We Reflex-ers can't believe that the holidays are upon us!

November started strong with really cool gigs at Ned Devine's in Centreville and The Pub, as well as Sweet Caroline's. Unfortunately Michael picked up a cold right before Sweets and lost his voice completely, and Mandi followed with her own cold a few days later. We made it through the Clarendon Grill on 11/21, but since Mandi's voice disappeared by the end of the night and Michael still wasn't in top shape we had to cancel Saturday's show at McGinty's. Silver Spring crew, we can't begin to express how sorry we are for canceling on you guys. It's the first time in over 2 1/2 years we've canceled a gig, and in most circumstances one singer is able to carry the show if the other is feeling under the weather. With both singers out of commission we had no choice. However, we are working out a make-up date with the club, and we'll be back in Silver Spring as soon as we can to make it up to you guys.

Fortunately we had Thanksgiving weekend off (Happy belated Turkey Day everyone!) and we're expecting to BRING IT to Rocktown and Ned Devine's Herndon this weekend. Though we do appreciate the occasional weekend off to rest a bit, we're always chomping at the bit to get back out and party with everyone. Darron is sure to have the Petron flowing!

If you haven't made plans for New Year's Eve yet, we'll be back at Ned Devine's in Herndon to party like it's 1999! We'd love to see everyone out - New Year's kisses for everyone!

See you all soon!

Greetings 80's fans!

2008 has been an eventful year for The Reflex thus far, and with several major changes and happenings occurring we thought a blog to update our fans was looooong overdue.

First off - our drummer of almost 3 years, Mike Buscema, decided to leave the band to pursue other interests. Mike has been known as our "rockstar on the DL," the calm eye in the Reflex storm who solidified our rhythm section with mad consistency and musical chops. The Reflex accomplished more than any of us ever dreamed over the past few years, and Mike was an enormous part of that success. We're going to miss him a ton, but no one has seen the last of him as he has already filled in on several dates with the band, and he'll be back with us at Whitlow's and Looney's at the end of October.

Replacing a drummer of Mike's caliber was a daunting task, but fortunately after several rounds of auditions we found our man in Marc Taylor, formerly of Three Cents Shy and One Stop. We put Marc through Reflex boot camp learning our set list of over 80 songs, and he was up to the challenge. Thanks to Marc's stellar drumming skills, we were able to make a smooth transition and haven't missed a beat! (No pun intended). Some may have noticed that we've gone from having band members named Mike and Michael to Marc and Marco, prompting Michael to suggest that we change our name to "Marco, Marc and the Funky Bunch".  

Even with having to make such a major change, The Reflex machine rolls on. We have now played 3 dates at Chic N Bones in Morgantown, WV, and have discovered that Morgantown definitely lives up to its reputation as one of the best party towns anywhere. Harrisonburg, VA has become one of our new favorite stops, and we've made some incredible new friends there. We've played some awesome shows at Looney's in Bel Air, MD this year. On October 4^th, we were one of the opening acts for Alien Ant Farm at Longwood University's Octoberfest and had a blast meeting the 80's fans in Farmville. We're also in the process of (finally) completing our first promo video. And of course, we can't forget the long time Reflex supporters in Arlington, Herndon, Leesburg, Winchester and Fairfax who keep celebrating the decade that will live forever. We have several months to go, but 2008 looks like it will go down as one of the Reflex's best ever!

Okay, we're a little late on the draw with the new year wishes. Our excuse is that it's taken us this long to recover from the Mad, Mad, Masquerade (and not all of us got to go on a cruise like Michael afterward).

Many, many thanks to Scythian for inviting us to be a part of their 3rd annual NYE shindig at the Carnegie Library. We saw a bunch of our 80's regulars, and we also made a ton of new friends as well! Who says you can't love Celtic rock/world music/Irish drinking tunes AND the 80s?

The Scythian boys went all out with enough open bars to give the entire city a raging hangover, 30-foot flame-throwers, and even a speakeasy for those who needed a break from the revelry. The Reflex was appropriately housed for the evening in the "Disco Room", where a giant map of DC glowed under the dancers' feet. After performances by the Peter Edelman jazz combo, Yamomanem, and of course Scythian, The Reflex closed out the festivities with our signature brand of 80's rock. The Disco room was rockin', and we can only hope that everyone made it home with masks and costumes intact. NYE 2007 will go down as one of the best in Reflex history!

