have a photo of the band, post it on our Facebook page and we will reward you with a Free Beer from Free Beer the next time we see you. Special Thanks to Laura Colavecchia for the “Straight Outta Royal Oak” picture. Wine for you. Sorry you missed Brittany and Rocky Horror! |
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GOT School'd on the First Friday of AugustFarmington School Of Rock opens for Free Beer on First Friday
FRIDAY AUGUST 7, 2015 -- Last May, we invited the Farmington School of Rock to come up on stage and do a quick 25 minute set before we went on stage. They brought a lot of friends and a lot of energy so when they asked us for another go at it, we said yes and the Cowley's were game too. The adults from the Farmington School Of Rock were supposed to hit the stage about 9PM, but their drummer was running late. Stefan almost had to sit in! But the guy showed and what he lacked in timeliness he made up for in rhythm. They ripped through a set of 10 songs, got off stage and we got started about 9:45PM. It was a great mid summer crowd, knowing that people can have fun outside and up north. The School Of Rock gang stuck around and filled the dance floor. Great night overall. |
Hey Rochester, Beer Me!
Free Beer back in Rochester for our Northern Fans!!
FRIDAY JUNE 12 2015 -- It’s been a while since we have appeared at the Rochester Mills Beer Company and it was good to be back in Tom’s neighborhood. During our set up we noticed a number of birthday parties and a rehearsal dinner for the Anger wedding party. We sympathized. Late start time of 10PM did not stop the crowd. Plenty of folks travelled a good long way to see us. The Anger party even stuck around for a few extra hours, including Johnny Anger, to whom we dedicated Folsom Prison Blues. We noticed that it was our 21st Anniversary of our first gig and Mike Cody’s birthday too! We’ll be back. Find all the photos here! |
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SUmmer Starts at Cowley'sFRIDAY JUNE 5 2015 -- While summer has not "officially" started, we treated it like a Summer Friday as a band. We introduced a bunch of new songs to the setlist, like "Into The Mystic", "The Letter" and gave a second go round to "Running Down A Dream", "The Boots are Made For Walkin'" and "Ring Of Fire". We also debuted our first Ladies T-Shirts, only to find out that they either were a size too small or Free Beer Ladies are really sexy!! We met Brian and Laura, and Brian got to jump up on stage to sing Black Key's "Lonely Boy" with us. Lots of new fans who seemed to like us even though Scott was a little off his memory game. Maybe he'll be great the next time they see us play. Lots of love on the dance floor from the Drama Mama's from RO though!!
Check out the "official photos" here!! |
MAY DAY! First Friday is the First of MayFRIDAY MAY 1 2015 -- May Day May Day! First Friday also happened to fall the same week as Jeff Brookmyer's first 39th Birthday and Jim Edelman's perpetual Birthday. Jeff has done such a great job of concealing any personal information about himself that we had never realized in all of these years that his birthday is the day after Jim's Birthday. So we've been whoopin' it up for Jimmy every year, and Jeff (like a bass player) has been standing in the background getting low. So we decided to make a big deal about Jeff's birthday this year. That included a cake, dancing girls, candles and the like. The cake was one of those special cakes that has your picture in it. It was a picture of Jeff and Jim. After singing Happy Birthday, Jeff skewered his likeness in cake with his index finger!
Musically, we had used the 6 weeks since St. Patrick's Day to learn some new tunes. This First Friday featured Firsts of "These Boots Are Made For Walking", "Running Down a Dream", "Livin' For The City", "Now I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Ring Of Fire". See all of the photos HERE! |
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St. Patrick's Day!TUESDAY MARCH 17 2015 -- All the plans were made and now we just had to execute them. The Free Beer "forward team" came out Monday Night to Cowley's to set up our PA system and the Sean Riley Band followed soon after to get ready for their early gig on our stuff. Then off to a good night sleep so we could get ready for St. Patrick's Day. A Tuesday! First stop, McGuckin's
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5P-11P
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MCGUCKIN'S PUB -- We played first at McGuckin's in Taylor/Allen Park and Superball followed us. So Free Beer arrived early, but since we were using Superball's PA system, there wasn't a whole lot to do except wait around for the crowd to show up. McGuckin's as a small bar but they erect a tent 3 times the size of the bar to handle the expected crowds. So we pulled up a chair and waited. We had a camera so we took some pictures of us waiting. Eventually, a couple of those party busses of people in green showed up and provided us with an audience so we hopped on stage and got to it. Line up is our typical St. Patty's Day crew ... Free Beer with Jeff on bass, adding Jim Fiddle Flynn and Ron Jewell on vocals. We were doing the "4 Irish Songs / 8 Rock Songs" set switching out Kurt for Ron and Jim when we were playing the Irish songs. Maybe it was because it was Tuesday, but the crowd never reach capacity. There was a "short person" who was willing to get his picture taken with you and a guy that lost his balance and fell on his butt when he tried to tip his beer back to finish it off. See all of the photos HERE!
