Smack Dab back at the World-Famous Rib Joint in Dana Point, Saturday 01-31-2026

From Left to Right:  Smack Dab is Lloyd Brown, lead vocals and guitar; Allison Friedman, lead vocals and guitar; myself on the drums; Marc Repaire, lead guitar and vocals and Kent Richards, bass and vocals.  You can reach us at SmackDabGroup@gmail.com.
 

Well, on Saturday the 31st of January, 2026, Smack Dab had great pleasure to play at the World-Famous Rib Joint in the great little beach town of Dana Point, CA.  Over the last couple of years, the Rib Joint has become our gigging home, and it is a great place to get out and play in front of people.  After all, the only way to really find out all that practice has paid off is to get out and play, and once the musical train has left the station, we are along for the ride!  We are never perfect, but as a performing band, we are certainly getting better and better and tighter and tighter!  Also, since we were playing indoors, Marc brought is PA, so I didn’t have to schlep my big PA, which certainly make things much easier for me!  I love just bringing my drums, it is a rare treat!   

 

Being that this was the end of January, it was pretty dark at 6 PM.  The World-Famous Rib Joint is located at 34294 Pacific Coast Highway, Dana Point, CA. 

   

 

Street view of ye old Rib Joint!  Gotta love those palm trees! 

 

 

The Rib Joint is not fancy by any stretch of the imagination, but any place that offers live music is a palace in my book! 

 

 

Come on in, enjoy some great food, cold drinks and live music.  Don’t get much better than that! 

 

 

For this indoor gig, I brought my British-made Premier XPK drum kit, which I play as a four-piece, along with my Pearl Omar Hakim signature snare drum.  Since I use the XPK primarily as an indoor gig, the drums are dampened for low volume situations.  By the way, I love my Premier XPK kit; built like a tank, and the sound is really good (as long as you don’t dampen the Dickens out of it, ha, ha, ha).    


 

To dampen the sound I bit, I put a towel over the snare a la Ringo, and strap it down with a Bungie cord.  I put Remo Muff’l Control Rings on both the 10” rack tom and the 14” floor tom, to cut some of the volume and sustain.  Great for a small indoor gig!  

 

 

For most of the first set, I just used the floor tom to hold my drink and the setlist! 

 

 

As usual, Marc had put together a great setlist for this three-set gig.  Here is set one and two.    

 

 

And here is set three.  As we learn new songs, our repertoire is always changing, and being refined (i.e. making sure our fans have a great time)! 

 

 

On “stage” at the Rib Joint; all five of us squeeze in behind the blue tape line.  From left to right, Smack Dab is Lloyd Brown, lead vocals and guitar; Allison Friedman, lead vocals and guitar; Marc Repaire, lead guitar and vocals; Kent Richards, bass and vocals and myself way to the right, hidden behind Kent.   

Since we hadn’t played much during the Christmas and New Years holidays, and since our last live gig was the Blasmo Christmas party on December 13, 2025, we had quite a bit of practicing to do before the gig.  Here are a few practice videos from the Blasmo Musicians collective in Laguna Hills, CA, where we practice:

I Will Survive, the Cake version.  

Hey Joe, with Kent providing the vocals.  

I'm Tore Down.  

Just Like Heaven.  

Just What I Needed.  

Take the Money and Run.  

Pride and Joy. 

Times Like These. 

When I Come Around. 

China Grove.  

As usual, it was great to get out and play live again, and our fans had a good time.  We even made enough money from tips to pay for gas, and a couple of pairs of new drumsticks for me!  Life is GOOD! 


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