Hot Night in the City!

That’s right folks – not only was it HOT in Kenny’s, but the entertainment (us; the band) was HOT too!! ;)

I arrived 'fashionably late' - John D. greeted me at the door at Kenny's claiming "John D. just sang a song!"

Brandon was our host for the evening… the Reverend Colin sang “I Try”, by Macy Gray; Marky Mark sang a new one off the list – Creedance Clearwater’s “Proud Mary”; Irenka – (long time no see girl!), sang “Lean on Me”; her friend Maria, a CCK 'newbie' belted out "Heartbreaker"; and DanniMac (rhetorically) asked/sang “Have You Ever Seen the Rain”. Judging the amount of ‘sweat stains’ on the bands’ shirts were probably praying for rain (and/or a cold beer) by the time their first break rolled around.

Selene, dressed in flowing garb for the weather conditions, sang some Pink, "Just Like a Pill"; John D. rocked the house (and the 'catwalk') with "Low" by Cracker (w/a 'C'; see last week's Quotes Corner); Chrisine Kern rocked the house w/some of her signature "Bobby McGee", which she dedicated to Rockstar Richard; and Ron K. and Andy did a little duet, "Take a Load off Fannie"; and Christina G. belted "Crazy Train"!

While Ron K. tried to earn his keep, by giving backrubs at the 'Irenka/Maria table', Corey Lim belted "Magic Man"; Davey Monster sang "My Way"; Dylan sang "Brown-Eyed Girl" - I'm sure to his gal Corey Lim. :) Rockstar gave us some Grateful Dead, and encouraged us to go see them at MSG; and Brandon followed suit by singing "Casey Jones". Hmmm, one of these days, the blogstress might have to try that one...

During the break, we all convened outside, and some of us gathered for, well, a group hug! As Kristie Lee stated, "We're family here!" And we are -- for instance, for the second or third wk. in a row, the kitchen was closed, so, I went foraging for, OK, a SECOND slice of pizza!

SELENE (outside)
"Goin' for ANOTHER slice 'a pizza?!"

ME
"Uh...yeah. But I don't think the folks in The Red Lion heard you..." (LOL!)

Just like family, right?

But, this time, I went to the Pizza Box, where for the first slice I went to that little place next door. Neither of them particularly thrilled me...but maybe that's because I was really looking forward to sinking my teeth into a big, juicy, Kenny's burger!

Oh well...continuing on... there was someone who celebrated their Birthday, who sang U2's "One Love" - but I only wrote down on my-now-shriveled-up napkin, "B'day, "One Love"... Troy sang some smooth Commodore's - "Easy"; Diana sang "Irreplaceable" ('To the left, to the left'); DanniMac belted U2's "Vertigo"; Rebecca sang "You Outta Know"; and, well, I just have to give props to the band while I sang "In The End", for letting me ROCK. IT. OUT!!!! There's nothin' like feeling like a rockstar while rockin' out between Alan and Andy, all the way to the stage floor 'man' -- an 'Alan-and-Andy-rock-'n-roll-sandwich' if you will... one word... AWESOME.

Ok my friends, see you Sunday!

Your blogstress,
Kristina ;)

Quotes Corner:

"You broke it, you buy it!"
- Selene, in response to Christine accidentally breaking off the microphone...oops.

"...the microphone 'tasted' like mint."
- Me, to John D., saying that I had sang after him, and noticed a 'taste' of mint...

P.S. DanniMac made a quote here, but alas, it's a PG blog, so not appropriate here...

P.S.S. Feel free to leave comments!

Live, from Kenny’s…!

Kris-ti-na Latour, & Peter's 'crew'

First of all, just want to give some 'props':

Props to:

-CCK! As always, they rocked it out, but special props for Randy Andy & Alan, for being on their THIRD gig for the day! Check out their other band site: www.solarpunch.org.

-Gilad for giving me props on the blog, before he rocked out!

-The ‘SNL’ cast members who came in for a quick drink, and were hangin’ out and chattin’!

-Peter for bringing lots of his friends, and for one of those friends taking the pics you see here!

