Dead Freddie Monthly Newsletter
December 2021
Dead Freddie Merch-Happy Holidays and on to 2022!
Find it at https://deadfreddie.bandcamp.com
Upcoming Shows
February 25, 2022
Reggie’s Rock Club
Chicago, IL
Opening for The Handcuffs and Off Broadway
https://www.facebook.com/events/615740005882869
May 27, 2022
Montrose Saloon
Chicago, IL
Opening for Chicago Prog Rock Legends “McLuhan”
Stay Tuned For More Dead Freddie Dates!
Dead Freddie Returns to Montrose Saloon!
It was a long time coming, but Dead Freddie finally landed a coveted Friday night slot at the legendary Montrose Saloon, playing the heart of the line-up with Electric Brew opening and The Last Afternoons headlining. We were adorned in our brilliant pink suitcoats, nearly blinding the packed house of music lovers, but received a great reception from a crowd where very few had ever seen or heard Dead Freddie previously. Thank you to Radio Ruta Spencer for introducing the band and taking photos, to Radio DJ Di Kulka of WLUW FM 88.3 for her presence and support (Hope to be back in her studio one of these days!) and long-time supporter Rose Steagerman for taking some great photos. Kailen Torres of doncarloevents.com did a video recording of our set and did a beautiful job of putting together a very professional clip of the band. Check out the clip on Facebook and YouTube:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=678231166918526&external_log_id=6af9769b-6c7b-48ca-a1b2-15f8c216aa33&q=Dead%20Freddie
Please Like, Comment, Share and Tag your friends!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFg0xWVBjRY
Help Dead Freddie by Subscribing to our YouTube channel and liking our content!
Dead Freddie Utility Back-Up Hosts Livestream!
Regina Ramanauskas, part of the “resurrected” Dead Freddie in 2012, is also a solo artist in their own right. They remain the emergency back-up guitarist and bassist for Dead Freddie, their last activity with the band coming in August 2016, as bassist for the show at Beachland Ballroom Tavern in Cleveland, OH. Regina (AKA “RJ”) hosted numerous Facebook livestreams during the 2020 lockdown and decided to do one after quite some time on 18 December 2021. This livestream, titled “Emo Night Before Christmas” was different in that it emanated from the festively decorated kitchen of their parents. A joy to watch them in action. Donatas guested on jingle bells for a couple of tunes-Oh what fun it is to ride…
Emo Night Before Christmas featuring Regina Ramanauskas
https://www.facebook.com/584447682/videos/2675019732641826/
Dead Freddie Shows in 2021
2/17/21
The Garage, Westchester, IL
3/9/21
The Garage, Westchester, IL
4/3/21
The Garage, Westchester, IL
6/12/21
Old Oak Golf Club, Homer Glen, IL
8/20/21
The Outtaspace, Berwyn, IL
8/28/21
Milwaukee Polka Riot, Milwaukee, WI
9/25/21
DZ Fest, Hickory Hills, IL
10/1/21
Cemitas Poblanas, Villa Park,IL
10/30/21
Cairo Ale House, West Chicago
11/12/21
The Uptown Tavern, Westmont, IL
11/20/21
Save More Lounge, Chicago, IL
12/3/21
Montrose Saloon, Chicago
Dead Freddie Supports Local Bands
December 6, 2021
James The Boneless
https://www.reverbnation.com/jamestheboneless
December 13, 2021
Solution Unsatisfactory
https://solutionunsatisfactory.bandcamp.com
December 20, 2021
Spun
https://www.facebook.com/Spun-Band-170571713651325/
December 27, 2021
Steve’s In The Band
https://www.facebook.com/DeadFreddieAndFriends/photos/pcb.4610172339020155/4610172205686835/
Dead Freddie Monthly Newsletter
2022 Wrap-Up!
Dead Freddie Merch-Support Your Local Punk Pop Phenomena!
Find it at https://deadfreddie.bandcamp.com
Upcoming Shows
Dead Freddie and Moist Guitars!
Friday
January 27, 2023
The Outtaspace
6840 32nd St.
Berwyn, IL 60402
Dead Freddie and Invisible Cartoons!
