May 10 - Dylan's Party, Plainwell -

Tricks had a blast from the past in more ways than one last night.

For 1, we had a Party On The Patio, just like in that good ol' ZZ Top song.

For 2, we went through exactly 2 Kegs of Bells Oberon Ale - A good ol' Rock & Roll Kegger, just like in the old days; with neighbors calling the cops and little neighbor kids coming over to see what was going on, and old school friends, and buddies from work (Dylan is a Graphic Design Arteeest Extraordinaire with Krystal at Perrigo Art Dept).

For 3, we had a special guest appearance from Dale Boysen, Outstanding Guitar Doctor and massively important Tricks Alumnus. Wish we had been rolling video for this set. Dale lived up to his nickname "Whaler" and added some great guitar lines to our 4 ZZ Top songs, and a handful of other guitar-heavy tunes.

We had plenty of party food - dogs on the grill and a deep-fried turkey were the main course. Noteworthy dishes-to-pass were chocolate-covered Strawberries, yummy cheesecake, cocktail wienies, cheesy potatoes, and a cheese & meat tray from Dick's Market. We also had a drawing for a couple Tricks t-shirts and a couple of the new Tricks Keychains. We also might have had a 50/50 raffle, but I don't recall; that would be illegal without a permit from our government nannies.

If I had my way, I'd dump the bar scene and do nothing but parties like this all year round. There, I said it! To be sure, there are nights at the bar that feel like a fun fantastic party, but there's nothing like invading a neighborhood and dishing out free beer and food to a bunch of music-loving party people.

There's nothing like a Tricks party where we say "we're gonna play 'til the po-lice come" - and really mean it!

Thanks to Dylan for a super fun party. Thanks to Fred, Debbie, and Roger for taking a ton of pictures to preserve the fun moments. Thanks to Debbie & Krystal for running the drawing thing. Thanks to Gilbert for helping with sound EQ & mixing. Thanks loads to Krystal's dad Don, for cooking the turkey.

Tricks started jamming around 8pm, the cops showed up at 11:30, then we closed the garage doors and we played until just past midnight. The 2nd keg of Oberon ran out just as we were wrapping things up.

For the last couple songs, Dale got up again and Rick grabbed Dave's PRS bass and we hacked out "Rock n Roll Hoochie Coo" and "Mr. Skin" - 2 old Tricks faves from the 80's.

If you want a peek at what we were doing with Dale back in the early 80's, here's video.

Dylan Party Pix - Pics1 | Pics2

Debbie Pix - Fred Pix