dusk devils on youtube

feliz domingo! lalalalalalalalala... after much arduous, tedious, aggravating, finger-cramping computer doofus labor (i learn as i go in most things i do, resulting in a lot of time-intensive mistakes), i was able to put up some dusk devils videos from art fein's poker party, shows we did in summer & fall 04. we were supposed to do one last nov., but were thwarted by drummer woes!! perhaps now that sean the great is on board, art'll have us again... go to www.youtube.com and search Dusk Devils & you'll get the videos. you can watch, but to rate or add comments, you'll have to sign up. everyone should keep a free junk email account for just such purposes! too, mike generic of bksfld underground music scene added a profile of us recently... go to www.bums661.blogspot.com , then our name under band profiles... rock rock rock rock everybody... roll roll roll roll everybody... that's something else cool about youtube - you can watch public domain films like invasion of the star people, plan 9 from outer space, rock rock rock, etc... it helps if you have dsl, of course! denizens of the dial-up dark ages will just have to wait... or go read a book, mebbe!

tweeee-dee-dee-dee-deedle-dee-dee

well, we got a show in fresno at the belmont, fri feb 17... more details
to come, most assuredly... meantime, here are some more elvis show pix... the first one's of sound guy charlie; the wonderful skip edwards, who is an amazing piano player, and a gentleman, too; phil alvin of the blasters, & me. (i have lots of heroes, find it encourages my existence to look for them everywhere...) PA was giving a detailed explanation of why he bristles at the term "country music." the next shot i included for those admirers & revilers of the blurred look :), also cause, tho out of focus, it's what i glom to be a characteristic "garrulous phil making a point" pose... brian p, did you move on purpose when you took this one?? next is brian p, me, ray campi, & multi-talented count smokula (of dr demento, troma films fame, who plays violin, who writes songs, who knows how to have fun!)... then brian p & rod from the tonemasters, with lovely dawn shipley on deck in background... then me and sporky (carol); her boyfriend joel played with dawn. she is a funny, smart, & sweet LA gal & myspace friend :) by this time i was worn out & had lipstick on my teeth, which of course no one told me... & finally is art fein & i (i keep typing art gein, like ed gein, heh heh heh; his eyes kinda have that look in this particular shot, along with the impressively little richard-like coiff). it was a swell time, & i won't write anymore about it now except to say if anyone found a burgundy faux-fur collar that night, please send it to me cause i lost it. good thing i'm a teetotaler -- it's hard enough for me to keep track of my head sober when good times are going on!

more elvis show elvis show elvis show

a few days've gone by & i can calm down now, so here's a bit of what happened: the elvis show in hollywood was tons of fun, lotsa people, lotsa music, tho no candye kane (big disappointment to all)... our songs were "(let's have a) party" and "burning love." spectacular! not us, but the feeling of performing these great tunes! what a rush of somethin-else! drummer sean and bassist jason really made them move and brian p saved my bacon when i stumbled right at the starting gate & he came right in with, "some people like to rock!" thank you, brian! another highlight was getting to meet in person myspace friends sporky and speedie john... here's some stuff people said:
tex from groovy rednecks: i really love yer voice! you sound just like wanda!... wanna go to the frolic room?
barry holdship: i wanted to tell you that i really admire the work you do. (!!wow!!)
neil (art's friend): you guys are amazing!
art: the dusk devils... one a the 25 best bands on the planet today...
nice lady: did you already sing? awww! i missed you!
nice older man: you are really something special. i look forward to hearin' you every year.
paul body: oh....[cryptically] i've heard all about jenny from the dusk devils...
count smokula: you are really the only person like yourself on earth, aren't you?
skip edwards (skip edwards!): [thumbs up] (skip dewards did this!)
(and just in case a person got too big for his/her britches...)
john and jerry blasters: so uh... what songs did you do?

elvis show elvis show elvis show elvis

too tired to write... what a fun time, tho candye did not end up being there... art had a pompadour, lots of folks were there from skip edwards to blasters to groovy rednecks to rip masters to lynda kaye to barry holdship to smokula to justin curtis and band to ray campi and glen glenn and marcy levy and truly lover trio and dawn shipley ... these photos are from eric.

see you sunday!

elvis show in hollywood soon... plus blablabla...