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COWLEY'S -- 3PM rolled around and we packed up our gear from the tent at McGuckin's and headed north to Cowley's in Farmington. Ahh, this is more like it. We got there and Shawn Riley had finished their set and were loading out. Nice and warm, lots of people still there but a little room to add some more. Most of our friends were already there and it took no time to set up since we did that already on Monday night. As soon as we kicked into the Irish set the dance floor was filled. Marcel had brought his fiddle. Jim was doing a set with his old band Superball so Marcel filled in. Even when Flynn came back, Marcel stayed so our ranks had grown to 8! The place really started to get full around 7PM. Then all bets were off. Full dance floor, crowded back, plenty of gals in green, beer and whiskey flowed. Suddenly we looked around and realized we were in the middle of our 5th set of music! We looked over to the bar and saw the Cowley's staff still ready to serve but clearly worn by the battle. They gave us the "cut" sign. Yep, time to play our last song. It was 11:30PM on a Tuesday night. The bar was still full, people were still on the dance floor. It was Tuesday night. We finally had to tell people to go home. Only on St. Patrick's Day. See all of the photos HERE!
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Free Beer First Friday / March!First Friday ... and Kurtmas x 50 too!
FRIDAY MARCH 6 2015 -- What a great Friday. The usual suspects and a large number of Scott's Friends who had never seen Free Beer were there. We had something to celebrate too, and we were going to make it a surprise. Kurt is finally getting old. He's been denying it for a while. He's turning 50 this year!! We all know when Kurt's birthday is, March 18th. The day after St. Patrick's Day. We thought it would get lost in all the craziness on March 17th, so we staged an impromptu birthday party without telling anyone until the last second. Then we passed out actual size likenesses of Kurt's head ... one angry, one happy, one silly and one normal ... 50 of them total (50 years old) to the members of the audience who mobbed the stage at the beginning of the set to sing Kurt "Happy Birthday" with Kurt's Face replacing theirs. Just another great First Friday at Cowley's. Think you had your picture taken with a Sock Monkey? Look here to find out! |
Free Beer First Friday / February!FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6 2015 -- This was a tough night for Kurt, only returning a few days earlier from his mom's funeral. That being said this was one of the best First Friday's ever!! Kurt kicked it off by dedicating the Beatles "You're Mother Should Know" to his mom. We celebrated birthday's from Jim Jim, Rich The Bitch and Janel "Seestror" Edelman. Later arrived Sheree Glynn from a night of dancing to celebrate her birthday. Jeff had to bolt right from his class at Wayne State University to play bass. He also brought most of the members of his class along with him including Han who doubletimed a version of Wonderwall both in speed and skill. He sang and played guitar! Bobby White from the Love Junkies joined us on stage to sing Some Kinda Wonderful. Great night. See you in March!
Of course there are plenty of photos with the Sock Monkey. Check'em out! |
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First Friday of 2015 at Cowley's!FRIDAY JANUARY 2 2015 -- You would figure that everyone is tired out after a good 15 days of straight up celebrating wouldn't you? Not the Free Beer Fans. Every year they never cease to amaze me. Everyone comes out the day after New Years and lights it up. Sure there are a few of us who swear off drinking for the month of January (Scott, we are looking directly at you) but even they have enough residual alcohol flowing in their veins to party like rock stars. It is a known fact that Free Beer tends to make more mistakes on stage when Scott is not drunk. Strange. It's not just Scott either! Stranger. You think it would be the other way around. Special thanks go out to all the folks celebrating birthdays incluuuding Teresa and Denise. Also thanks to Bobby White from the Love Junkies who just got back from the New Years Eve gig out in Port Huron who joined us on stage for a few songs. Want to see the photos? Click Here!
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Beermas Good Cheer !!!
