Touched by it all - Thank you Rochester Minn!
Things have been beyond insane lately. For the band and for myself. Gizzae got the CD out on 5/2! And with that, the kickoff of summer began. I know I should be blogging more and also sending out the newsletter, but we've all been swamped and this weekend has already been awesome.
I was fortunate enough to go along this weekend and play with them. Three days of band life is certainly a vacation of sorts for me. Not to mention, talking to adults and having some laughs is a nice change from talking about Speed Racer and the Muppets. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Last night 6/26, we played right out the front door of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. Rochester is throwing town get-togethers, mini festivals every Thursday and we got invited to come up. Well....It was fricking awesome! There were a couple of very talented guitar players there right before us and they got the crowd loosened up for us. Well, that and the martini booth about 6.3 feet from the stage! Anyways, we got going for about 45 minutes, woke em all up, and took a short break before we KICKED ASS for the next 90 minutes. Now, when they love it, we love it, so we were just grooving off of the incredible energy from the crowd. As you can imagine, there were plenty of people from the clinic, both employees and patients. Here's where I'm headed - There were obviously people that really needed a little boost from what's happening in their respective lives. We finished up a couple minutes after we were supposed to. (they said they usually are asked to shut it down by 8:30) Well - Someone said - ENCORE! And like a California brush fire the crowd roared for us to come back. And the awesome Heidi said "Play on! "
Ok so, we end for good and the energy is just at peak level. Smiles all around, grinning, kids wanting autographs, dogs and cats playing together, it's just bedlam. It was, if not the best, one of the best times I have ever had playing with Gizzae. It is beyond me to say how that felt to affect people so much for such a short time.
We met so many incredible people after we got packed up, got a ticket and then scraped the top of the new van. Somehow, Karma got lost. After, we did go into the hotel, 6.3 feet the other way from the stage and had some food and drinks courtesy of John and Lori (Laurie). Thank you both! They were here from San Diego for some care at the clinic and we just had a fantastic time.
Tonight we are off to Austin, MN which is 45 minutes (you thought I was going to say 6.3 feet the other way) down the road. Another rarity - playing so close together with a full day off in a nice hotel. Ralph went fishing, I went swimming, Rocket and the guys went to Jeri's sisters for some food. Anyways (I say that a lot) we're closing the Hambone Blues Festival tonight and then off to a Private Party tomorrow.
I want to say THANK YOU to everyone from the Rochester planning committee and to all the wonderful people that came out to see us last night. I certainly hope that we get to come back to Rochester very soon. I was touched by it all.
P
I was fortunate enough to go along this weekend and play with them. Three days of band life is certainly a vacation of sorts for me. Not to mention, talking to adults and having some laughs is a nice change from talking about Speed Racer and the Muppets. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Last night 6/26, we played right out the front door of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. Rochester is throwing town get-togethers, mini festivals every Thursday and we got invited to come up. Well....It was fricking awesome! There were a couple of very talented guitar players there right before us and they got the crowd loosened up for us. Well, that and the martini booth about 6.3 feet from the stage! Anyways, we got going for about 45 minutes, woke em all up, and took a short break before we KICKED ASS for the next 90 minutes. Now, when they love it, we love it, so we were just grooving off of the incredible energy from the crowd. As you can imagine, there were plenty of people from the clinic, both employees and patients. Here's where I'm headed - There were obviously people that really needed a little boost from what's happening in their respective lives. We finished up a couple minutes after we were supposed to. (they said they usually are asked to shut it down by 8:30) Well - Someone said - ENCORE! And like a California brush fire the crowd roared for us to come back. And the awesome Heidi said "Play on! "
Ok so, we end for good and the energy is just at peak level. Smiles all around, grinning, kids wanting autographs, dogs and cats playing together, it's just bedlam. It was, if not the best, one of the best times I have ever had playing with Gizzae. It is beyond me to say how that felt to affect people so much for such a short time.
We met so many incredible people after we got packed up, got a ticket and then scraped the top of the new van. Somehow, Karma got lost. After, we did go into the hotel, 6.3 feet the other way from the stage and had some food and drinks courtesy of John and Lori (Laurie). Thank you both! They were here from San Diego for some care at the clinic and we just had a fantastic time.
Tonight we are off to Austin, MN which is 45 minutes (you thought I was going to say 6.3 feet the other way) down the road. Another rarity - playing so close together with a full day off in a nice hotel. Ralph went fishing, I went swimming, Rocket and the guys went to Jeri's sisters for some food. Anyways (I say that a lot) we're closing the Hambone Blues Festival tonight and then off to a Private Party tomorrow.
I want to say THANK YOU to everyone from the Rochester planning committee and to all the wonderful people that came out to see us last night. I certainly hope that we get to come back to Rochester very soon. I was touched by it all.
P
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