happy hoo yah to yall!!
we're playing the elvis birthday show next sunday night, 1/8/06, at the music box (henry fonda theatre) in hollywood. whoopee!! i'll have more details when art f gets home from vacation... we get to do two songs this year, & it's gonna be swell!!! :) if you plan on coming for the show, know there'll be scores of acts from little-known to roots-rockin' Known (james intveldt, the blasters, dave alvin, candye kane, dwight yoakam, groovy rednecks, etc. etc. have played in the past) & the music box is plush, plush, plush. brian p wants to stay the night so he can get hammered & hang out, so he'll be there throughout the evening, along with many many more... get your tickets soon to have a great evening while paying respects to memory of the king of rock & roll!!
here's a little couple pix from matt munoz of last friday's holiday deal (details below). thank you, mister mento! ... i spent the week in laverne with my friend & her kids, then hollywood with hubby & stepson. doggie roscoe went to stay in simi valley & got to go to the beach! cat stayed here & ate tinsel... the dog is sleeping right now, tired pooch, while fat kitty junior crashes around the house with a strip of green ribbon... while i was gone, i took my little friends to a movie, ate a bunch of great food (guelaguetza, clifton's cafeteria, the griddle, etc.), went thrift shopping & to aron's going out of business sale (record collectors mourn! but deals are to be had from now til end of feb!), stayed at the beverly laurel, saw the holiday lights at griffith park & autry museum, drove & drove & drove on the pretty windy streets & endless neighborhoods & freeways... driving driving & listening to music... is there anything greater? except being with someone cool & maybe having a pot of strong coffee, also?? i know there's lots more finery & joy & depth & meaning to life, but these things are pretty up there, in my book...
with the new year approaching, what is your resolution? mine is to not smash this blasted computer, which seems to run slower every day!! ...and of course, to lose 10 pounds. :) and to fly to mars, which is just as likely to happen. :) well, i'd better go unpack... feliz ano nuevo! :)

run run rudolph, santa's gotta make it to town

well, no pix, but last night was super fun. we practiced with boy wonder (our very mature new 21-year old drummer, whom i hope doesn't mind my admiring poke), then packed up & headed for sandrini's (subterranean downtown nightclub). paul perez carried my keyboard downstairs: funny how much shorter the staircase seems with someone else hauling my keyboard & amp! the cave-like place was packed with drinkers & diners a-plenty. alejandro nunez opened the show with earnestly heart-felt spanish guitar & singing; between songs, he'd break into a boyish, braces-clad grin (mento buru was backing him up)... cesareo had agreed to lend drumming expertise, which bolstered brian p's & my duo quite a bit! we were up next & i don't know much what happened except i left the stage feeling like i'd ridden a rocking fun rollercoaster! for the first tune, rockin' winter wonderland, matt & the fellows played sleigh bells & added howls and laughs. next was blue christmas, with brian p's (deliberately) cheesy elvis vocals met by happy laughter & cat-calling from the audience. i was high on the fun of it, babbling like a fool non-stop, but when people are smiling, laughing, & enjoying themselves that much, i can't help myself. it was thrilling & heart-warming to see people bopping their heads, yelling encouragement, etc... we did rockin' around the christmas tree, christmas blues, christmas in jail, white christmas, jingle bell rock (brian threw me the solo, which i forgot i had. i yelled "save me!!!" to the cacophony of wrong notes), & run run rudolph. folks were dancing & prancing by then: exciting. when we were finished, i had to just reply 'thank you' to all the nice stuff folks said. it's unbelievable how responsive & complimentary people can be... brian p admonished, "don't let it go to your head," but i know it's not about me, but about having fun & sharing what we've got to offer. how fortunate that people seem to enjoy it!... we packed up, then listened to mento buru for a while. at corner stage, i had a great view of roberto, matt, paul, joe, david, and the rest, the blasting horns, congas, timbales, the crowded, masterly mess of merriment. if you haven't seen mento, they are bakersfield's most accomplished & fun-loving party band. thank you to matt munoz for inviting us, dear brian b, heidi, jaime, & everyone else who showed up to see us, as well as cesareo & the fellows for lending their bells, maracas, whistles, & percussive good cheer. merry christmas, feliz navidad, gud jul, happy hannukah, happy festivus, happy kwanzaa, etc. to all, and to all a good time.

blasters on art fein: "is it time to v-v-v-vamp?"