Good Weather and Bus Drivers make for a Jam Packed
New Way Bar BeerMas at the New Way Bar. Wow. It's been so long since we have even had ACCEPTABLE weather, it was a great pleasure to have a nice pleasant day where fans weren't taking their lives in their hands just to attend. It was interesting when we arrived to find AFSCME Local 166 (The Ferndale School Bus Drivers) holding their Holiday Party right in the middle of the dance floor! That was fine, we worked around them and Domino Effect hit the stage as planned at 9PM. The Bus Drivers remained! After an encore that brought everyone to the dance floor, Domino Effect cleared the stage and The Candy Band hit the stage. The Bus Drivers remained. |
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The Candy Band set included some Iggy Pop, some Ramones, some Motor Dolls (for Kurt) and Kurt even got up on stage and sang Danzig's Mother. They also did some Nursery Punk, just not "The Wheels On The Bus" for the Bus Drivers!
Next up was Free Beer. After a couple of warm ups, we launched into two CANDY BAND songs (Monster and Monkey) then invited Paula from the Candy Band on stage to play guitar on Smoke On The Water. Some more songs (including the iconic "Hit Me Baby One More Time") and then we launched into the Christmas set including our psuedo original "Most Wonderful Time To Drink Beer", "The Grinch" and "Run Run Rudolph". Thanks to everyone who came out. Oh, by they way ... Bus Drivers were still there at the end of the set.
Pictures are here ... some video from Mark Hessencamp (Add It Up) and more video TJ Percindero (Love Me Two Times and The Grinch)
Next up was Free Beer. After a couple of warm ups, we launched into two CANDY BAND songs (Monster and Monkey) then invited Paula from the Candy Band on stage to play guitar on Smoke On The Water. Some more songs (including the iconic "Hit Me Baby One More Time") and then we launched into the Christmas set including our psuedo original "Most Wonderful Time To Drink Beer", "The Grinch" and "Run Run Rudolph". Thanks to everyone who came out. Oh, by they way ... Bus Drivers were still there at the end of the set.
Pictures are here ... some video from Mark Hessencamp (Add It Up) and more video TJ Percindero (Love Me Two Times and The Grinch)
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The Last First Friday of the YearIt was the last First Friday of the year and the place was packed when we walked in! Not even anywhere to sit for dinner before the show. Tom Daldin had also scheduled a book signing for the Under The Radar Michigan: "The First 50" which brought us a new (more literary) audience. There were plenty of Christmas parties and all of these various crowds blended with our regular First Friday crew. The dance floor was packed for the first song so we had to pick the beer winner at random. We also brought out a couple of the Christmas songs (Grinch and Wonderful) to kick off the season. Funniest moment of the night, Scott throws his Fake Beer to a fan on the floor, who mistakes it for a real beer and steps away, allowing said Fake Beer to shatter on the floor. Where was the camera for that?
Pictures are here! |
Black Friday comes to Cowley's When Black Friday comes ... Snow, Ice and Sleet will fall and drivers will test their skills, then their airbags against freeway medians. So you know that only the heartiest of souls made it out to see Free Beer ... and there were a lot of hearty souls. Some of the more fun points of the evening; The Cowley's declared a "Power Hour" from 11P to 12M where Bud Light, Labatt's and (wait for it) Buttery Nipple Shots were on sale for $2. Not only did it give Scott the opportunity to say "Nipple" over and over, it ignited the crowd. No one said that Buttery Nipples didn't have alcohol in them! Another high point; Sidi Henderson from Mainstreet Soul came out so we dragged him up on stage to sing a couple of songs. One More: Jim and Kurt "motor boating" Audrey during Add It Up. Something for everyone!
Pictures are here! |
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Plymouth ROC ends Free Beer's 7 Week HiatusThis was the end of our longest hiatus in quite a while. Free Beer took seven weekends off to relax, work, practice, travel ... whatever you do when you are taking time off. Plymouth ROC was a great place to ease back into it as they have a stage, PA system, sound guy, lights an excellent waitstaff featuring two Emilys ... one who waited on us and a second celebrating her birthday ... and a built in crowd from Kurt's home town. We saw plenty of folks we have not seen in a white (Mario, Keith, Mary Kay, Andy Meloche, Cora, Tom and Coco) and invited Bill up on stage to play Bass for a song. Plenty of photos but a bunch of Sock Monkey photos were lost in digital space. Sorry folks! If you want to see which photos remain, you can find them here!!
