Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers perform live at Shenanigan's in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. [September 2, 1987]
Setlist: Shenanigan's [Hosted by 100.7 KZXL] Sea Isle City, New Jersey - Smarty Pants - It’s Your Life - Crazy Mixed Up World - Demolition Derby - Maybe She’s Just Not There - Satisfaction Guaranteed - Night and Day - I Believe I’m In Love with You - How Long You Wanna Live Anyway? - Truck Drivin’ Son of a Gun - Welcome To My World - Sweet Home Chicago - I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock n' Roll
Encore - Walkin’ By Myself {Chris Day} - Reelin’ and Rockin’
Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers were joined onstage by George Thorogood for a monster rock n' roll jam at the Paradise in Boston, Sept. 1988. The songs included "Johnny B. Goode," "Who Do You Love," and "No Particular Place to Go."
A review by the Boston Globe the next day:
September 24, 1988
Boston Globe
Explosive Night at the Paradise Steve Morse, Globe Staff
Explosiveness was already in the air. Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers -- a hungry-hearted new band from Philadelphia -- had been
tearing up the Paradise for an hour. Conwell had been racing through the crowd
and dancing on the bar, playing guitar solos that ricocheted off walls and
through brains. So what could possibly take the crowd higher? Bopping out of the wings came George
Thorogood, the dean of wild man rockers, strapping on a guitar and launching a
blistering jam. He and Conwell stood side by side, swapping licks and smiles while
the audience was in a state of blissful shock.
Thorogood, in town on business, made merry with his patented
"hootenanny rock" and soon had the room in an uproar. They
steamrolled through Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," cruise-
controlled through Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love," then turned on the
juice again on Berry's "No Particular Place to Go."
Remarkably,
Conwell was not in awe of the situation -- and if you were judging, you'd have
to term the jam a draw. It was a dramatic way for Conwell -- the pride and joy
of Philly's roots rock scene -- to make his Boston debut. Thorogood, ever the
jester, held his hand up and called him "the new champ." He then
kidded slyly, "If I looked as good as him and could play as good, I'd have a future in this business!"
Conwell has a future, all right. His new album,
"Rumble" (on) Columbia, has a few simplistic rock anthems, but comes
alive in its striking ability to merge blues and rock with a near-gospel fire.
He's also a rock scholar, for one can hear hints of Janis Joplin, Steppenwolf,
John Fogerty and the Fabulous Thunderbirds weaving through the sound. The other
Rumblers are no slouches, either, especially the first-rate rhythm section of
Paul Slivka and Jim Hannum, who played a bizarre drum kit with the cymbals
reversed from their usual order.
Last night the band also planned to perform a
live WBCN broadcast from Newbury Sound studio, so hopefully more listeners
could get a taste of the energy they brought to the Paradise.
"Moanin'" performed by Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers at the Empire Concert Club in Cleveland, Ohio, 1990. Promoting Guitar Trouble. Recorded live on 100.7 WMMS radio.
On New Year’s Eve in 1999, the five band members of Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers who recorded Rumble -- Tommy Conwell, Jim Hannum, Paul Slivka, Rob Miller and Chris Day -- reunited for a gig at the General Wayne Inn located in Merion, Pennsylvania.
An article promoting the show[link no longer available on Philly.com], "A Hip-hop Start With Philly's Own Roots" from December 31, 1999,appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers Since the 1980s glory days when he was scheduled to rise from the Chestnut Cabaret to rock icon status - an ascension which, alas, never came to pass - Tommy Conwell has settled into a comfortable position as a local guitar legend whose reputation gets better with age. Conwell did estimable axe work for melodic rocker Buzz Zeemer, and he's just released a fine, no-frills blues-party album called Hi Ho Silver! on the Lancaster LList label. To ring out the 1900s, he and his former backup band are reunited and sure to shake up the walls of the venerable General Wayne Inn with oldies but goodies such as "I'm Seventeen" and "I'm Not Your Man." - Dan DeLuca
"Do Right" performed by Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers at the
Empire Concert Club in Cleveland, Ohio, 1990. Promoting their 2nd
Columbia album, Guitar Trouble. Recorded live on 100.7 WMMS radio.
