Don’t miss the Beatlemania Again show at Fager’s Island Sunday night.

The Apple Scruffs: Mike (guitar/synthesizer), Gian (guitar), Zack (bass), Greg (drums) & Steve (keyboard/guitar) during their show at The Purple Moose.

First Class: Adrian, Sadik, Danny, Shannon & Dean put on a terrific show at the Ocean Club in the Clarion Fontainebleu Hotel.

The Joey Saah Duo (w/ Justin Mays) will perform Thursday at de Lazy Lizard.

Danny & Shannon make a great duo with First Class at the Ocean Club.

The Chest Pains will perform at Charlie’s Bayside Wednesday, Aug. 11.

Hey, how’s it goin’ out there? Seems to me like we are havin’ a blockbuster Summer! Everywhere I go people are havin’ a blast enjoying our beautiful beach and all the fun activities Ocean City has to offer. Of course, you know me, I need live music to keep me happy and there’s no shortage of that either.

As I look forward to another performance of Beatlemania Again at Fager’s Island this Sun., I’m also excited to tell you about last week’s Beatles tribute band who performed at the Purple Moose - The Apple Scruffs. Now, before I begin my gushing praise of this group, I want to be clear that what they or I may say about them in no way belittles what Beatlemania Again offers in their very entertaining act. If you haven’t seen them before, I’m tellin’ ya, it’s a real hoot! These four ‘moptops’ take you on a musical journey beginning with fab four days in their teddy boy suits. The second act has them in colorful Sgt. Peppers uniforms playing the songs of that time; and then they morph into the Let It Be era. While the period dress is fun to see, it’s always the music that is the star of any Beatles tribute show. I hope to see you all there Sunday at Fager’s Island.

The Apple Scruffs presented Beatles music in a different way. I hurried to the Purple Moose last Thursday because I didn’t want to miss a minute, curious even as to which song would open the show. I had just sat down in my usual spot next to Rich at the sound board when the strains of “A Hard Day’s Night” hit the speakers. Cool! I was so ready! The first thing I noticed was five guys on the stage. Now if you take into account the man the Beatles always referred to as the “fifth Beatle,” it made perfect sense to have a George Martin on the stage - “Fab Five.” Another interesting observation was that at no time did I find myself wondering who was playing who. There were no individual personnas such as that’s George or that’s Paul. Indeed, when I had the opportunity to talk with them during the break, Mike Coomes (guitar/synthesizer) said, “when we (college friends) got together to do this, we decided it was not going to be about the clothes or personalities but all about the music.” As it says on their web site, “no costumes, no accents, just the music that changed the world.”

He’s right. It’s the music that deserves all the attention. The phrase “stood the test of time” only begins to describe the music of these gifted composers - John Lennon, Paul (now Sir) McCartney and George Harrison. I tried to listen objectively, as if I had never heard the songs at all, and in my humble opinion I thought that each and every song could be a hit today. The lyrics are definitely timeless such as this one: “Why did you not treat me right? Love has a nasty habit of disappearing over night.” That’s from “I’m Looking Through You.” Of the five, all but the drummer sang and the harmonies were wonderful.

About their name - guitarist Gianni Saja told the audience that the fans who would hang outside The Apple Corps building and Abbey Road Studios waiting for a glimpse of the Beatles were nicknamed by George as The Apple Scruffs; he even wrote a song about them, “Apple Scruffs” which appeared on his solo album All Things Must Pass.

For a group that’s only been together a short time, they were phenomenal. Steve Gorschboth (keyboard/guitar) told me that they usually play with a full orchestra and they may bring a few more musicians along when/if they return. I vote YES! They were great! Zack Holbrook on bass and Greg Woodward on drums rounded out the group that played three sets chock full of incredible Beatles music. I’m looking at the set lists they gave me and their order was brilliant. Occassionally they would say, “here’s a couple from Rubber Soul or “let’s do some Let It Be. But generally it was a mix that just flowed. They ended with the medley of “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End.” “The End,” composed by McCartney but credited to Lennon/McCartney, was the last song recorded collectively by all four Beatles and was the last on the album Abbey Road. So ... very appropriate to the show. The crowd at the Purple Moose, however, was not going to let them stop there. They played two more songs for us as an encore, “No Harm” and “Helter Skelter.” I wish I had room to list the incredible amount of music they presented at this show - everything from “Dear Prudence” to “Glass Onion” to “Revolution” to “Hey Bulldog” to “Get Back” to so many, many more. On the back of their set list was another one from a previous show that was different. I can’t wait to hear what they come up with next time. Meanwhile at the Purple Moose, they have two great bands, back-to-back this weekend: Surreal Fri. & Sat. and Alive-N-Kickin’ Sun. & Mon. Next Thursday’s tribute show is Poison’D. Stop in and have some Moose Juice, aka Purple MFO - and enjoy the shows!

Told ya I was gonna gush! So what else is happening, you ask. I went to the Ocean Club and to Lenny’s Beach Bar & Grill last week to check out Shannon Dolan singing with First Class. I was impressed. This gal is a firecracker - great voice, great stage presence; particulary in her black and gold dress Sat. night. Wow, with that long blonde hair, she’s a knock-out. Daddy Danny is rightly quite proud of his little girl who, at 18, is all grown up. They’ll be playing on the deck all week, Sunday night on the main stage, so go check ‘em out. This weekend is Power Play and all of next week in the Ocean Club, you’ll enjoy the sounds of Arizona. Hey, Manny, you didn’t send me that picture! I want to show our readers. Many of you may have already heard that the Ocean Club is planning a reunion to be held Sat., Nov. 6. I’ll be giving more details as time goes by but for now, be sure to alert all your friends here and out of town that Dr. Berger and his wonderful staff are planning a huge party to honor and welcome all the faithful fans of the Ocean Club. We’ve had some great times - let’s get together to relive them.

Johnny’s Pizza & Pub is heating up the Pub part with great live music this weekend: it’s Lime Green Band on Sat. at 9p and Semiblind Sun. at 5p. And remember, Johnny’s is more than just great pizza. They have a full menu and a fabulous new bar aread that boasts one of the best sound systems in town. Take your party to Johnny’s Pizza.

Many of you have discovered our newest bar on the bay at 1st St. - de Lazy Lizard. I stopped in the other day to hear Time Police on a tip from lovely bartender Yvonne who raved about them. Rightly so ... these three guys are most entertaining. Myles Pennington plays guitar and sings and Ryan Psota & Aaron Chamberlain sing and provide quite a visual show as well. The harmonies are terrific and Aaron even adds percussion sounds vocally - pretty cool. This trio from Salisbury stays pretty busy, so they won’t be back for a while but I’ll let you know when. Check out the great lineup from de Lizard this week beginning with Doubledown Band Fri. & Sat. That’s another new one to me - let’s check it out.

The much anticipated performance of The Chest Pains takes place Wed. at Charlie’s Bayside. If you like ‘80s music (plus some more current) you’ll flip over this band. Awesome performance as well as great music.

I got a lot of pictures of prize fish being weighed in at the White Marlin Open on Mon. but all the numbers changed with the record-breaking ones caught on successive days. So, I’ll just say congrats to all the winners - it was tons of fun and the parties at the Reel Inn were awesome. Check out Sonic Notes and Who’s Where When for more info and party safe!