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October First Friday at Cowley'sIt's the longest running bar night in Farmington History! Free Beer plays the first Friday of every month and October is the norm not the exception. Again another outstanding night. First Friday in October was a grand affair. It was the Red Wings opening night so the first hockey win of the season played on the big screen. Friends from all around attended knowing that Free Beer would not return until Thanksgiving weekend. Even Bob Hucheson came all the way from Nashville. Full Dance floor. Full Beer glass. Fun times for all. Don't believe me. I have PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE of normal people having fun at First Friday with Free Beer.
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Cowley's fun at Harvest MoonAnother great time at Cowley's. The Curry Chicken had returned to the menu (yes, with French Fries!). The Tigers were playing the Royals for first place (we won 10-1). It was Emily's Birthday (we celebrated). Katie Kirkpatrick came up and sang (she did two songs this time). The Harvest Moon festival was down the street and after Phoenix Theory played, everyone from the Beer Tent came up and joined us (including Phoenix Theory) as we plowed through the 2 hour second set to a pretty jammed up dance floor, with the Free Beer Fans running back and forth, touching people on the dance floor and taking unwanted photos of everyone and everything. And the Sock Monkey vs Moose thing was kinda nuts too!
Pictures are here! |
Star Lanes / Emagine Theater
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ARTS BEATS AND EATS
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It's always great to play Arts Beats and Eats. The Royal Oak fan base is strong, you play on a big stage with a big sound system, we start playing at 8:15 so you don't have to stay out too late and it's an all ages show, the kids can come see. It seemed like the perfect storm ... without the big storm from last year. The best part for us was the size of the crowd. It started big, and kept getting larger. By the time we got to the Time Warp, we had a full dance pit in front surrounded by full seats with standing room filled as far as you could see into the night. It was awesome! So much support and such a great time in Royal Oak. We have over 100 pictures shot be Bev Clark, Jean Mason, TJ Percindero and many others. Also check out this video of the Time Warp shot by Andy Servio at the end of the show to get a feel for how much fun it was.
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Free Beer 20 Years / Dream Cruise 20 Years ... Coincidence
We think not
We celebrated our 20th anniversary back in June, on Saturday, August 16th we helped the Dream Cruise celebrate its twentieth anniversary at the WRIF Dodge Rock City event at the corner of 13 and Woodward. Screamin' Scott from WRIF brought us on stage, we got some love from the WRIF Rock Girl including posing with the Sock Monkey, who got to ride in some hot cars, get his picture taken with Auto Show Models and a State Trooper. The Spaghetti Man showed up and got a few people dancing and we played two sets from a stage adorned with a couple of Hemi Fortified Dodges including the crazy 2015 Hemi Hellcat. Thanks to the folks from WRIF and Dodge for inviting us to the show. Pictures are here! |
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First Friday With Steve Tocco on Drums at Cowley's!
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Katie and Birthday Boy Bob White Sit In
This was a pretty good night! It's not often that Tom Daldin can't make a gig, but this weekend was one of those. No worries. We have a most excellent back up with virtuoso drummer Steve Tocco. He's a bit louder than Tom, and does more solos that Tom. It's pretty cool to watch him work. We kicked it off with Katie Kirkpatrick who was having a reunion of her "Melrose Place" club ... so we let her sing early and often. Cowley's was pretty impressed!! So were her friends. Then, Steve and Jeff did an awesome version of Little Less Conversation. Three of us in front turned around and gave them a Standing O! It was also Bob White's Birthday. So we let him sing too!! It was one of those nights that makes you appreciate your fans. The place was empty when we arrive, it was packed when we finished our first set. Steve Kostan even showed up again! Love it. See all the pix here! |
Friday And Saturday For Founders
Great Crowds both Friday and Saturday nights at Cowleys!
We always think we are ready for the Founders Day deluge, but then it happens again and we are amazed. Friday night there were a lot of our friends there ready to make us feel at home. It didn't look like there were many people outside so we delayed the start of our set until 10PM. Big mistake. The beer tent closed next store and BLAMMO! there was everyone ready to party and we still hadn't finished the first set. So we just kept on playing until we finished set two. That's just over 2 hours. Good news was that we didn't have to tear down our gear until Saturday. We came back and Cora had taken over a third of the bar with her birthday party. Out of nowhere Greg St James showed up from WDC. Then Steve Kostan came after his shift at WOMC. BLAMMO! The beer tent closes (this time in between sets 1 and 2). We cranked out the second set, got Kostan and St. James up on stage for Rockin' in the Free World and had a surprise visit from Maggie McCabe who sang Piece of My Heart from Joplin to finish the weekend with a flourish. (and we aren't even mentioning the young lady that tried to hump Scott's leg!) All the pics from July 18th All the pics from July 19th |
Free Beer ROCKED Cleveland AGAIN!