it's way too early to be awake, but i gotta write about last night! here is the dumbed-up groggy-headed stupidified sleep-deprived oh mama can you believe it version.
brian p & i left bakersfield for smellay late but only hit a tad of traffic, arriving at adelphia studio off the 5 and 2 in early evening. the blasters were already playing!!! they were just noodling around while the studio techs got their levels, which meant they were doing whatever popped into phil alvin's head... phil was in manic comedian mode, joking and singing and riffing in a laugh-out-loud manner, joyfully mad and whatta kick. they warmed up playing "whole lotta love," for instance, with phil's face tomato-red as he sputtered and cracked up singing the falsetto parts (he did it well, of course!). then he sang "my way" in a ham-handed lampoon of sinatra. art wanted a vamp intro, so phil kept stuttering, "is it time to v-v-v-vamp?" brian p told them we'd opened one of art's shows vamping on batman, so then they went into an extended and skewered version of that, then phil led "lonely, lonely nights," which my friends the blazers used to do, with the other guys peering at each other with gentlemanly amusement, wondering what phil would pull outta his ear next. he grinned and leered like bugs bunny, talked a mile a minute, cranked out the tunes, and when it was over, put his gear away while happily belting out altar boy liturgy in latin for quite a long time. i was glad he kept his beat-up old guitar turned way up cause i like his scratchy, melodious 30s-style vernacular playing... the show started and between art's questions the band played "milk cow blues," "4-11-44," "rock boppin' baby," their fantastic version of johnny paycheck's "precious memories," "daddy rolling stone," and finally "american music." the sound was just perfect; i hope everything, the practice, every word, was recorded. the blasters are geniuses and i got that wonderful feeling i was gonna go nuts from the excitement of the music and the great fun of the fellows' patter! then we all went to dinner at a nearby mexican joint where everyone squeezed around a little table, phil's humor got a little blue, jerry ate my potato taco and commented that with all the wise cracks and irreverent liveliness, "this is like a marx brothers movie!," art put his finger in my carne asada, then we hit the road back to bakersfield. i would write more, but i can't even think after this whirlwind and my resulting lack of sleep! i'll just say look for the show to air in LA, NY, Chicago, and other places. you can get more great info, too, at www.sofein.com ... art took pix, which i hope he'll send! paxton's (one above) got a little fuzzed, but better than no shots a'tall. whatta night. whatta time. whatta whatta. wow. thanks, art!!! muchas gracias and molto grazie! whatta time!!!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!

if you're here, you maybe like real and indigenous american music stylings. if so, click http://thehound.net to head for the most outlandishly outstanding place for free music!!!! a little warning -- if you love rockabilly, primitive R&R and R&B, blues, jump, bop, garage punk, country & western, hillbilly, doo-wop, and more, this might distract you from carrying on your "normal" daily activities... which could be not such a bad idea, you know? aficionados of pristine production should steer clear... this stuff is raw and alive, some songs are lopped off at intro or finale, and you can hear the you-are-there pop and hiss of needle on vinyl!

gratitude

the thanksgiving weekend this year turned out to be, as bomar said, "odd." i suppose yet another growing experience. "grown-up" life is full of such things. so last night, to see my friends & to abate the odd feeling, i went to 4 meetings in a row to celebrate the local drunk club being open now 53 years. at the 3rd mtg, an old man who'd been sitting in seeming anguish for hours, a passer-through town on the holiday weekend, blurted out that the state of texas had just executed his son. he burst into sobs & stumbled out the door. ed r, who was leading the mtg, stood right up and provided what my friend jani called "an old-timer minute": he followed that fellow right outside to help him. i've always kinda had a little platonic crush on ed, who's a tall, silver-haired, straight-standing southern gentleman type who plays honky-tonk barrelhouse piano. it became such admiration at that moment... it was just the right danged thing to do. i'm lucky to have made lots of friends in the past decade who are like that, bomar being a big one. they just do the right thing, no matter what; it's inspiring, & they're not doing it to show off at all, which just makes it more inspiring... i drove home, overwhelmed by my good fortune, to have been part of the human & humane events of the evening, couldn't sleep, thinking about Life, loved ones, returning monday to my kiddies at work, my newly healthy physical state & the "good witch" who's got me there, hepped up on caffeine, so i did the best i could - made a collage. it was too late to pound joyful heartache tunes on the piano or listen to some music, so this was the next best thing. when my soul is grateful, it hears songs. these pictures help me hear the music and remember to be grateful... & to want to share it with other people.

