Old School plays Falcapalooza 2014

Falcapalooza made me want to gig more.  It was exhausting, helping to organize the whole event, trying to keep kids' interest and getting them to actually show up.  I think everyone had a great time, but I don't think anyone could have had more fun than I did.  There were many other bands, including The Bad Weathermen, the Onomatopoeia Organization, AuSm, Matter of Fiction, The Five Band, and the Session Guys.

Slapping the end of Sweet Emotion

"Old School" in 2013 was me, John Wagner (guitar), and Elliott Gray (drums).  This year, Tom Arnold came in on drums, Emily Nyman on acoustic guitar and Ruth-Ann Fletcher on lead vocals.  We performed twice, once in the afternoon for much of the school and again that evening in the real show.  Both times we played Sweet Emotion and Rock & Roll.  I felt the nerves at the beginning of Sweet Emotion, for sure.  I find when I play that tune that I just have to ignore Tom on it - he's with me on the ride cymbal part of the time, and then not - I may not really be playing the right rhythms!  Once the beat kicks in, it's way more comfortable.  Rock & Roll is so easy, but the guitar solo has a weird blues form in the background (1x almost normal, 1x twice as long with a stop).  As long as I stayed focused I got it.  But I screwed up the ending, going to the wrong one.  Ruth-ann stayed on, though so we followed her.  The evening show was perfect.  John moved his amp over where I could hear him, and that made a big difference.  In the evening, we also played AC/DC's "Let There be Rock."  Awesome.  I was playing through Eli's Orange amp, and it had just the right growl for the music.

I don't think I've EVER moved around this much.  Having the big open stage was amazing.  How to top it next year....?