DAY 2 - aside from the mid afternoon, high heat run, followed by a tropical smoothie from "Jack in the Box" (often maligned, but i think merely misunderstood, fast food restaurant), the rest of the afternoon was marked by unyielding coverage of the loss of MJ (troubling), with scattered mentioning of Farah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and anyone else who passed, of their stature (although they say celebrities die in threes... hmmm)...
then, we drove to Menifee Lakes to play the 19th hole of this exclusive country club. the room was brimming with end-of-the-day golfers, teeing up their celebratory drinks, snacks, and best stories to tell (median age was about 52). we stroll in, set up the P.A. to their curious glances, and meet Angela (our hostess) -- Wes has known her for a little while, as he has been bringing in live music on thursday nights to this room for a few months (some folks who stayed til the end told us that we were the best they'd heard since the series started :) which seemed high praise until i realized that they had been drinking for quite awhile... ;)
anyway, i started off our set with just me, solo acoustic, playing mostly softer, gentler covers, with the occasional finger-picked original mixed in. had an older gentleman approach me with a napkin with the name of a song on it -- Moonshadow -- i had a vague recollection of the song, and staggered thru what i remembered. he amazingly thanked me (mostly for stopping, i suppose), and i continued with attempting to satisfy the occasional request. then, by midway thru the expected hour-and-a-half set, i invited (pleaded) Wes and Chris to join me -- that's when the rock kicked in :)
we brilliantly played through just about everything we've ever played together, and of course, very near the end, a few more folks dropped in. we wrapped up with "don't" (often a closer), and the new folks immediately begged us to play more, as well as purchased CD's with "don't" on them. we took a break, long enough to finish our beers started during the set, and then complied with their wishes.
at that point, all we had left were covers... so, we played U2's "with or without you", followed by violent femme's "blister in the sun" and "add it up" -- small crowd appreciation was manifested by uproarious applause and shots (Patron). so, we closed the place at 10pm, and moved on to the charming offerings of Murrieta -- The Corner Pocket, where it was cheesy hip hop night, classed up by scantily-clad women and the meatheads who ogle them. we played a quick game of pool over one beer, and moved on to a bowling alley -- it was a high-brow night -- i was more in search of food (hadn't really eaten since that breakfast burrito), and we were all in search of one more diversion for keeping Wes's gf, Amy, out late on a school night. bowling satisfied half of our goals (not only was the kitchen closed, but so was the bar -- huh?!). regardless, we bowled one successful game and then journeyed the quarter mile home.
off to sleep, and dream of the next adventure awaiting our merry band...
TONIGHT (friday, 6/26) -- in L.A., at Room 5 Lounge! can't wait :)
stay tuned...