The Flavors Bring The Blues And More To Seville Quarter

Monday nights are special in Pensacola, especially inside Lili Marlene's were each and every Monday the Blues Society Of Northwest Florida of hosts the blues jam.

On Monday June 19th, The Flavors took the stage as the featured host band at Seville Quarter's Lili Marlene's. I arrived just before The Flavors began.

The night was calm, though it had rained some earlier adding to the excitement generated by the anticipation of catching a local band by the name of The Flavors, a variety show band making their way around the Pensacola and Emerald coast music scenes. There was already a nice crowd at Lili Marlene's, located inside Seville Quarter, one of Pensacola's finest entertainment venues. Jim "Cat Daddy" Richmond, of Cat Daddy Blues Band had just made his announcements as he does weekly, thanking the audience for coming out. And then...

Christine Alexander and Greg Maloney kick a groovin riff... followed by John Fountain adding a steady rhythm on his guitar... after a few notes, Schwayn Bradley puts a solid hand on his keys landing a notable chord which adds to the anticipation. Jim Richmond leads into his introduction..."and now, without further ado, THE FLAAAAAAVOOOOORS!"

Next, Lee Maskery steps to the mike while adding his guitar prowess to "Poke Salad Annie" the opening song.

You can tell The Flavors are rehearsed and tight by the way Lee led the band in this, the first offering of what stood to be an outstanding evening of entertainment. The breaks, all in time, illustrated how a band should pay attention to the band leader, and everyone stabbed them.

A unique talent of The Flavors is their abilty to combine riffs and licks of other songs into their already robust lineup. Poke Salad Annie morphed into "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones, then back again so smoothly, you'd think it was all one number! How about their rendition of "Big Boss Man" by BB King? Everyone was fooled by the stealthy way what sounded like "Billie Jean" soon became "Big Boss Man" however I learned that Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" came from the BB King song! Go check it out! Other songs such as "Further On Up The Road", "Little Wing" and "I'm Guilty" all were performed flawlessly in Flavor Style. "Shes Gone", a Flavors original was introduced to the crowd and was very well received, showing how diversified The Flavors can be.

Then suddenly....out of know where.... I recognize a most familiar riff...on blues night?

The room was quite surprised when the band began the signature intro into to AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie"! The room was already alive and jumping by that time anyway, then they play this? At the end of the song, an audience member spoke up and said, "That ain't blues!" Lee responded with "You're right!" though the crowd got a huge jolt from the performance.

The room was done proud when The Flavors wrapped up with yet another mashup of "Everybody Needs Somebody" (Blues Brothers edition) and "Love That Dirty Water" by The Standells. Lee even performed the popular Blues Brothers dance made famous by the movie.

The Beatman recommends you see The Flavors as soon as you can... you'll be glad you did!

The Flavors are:

Lee Maskery - Lead vocals, guitar
John Fountain - Lead guitar
Schwayn Bradley - keyboards
Greg Maloney - Bass guitar
Christine Alexander - drums, vocals

Check them out on Facebook and their official website at: www.theflavorsband.com

Special thanks to Tom "TC" Cooley for his contribution to this review.