kinky goes to hollywood

-> thanks to my kind doctors, i am beginning to feel consistently well for the first time in months, so i went to a little fundraiser for kinky friedman at lucie's in hollywood. kinky (top R pic), country singer-songwriter ("a**hole from el paso"), mystery writer ("god bless john wayne"), now politician, is running for gov of texas. how does that affect ca? queried kinky, whose heroes are mark twain & will rogers & buds are willie nelson & jesse "the body" ventura. well, if an independent takes the lone star state for the first time since sam houston, big money pols (the blues & reds) will be quaking in their loafers. right now, kinky's at nearly 23% in the polls -- far beyond what ventura had this time of year during his successful run for gov of minnesota.
-> kinky's from a family of teachers, like i am, & i was drawn by his outlaw-absurd reputation as well as a terrific recent new yorker article (http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050822fa_fact). kinky's campaign started as pure satire, but people responded to his humor, openness, & down-to-earth populism. as a result, the jokester now finds himself possibly about to become an elected official... kinky's education program is called "no teacher left behind" & will require all education appointees to actually have "classroom time" in their background. "the teachers are getting screwed," he said, "and the good ones are leaving." sit an experienced teacher down & you'll hear the same. children aren't being instilled with a love of learning under the present system. "we're teaching the kids to pass tests, and that's it," said kinky.
-> the crowd included actors, musicians, artistes, texans, lots of tall folks & eclectics a-plenty -- chuck e. weiss, tony gilkyson, jimmie lee maslon, van dyke park, danny hutton from 3 dog night; ruth buzzi, bud cort, max gail, david steinberg; bill osco, director of "flesh gordon," etc. many faces looked familiar, & i relied on my friend art to fill me in. kinky's right-hand man, "little jewford" (jeff shelby, top L pic), wore a flashy elvis jacket under a beatific baby face & curls, but chuck e. weiss (bottom, with art) stole the sartorial shoe show with his spankingly fantastic teal and brown stacy adams wingtips. he said that mr. florsheim himself had made those shoes especially for him.
-> an interesting evening? most certainly, all y'all. as the candidate would say, "may the god of your choice bless you."

better stay 'way from him, he'll rip your lungs out, jim

before you's a tiny pic from a halloweenish C&S biker party. the impromptu garage band played off the cuff 50s-60s tunes. i had to quit after a while; no stamina these days. the others kept going for hours. john smith, middle pirate & bassist for 70s' band duke & the drivers, led a very fun version of monster mash. the others are steve (knight) & johnny garcia (pirate) & two nice folks whose names I can't recall. the drummer, mike, was outstanding & very nice. wish i could've kidnapped him for the dusk devils.

dem old sinus pain & exploding drummer blues

-happy birthday to bomar... 29 again! thank goodness for friends, family, and loved ones. no man's an island, etc. etc. etc. my latest movie recommendation is "j'ai ete au bal (i went to the dance)"... it's a documentary about the history of cajun/zydeco. exhilarating!
-in less exhilarating news, why why why? here we go again. drummer number eight. i was tempted to go into a drummer diatribe, a cynical slideshow, a la nicholson in "carnal knowledge," of the many who've passed by... but that wouldn't be kosher. not copacetic. not kind. it would be rudely satisfying only to me, and quickly followed by guilt, inappropriate... wise, warm, crackling-with-life sister b said recently, "if we knew all, we'd forgive all." of course, i don't know the full story of why number seven is vacillating in his commitment. i just need to get this band out of his way... & begin the search for number eight, i guess!
-i asked my friend ruben (guaderrama) if it'd be easier to find steady, enthusiastic musical buddies if i lived down south, but he replied grimly, "no, it'd just be more complicated." even he is going solo these days, after near-40 years playing with his right hand man & life-long best friend. even that has dried up! i hear mento's drummer caesareo (sp) wrote a blog on the topic of "the cat versus the..." canary? the committed music lover versus the leaf in the wind-- brian p knows. i'm sure it's well-worth reading. you could find the link through nl belardes' site, i'd bet!
-so where is the bako equivalent of jerry angel? bill bateman? lisa pankratz? jose, why do you live in orange county??? or even, why are we here in backwardsville? why don't folks just want to play traditional, fun, rocking music here, get together and stomp feet, pound and saw, yell and purr and growl, tell stories in song, make melodies, make folks jump, dance and smile? so many drummers we've had have been held back by Life stuff like money, disapproving other halves, the drive... it really stinks. i guess the days of sitting on the porch playing all night are long gone. que lastima, as some would say.
- anyway, jose plays with cattie ness. he is not just a great drummer, but a quick study and a nice dude, also willing to drive and drive for the prospect of putting on a fun gig. bruce jones, olen taylor, you're local, you're the best, come back! you've rested long enough... haven't you? ...........oh well. i'll just watch movies for a while to keep the joy level up, i spose. and celebrate halloween, and the beginning of holidays season... all is not lost...
-however, there's this other problem: for the past couple of months, i've wished i could somehow live without my head, a reverse of "the brain that wouldn't die" -- just a torso walking around and pounding the keys. the pain in my skull is constant. it moves, too -- one day in the face, next in my ears, then over the eye socket. i told a recent drummer, a happy kind of guy, i'm looking at sinus surgery & he asked, "will that change your singing voice?" didn't even consider that, but the pain must go! the psychic pain of daily life can be enough at times. (ha! spoiled middle class american complaining... i really have no right, yet i do it!) adding physical pain to the mixture... well, what for, if it can be avoided, what for? the pain -- be it in my sinus cavities or sitting on a drummer's saddle -- must go.
-ha! there's my cheap shot. see? now i feel guilty. shouldna said it, but i did. at least keith moon exploded after putting in hundreds, thousands of heavy-pounding shows.... but i suppose he was keith moon, & exceptional, committed musicians are who they are for a reason. that fire & dedication is what separates them, maybe... but again, doesn't anybody just want to get together and make some happy noise, some rocking country blues, some hepped up, melancholy, jumping life music, just to do it, just for the wonderful release and pleasure of doing it?... the weird captain howdy clown face on the bootleg cover reflects the music-less situation. he's dressed for fun, but just sitting there... waiting. oh well. life goes on... though i complain here, as long as you and i are upright and breathing, there's hope. so it's movies for now, til the music comes back.

