I Want My MTV...bringing back the 80's!

Neil and I at Universal Bar & Grill for his show!

Friday night was going to be a big night because Neil was playing a show for the first time in a month, and I was going to be singing a couple songs with him.  So on Friday afternoon after making a stop at Guitar Center for some cords, and me desperately searching for Nikki Sixx (he wasn't there), we got in some rehearsal time before the show.

Like I said in my initial rehearsal blog for this show, to me it's completely different than doing Karaoke.  First off, people are paying to walk in the door, whether they are listening to music or not, and if you're up on stage performing, they expect you to be good, and third, I'm not performing songs in my comfort level.  On Tuesday we had rehearsed a few songs, but settled on 2 for the show at Universal Bar & Grill that night, because Neil was only going to be able to play about 10 songs. Needless to say, I was nervous, and was going to be glad when both songs were done and I could enjoy the rest of the show, but Neil told me his final song of the night was one of our duets...well, guess I'm just going to cheer and be loud to get my jitters out of the way!

All of the songs Neil performed that night were 80's Rock songs, he played Tom Petty's 'Free Falling,' Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' which the crowd loved, as well as Mr. Big's 'Be With You,' which went over fantastically and more!!  You can see all his songs, covers, as well as originals on his YouTube page at: Neil Daly's Music Videos

Lucky for us, we kind of got to practice one of our songs (our closing song for the show) at Karaoke on Wednesday.  While the version was similar, just hearing an acoustic guitar while we were singing, made it so different, and prettier to me.  After a couple songs, Neil called me up on-stage and we did U2's hit 'With or Without You.'  We had sang that at a show back in November, but we had made some changes to it, and also were able to work on it more, since we had only practiced it a few times before we sang it at his first show at The Good Hurt in Culver City.  I loved the version we did because we really made it our own!  It's always great when the crowd sings along or you hear the excitement when you start singing, so we knew we had picked a winner!  After a few more songs Neil called me back on-stage and we closed the show with 'Living On A Prayer' by Bon Jovi.  There's an amazing Acoustic Version out there, that we did our own little take on, me being Richie, and Neil rocking it as Jon.  You can see us singing to Bon Jovi's famous song on My YouTube Page or Neil's YouTube Page.  Make sure to check out more of the 80's Cover Songs there as well...but enjoy Neil's version of 'Don't Stop Believing' right here, right now!

It's definitely fun singing and listening to covers, but I'm really excited for Neil's show at the end of the month, back at Universal Bar & Grill, where he'll be playing his originals with a cover song or two added into the mix.  Both of us were happy with our performances and Neil was excited to do something different, because it keeps people guessing, and hopefully gets some more fans to enjoy his music!  Singing live is really such a fun experience though, because it's so different for me.  My brother does it all the time with his band The Hussy, as they tour all over the country, so I know it's hard work to get up there every night and sing.  It is a huge rush, and always good practice for the future, and since I love to sing, it's giving me a chance to be doing something creative and out of my comfort zone!

The rest of the night was a blast because we were able to relax, play some pool, drink some shots (not me!), and grab a bite to eat with some good friends!  So let's keep bringing on the 80's!