Jen, Peter, Lola



Lola ('L-o-l-a')

It was a live bunch at Kenny’s Sunday night! The ‘Usuals’ all arrived early, and all applauded Kristie Lee’s entrance. The band got goin’ and Rockstar started us off with some Pink Floyd; John D. sang “What’s Up”; the Reverend Colin sang “Easy”; Marky Mark belted “Oh Boy”; and Christine Kern gave us “Something to Talk About.”

Rockstar & Christine Kern rockin' it out

‘Trooper Ted’, a friend from long ago, got us all goin' with “Signed, Sealed, Delivered’; the ‘Superpoke Queen’ Corey Lim sang No Doubt’s, “Just A Girl”; Mrs. D. sang Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, and I sang "You're No Good", to which Ryan took the liberty of dedicating it to Randy Andy.

‘Showtime Shon’ crooned “At Last”; Rockin’ Robin sang “Low” by Cracker (see Quotes Corner); Peter – our friend from the Underscore Days, sang “Fly Away”; Gilad sang a mean “Roadhouse Blues”; and Sharon rocked the house with CCK’s first ever “Proud Mary”!

Sharon singin' 'Proud Mary'


Peter


'Showtime' Shon

Brandon and Ted teamed up with “Brown-Eyed Girl”; Selene sang some Avril with “Complicated”; Shon and Colin sang a new addition, “Don’t Look Back in Anger”; and Roger B. sang “Sweet Caroline”.

Billy belted out some “Pinball Wizard”; Kathy sang “One”;

Melony sang “I Kissed a Girl”, with Peter as uh, back-up; and a newbie to CCK, John, sang some Foo Fighters, with his Russian model lady-friend doing an interpretive dance on the uh, ‘runway.’ Brandon sang “Jump in the Line”, and Showtime Shon & I were the only ones to uh, jump in the line…

And so at the end of the night - the crowd was still riled up - I had just finished singin' some Kinks, and Randy Andy turned to me and said "I have no idea what's going on." "Don't worry, you can read all about it in the blog!"

'Til Sunday...
Kristina ;)

P.S. Please, feel free to leave comments! I'd love to know who's out there reading - thanks!

"Mr. Songbook", Joe C...

Quotes Corner:

“Wow! It’s like Thanksgiving Dinner, and she runs in going right for the turkey!”
-Reverend Colin, referring to Rockin’ Robin, as she BOLTED past everyone, upon her arrival

-“Is it ‘Lo?’
“No, Low.”
“Is it Cracker w/a ‘K’?"
“No, that’s ‘Uncle Kracker’"
“Oh. With a ‘C’ or a ‘K’?"
“K”.
“But Cracker’s with a ‘C’."
“Yep!”
-Rockin’ Robin & I, well, conversing…

Easter at Kenny's!

Easter Sunday – and all us heathens… I mean, singers, lol, were out celebratin’ at Kenny’s! I got there around 9:00, as I was celebrating my own Easter dinner at the lovely 10 Downing in the Village. I highly recommend the Atlantic Char – YUM! Good thing I had dinner plans, as Kenny’s kitchen was closed! Guess there weren’t going to be too many orders for ‘Easter Burgers’ that day.

So, some of the usual crowd was there – Kathy sang “Will You Still Love Me”; Julie crooned “I Was Meant For You”; Showtime Shon gave a melodic “Let’s Stay Together”; Maya asked “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”; and Brandon got everyone hyped up when he “Saw Her Standing There.”

On account of it being Easter, the ‘Reverend’ Colin is now ‘The Most Reverend Colin” (not the ‘Moist’ Reverend – that’s for another blog). He sang “I Can See Clearly”; Selene sang about kissin' a girl - Katy Perry...; Corey Lim gave us one of the newer additions to the list, “Mercy” by Duffy; Olga belted “Behind Blue Eyes”; Marky Mark wowed with “Hound Dog”; and Charles, who compared the band members to four iPods, sang “Our Lips Are Sealed”.