i'll go down swingin

nl belardes just put up the podcast that i got to do with him recently. it's an about 30 minute radio show titled "honky tonk girl [sic], jenny angel." you can find it at http://www.nlbelardes.com/musicrev.html
... i hope you enjoy listening, & happy weekend to all.

the killer, the king, the boss of the 88s

-WOW!!!!! elwood in sweden sent me a care package of cds, & i'm listening to jerry lee lewis at the star club and... ARRGGHHH!!! this is the kinda music that turned teens into rebels in the '50s, the musical equivalent of jekyll changing to hyde,... pure raw wild thumping raging rock & roll!!! if the other cds have this kind of primal power, respectable life as i know it is doomed.
-or i'll have to ration it... but how will that be possible???
-one of the first experiences i had like this, where my hair stood on end & my pulse pounded & my eyes bugged & i felt truly alive, was when i was about 16 & caught on public tv-kcet a showing of "don't knock the rock" (not to be confused with the bill haley-alan freed movie). it was a 1963 granada (british tv) show featuring (unbelievable, still) the animals, gene vincent, little richard, the killer, and more... the scenes with jerry lee are decadently thrilling -- he's leering, swaggering, swollen-faced, pot-bellied, long blond curls swinging, dancing and shaking on the piano like a go-go girl as teds and greasers adore him, pounding the 88s along with a sloppy, thundering band, looking drunk on star power, awesome, the greatest in that moment, the killer, the king...
-must...turn...off...music...now... must... exhale...

the rocking keyboard strikes, the ugly men of country are covered

- yesterday i got to do nl belardes' podcast, though solo. i'd've preferred the band to come along, but brian p's been m.i.a. (just became a granddad - maybe that's it :) ). the fellows ho showed up there (fattkatt, les paw, & of course, dj nick) (not the "ugly men" referred to at top, btw) asked, "why don't you go solo?" well, i much prefer playing music with others; it's so much more fun to be "a part of," & the guys i've played with are good musicians... but i do want to play music!! as is, the band has no openings to play for months & months. i've turned down many offers recently. other musicians drop their jaws when i tell them this. it does make me pause when three folks in past weeks have mentioned the "solo" thing. anyhow.
- i brought my little keyboard, the one dad bought me years ago to encourage songs i was writing at that time. got the keys set up, went to get some coffee since i've been so sick & needed perking up (saw students!), came back & they'd gotten all set up, so off we went. i started playing (no percussion, not even a wooden floor to stomp the foot), & the keyboard starting rocking back & forth wildly. messed up my time bad in a few spots...i'm no jerry lee, that's for sure! finally we stopped recording & took some time out & fattkatt fixed the stand.
- i think the interview went well, but i did pause when asked what the band's been up to... i do appreciate the others a lot, but a band's gotta play, or it's not a band, i don't think! hmm... maybe that's why candye kane goes solo. except that woman can SING! not to mention i just love hammering that piano, not really a solo kind of gig... i sing OK... when i can hear... & on the show today, les had the vocals dialed in well, so that was some fun. no effects, no band, 61 plastic keys on a wobbly stand & chair, in a room wearing headphones with 3 guys staring at me, but it was still better than not playing, so i took the opportunity and steamed ahead.
- between interview, i did four songs or so, then finally coaxed fattkatt into singing with me. we've done it before, & i love singing harmonies. we did really impromptu versions of songs by two of the most mythically ugly but strong-voiced singers i can think of, buck owens & roy orbison (well, the former's lost his voice, but in the don rich days, they sang soaringly, wonderfully): "tiger by the tail" and "pretty woman"... now, the first tune's no problem, but the second? complex! fun to sing, but getting the full-throated vocals AND the correct changes and rolls on piano with no practice... well, i'll just say there are some glitches. "that's what people love about live music," said les. "that's what makes it human!" amen, brother. he seemed like a real all-right guy, a solid type. :)
- thank you to nl belardes for the podcast shot & to fattkatt & les for being there. the show's supposed to be on-air/online next week, so i'll post again when it's up. maybe next time, the whole band will come.

