Sometimes you have to leave Lowell to appreciate Lowell. Last evening I had such an out-of-city experience. Making my to the House of Blues grand opening party on Lansdowne Street, I got lost in a crush of high boots, lip gloss and shinny black skirts. A queue had formed for the club's sneak peak that resembled a well-dressed unemployment line. In the palpable excitement of the night — Blues Brothers Elwood and Zee were in the house — I focused on which VIP's I would meet.
I expected hordes of media types and local musicians (Wolf, Tyler, maybe James Taylor?), I didn't count on seeing Craig Gates. But there stood the affable general manager of the Tsongas Arena greeting me w/ a warm smile on the street. And lest you think Gates isn't connected, after some small talk, he proved his social capital is still bullish in The Hub. Don Law, Live Nation music mogul, spotted Gates and whisked us past a painful line. Before you could say blue suede shoes, we were inside the cool, blue orbit of the HOB.
Moments later upstairs at special VIP room The Foundation, between shrimp and crab claws a girl gets thirsty. Of course the line at the bar is 10 deep. But what to my wondering eyes should appear but Keith Harmon, who mixed drinks at Evos, Fortunato's and The Dubliner, twirling a martini shaker in the air. Keith!!!!!! The son of Harmon's Paint just returned from L.A. and is now piercing olives for high rollers in the inner sanctum. He got GG a drink in a home-style second.
Back out in the music hall, I ran into a schvelt looking Ed Davis, former Lowell top cop now Beantown bigwig in blue, walking the beat. Davis, who prob. didn't remember meeting me on Merrimack Street four years ago, gave me a hearty handshake as we chewed the bit on the Lowell housing market. He's still looking for a buyer for his Highlands home, btw. If you don't mind Kevlar, it's a steal.
By the time Aykroyd and Jim Belushi took the stage to belt "Love that dirty water," I couldn't help but think, Boston's great and all, but "Lowell you're my home. You're the number one place."
Keith's Newport Kamikaze was the best drink in DTL! All that freshly muddled fruit....yummy.
Lowell Pride.....GG's got it!
Mr. Cashmen from Smithwicks was the person who brought the Newport Kamikaze to Lowell - rumor has it that he discovered the recipe after a day of drinking in Newport RI.
This past weekend, I discovered a bartender at the Village Smokehouse that knows how to make Newports perfectly - his name is Paul - the only difference is that he poured them into a shot glass, instead of a martini glass, which is probably for the best anyway - those Newports pack quite the punch!