Smack Dab playing at the World-Famous Rib Joint in Dana Point, August 30th, 2025

 


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Our poster for our August 30, 2025 gig at the World Famous Rib Joint, ready to be posted.  Smack Dab is Lloyd Brown, lead vocals and guitar; myself on drums; Allison Friedman on lead vocals and guitar; Marc Repaire on lead guitar and vocals and Kent Richards on bass and vocals.  We can be reached at SmackDabGroup@gmail.com.  

We again had the pleasure of playing at the World Famous Rib Joint in Dana Point on August 30, 2025.  A hot day; Kent and I started loading up my pickup truck around 3:00 PM, and we got to the Rib Joint about 4:00 PM. 

 

The Rib Joint, 34294 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point, CA.  The building was originally built in 1940, and it is starting to show its age…  Nevertheless, they are fully operational; check them out at www.ribjointdanapoint.com.  Great food and live music, what more do you need?     

 

Gotta love it! 

 

The Rib Joint from above, with its funky “Dana Point” wall painting / art installation in the back of the building.  As of this writing (September 02, 2025) the Rib Joint and its land is up for sale…     

 We were early, which meant a little less chaos setting up, and not so many wires to trip over.  We were pretty much set up by 5:15 PM, and we had sound check at 5:30 sharp, all ready for another fun gig!

 

We are just about set up; Marc and Lloyd are checking out their cables… 

For this occasion, I had finally got my vintage British-made Premier Genistas ready for a gig, and I love my new / old Premiers!  These are probably from late 1980, early 1990, when Yamaha owned Premier.  I bought the Premier Genistas from Musician’s Friend sometime last fall, but I was sooooo busy with our kitchen and bathroom remodel that I didn’t have time to get them ready for a gig until this summer.  I was a bit leery about ordering a used kit from Musician’s Friend, since they come from a Guitar Center store, somewhere in the US.  However, they came really nicely packed in a bunch of bubble wrap, and there was no damage at all.  As usual with all my used kits, I took the whole thing apart and cleaned the shells and polished all the chrome and put it all back together.  The Genista is a four-piece; 10” x 8”; 12” x 10”; 14” x 12” toms and a 22” x 16” bass drum.  I put DW floor tom legs on the 14” x 12” to make it into a “real” floor tom, and that was about it.  With relatively new Remo Pinstripes on the toms and an ebony Remo Pinstripe on the bass drum, I got my kit all ready for the gig.  I must say I really love the British-made Genistas; the finish is really nice and shiny, and I got lucky in that the kit was really well preserved.  Another great kit added to my crazy drum collection!       

 

My new / old British-made Premier Genista all-birch kit.  I got it set up as a four-piece, and I’m also playing my 13” x 5” DW wood snare.  My cymbals are an assortment of Zildjians, Sabians, a Paiste high-hat bottom, and I play a vintage UFIP 18” Ping Ride.  And I’m also the PA guy, using my trusted old analog Carvin powered mixer.    

 The Rib Joint Gig is always fun, and you can’t beat the hours!  We usually play from 6:00 PM, and we are usually done by 9:15 PM.  We have a loyal following of neighbors and friends, so we usually bring about 20-30 people, which makes the Rib Joint owners happy! 

 

Smack Dab, ready for another fun gig at the Rib Joint in Dana Point.  Smack Dab is, from left to right:  Lloyd Brown, lead vocals and guitar; Allison Friedman, lead vocals and guitar; myself behind the drums; Marc Repaire, lead guitar and vocals and Kent Richards, bass and vocals. 

As is obligatory, Marc had put together our setlist, and we love him for it!  Gotta have a setlist; without it, there is just mayhem.  We try to stick to the setlist as much as we can, but if there is a request, then we will deviate:

Smack Dab Setlist, August 30, 2025, first and second set.  Marc is the MAN!      

 

 

Smack Dab Setlist, August 30, 2025, third set.  We skipped Everlong; by 9:15 I was pretty exhausted and hot. By the way, I play an old guy, watered-down version of Everlong, at about 90% speed…  Nevertheless, our fans seem to really enjoy it, and it is Marc’s baby!    

For this gig, we had Scott the Bongo Man to sit in with us for the third set, to add some harmonica.  He added a lot, and it was really fun to play with an accomplished harmonica player.  He did three songs with us:  Roadhouse Blues;, Long Train Running and Red House.  Great fun! 

 

Smack Dab with Scott the Bongo Man, dressed all in red for the occasion!  He did a great job on the harmonica!    

 We were done by 9:15 PM, and miraculously enough, the pack up and load up only took some 45 minutes, and with Kent’s help, I was all unloaded and back in the house by 10:30, ready for bed!  Nevertheless, this was probably my most fun gig with Smack Dab (not that our other gigs are not fun), and we seemed to be pretty tight, and we were having a lot of fun and enjoying each other’s company and the music, which is what it is all about!  I’m blessed to be able to continue playing, and I’ll keep playing for as long as somebody wants me behind the drums!    

Here are a few videos from the gig:

This is the complete first set.  

This is the complete second set.  

This is Roadhouse Blues, featuring Scott the Bongo Man on the harmonica.  

This is the complete third set. 

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