Article published Jul 29, 2004
They Couldn't Get No
Tribute band Jumpin' Jack Flash try-try-try-tried to find a lead singer. They got satisfaction with Garrett Andrae.
by Dave Richards
Staff writer

Pittsburgh bassist Jim Bachert couldn't get no satisfaction trying to find the right guy to sing "Satisfaction." And he try-try-try-tried.

In spring 2003, Bachert founded Jumpin' Jack Flash, a Rolling Stones tribute band. But his first two attempts at finding a suitable Mick Jagger sound-alike left him torn and frayed. That's when Erie native Mike Oncea, who drums in the band, recommended one of his longtime pals, Garrett Andrae.

Andrae's response: Get off my cloud.

"Initially, I turned him down," Andrae said. "I think it was just a sense I couldn't do it. It was the whole idea of getting back into a band thing, in front of people."

But Oncea reminded him that he excels at getting in front of people. Before he moved to Pittsburgh in 1997, Andrae had meaty roles in such Erie Playhouse shows as "Jane Eyre," "Pippin," "Grand Hotel," and "Grease" with Amanda Post. Think of singing like Mick Jagger as just playing another character, his friend suggested.

"That's how he sold me on it, though we don't dress up as the Stones," Andrae said. "But you do have to portray the sound of this guy."

On that end, Bachert said, Andrae is more than respectable.

"He's got a great voice. He sounds a lot like Mick on a lot of the songs. He's got a good stage presence; he really knows a lot about harmonizing and music. He's also a very good guitarist. He does play guitar on some of the songs, like Mick does. And just as important for us, he's a great guy. He's very easy to get along with, which is a good quality, as anyone who's ever been in a band knows."

JUMPIN' JACK FLASH AIMS TO REPLICATE how the Stones sound on record. Mostly, they play the hits you'll find on "40 Licks," including their most recent single, "Don't Stop." But they also work in a range of album cuts, such as "Dead Flowers" and "Salt of the Earth." They know more than 40 Stones' songs.

Oncea said they're challenging to play.

"You grow up listening to the Rolling Stones and think you know them like the back of your hand. But when you sit down and learn them, you see how talented the Rolling Stone are and what they put behind the music," he said. "They do it so well, it sounds simple. But a lot of it's not. I had to study my jazz, as well, to get Charlie Watts right."

"Sympathy for the Devil" is so percussion-heavy that Oncea employs some help.

"I had to do some programming behind that, with all the percussion going on," he said. "As busy as that song is, I figured I'd put a drum loop behind it and play over the top of it. That works out good."

Bachert plays the recorder flute for "Ruby Tuesday," while the seven-person group also features female vocalist Lynn Berardi so it can pull off "Gimme Shelter" and other key tracks. Getting the music exactly right is more important to the group than imitating the Stones, though guitarist Mike Scheer does look a bit like his idol, Keith Richards.

"The closer you get to looking or acting like them, the more it gets away from music," Oncea said. "We want people to go out and hear their favorite Rolling Stones."

Andrae doesn't attempt Jaggeresque dance moves, so you're best attending with no expectations of seeing those.

"I just do my own thing," Andrae said. "I try to bring as much energy as I'm capable of doing. Mick Jagger is amazing. I really wasn't a Stones fan per se before joining the band, so I rented some DVDs and concerts. And he's amazing. The guy's in his 60s with the energy of a 20-year-old, and I don't have that kind of energy. He blew me away. So I just try to bring energy to it, but I don't do the moves."

Docksider figures to jump on Saturday for Jumpin' Jack Flash. Oncea and Andrae were both born and raised here, so wild horses couldn't keep friends and family away. Ironically, long ago they played together in a group called Gideon Winter at the old Winter Inn, which is now the Docksider.

"I can't wait," Andrae said. "I've told like all my friends. I think it's going to be great."

With all the hot stuff they play, odds are it'll be packed. The last time they played Pittsburgh's Hard Rock Cafe, for instance, they sold it out, drawing 450 fans.

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