We managed a weekend off after all of that NYE madness, but we came back strong this weekend with a show at a new venue. We traveled up I-95 to Bel Air, MD to play Looney's, a club we've been dying to play for ages. And it certainly lived up to our expectations! Many thanks to Tom, Smilin Joe, management, staff, Looney's regulars, and Mandi's family who came out in droves. We'll be back in April, and we're already counting down the days!

The Reflex will continue our January travels this coming weekend. We're trekking down I-81 for Sweet Caroline's on Friday, and The Pub on Saturday. Hopefully everyone is rested up after the holidays and ready to break it down 80's style!

At some point over the past few months, The Reflex decided that it would be a super idea to play 3 gigs in one day. The big day turned out to be Saturday, September 29^th.  True, we only advertised the two shows at Clarendon Day and Ned Devine's in Herndon, but we also had an early morning gig playing at Georgetown's homecoming.

There is a reason Darron refers to us as vampires, because the sun was far too bright and we were cranky and out for blood at our 9am load-in. Considering most of our load-ins occur about 12 hours later, we felt a bit like the world had turned upside down. However, with the help of a little Red Bull and our awesome sound guy RC, we were ready to take the stage at 11am. And the Hoyas were ready for us! Our first group of revelers got so excited about "Tainted Love" that they started pouring beer all over themselves. Eventually so many others joined them that by the end of the show we were playing for over 3000 people! Highlights of the show included a guest appearance by the Hoyas cheerleaders who backed Mandi on "Mickey", the guy who wore sleeves but no shirt, and the big rush of people who joined us on stage during "I Love Rock and Roll" at the end. The Reflex has seen many a good party in its day, but this was beyond anything we ever expected – we had no idea people could rock out that hard in broad daylight. Georgetown, thanks so much for having us! We had an amazing time with all of you!

After the rush of playing such a crazy rock show, we had to come down a bit to pack up our gear for the first of 3 load-outs and head over to Clarendon to partake in the Clarendon Day festivities. The organizers of that event did an amazing job as our set-up and sound check were quite painless, and the energy of the crowd and their love of the 80's were evident. Our set also involved the first "toddler mosh pit" (to quote Charlie Kramer) the Reflex has ever seen! (Former Reflex members Ben and Tami were in the crowd – everyone check out Tami's solo project. She's in our top friends and her band will start playing out next month!)

Fortunately we had some time to kill before show 3 so we invaded Michael's apartment for awhile with Quizno's in hand. (Quote 1 from Michael – "Just think, in 7 hours our day will be over) At this point we were slightly delirious but ready to take on the Ned Devine's crowd in Herndon. Herndon, it must be said that you kept us going. You were one of the best crowds we've ever had at Ned's and we may not have made it through had you all not been total rock stars. Because of you, our energy was up and we were having a blast until the very last song!

Needless to say, Sunday September 30, 2007 was pretty much a lost day for members of The Reflex, but it was totally worth it. The 29^th set many Reflex records – most shows in one day, most people played for in one day, most Red Bulls consumed by the band in one day, most times performing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Come On Eileen", amongst others. Not only did we get to see lots of old friends and make tons of new ones, as a unit we felt tighter than ever. We now know we can handle any show in any circumstance and we have lots of supporters to help us along the way. We can't thank you all enough.

(Quote 2 from Michael – "We need to do days like this sometimes to remind ourselves to never do days like this.")

September 2007 may go on record as the Reflex's busiest month ever!

Fortunately we had Labor Day weekend off, because we needed the chance to gear up for the weeks ahead. We began our September at a new venue - The Pub in Harrisonburg, VA. We had been looking forward to playing the Pub for ages, and it did not disappoint! There are scads of 80's fans of all ages in the 'Burg (as JMU alum Mandi affectionately refers to it) that were willing to take a chance on a little unknown band called The Reflex. We had an incredible time that night and we can't wait until our next show there in November to see everyone again! The energy and insanity at the Pub show took a lot out of us, but we managed to rest up before heading to Leesburg the following night to hang out with the crew at Bunker's. Leesburg is always a good time and we were very happy to get back to Bunker's and share the 80's love with a part of town that we don't get to very often!

The next weekend we braved the elements at Broadlands Live with our good friends Dr FU. If you have not seen these guys and are a fan of great rock music, go see them the first chance you get! The weather gods showed no mercy and we had to play under a tent in a torrential downpour, but the groovy Ashburn folks did not fear a little (okay, a LOT of) rain. Luckily our next show was all warm (HOT!!) and cozy (CROWDED!) at a much drier Whitlow's. We're running out of adjectives to describe the madness that ensues at our favorite spot on Wilson Boulevard, so we'll just say that it was one helluva party!

