Hal’s Harley-Davidson/Greg Koch and Other Bad Men, A review......

Dawn and I decided to get involved in the Harley-Davidson 105th Celebration by going to a dealership called Hal’s Harley-Davidson. Earlier in the day I was listening to WKLH in Milwaukee and Greg Koch and his Band of “Other Bad Men”. WKLH said that Greg and Company were planning on playing Hal’s later in the day and that they were scheduled to play from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM. Yes, three hours!

Anyway, Dawn and I arrived at about 4:30 PM and we found many T-shirt tents in Hal’s parking lot and many, many motorcycles parked. We went into Hal’s showroom just to look around. In there they were selling Harley-Davidson memorabilia along with more T-shirts and their parts department was even open. Outside there were many places to purchase liquid refreshments along with food. As we strolled the grounds which were huge, we stopped to ask an employee where the stage was located which turned out to be behind the main building. It was about 5:00 PM and we knew the band would be starting. Well, following our ears, we came in right in the middle of the first song and settled in.

First let me say this, the band this time was comprised of Greg Koch on lead guitar/vocals, Malford Milligan on lead vocals, Tom Goode on bass and Tom Brechtlein on drums. I must say of all the times I’ve seen Greg and the Guys play, this was the best they’ve ever sounded. Malford’s voice was powerful, clear and yet, could be very sweet on slow Blues songs. Tom Goode is always rock steady on bass and provides a great background for the guys to follow. Tom Brechtlein was absolutely outstanding on drums as was Greg’s son Dylan who was asked to replace Tom for two songs. And Greg, well what can be said about Greg that I haven’t said before? Other than he is one of the premier guitarists in the world today. We were treated to an onslaught of heavy Blues, Rock, Soul, Jazz and Funk, music that cut down to the bone.

As the night went along, I was able to meet Malford when he strolled out from the stage enclosure to stand out to listen to the rest of the guys play. Funny, no one approached him and since I had never spoken with him, I went over to introduce myself. What I discovered is a very sweet guy. I told Malford that of all the times I heard him and the guys perform, this was the best they sounded. Malford of course thanked me for my kind words. Then I brought up the subject of our little common friend. You see, Carl Latz had told me some time ago, that Malford really loves little T-Man, that he’s always treated Tallan as one of the guys. So when Malford asked who I was talking about, I said my little buddy Tallan Latz. Malford’s eyes lit up and while placing his hand over his chest, he told me what a great little man he is. Of course, I told Malford that I totally agreed. I also brought up Joe Bonamassa and Malford's words to me about Joe were and I quote, "Now there's a bad boy!" I take it by that statement, that Malford is a fan of Joe's too. I knew it was getting about time for Malford to head back to the stage so we parted. What a great guy he is!!

During the night these guys played everything from The Stones to Led Zeppelin to Johnny Cash to Greg Koch originals to a new song that Greg and Malford co-wrote that has yet to be recorded. One song that they did which is one of my favorites, is “Standing on Shaky Ground” written by Delbert McClinton. During this song which is just great itself, the guys blended in Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and another song by Sly and the Family Stone ending with the last verse of “Standing on Shaky Ground” Gosh, 20 minutes of absolute funky mayhem was to be had! The crowd couldn’t get enough of their playing and the hours past by so quickly, as it always does with great music, that we couldn’t even catch our breath. You might ask just how long did this music continue? Did they actually play from 5:00 to 8:00 PM? Well folks Greg, Malford, Tom, Dylan and Tom played 3 hours and 20 minutes, no break, no pause, balls to the walls music. It may have been slightly longer as Dawn and I decided to leave during the encore to get a jump on traffic. All I can say is, What a Show!! And it was all for free…….

Epilogue to the show:

A couple of things I failed to mention……First, in the pictures that I’ll post, you’ll notice a couple of pictures of an older gentleman who actually was sitting right in front of me most of the night. As it turned out, he was Greg’s 85 years young father who stayed the entire show right to the end. As his dad got up from his seat to approach the stage, that’s when Greg introduced his dad. Needless to say, there was great applause for this man!

Also, in the pictures, you’ll notice a…uh-hum…slight change in Greg’s hair style. As I listened to WKLH radio yesterday this morning from work, Greg, who’s a fairly frequent contributor of the show, and his band were down at Hal’s just to give a taste of what would come later in the day. The three morning show people commented about Greg’s new look and one of them even called it a little scary. Apparently, when Greg took his son Dylan to the barber to get his hair cut, the barber told Greg he was the one that needed a hair cut. Greg’s response was to cut it all off. So tonight as you will see, gone is the beret that Greg normally wears and gone too is the pony tail that usually sticks out of the back of the beret. Actually, I kind of like the new Greg look and so does Greg’s dad!

The final thing is that when Greg walked off the stage to allow Malford to sing a song all by himself, Greg was given a copy of Joe’s new CD “Live From Nowhere In Particular”. Greg thanked me for doing that as he and Joe are friends. I’m sure Greg will enjoy this new release as much as we all are. I also briefly got to talk to Dylan and told him just how good he sounded on drums. Gosh, 13 years old and he’s already 6 feet tall and wears a size 14 shoe. I guess he takes after dear old dad!

Here’s the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8384830@N0 … 016005092/

Enjoy life,

Roy