I got up to sing “What I Am”, and before the music started, my throat all of a sudden went dry. I saw my CCK colleagues sitting in the audience, and motioned to ALL of them, that I needed a drink. They’re reactions – ‘Huh?’ ‘What?’ But I couldn’t speak - all I could do was give the ‘universal motion’ for ‘I need a drink!’ Finally, I stepped offstage, with the microphone in hand, to take a swig of someone’s, anyone’s Guinness that was there on the table, (thanks Colin) when all of a sudden this really loud obnoxious squealing started. What the heck?! WHERE was that coming from?!

It was coming from me.

Oops.

The mic was generating feedback from the monitors, therefore causing this horrific squelch. I quickly jumped back up on stage – good thing, as Alan was about to pull me up from my belt strap, lol… Either Ryan or Alan said into the microphone:

RYAN/ALAN
“Uh, Kristina, how long you been coming here?”

ME
“I couldn't help it! It was an emergency!”

All was forgiven…I think…

Props to Alan’s Dad stopping by, along with several folks from the State Dept. tour. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, including Michelle, who sang “Killing Me Softly”. And props to Joe Mitch on drums. He hit those ‘skins’ for Maya’s “Fever” like nobody’s business!

Check him here on YouTube, singing Katy Perry’s “Hot and Cold.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B716fb1tTvg

Charles’ and Liza’s friend Ryan sang us some Kenny Rogers – had everyone singing along to “The Gambler”; Yanni (not THAT Yanni) sang an awesome “Enter Sandman”, while Alan did a wonderful imitation of Kriste Lee:

ALAN
(Imitating Kristie Lee)
“Now I lay me down to sleep…I pray the lord my soul to keep…”

‘Twas very funny…

Yanni (at 'Kenny's Acropolis')

Nick sang “Kryponite”; the ‘Rockstars’ made a fashionably late appearance – Richard sang “Sympathy For the Devil”, and Christine Kern belted “Creep”. Gilad, a blast from the past, sang a wild “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, to a standing ovation! EVERYONE was up off their feet as he channeled Axl Rose!

The night grew late, and I left after the 2nd set, however, I heard that the night grew even later. “Mr. Songbook”, Joe Chica-chica-relli did a rockin’ job taking over the drums for Selene’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – and you can check out that video here – also on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO6zJhcsWBY

Thanks to Joe Mitch and Olga for supplying the pics and videos. Unfortunately, my ‘new-used’ camera is on the blink. So, I ask you fellow CCK’ers, to bring your cameras, and let me take some pics for the blog! That way, I can get as many pics as I want, of Colin and Brandon’s “Aunt Charisse”…

‘Til Sunday…

Your blogstress,
Kristina ;)

Quotes Corner:

Only one quote stood out this week:

“No matter what Sunday it is, you can count on you!”

“Like the Post Office!”
- Charles & Selene to me, about attending CCK every…Sunday…night.

Ameenah & Joe Mitch

'Hooked on Ebonics' (Yo!)

Hey all!

So, the title refers to a comment the Reverend Colin made to me on Sunday - he asked me why, at times, it sounds like I'm speaking 'Ebonics'.

"Wha'ch you talkin' 'bout Willis?!'

Um, I think THAT was what he was talking about actually... I explained to him that at times, I'm just channeling my 'innah sistah...' just kidding. I'm more or less doing what Ryan does, which is;

RYAN:

"That was 'Kris-ti-na La-tour', doin' the damn thing, yyyyyyyyo..."

Anyway, Crash Course had some of the 'usuals' there... Rockstar sang "Comfortably Numb"; Colin channeled Macy Gray; Christine Kern belted "Beautiful"; Bran-DOHN sang "Heartbreak Hotel"; Marky Mark gave us "Summertime Blues"; and Rockin' Robin took us back to Clinton's Inauguration with Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop".

The Sunglasses Group...