"Uncle Fester" Rocked!
Free Beer drove, then drank, then watched the almost all Edelman band "Uncle Fester" rock out a set, then got up on stage, then rocked out for 2 sets, then packed up, then stayed overnight then drove home. Pics Here!! |
Free Beer to CelebrateD 400 shows anD
20 years at Cowley's on Friday June 6th
It was Twenty Years Ago Today ...
It was actually June 25th, 1994 when Free Beer (with Paul Sevigny on Bass and Kevin Yonker on Drums) finished 8 months of practice and decided to show everyone what we had learned by setting up our gear in Kevin's Garage in Royal Oak. We had a full set of music ready to play. We filled the Garage with fog and hit the opener as we kicked out the first beats of The Ramones "Rock & Roll Radio". It was AWESOME as the smoke and sound filtered all over South Royal Oak. Free Beer had officially begun. And only 6 short songs later, we saw the ROPD walking up the driveway to shut us down. Little did we know that 3 of the original 5 would still be at it 400 shows and 20 years later. Jim, Kurt and Scott have been joined by 6 drummers and 5 bass players over the years ... with our current lineup featuring Tom Daldin on Drums and either Dewey Larkin or Jeff Brookmyer on Bass staying solid for the past 11 years! FOR A LIST OF ALL OF OUR GIGS, CLICK HERE We recreated some of the excitement of the first show at Cowley's on Friday June 6th during our 400th show. We'll played our first set verbatim to kick off the show (and almost as poorly!) and looked back at some classic video from our first gig along with pictures from the past 20 years. Here's the pics!! 
OUR FIRST SET LIST
For some reason, Bass Player #1 saved our autographed setlist from gig #1 back on July 25, 1994. We don't question his motives, just thank him for keeping it so we can post it here! Thanks Paul. Also, it will help you check and make sure we play the first six songs on this list on Friday. |
Free Beer with Eric Edelman in Royal Oak
Rocking the Star Lanes again on Friday May 16th
Gig #399 went swimmingly ... our should I say Bowlingly, thanks to Eric Edelman who sat in for Mike Wielgat who was sitting in for Jeff Brookmyer who sat in for Dewey Larkin on Bass. Eric rocked the lanes as we had a much less stressful time than last (lines / parking / etc). Plenty of Edelman's in the house and Scott's friends from the YMCA showed up too. Best moment of the evening was when Laura C and her friends from the bowling banquet came to catch the last few songs. Want to see the pics? Click here or go to Facebook and tag 'em. |
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Free Beer "School'd" for the First Friday in May at Cowley'SFarmington School Of Rock and MSU Graduation make for an interesting evening!
This was a particularly strange evening that worked out GREAT for everyone involved. We had been talking with the Farmington School Of Rock about having their adult band open for us one First Friday. We got the Cowley's to agree to May 2nd and good thing. Scott found out that his son's graduation from Michigan State ended at 9:30P in East Lansing!! With the extra time provided by the great show put on by the School Of Rock, we were able to do two full sets with only 5 non Scott songs. Plus, all of the School Of Rock's friends stuck around and the place was jam packed all night long. We had Mike Wielgat on bass since both Dewey and Jeff weren't able to make it.
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BackSeat Drivers? Naaah, it was Free Beer!
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Free Beer celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Mustang with Ford!
Free Beer occasionally will play a "Corporate Gig" if we like the company and the idea of the event. Ford Motor Company asked us to be the "House Band" for their outdoor celebration of the 50th annivesary of the Ford Mustang so we said yes. It was a very cool event with 150 Mustangs parked in the front parking lot of the Ford World Headquarters and the entire company coming out to check them out, have a hot dog, win some prizes and even get up on stage and help us sing. Gues what song? Read on for the answer! Only issue with gigs like this is our name. You can't put the words "Free Beer" on a corporate invitation. So we went under the pseudonym "Backseat Drivers". We met the necessary requirements. We're fun. We know a lot of your favorite songs and we can play (answer to the trivia question) "Mustang Sally". We invited anyone up to be a "Sally" and sing the "Ride Sally Ride" chorus. They even had the words printed up on a keepsake laminated sheet if you wanted to sing lead (which one of the engineers did). Playing against the backdrop of the World Headquarters in front of all those Mustangs made for an unforgettable scene. But if we ever do, we can check out these pictures! |
Want to see 623 photos of all of the Mustang Festivities (and a couple of the band too)? Check out Ford's Flickr site here!!
