--------------------------------------------------Chapters 1, 2. 3, 4, 5

We arrived at JOHNNY JOE’ for the Conference Showcase

We loaded in to an already packed house and Oren noticed something….ASHTRAYS!!! INSIDE THE CLUB!!! We all smoked together in celebration. We got to see some really great bands. My favorite was Drenalin from Akron, Ohio. (drenalinband.com) Their original material was rockin and their cover of Breaking Benjamin’s, “So Cold” was killer. We were told by the sound guy that there was a bass rig there for me to play so I went to check it out. I brushed away some of the cobwebs to take a look and it was an old Peavy rig from like the 70’s. I thought that this thing belonged in a museum, not a rock club. EJ, the bassist from Drenalin, had a great sound and was kewl enough to let me play through his rig. We both play Ibanez basses so my bass tone worked well with his equipment. I asked the sound guy to give me a sub-mix of the vocals for my in-ear monitors and he actually knew what I was talking about!! Usually the sound guy stares at me like I’ve got 6 heads when I make that request. We were ready to go.

We opened with “Run” and got the crowd all hyped up right off the bat. Then we got them even more pumped with “Hourglass.” About mid-set Oren said, “This one is called Scalpel.” “A Scalpel’s Precision” was the working title that we shortened to Scalpel to refer to it more easily when Oren officially titled it, “The Truth, and the Greatest Lie Ever Told” which I in turn shortened to “TTATGLET” (pronounced Ta-Tat-Glet.) That really didn’t catch on so I guess it’s “Scalpel” now. “Against the Fallout” went over very well as usual and Oren’s vocals never sounded better. “Someone Else’s Year” was even heavier than usual with Ed’s sick driving beat during the verse and an improved bass tone. The vocal harmonies came out great despite someone’s seeming inability to tell the difference between a P4 and an octave. (I’m not naming any names.)
When we get back to rehearsal we’re going to record it with the digital recorder cause the unnamed party is convinced that the harmonies were in P4’s. We will listen back and I will win the imaginary 50 dollars back that I may have lost because of our other guitarist. I made the opposite bet with my drummer for an imaginary 5 dollars and if I win the first bet (verdict is still out on this one) I’m gonna split it with Chris giving me a net gain of 20 imaginary dollars.

anywho…

We closed with “Stick and Stones” and Chris’ screaming guitar solo and his harmony solo with Oren that followed got many cheers from the crowd. The crowd demanded an encore and we finished off the night with the tightest version of “4 Walls 1 Window” that we had ever played. I’ve never been more pumped at a show in my life.

We stuck around for the last band after we loaded up and stopped at the slowest McDonalds on the planet for some after-show grub. Our Photagrapher/Videographer/Roadie and I were quite relieved.

Chapters 1, 2. 3 more to come!

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