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The Federation… featuring
“Traitor” on Bass at Oliver’s in Essex,
March 07
Hmmm.. “Traitor”.
You might think, that is not nice. Well let me
tell you the story. I have known Joel for many
many years… through a huge group of friends in
Norwalk. I lived there most of my life
until 2000 when I moved to Guilford. I was at
the Cumberland Farms on Rt. 80 one day minding
my own business when Joel appears at the gas
pump. Well.. that is a shock for you. I said “What
are you doing up here? You are supposed to be in
Norwalk”. He then tells me that he lives in
Guilford and to ad insult to injury he lives
about 10 houses around the corner away from
me. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR,
AND he never stopped by knowing full well where
I live because we have had some parties there,
that he attended WITH his bass. BIG
TROUBLE. Well that was not the end of it. A
couple of months later he tells me he was moving
back to
 Norwalk.
Well that did it. I had to come up with some
kind of retribution, so hence he now has the
nickname of “Traitor”.
He has been sending me
emails to come see them play for a LONG LONG
TIME and being that I basically hibernate in
winter, (last year I
hibernated in summer too) I have not had too
many outings to bars & clubs to hear music,
which is one thing I do truly love and miss. I
am a rock & roller at heart. Well not sure what
got my tired, a…..s out of the house last
Saturday, but I was
glad I did. I didn’t tell him I was coming…
hehehehe .. I was just there. (Got you back
Traitor for the gas station). The Federation
that night was Joel (bass), Norm (guitar,
singer) & Tom (drums). From what he tells me
the musicians could be a little varied from gig
to gig, (Norm & Traitor
always, drummer du jour!)but as long as Traitor is on Bass you
are in for QUITE an entertaining evening. Most
bass players are pretty low ke y,
(no pun intended) on stage the singer is usually
the nutcase or maybe the guitarist or drummer at
times, but not in this band. I was tired just
watching him. I was trying to take pictures. I
got a LOT OF BLUR. From one side of the
stage to the other, contorting himself from the
floor to the ceiling, making faces, hair flying,
the whole enchilada, this is personality plus.
All of them,
just great
musicians. They do music from as they say Cars
to Metallica… cover band yes, but
Talented? Yes,
VERY… Loud? Not too bad… you didn’t get
blown out of your seat into the parking lot.
Attentive to the Crowd? Yes, VERY… Fun?
Yes, VERY. The Federation started playing at
8pm. I thought “Oh good, I will get home pretty
early” HA!! They played till 12
 or
so and I would not have stepped out a minute
sooner. Every song was “TIGHT” you all know what
that means. They all knew exactly what the other
one was doing and the timing was right there. At
one point they gave the crowd a choice of Led
Zepplin or Pink Floyd. Well Zepplin won out but
then for all of us Pink Floyd fans, they went
along and played them as well. The sou nd
was awesome; felt like you were at a concert.
Everything was clean and played with
great enthusiasm. Oliver’s
Tavern is a popular
spot in Essex, CT, both
restaurant & bar. The bar being upstairs
offering a full menu.
The bar is open with high ceilings and exposed
beams and lots of wood and
bar room
nostalgia. It is a great spot to come
enjoy your evening, and if you like to dance
there is room for that too. There were three
tiny teen girls there with their family just
having a ball. They all looked like they took
professional dance classes. That always
impresses me since I have five left feet and
usually won’t venture to the dance floor unless
there are lots of people out there
and/or I have had a couple of my wine
spritzers! So on my
recommendation, get on The Federation’s Mailing
list … say hi to the
guys and get out to see them ASAP!
email them here to join...
Gnorm -
"Traitor" -
Kim
aka "webmistress" and "catinthewind" |