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ST Patrick's Day at Cowley's in FarmingtonMarcel Saves The Day!
This was our sixth annual appearance as the house band for John Cowley and Sons Pub's most important day. It did not disappoint, even if the calendar makers stuck it on a Monday. The Shawn Riley Band kicked off festivities at 10AM and played until 3P ... they loaded out and we loaded in with an extra member in our midst. Ron Jewell ... but where was Fiddle Flynn? Trapped at Work? On St. Patty's Day? No worries. Free Beer is lucky enough to have Irish (by way of the Far East) Fiddle pro Marcel Lim as a fan. Sure enough he just happened to have his fiddle with him ... and a kilt on. Marcel sat in for the Irish sets, and we alternated between Rock and Irish until 10PM. The house was still full when we quit. See the photos here. |
First Friday Fun at Cowley's on March 7th
We had a pretty good run there for the first of the year. So many gigs, so few days! First Friday in March is like the "8th Inning" when you know the closer (St. Patricks Day) is going to come in and strike out the side. We had a great early crowd and lots of first set dancers. Second set featured and impromptu guest singing stint by Janel Edelman and Buddah came and sang BOTH of the Rocky Horror songs without a script. Impressive.
Click here to see some photos of the festivities!! |
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We had a Motown WinterBlast! |
The Fans surprise Free Beer with a wildly positive reaction!
Yes, you shocked even the battle hardened Free Beer with your raucous reponse to every song. We will tell you that we have not had a reception like this in a while and it really made us feel GREAT after a long weekend of loading and unloading our instruments in cold, ice and snow. Thanks to everyone who braved the elements and came outside to come inside the tropical Budweiser tent at Winter Blast. The large crowd and Budweiser "anti freeze" kicked in and people danced, screamed, passed liquor to us and cheered wildly after every song. Again from Scott, Tom, Jim, Kurt and Dewey, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. |
Fans fend off frigid frost for First Friday of February at Cowley's
Sharee and Janel Edelman celebrate birthdays with Free Beer
It was First Friday at Cowley's. It was Frigid. It was Sheree's Birthday that week. It was Janel's Birthday. Janel is Guitarist Jim's Sister. All of Janel's friends were there to dance. Only one thing missing. Janel. She was at a wedding. No biggie. Everyone still had a great time and then Janel showed up an the place went crazy. Full dance floor until the end of the night and plenty of people watched us pack up and stayed until the very bitter end. Which was still bitterly cold outside. It always amazes us when the fans brave the elements and show up in force on such a cold night. THANK YOU. |
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Free Beer Lands at Plymouth Rock
ROCd' Plymouth on Saturday January 25th
Kurt's entire gang of friends converged on the Plymouth ROC to see what Free Beer has been up to over the past year. It was another great show with sound being provided by the house. There was a huge gang from Doyle's packed in the back and the dancefloor remained full most of hte night once things got underway. Check out the photos We hope to book a few more gigs there over the course of the spring and fall this year. |
Happy New Year in Port Huron!
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We will also say this, Port Huron residents are big fans of Under The Radar Michigan, because Tom got recognized no less that 15 times during dinner! We started playing quietly at 9PM and progressively got louder until the finish. Bobby G was admiring Jim's guitars so we invited him up to play and he ROCKED. The countdown happened, we played another hour. Overall a great time and we are sure surprised how friendly everyone was in Port Huron. As promised, we bought breakfast for anyone who was able to come down by 9:30AM and have Breakfast with Free Beer on New Years morning. See the survivors in the pictures.
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Hockeytown Winter Festival
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BeerMas -- Mother Nature Fights Back!
We are not so sure what we did to piss off Mother Nature during 2013, but we hope the vendetta ends in 2014. This time, she dropped 6 inches of Snow on Ferndale during the day prior to the show, seriously messing with the commute to BeerMas for most. But our fans are hearty souls. Domino Effect kicked it off with even Mike singing a song. The Candy Band became the IGGY GIRLS featuring a set of Iggy Pop songs. Free Beer did 5 holiday songs including 3 brand new renditions. The new owners gave us a vote of confidence with an invite back for later this year. While more people could have come through the door, it was still the merriest time of the year. |
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