lunatics need love, too

well, just heard show with blasters for tomorrow has been cancelled. "everything went kerflooey." blah. poo. rats. dang. peas & carrots. .... art must be more disappointed than we are... maybe the great gods were saving us from disaster, right?... nah; i think it was just hard knocks... oh well! better to have found out now than when trying to get thru smellay gridlock on a friday-at-5! i will appease, amuse, delude myself here with a little lunatic fan-addict photoshopping... i just know this'll be the bill onea these days (click ruby slippers 3 times)... (both pix by bomar the great)

chicken lips & legs; rocking with blasters

a new article about our band is posted at http://www.nlbelardes.com/blogger/2005/09/dusk-devils-at-dome-hurricane-relief.html from nick belardes, local writer and committed supporter of local artists. he took the pic you see here. i gotta go to work, so that's all i'll post for now... blasters show with art fein is tomorrow! woo-hoo!!

dead monitor blues don't get me down

as i seem to frequently write, last night's show was fun. you couldn't hear a dang thing, i had a dead monitor & weak mike, the sound bounced & reverberated off the dome's wrestling arena walls in a game of "find-the-beat, suckers," but it still was fun. we started playing, BOOM! and all these punk & emo teens came running out, trying to swing dance; they weren't sure what to do, so i yelled, "just jump up & down!!" later these same kids rolled & bounced off each other like puppies when the ramones-tempoed filthies played (heidi said they sound like green day, but i wouldn't know). mento buru's horns were so loud, your ears about bled (except paul perez -- he seemed to have the mike i'd gotten earlier, which was a shame). mento do that old oingo boingo song i remember off radio-- it says "who do you want to be today" -- at such a furiously-fast, slamming punk-ska tempo, with trombone & double sax/percussion, that if you don't move with it, call the morgue cause you're about-dead... the event was a sort of swarming, teeming one: about 20 bands, food out back, stupid jokes as the females ate hot dogs, musicians' tots with pink spikey hair & rocker clothes, black-clad, heavily tatted, heavily-gutted males guzzling suds & guffawing, skinny boys with eyeliner looking tres hollywood, etc. band dog jason observed the proceedings with a small smile, murmuring, "this is like the old days." every band of a certain age was there. yeah, lots of tattoos and mohawks. and us. ha!... anyway, when we played, it was great to see all those kids dancing uncontrollably, moved by the music. i wore some mardi gras rags & gave them to people in the crowd, later to jon-o & vince, who'd come "just to see you guys," they said. jerry drummer was being blasted by the keyboard monitor, so i said, "now, THERE'S a switch for ya!" i apologized to him later, tho it wasn't my fault (soundman jeff langston, brian p's friend, was there & saved us however he could), & told him, "your hearing'll come back, big guy. it always has!" brian p looked to be having fun, & his solos on "rock the joint" were spot-on. jason was, as always, cool as a cucumber... "the real" bruce wayne, local dj who looks like a movie star, gave us info on being on radio & offered me a swig of bourbon (not today, but thank you). in fact, i haven't been offered a drink so much in a long while. it was a good test. at about 7:30, ronna from bakotopia said she thought they'd raised about $2400 for the red cross -- not bad, not bad! nick belardes asked us to do his net radio show & took a pic of me that's either going to drive people away, or toward this band: lotsa leg! it actually was a pretty cool pic; nick is a talented photographer. well, better go now. adios, ciao, sayonara, hej da, see ya, good people!