Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez’s professional career and separation from The E Street Band in the mid-1970s earned him a reputation as a hot-headed drummer who was not afraid to speak his mind in his earlier days.
Over the years he has been in several bands, including his own Steel Mill Retro, a band that performs songs that Bruce Springsteen wrote in his earlier years when he and Lopez shared the stage in the band Steel Mill. In recent years, Springsteen gave Lopez his blessing to perform the Steel Mill songs.
Now older and mellower, Lopez has earned a “License to Chill,” which is the name of his newest band. It has been in existence for about four years.
“That’s what we do,” said Lopez, who is a resident of Jackson. “We try and chill you with drinking songs. We want you to have fun. An endless summer band, that’s what we are. Summer’s not over ’til we say so.”
License to Chill can regularly be found playing at clubs throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. In addition to Lopez on drums and vocals, License to Chill is lead singer/songwriter/ guitarist Vince Berardi and bass guitarist/vocalist Jon Sebastian Brice. The trio is joined on occasion by Richie Taz on saxophone and John Mulrennan on keyboards.
License to Chill performs tunes by many musicians, including Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Zac Brown Band, Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Garth Brooks and Jimmy Buffet, to name a few.
The band also writes and performs its own original songs in what Lopez refers to as “County Trop Rock — music with an islandy feel with some blues thrown into the mix. We have fun with it.”
The band is currently putting the finishing touches on a new CD titled “License to Chill.”
Lopez said the band’s new tunes are becoming favorites of his audiences and he said he is always surprised to see them singing along as if they have heard it before. This is especially true for the song “Come Back Seniorita,” according to Lopez.
“We do all kinds of stuff, you know,” Lopez said. “We have fun with it.”
When not performing in his bands, Lopez has been busy working with musicians from the Lehigh Valley Music Association in Allentown, Pa., for which he and about 30 other musicians were awarded a Grammy for their work on an anti-bullying children’s CD called “All About Bullies Big and Small.”
The children’s music series also includes a CD called “All About Dreams Big and Small,” which encourages children to pursue their childhood dreams in their professional lives.
Lopez has also been caddying for professional golfer Mark McCormick for many years and he accompanied McCormick to the U.S. Open in June.
“It keeps me busy and healthy,” Lopez said of his caddying work.
On Sept. 19, Lopez was on stage at Met Life Stadium in the Meadowlands with his former bandmate, Springsteen, and the rest of the E Street Band, playing drums on “The E Street Shuffle.”
For more information about License to Chill, visit www.licensetochill.net.