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 29th. 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 29th 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.")