Sterling Knight was the driving force of Mama Roux, the recently closed New Orleans-styled restaurant in Newburgh. She is now a professional event hostess and one of the first events she presented was a Dia De Los Muertos celebration at The Spirits Lab, a craft distillery on Ann Street in Newburgh (about a block or so away from Mama Roux). The event took place on Friday November 3rd and it was in association with a launch party for Bulls Head Bourbon, a new flavor apparently. In order to celebrate, DJ Pete Pop was brought in to provide musical selections. He, in turn, asked Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus to drop by with a box of records in order to augment his selections.

The evening went well. Adding to the festivities was a taco truck from La Mexicana—a joint around the corner on Liberty Street—that was on hand to provide nourishment for all attendees. Man, those tacos were gooo-oood!

The DJ booth was set up on a table in a work room where the Spirits Lab people actually make their spirits. Dig the photos of the DJs and look behind to see the elaborate mechanism that produces the beverages. The contraptions look like modern art sculptures. Maybe they are modern art sculptures and the booze is actually made in China. What do we know?

The event was scheduled to swing from 6 PM to 9PM. Phast Phreddie and Miss Nancy had one more place to go—The Colony in Woodstock to see their pal Peter Aaron sing a Lou Reed song and to wish their other pal artist Deneane Niebergall happy birthday. So they left the Spirits Lab around 8:30 or so and got to the Woodstock venue before 10PM.

By the time Phast and Nancy got to the Colony, the first part of the event, a Lou Reed multi-artist tribute, was over. The event included the talents of several local Hudson Valley musicians; most of whom we never heard of. Many of the songs we heard during the second portion of the show were sung pretty straight. A guy sang “Perfect Day” as if it were a regular pop song; he sang the song more melodically than the original. A woman named Shana Falana sang “The Ocean” and, with the use of pedal effects on her guitar, gave it a moody and noisy atmosphere. John Ashton of The Psychedelic Furs played some cool guitar licks on two songs: “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and “Waves of Fear.” The highlight of the evening was Peter Aaron singing (screaming!) “I Can’t Stand It.” It was rockin’ and wild. Peter jumped into the audience at a couple of key moments and shouted the song like a maniac; really putting the danger back into Lou Reed songs. It was the show closer—what could top that?

Meanwhile, back at Spirits Lab, according to a report from Pete Pop the next day, the night went so well that he ended up DJing until midnight—a full three hours after the advertised stop time. Maybe we should have stayed. Oh, well. It was great to see Peter Aaron sing his song and to celebrate Miss Deneane‘s birthday, though, and that made it all worth while.

Here’s a list of all the songs played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Dia De Los Muertos celebration at the Spirits Lab:

• Warren Covington and His Orchestra–Watusi Jo (Decca)
• Ananda Shankar–Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Reprise; France)
• Sylvie-Anne–Un Tour Dehors (Dorval; Canada)
• Phil Flowers & the Flower Shop–Like a Rolling Stone (A&M)
• Ozz & His Sperlings–Somebody to Love (M.I.O.B.)
• Martha Reeves & the Vandellas–I Want You Back (Gordy)
• Mongo Santamaria–Cold Sweat (Columbia)
• Perez Prado Y Su Orquesta–Mambo de King Kong (Infopesa; Peru)
• Tito Puente and His Orchestra–A La Salud (God Bless You) (RCA Victor)
• The Cheap Skates–Latin Skate (Bang)
• Toño Quirazco y su Conjunto–Los Gatitos [from EP La Pitaya] (Orfeon; Mexico)
• Archie Bell & the Drells–Tighten Up (Atlantic)
• Aretha Franklin–Chain of Fools (Atlantic)
• Toots & the Maytals–Pressure Drop (Beverley’s; UK)
• Lloyd Parks–Kung Fu Fighting (Mart’s)
• Wganda Kenya–Tipit Hayed (Peerless; Mexico)
• Willie Rosario and His Orchestra–Watusi Boogaloo (Atco)
• Floyd James & the GTs–On the Good Foot (Original Gravity; UK)
• Buddy Rich Orchestra; vocal: Cathy Rich–The Beat Goes On (Pacific Jazz)
• Les Beethovens–Pour Moi Ça Va (Miracle; Canada)
• Jimmy Bailey–Keep on Running (Columbia)
• Hot Property–Hard to Handle (Generation)
• Bad & Good Boys–Fire (M.O.C.)
• Hal Blaine His Drums & Orchestra–Drums A Go-Go (Dunhill)

None of these records are for sale.