Friday night was one of those "mystery" gigs. The only thing we knew is that it wasn't a dance, but a show. We don't do shows. There's nothing worse than having people watch us play. At least when they're dancing, their attention isn't totally on us. So who hired us? The Boy Scouts of America. To be fair--we've played for them in 1999, too. Big camporee going on, and we were the "show" for Friday night. Which involved two flatbeds, 3 generators, and hundreds of boys in the hills north of town. Hundreds of boys who had been camping out all week. Hundreds of boys who hadn't seen a woman all week. Things stared out with a couple of Eagle scouts who were quite disorganized, but were successful getting the crowd hyped up. Then it was our turn.
What do you play for a bunch of teenage boys, especially knowing what crap they listen to on the radio? Well, pretty much anything you want. From our first notes, we had a mosh pit in front of us for the entire night! For most of these kids, we were the first live band they'd ever seen/heard. We even got away with playing two slow songs--and all of the boys just sort of drooled, watching our lead singer (yeah, she's hot). When it was all over, they wanted our autographs, and thanked us, and then walked away with smiles on their faces.
Was it hokey? Yeah. Would we want to do this on a regular basis? Oh, hell no! But would we take the enthusiasm any day of the week!
The Father's Day BBQ I anticipated for today didn't happen. Too many family people out of town, so were getting together later this week. I did get to give my dad a treat. Remember the tooth I broke on Mother's Day? Well, it's gotten worse over the weekend. Kept me up Saturday night, and to the point where I couldn't even drink a glass of water without climbing the walls. So I went to the drug store and got some sort of temporary filling material (who knew they made that stuff?), stopped by my parent's, and let Dad do his dental thing (he's been retired for about 13 years). The good news--he hasn't lost his touch, even with the arthritis, bad eyes and absence of the spit-sucker thingy. The bad news--I HAVE to get to a dentist and get this taken care of as soon as possible! Damn, I hate the dentist...
I don't want to stir the pot here, and I'm not commenting on the state of affairs. Just something I've noticed over the past few Sundays. As I channel surf, I continue to pause at the religious channels. Not for the preachers, but the music. Have you ever really watched for awhile? They are full-blown concerts. With sets that dazzle the eye. Six to eight TV cameras. 150-200 voice choirs. Small orchestras. A slew of soloists out in front. Concert halls that hold 5000 worshipers. By the time all is said and done, how many tens of thousands of dollars were spent on TV production, set design, and everything else, only to be spent again next Sunday? Wouldn't all that money be better spent on other things? Say, like feeding/clothing the needy? Health care for children and the elderly? Housing for the poor? Just wondering...
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