This Past Weekend in OH, MI & IN
Wed., Sep. 6. 2006 1:54am EDT
Well, we're back from a busy Labor Day Weekend in Thornville OH, Lisbon OH, Tecumseh MI, and Bedford IN. We didn't get back until dinnertime on Tuesday, and we have a lot of projects behind the scenes we're also working on, so our brains are pretty fried, but some of our favorite memories include:
Our second show in 2006 at The Gathering in Thornville OH, on Friday, was supposed to be an outdoor beach party, but rain dampened everything but Pastor Tom's enthusiasm, so we moved it indoors. Our opening band was called, uh, "Called" ... but those boys were kickin'! What's more, our audience was treated to the first kazoo fusion ever featured in "The Devil Went Down to Jordan." It wouldn't be the only time during the weekend that we incorporated something new into that song.
Saturday's sold-out standing-room-only show in Lisbon (they tell it was actually East Liverpool) OH. Our drummer, Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner recorded his drum parts for one last song on our upcoming "Wordplay" CD at the concert venue after we set up, and our keyboardist, Bill "Wild Thing" Hubauer, recorded his keyboard parts for another one of the songs in the van on the way.
Right before we reached the second-annual Holy Palooza festival in Tecumseh MI on Sunday, we noticed that the famed political parody group The Capitol Steps will be coming to Tecumseh's local theater on September 16. Small world, isn't it? We had dreary weather the whole drive to the venue, but once we got to Tecumseh, it was sunny and beautiful. God is good, isn't He?
Holy Palooza's promoter, Atticus Sumner, is an expert in an Appalachian dance form called "clogging" (remember "Riverdance"?) and joined us on stage when we performed "The Devil Went Down to Jordan." It was the finest example of Christian parody clogging we've ever seen, bar none. And we really enjoyed the bands before us, 3inOne and our fellow Christian parodists, the Bethlehem Pop Festival.
And how could we ever forget Monday's concert in Bedford IN, the limestone capital of the world? We'll always remember the 15-or-so limestone cowboys who helped us move Jimmy's already-assembled drum set and drum riser onto the stage -- too bad it fell apart along the way!
It was also great to see one of our favorite indie bands, the heavy-hitting Strangeland, who went on right before us in Beford. And we finally got new promo photos (five years was long enough for those last ones, eh?) shot before the concert, thanks to noted photographer Cheri Herron, who just happened to be in attendance, thanks to God! It was also great to see two of our favorite Christian radio personalities and friends, Mike Stankovic and Jammin' Jim Surman from WIFB in Bloomington IN.
Special thanks to:
Our concert coordinators: Pastor Tom Gill (Thornville), Jim Bean (Lisbon), Atticus Sumner (Tecumseh), and Rick Phillips (Bedford).
Our merchandise coordinators: Hollie and Martha (Thornville); Heather, Liz, Christopher, Kim, Krista and Sue (Lisbon); Tammy, Marie, Mary, Darwin, Pam, Brandon, and Corrina (Tecumseh); and Keith and Aaron (Bedford).
Our soundmen: Larry (Lisbon)
Our roadies: Brandon and Evan (Thornville); Rich and Marie (Lisbon and Tecumseh), Larry, Shawn, and Darius (Lisbon) and everybody in Bedford IN.
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