- Cubensis Superbowl Party at The Central
Santa Monica Deadheads traded in their tie dyes for football jerseys and NFL gear on Superbowl Sunday 2011 and headed down to The Central Social Aid & Pleasure Club to root on either the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Green Bay Packers as they battled for the title of World Champion. What made this different than any other bar in the country? The Superbowl was followed by two sets of Grateful Dead music delivered by LA’s longest running Dead Tribute, Cubensis. A fine way to keep the party going after watching the Packers defeat the Steelers in Superbowl XLV.
Cubensis, who has a Sunday afternoon residency at the Central, took the occasion of the biggest football game of the year to kick off their new hours of 6-10pm vs. the 4-8pm they have been playing. Their first note was delayed until the finale of the game and the music kicked off just after 7pm.
- Craig Marshall delivers a rare lead vocal
With a missing man formation line-up for the first set, Cubensis delivered a shortened, Nate LaPointe-less, set of Jerry heavy tunes playing to the lack of a “Bobby.” A tasty treat in the first set came from the rare vocals of Craig Marshall as he delivered an excellent “Golden Road of Unlimited Devotion.” Also missing from the line-up, vocalist, Cee Cee Sherman and second drummer, Ed Fletcher.
- Chris Murphy of the Blind Blakes and Craig Marshall
LaPointe showed up for the second set to fill his spot between Craig and Larry Ryan bringing with him Chris Murphy, fiddle player from The Blind Blakes, to sit in on a few tunes. If that wasn’t enough, who walks into the bar but Rev. Carl Roberts, New Breed Orchestra’s lead singer and brother of Young Dubliners’, Keith Roberts. Carl, after a bit of coaxing, found his way to the stage to rock out lead vocals on a very cool “Hard To Handle.”
- Rev. Carl Roberts delivers “Hard to Handle” with Cubensis
Interesting side note on Rev. Carl. Eight years ago, when I first caught a Cubensis show, Carl was the bartender at 14 Below which is now The Central. He’s moved on to bigger and better things but everyone who was around the Cubensis shows back then will certainly remember the Irish accent and attitude of one Rev. Carl Roberts. Not to mention his occasional guest vocals with Cubensis.
The Cubensis Sunday shows will continue on at The Central with the new hours of 6-10pm now in place. Cover is $10.00 and well worth the price.
More photos of this show on ShakedownNews Facebook page.
