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PRESS: The Asbury Park Press 06/20/2008
Leading ladies rock Long Beach Island
By MADDY WEBER • Correspondent
Admit it: deep down, there is a female musician that you can’t get
enough of. Whether you get off on the tabloids about Brit, the rock and
roll poetry of Patti Smith or the country-tinged pop of Sheryl Crow,
it’s hard to deny that chicks rock.
Even in the male-dominated musical waters of LBI, a few of these rock
and roll femmes have surfaced. Some rock, some croon, some just get the
dance party started — make way for these leading ladies.
[EDIT: Bonnie Boland interview]
The theme here is obviously Girl Power, but let’s be fair, Amethyst is
a band that is five-sixths male. Still, they couldn’t do it without
female vocalist Kristy Talorico, who belts out crowd-pleasers from
“Love Shack” to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
The East Brunswick-based all-’80s group, which has been together since 2001, added the female vocalist in 2006.
“The ’80s had so many great female icons,” says lead singer and
guitarist Peter Amadeo. “We felt like we were shorting ourselves on our
repertoire by not having a female singer.”
But before Talorico came on board, the band traces its history to a
time when Reagan reigned and Ringwald ruled — all the way back to 1986.
Back then, Amadeo played in a high school band with bassist Mike
Doktorski and guitarist Mike Zaffarese and the trio has known drummer
Tom O’Kane since they were 10 years old.
“We had gotten back together to jam and maybe play a gig,” Amadeo says
of the foursome’s reunion in 2001. “We started to go over all of these
old songs and were having so much fun we just decided we would keep
doing it. So playing all ’80s songs just made sense.”
And play all ’80s songs they do — their current catalog includes more
than 100 selections from the ’80s, from smash hits like “Come On
Eileen” and “The Safety Dance” to lesser-known gems. The band also
pogos between genres, hitting cloying pop like “Mickey” by Toni Basil,
to hard-and-fast punk with the Ramones, to synthy new wave with A Flock
of Seagulls.
In 2006, the band added Talorico and keyboardist Dan O’Leary to
complete the line-up. Amethyst has played all sorts of gigs, from clubs
to colleges to weddings, but regardless of where they play, Amadeo says
they “bring the energy right from the beginning. We want to get people
jumping around, dancing and having a good time.”
For Amethyst, it’s all about authenticity. “We try to stay as true to
the originals as possible,” Amadeo explains. “Sometimes this is seen as
a cop out, but some bands don’t get that deeply into a song. We are
very detailed. It’s almost like an impersonation when I sing lead
vocals on a song.”
Their authenticity also comes from their finely tuned ’80s fashion
sense. Each band member has honed their own tubular style, from
Doktorski’s parachute pants, to Amadeo’s skinny tie and popped collar,
to O’Leary’s animal prints.
“The other day I just scored a 1984 Duran Duran T-shirt!” bursts Amadeo.
You may be asking yourself: since when were the ’80s cool?
“There were a lot of one-hit wonders but a lot of really great bands as
well,” says Amadeo. “Now all these hipster-emo bands are copying the
’80s look and sound.
People want to hate the ’80s but the songs are coming back. They’re a
guilty pleasure or dirty secret for a lot of people — you download the
songs but may not tell your friends.”
Either way, you won’t find many ashamed, closeted ’80s fans at an
Amethyst gig — “there’s tons of dancing, tons of people, tons of
energy,” says Amadeo.
Get your dance on with Amethyst this Friday and next Friday, June 27, at the Surf City Hotel.
[EDIT: Lisa Boucelle interview]
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