News
Live Garage Summit
Performing Underneath the Queensboro Bridge
For three days in summer 2024 Paul Mark & The Van Dorens hung out in a vacant taxi garage underneath the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City, performing very live and very loud with pro audio and video recording crews on hand to capture it all. Playing through relic guitars, vintage amps, a ’57 Hammond organ with honked out Leslie amp, and yeah, live drums. Raw and ruff…If it sounds great it ain’t “retro”.
The first YouTube release is a warehouse blast-off performance of the Mark original Shakin’ In My Head, which debuted on the band’s album IndigoVertigo back in 2002.
Next up is The Drinks Are On Me, a polished gem for which no live performance had ever been recorded — despite it’s having been performed live hundreds of times before fixated (inebriated?) late night audiences. The song debuted in 1991 on Go Big Or Go Home, the first commercially released album by Paul Mark & The Van Dorens, which was recorded in Memphis TN.
Also on the garage set list is Times Have Changed, a swinging original written by Mark as set closer.
You can listen and download all the Garage Summit audio tracks at BandCamp/PaulMark. More tracks to be added to this set soon. The full album is slated for release on Spotify in early 2025.
Film in post production: These garage sessions will eventually become the centerpiece thread of a long-form documentary probing the 3-decade plus saga of Paul Mark & The Van Dorens. The film will include lots of live music, interviews and insights from collaborators over the years. Stay tuned, more info and more real music to come.