Friday
March 24, 2023
The Uptown
12 W. Burlington
Westmont, IL 60559
Stay Tuned for More Dead Freddie Dates!
Dead Freddie 2022: In a Nutshell
After a quiet start in January, when we spent time choosing and rehearsing songs for our next release, due out sometime in 2023.
Our show in February, opening for Off Broadway USA, was cancelled, due to illness, so we kept on with preparing to go to the recording studio.
March was also a month spent in rehearsals but switching over to preparing for live shows in addition to getting ready to record.
We had a triple header of shows in April at The Outtaspace, The Burlington and The Uptown. It was a treat to play with Loveseat!, a brand new band and open for Moist Guitars, Chicago’s only outrageous alt-punk, glam rock'n'roll band. The Burlington allowed us to pick the bands to play with us, so we handpicked Saddleman, The Rip Ups and James the Boneless, all great choices for our venue debut. The Uptown required us to play two hours straight. That’s much longer than the usual 30-40 minute sets we generally play, but we rose to the challenge, inserting additional cover songs to extend our set and please the Uptown crowd!
We had a very special show in May, joining the bill with prog rock legends McLuhan and the Greg Jacks & Eric Chial Duo at Montrose Saloon.
After a couple more rehearsals early in June, we made our first trip to Sonic Palace Studio on June 18th. We hammered out eight scratch tracks with drums in a long, but productive session.
Everyone took some time off in July. Donatas went on a 330-mile bicycle trip from Lemont, IL to Custer, MI with a group of scouts and leaders, completing the event for the 11th time.
In August, we had two sessions at Sonic Palace Studio. We started adding additional instruments and vocals to the eight scratch tracks recorded in June.
We added two more Sonic Palace sessions in September, with our second trip to the Milwaukee Polka Riot sandwiched in between, on September 10th. We were the third of seven bands, immediately following our friends Sgt. Sauerkraut Polka Band. With a change in venue from 2021, this year’s outdoor event was a great improvement on many levels. Kudos to the event organizers. If invited, we would love to return in 2023!
October was a hectic month for the band due to busy personal schedules and illnesses. Gary came home from Oktoberfest in Germany with something resembling COVID-19 and wisely placed himself in quarantine. Donatas attended a couple of weddings and successfully completed the Detroit Free Press Half-Marathon. We also had to scramble to put together a 1-hour set of David Bowie material to play at Halloweekend at Montrose Saloon on October 28th. It was a test of our musical skills as well as stage presence to pull it off but pull it off we did.
We made it back to Sonic Palace on November 6th, continuing to add to the original scratch tracks. Some interesting things were done with vocal harmonies, accordion and a recently acquired Farfisa organ. Just before Thanksgiving, we played our second show of the year at The Uptown, with Saddleman and Dead Freddie each playing two-hour sets.
December was derailed when two band members were infected with COVID-19, probably from someone at The Uptown show. While both recovered from the virus, one of the members was hospitalized for a week with post-COVID effects. Fortunately, he is back home resting and regaining his strength, hoping to be well enough to restart Dead Freddie activities, including rehearsals, recording and shows in January 2023. Sidenote: every single band member, all vaxed and boosted, still contracted COVID-19, some more than once, since the onset of the virus in 2020. Lesson learned: be vigilant of symptoms, test when infection is suspected, and let others know when you test positive to keep others from getting it too.
Musicians we lost in 2022:
Terry Hall-The Specials
Cliff Johnson-Off Broadway USA
Meatloaf
Christine McVie
Keith Leven-PiL
Jerry Lee Lewis
Loretta Lynn
Coolio
Ramsey Lewis
Olivia Newton John
Allen White-Yes
Taylor Hawkins-Foo Fighters
Ronnie Spector
Naomi Judd
Dead Freddie Shows in 2022!
We got out to see you as often as we could:
4/1/22
The Outtaspace,
Berwyn, IL
Loveseat!, Dead Freddie, Moist Guitars
4/15/22
Burlington Bar,
Chicago, IL
The Rip Ups, Saddleman, James the Boneless, Dead Freddie
4/23/22
The Uptown Tavern,
Westmont, IL
Saddleman, Dead Freddie,
5/27/22
Montrose Saloon,
Chicago, IL
McLuhan, Greg Jacks & Eric Chial, Dead Freddie
9/10/22
Milwaukee Polka Riot,
Milwaukee, WI
Yid Vicious, Sgt Sauerkraut Polka Band, Dead Freddie, November Criminals, The Cajun Strangers, Forro Fo Sho, Preomnor
10/28/22
Montrose Saloon,
Chicago, IL.
