The timing of this gig really couldn't have been better after the madness in Talkeetna. Wasilla is about an hour away from Anchorage, in what everyone calls the Valley.

It was great timing because Wasilla is where Kevin grew up and where the hometown crowd is. The Great Bear is a brewpub I must recommend to those who find themselves in the area. The have a bunch of very good, very alcoholic beers on tap, and a couple of things on the menu that are not entirely derivatives of Crisco.

Also they have a stage. You know, to prevent really drunk people from falling on your bass.

Not that I am bitter.



The show was laid back at first, which was nice. It let us get our groove back without having to physically defend ourselves or our gear.

But the crowd was mad positive. They all had Kevin's record, so that made it fun. They knew all the hooks and it was a total singalong, which is my favorite thing in the world. Also, we could play more originals and fewer covers, which is always nice. I sang a bunch of songs too. Mostly Cosmos Ray tunes, cuz those are the catchiest. Royalty check's in the mail, by the way, Buddy. Also people went nuts for Scott Moss' 1 Man Rises.

As it got later, the place started to fill up nicely. People moved tables out of the way to dance which to me is one of the greatest compliments you can give a band. We had a lot of cute girls sweating us, and the whole atmosphere was wonderful. We had started playing at nine, and figured to stop around 12/12:30 cuz it was July 5th, and we figured most people would would be pretty much partied out from the night before.

But midnight came and went, and before we knew it, it was 2:30 in the morning. Another 5+ hour show! Unfortunately, I only got a couple shots of the crowd, etc. But I did really like this one:



I was able to get this shot off with my cell phone from the stage. Crazy! We had just finished playing Baby Got Back as a country two-step. That shit cracks me up! Kevin just spits out the lyrics at breakneck speed and it is funny to watch people's faces as they try to put their finger on what exactly they are listening to. It's like, I recognize that... it's right on the tip of my tongue... HA!

Coincidentally, that photograph was taken during a sustained A sharp 9 chord. That is how I was able to snap the pic with my other hand (A is an open string on the bass). For the non-music geeks in the house, a sharp 9 chord is one where you hear the funk, particularly at the end of a rousing gospel tune. The sound of it makes you want to shake your hands in the air and spin around.

People are the most fun, am I right?

They would not let us get off the stage, until the bartender was like stop! I want to go home! Even then the crowd started to shout and stamp until the bartender was forced to come out from behind the bar and dance to the encore. I believe it was Girls.

After the gig, it was late, and we should all have been super tired, except that we were all amped up. The owner gave us a nice tip and said she had never seen people dance like that in her bar ever. It was Love. Kevin will most certainly get a bunch of gigs there in the future.

So the afterparty was at one of his friend's houses. Really in the backyard, I should say. This was the first thing I saw when I went back there.



What else is there to do after a rock show?

Oh, of course. Build a huge tipi.



Except the tipi engineers were a lil drunk, so it looked like this at first.



Here's the finishing touches:



Here's what it looked like all completed like.



What do you do with a tipi, you may ask? An understandable question from a typical non-Alaska native. I, on the other hand, knew right away that the first thing you do inside a tipi is start a large cardboard fire.



Here it is in its later "wood" phase. What a hang!



We just passed the guitar around for another four hours or so. Kevin played some of his originals that we didn't get to at the show. He also played a lot of obscure country tunes that I had never heard. That was my favorite part. Kevin, when you get a chance, could you put a list of some of those songs in the comments?

I played a whole bunch of Bob Marley songs. That guy really is a Master. Funny how you can rediscover genius while attempting to replicate its result.

Here's my man digging Kevin's guitar while saying whassup to Gourdy the Whale.



We all signed Gourdy, and Kevin, in his infinite Artistic Vision, drew a tragically small phallus on Gourdy's underside.

It got light later in the morning. I have only been there a week, and they have already lost over an hour of daylight. It drizzled a little, but in the tipi it was try. Just the peaceful sound of rain droplets hissing as they hit the fire.

The bitterness of the previous night washed away, and only the feelings of friendship remained. It was a good reminder that it is the people that make most places what they are.

One Love,
Doug