Gingerbread Man Downtown Harrisburg - 3/8/01 - Pete and Jeff of the Badlees
My parents and I decided to make our Thursday night more exciting, and see Pete and Jeff at the Gman.
Melanie wasn't able to go, so it was sort of weird for me to go without my local music buddy.
We arrived at the restaurant and were seated. I spotted Pete sitting in a booth getting interviewed
by a lovely couple. My mom and dad took forever to decide what to eat, and I chose what any normal
person would choose. A hamburger? Nahhh, I ordered the "chicken finger sandwich."
It was interesting…Anyway, my dad and Pete had been all chatty on the phone a few times and
I guess my dad told him I was a big fan because Pete came strolling over, and handed me a copy
of his unreleased CD, "Sweet Siren of the Reconnected." I thanked him a jillion times and told
him that I felt special. Awww, the love! I noticed that he scribbled something on the cover, and I
just assumed it was his name. Later on at home, under much better lighting, I saw that it said "To
Shannon, Hugs & Kisses Pete Palladino." Sorry, I have to "awww" again…Awww!
Pete chatted with us for a bit and then had to go set his stuff up with Jeff. They had a wee amount
of space to perform in. Just enough room for the two of them (no room to frolic around). Around
9:30 they began the first set. My mom and I spotted a lad at a booth across from us who looked
like a Mike Myers clone. The "Wayne's World" one, not the "Halloween" one. Pete sang a lot
of his newer solo songs, and Jeff also did some new ones of his own. I looked around and noticed
there was a lack of people. There were six people total, including us. There were waiters and
stuff…do they count? Hmm…oh well, this was a much more personal show. Vikki, my dad's friend
from work, ended up coming by and she sat at the booth with us. Ooh, seven people!
After the first set, Pete came up to us and began chatting about random things. He and I
talked about MMC for a bit and how we both really liked Miss Fortune. He said his favorite
song was "Track #5" and I had to think a bit about which song it was. He said "If you died"
and I told him that it was actually my favorite as well. I've gotten way too many cds lately and
have yet to memorize the track #'s. Somehow we started to talk about how I like the band Travis
a lot, as well as Coldplay and he said that they were fantastic. He also complimented me on my
good taste of music. Once again, I felt special. I'm such a dork. After 45 minutes or so, they
started up the second set.
They played a lot of great songs, old and new, and I noticed that two more people had come in.
Making a total of eight! Awww yeh! Earlier, my dad asked Pete if they would play "Home at Last,"
a new song of Pete's. So, Pete made my dad's day…or night, and sang it Vikki ended up leaving
during that set because she knew she had to wake up early the next day. She said she had a lot of
fun, so that's jolly. My mom and I noticed that the Mike Myers look-a-like was singing along to
every song and getting down with his bad self in the booth. Erm, that sounds wrong…I meant he
was "bopping" around in the booth. Yeah…
After the second set, Pete sat at our booth for a bit and talked to us about random things. He
told a cute story about how he and his wife got together. *sigh* lovebirds. My dad decided
that it was time to go (it was around midnight) because he also had to get up early the next day.
I had to wake up early for school, but I was smart and I took a wee nap after getting home from
school earlier. My mom decided that she had to tell the Mike Myers guy that he looked just like
Mike Myers…so, my dad and I embarassingly followed her to his booth where he was sitting with
a gal. After my mom told him about his Mike resemblances, he laughed and said that he got that a lot.
They talked for a bit about how he used to work for the Badlees and then we waved goodbye to Pete,
and left. Even though it was strange because there wasn’t a huge crowd, I had a great time. If you
plan on going to a Gman anytime soon, I recommend the chicken finger sandwich.