Halloweekend!
The Hurtin' Kind as Wilco, Sandmen as Morphine, My Biggest Thrills as Mighty Lemon Drops, Alive Kennedys as Dead Kennedys, Phil Angotti as Cheap Trick, Dead Freddie as David Bowie (Headliners)
11/19/22
The Uptown Tavern, Westmont, IL
Saddleman, Dead Freddie
We had a BLAST playing every one of these shows, each one memorable in its own special ways. Looking forward to playing out more often in 2023!
Dead Freddie at Sonic Palace
Dead Freddie made six trips to Sonic Palace between June and November 2022 to record eight tracks for our next LP. While we made excellent progress, we still have a few more sessions to go to finish up. Matt Mercado, owner/sound engineer/producer of Sonic Palace has been doing a fantastic job of elevating our songs into something special! Stay tuned for recording updates!
Dead Freddie Supports Local Bands
We got out to support as many local & regional artists as we could this year. A few of the bands in the list below are throwbacks, but most of them we saw and supported in 2022! Please support these and other local live music! Contact information included with each band/artist. Please Like, Comment and Share!
Off Broadway https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063472993794
Quantum www.quantum-band.com/
Nostradafu https://www.facebook.com/groups/3257256501051124/members
Straight Laced https://www.facebook.com/StraightLacedOi/
WaxLips
http://WeAreWaxLips.com
The Magnifiers
http://themagnifiers.com/
Splatter Pattern https://www.facebook.com/splatterpunksmke
Niko Twist Action https://www.facebook.com/nikotwistactionman
The Last Afternoons https://thelastafternoons.bandcamp.com
Part-Time Lovers https://www.facebook.com/PTL1980s/
Rachel Drew https://www.facebook.com/racheldrewmusic
Whuzy https://www.facebook.com/WhuzyOfficial/
CHX Collective https://www.facebook.com/chxcollective/
Jacob Horn Trio https://jacobhorntrio.bandcamp.com/
Beat The Smart Kids https://btskska.bandcamp.com/
Run and Punch
https://runandpunch.com/
Electric Brew https://www.facebook.com/ElectricBrewBand
Earth Radio https://www.facebook.com/EarthRadioChicago
Barrel Fever https://www.facebook.com/barrelfeverband
Loveseat! https://www.facebookcom/lovethatseat
Moist Guitars
http://www.moistguitars.com
Evil Empire
https://www.facebook.com/EEClan
The Operators https://www.facebook.com/operatorska
Won’t Stay Dead https://www.facebook.com/wontstaydeadchicago
Tiger Sex https://www.facebook.com/tigersexband
Dead Living https://www.facebook.com/deadlivingmusic
Something To Do
www.somethingtodo.ws
Downtown Brown
http://solo.to/neilpneilp
Peach Vomit https://www.facebook.com/PeachVomit
Shitizen https://www.facebook.com/anytownshitizen
Krap Spackle https://www.facebook.com/Krapspackle/
Eddy & The Arsons https://www.facebook.com/EddyandtheArsons
Prison City Brigade https://www.facebook.com/PrisonCityBrigade
McLuhan https://www.facebook.com/mcluhanband/about
Greg Jacks and Eric Chial https://www.facebook.com/greg.h.jacks/about
The Operators http://theoperatorsska.bandcamp.com
Death & Memphis http://www.deathandmemphis.bandcamp.com
Flaccid Pickle https://www.facebook.com/flaccidpickle
Taco Wagon https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083390356248
James Dean Joint https://www.facebook.com/TheJamesDeanJoint
The Spindles wsg Rob Elvis https://www.facebook.com/SpindlesBandChicago
The Embryos https://www.facebook.com/embryonicmusic
Jonas Berzanskis https://www.facebook.com/dainiusberzanskis