Rock Band Council To Play At Citi Field On September 27

On Tuesday, September 27, the rock band Council will be performing live at Citi Field before the Mets take on the Cincinnati Reds.in the last night game of the 2011 season. Pat, Doug and Andy, the three brothers who make-up the band, were gracious enough to answer a few questions for me about their upcoming pre-game performance.

Welcome to Mets Merized Online guys, why don’t you first tell us a bit about yourselves and your band… 

Well first our band is made up of twins,(Pat and Doug) and year younger brother, (Andy). We are not sure if that would be considered notable, but in the context of our band it is worth noting. Every decision or note played usually comes with some sort of bickering or argument with each other. However, we are used to it by now and we have each learned to deal with it in our own way. We mention this first because our band was formed in a similar manner.

Pat decided to pick up Andy’s guitar, which was not being used, and started to learn to play chords on it. Andy for no other reason than just not wanting Pat to use his guitar, decided he was going to start to learn to play guitar. Because I had already chose drums the only instrument left for Pat was bass. Pat embraced it and then set claim to the lead singer opening. Although it would be years before Pat was officially named lead singer. Of course now we had a second hand guitar, but we couldn’t afford drums or bass for quite some time. I bought drum sticks and practiced on pillows and Pat used Andy’s guitar as a bass. After 7 days a week, all summer on our family farm, we were able to buy starter drums and a bass guitar. That’s probably officially when we became and felt like a band. Of course we didn’t realize how much work lay ahead, but we do remember a lot of “we’re the best band in the world” talk when we went out drinking that summer.(Looking back at that makes us laugh. We didn’t have instruments and we told everyone how great we were. It didn’t matter to us, we felt like we had nothing to lose and the world to gain).

This must be exciting for you, tell us how the Mets came to invite you to play at Citi Field?

Yes, this is extremely exciting for us. To be able to play at our favorite team’s stadium is something really special. We were invited to play mainly due to Lori Martini. We couldn’t tell you the inner workings of what it took to book us at CITI field but we can say it was because of Lori. She asked us if we were interested in doing a rock version of her Mets anthem ”Believe” and we said yes. She then went to the Mets and was able to book us for two songs on the Mets last night game of the year. We are so grateful to Lori and the Mets organization and look forward to entertaining the fans on the 27th.

Who are some of your favorite Mets, past or current?

Now this is a tough question. Favorite past Mets include Nolan Ryan, Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden, Howard Johnson, Lenny Dykstra, Mike Piazza, basically all the 86’ Mets and far too many more to name. Currently, we love the heart and grittiness of players like David Wright, Jose Reyes, Ike Davis, Justin Turner, and the rest of the team. The team did great this year in the face of injuries and the fact it can be looked at as a transition year. Without doing a shameless self promotion we like to say 2012 “Welcome the Change.”(Catchy slogan for next season and one of our most popular songs)

What are some of your favorite Mets memories?

Some of our favorite memories… well clearly we were too young to remember, but when the ball went through Bill Buckner’s legs and Mookie Wilson scored the winning run that led to the eventual World Series win by the Mets. Endy Chavez’s absolutely amazing catch in left field during the playoffs. The excitement of the world series between the Yankees and the Mets in which Roger Clemens threw the bat at Piazza. When the Mets win the 2012 world series( that’s right you heard it here first, Welcome the Change Mets fans).

What song or songs will you be performing and is it available to purchase or download on iTunes?

We’re performing two songs. Our song “Welcome the Change” and Lori Martini’s “Believe” in which we re-made it from a catchy pop song to stadium rock anthem. “Welcome the Change” is available on I-tunes and Lori’s original version of “Believe” is also available on I-tunes. Fans will have to wait to get “Believe” the rock version, but hopefully not too long.

What’s the next step for Council, and cool upcoming stuff or events you’d like to share?

Let us say Joe thank you so much for the interview. It really means so much to us to play CITI field and really have a chance to be immersed in the Mets culture. People like you (Joe) do an amazing job keeping Mets fans informed. So thank you for the chance to share in the Mets culture and for giving our band exposure to fellow Mets fans.

The next step for Council… well we just finished recording Nirvana’s song “Lithium” for an anniversary album being put out by Universal Toronto. We are told it now has bands from 5 continents and we are the only American band on the album, which we are humbled by. The song should be available this fall on our websites and on I-tunes. We are also finishing up new songs in preparation for recording in early fall. We’ve hooked up with some amazing people in the industry and we are excited for what the future holds. But our first order of business is to entertain all the Mets fans on the 27th and really bring awareness to not only our band but also the great cause that proceeds will go to that night. Proceeds from certain ticket purchases will go toward Team Tough Tata’s for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Thanks again guys!

We wish you luck and all look forward to your performance as you help close out the 2011 Mets season with a rockin’ good time at Citi Field.

I also want to thank another great Mets fan and friend of Metsmerized, Lori Martini who helped put this together.

Hey Mets fans, make sure you arrive early on Tuesday, September 27 to catch the pre-game concert by Council, and remember that part of the proceeds that day goes to help a great charity, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

You can also check out their website at councilband.com where you can listen to their music, watch their videos, and learn more about this great group of guys and fellow Mets fans like us!