This past Friday we once again found ourselves in Winchester at our beloved Sweet Caroline's. Sweets, what can we say? You are some of the most die hard 80's fans we've encountered, and we can't thank you enough for welcoming us with open arms every time we come to town. We celebrated several birthdays and bachelorette parties and the revelers were out in full force. We will see you all in October!

September is not over yet for The Reflex. Next Saturday the 29th we'll be playing 2 (that's right, 2!!) public shows. First up is Clarendon Day, where we will be joined by friends (and awesome bands) like Scott's New Band, Dr FU and the Monster Band. Then we will head over to Ned Devine's in Herndon for what promises to be a great night of 80's with friends new and old. 

Hope to see everyone soon!

August is traditionally H-O-T-T, and this month has been no exception to that for the Reflex. We finally made out return trip to Ned Devine's in Centreville where the Irish folks kicked it 80's style with us. The next night we played an 80's party at the Front Page sponsored by Party DC, DC Hotspot, and On Tap and it got so crazy in the atrium that we were afraid that we'd blow out all of the glass windows! Fortunately that didn't happen, but we were graced by the presence of Boy George, Madonna, Slash, Devo, and others. If you don't believe us, check out the pics on our website - www.reflexlive.com.

The weather gods have not been smiling on us this year at our outdoor shows. Friday Night Live got rained out completely, and while we were able to get through our first set at Pentagon Row we actually had to stop playing in the middle of a song due to thunder, lightening, and the accompanying torrential downpour. At least we managed to save our equipment, including our beloved "Millenium Falcon" which has been making us sound extra authentic since we made it a part of our show back in May.

This past weekend saw us back in Winchester and even with the big screen TV set up on the patio now, the Steelers/Redskins game didn't distract the 80's faithful from singing along and dancing their hearts out with us inside. (A note to our self-proclaimed biggest fans - that picture requested did indeed make it on our website ). We love playing Sweets - as long as the Winchester crew keeps asking for 80's, we will keep obliging. You guys are awesome!

We've still got two shows to go this month  - Clarendon Grill on Friday the 24th (yay!) and McGinty's on the 25th (yay again!). This will mark the beginning of our playing the last Saturday of every month at McGinty's for the "Decades Night". Alternating with us will be Back to Zero, who will be playing the hits of the 70's on the months that we won't be there.

See you all soon!

Whew! Whitlow's shows are always a crazy good time, but we could not believe the insanity last Friday! We're thinking that it had something to do with Belinkie's birthday. The ladies couldn't seem to get enough of our favorite tight-stripey-pant-wearing-crazy-high-singing-freak-of-nature. I think he had more than his share of birthday kisses and spanks. Thanks for coming out to celebrate with us!

This summer has been a series of awesome show after awesome show. We even made it down to Nags Head a few weeks back to play a weekend at Kelly's. The folks in NC know how to party 80's style almost as hard as the DC regulars. (Almost....there's really no place like home). Check out the pictures on our website at www.reflexlive.com.

We're taking this weekend off to recharge and regroup, but we're finishing out the summer with a bang in August. Next weekend we're finally back at Ned's Centreville on Friday, which we've been looking forward to for ages. On Saturday, August 4th we're playing a very special 80's party at the Front Page in Arlington, hosted by Party DC, On Tap, and DC Hotspot. Come on out and shake your 80's groove thang with us!

See you soon!

Weeks before a Sweet Caroline's show, we in the Reflex start talking about how much we're looking forward to getting back to Winchester to see all of our friends. And yet even with all of the anticipation, every show we are amazed at how Sweets totally exceeds our expectations. Last night was definitely the craziest show yet! Everyone looked fantastic in their 80's outfits (please send shopping tips), and we had TOO much fun chatting it up with everyone before and after the show and during our break (we had planned on 2 breaks, but we never want to stop rocking once we hit the Sweets stage!).

Many, many, many thanks to Terry, Dean, Robin, Kay and the rest of the awesome staff who always take such good care of us and make us feel so welcome. We are already counting down the days until St. Patrick's Day. It's gonna be one helluva party!

Special thanks to Kelly V for taking the video posted on our profile with her "tiny, tiny" camera at McGinty's on Saturday!

(For more Kelly V. videos, check out her website at www.tinytinyfun.com)