Here’s what you missed if you missed The Viper & His Famous Orchestra playing at the Underground Wonder Bar this past Friday night, December 13, along with John Peacock and Edward Burch.
And it should give you a taste of what to expect at our upcoming shows: Saturday, Jan. 11 at Martyrs’ in Chicago for the big Sousaphenia event; Saturday, Jan. 25 at Uncommon Ground on Devon in Chicago (with Jack & Ace); and Friday, Jan. 31, at the Sugar Maple in Milwaukee. Details on our shows page at https://theviper.org/shows.
Viper set #1
- Hey! Rounders
- Ukulele Rhythm
- I Love a Girl in Moscow
- Save Me a Krampus (for the Holiday)
- Pound It Out
- Heartbreak for Beginners
- Make a World (Brand New)
- The Viper’s Blue Yodel no. 6.02 x 10 to the 23rd
- Big Headed Small Minded Man
John Peacock
- IL Central
- Make Believe
- Poor Alice
Edward Burch
- The Neapolitan
- I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus
- There’s Always Tomorrow / Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Viper set #2
- My Seafaring Lassie
- The Winnebago Bay
- The Yodeler’s Christmas
- The Yodeler’s Christmas (encore — honest!)
- The Monsters Are Coming
- Transformer Man
- Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been… Blue
- Das Kapital
- Ludlul bel nemeqi (Body and Soul)
- Good Morning Irene
- I Left My Liver in Libertyville
As you’ll see from the actual stage set lists below, we cut a bunch due to time and a sense that the audience wasn’t going to go for a whole set of un-mic’ed on-the-floor washtub bass tunes. AND when John and I were putting the list together while sitting in his car on the way down stopped on the interstate for and hour-and-a-half outside of Northbrookfieldparkridgeviewgrovemette, we somehow forgot to transfer some of our biggest crowdpleasers, including “Stopper in My Hand” and a season-appropriate “Mele Kalikimaka.”
C’est l’amour, c’est la guerre.