Made my way downtown to The Club @ Water Street Wednesday night to dig The Fools and The Deep Blue Dream get on down. I was initially a little worried that I was only going to hear The Fools play one song, because as I walked in the joint, the band kicked into an outstanding, note-for-note take on "Whipping Post." Now, when the Allman Brothers did it on their 1971 double live album "Live At The Filmore East," the song clocked in at 23 minutes and took up the entire side on one of the records. The Fools were no fools and trimmed it down to a more manageable 10 minutes or so, even though I'm positive guitarist Mickey Ames has all the chops (all 23 minutes worth) bouncing around in his head.

Ames also attacked Screamin' Jay's "I Put A Spell On You" as if Alvin Lee had put a spell on him 10 years after. Singer Mary Ellen Hayden wailed salty on all the material, and particularly pretty on "Wild Horses." And of course I've been digging the organ lately, and you can't say "organ" around here without bumping into that B-3 pumpin' cat Steve McNally, who pilots the whole affair from behind the keys.

The band is working on its own stuff currently, and based on the classic roots it has sprung from, it's gonna rock.