Houterman 'you da man' was there - a 'usual' from the 'old' days at The Underscore on the UES. He wowed the crowd with Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"; a 'newbie' to Crash Course , named Christopher sang "The Joker";


Christoper

Mrs. D. made her return with "Since U Been Gone"; and John D. gave 'Randy Andy' a break and sang "Dust In the Wind". Brandon & I gave Andy even more of a break, while harmonizing to Green Day's "Good Riddance"/"Time of Your Life." We did have the time of our life -- me being his 'Estelle' (Getty), and him being my 'Kanye' ('East')...LOL!

Selene sang "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree"; DanniMac rocked out to some Elvis Costello;


DanniMac

Karen belted "Falling"; and Freddie, the sound guy, sang some "Stardust". 'Showtime Shon' rocked out to "Summertime"; Ron K. sang "Time After Time", w/Kristie Lee adding her nice harmony; and Nick, who was here from Alabama, by way of FL, by way of NJ...(huh?) rocked out "Semi-Charmed Life"; Leah joined us and belted "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"; and Ben made his return to the stage with some Johnny Cash! And a shout-out to Peter, another 'usual' from the 'old days' on the UES - he and his crew arrived just as I was making an unusual early exit.

The gang...

Until the next Sunday...thas' was' up folks...



Kristina ;)

Worlds Colliding!

Worlds collided in many different fashions this past Sunday night at Kenny's! Somehow, Rockstar's friends co-incided w/my world and John D.'s world! Rockstar knows someone who I used to know, who knows some guy named Adam, who knows John D... next thing you know, CCK is going to be adding "It's A Small World" (please, no...)

In any case, I just bought a battery charger, and should be able to take pics next time. Until then, we'll just have to 'kick it old school'.

Just to recap, Rockstar started us out with "Comfortably Numb"; the Reverend Colin sang "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay"; Marky Mark tried a new one with "Then He Kissed Me"; and Christine Kern belted "You Outta Know"!

It was Ted's birthday, and he was, uh, celebratin' -- alot...(lol). He cheered EVERYONE on - alot... (lol). Anyway, Corey Lim blew us away with "Behind These Hazel Eyes", not 'Unbreakable', lol! A little joke btwn. Selene & I... Rockin' Robin rocked out with "Bette Davis Eyes"; Ron K. 'Ron K'd' The Beatles; Hans gave us "Glory Days"; Selene sang "Hot and Cold"; Dylan rocked out "American Girl", and Troy sang a fave of Colin's "Easy".

John D. rocked out "Signed, Sealed, Delivered"; 'Kanye East'/Bran-DOHN sang "Here Comes the Sun"; Natalie sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"; and Corey Lim & Christine sang a duet to "Sweet Child of Mine".

"Chariots of Fire" came on the sound system, as Ryan announced John A. was entering the building. Well, not quite yet. A couple more singers went up -- I sang "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree", THEN the theme to "Rocky" came on, and John A. made his grand entrance.

Then, it came to THAT time of night. It was officially a Private Party, just w/'family'. Ryan started off the 'private party' with "La Bamba", passing the mike around for everyone to sing. John D. sang "Dust In The Wind"; Christine, Rockstar, and Brandon all sang "Tangled Up In Blue"; I rocked out "In The End"; Richard sang "A Little Less Conversation" while EVERYONE danced! The band ROCKED IT OUT 'til almost 2:30am! A REALLY fun night!! Thanks guys (and gal!).

'Til Sunday...

Your blogstress,
Kristina ;)

Quotes Corner:

"Talk to the left-hand, 'cause you ain't right!" - John D.

"Who do you think you are? 'Kristina Mattina'?"
- Ryan, at the end of the night, referring to 'Randy Andy' being a diva, when I asked if anyone had a camera 'cause I wanted a photo of me rockin' out to "In The End".

"If you missed going to CCK, you can look at the blog, AND save $$, all at the same time, and, almost have the experience of actually going!" - Ron K.

"I'm pointing at you, but there are three fingers pointing back at me." - John D.

"THAT'S ALRIGHT!" - Colin

"'Hail' yeah!" - John D.

"When you're lookin' at yourself in the mirror, that's when you get into an accident." - Suze Orman (ok, I'm watching Oprah at the same time I'm writing this, and thought it was a good quote.)