This just Poppled into my mind (NO, that’s NOT a typo)

Actually it’s a thought I’ve had off and on for a number of years now – about developing a musical religious program (using mostly all secular popular radio songs). I already developed a concept regarding mixing secular and praise music into a youth retreat format while acting as the music director for YOW retreats (Youth Outreach Weekend). YOW is no longer, but the concept remains – looking for a new outlet. Sue attended a 2-day retreat for area Youth Ministers which was run by two young men who’s act/program/call-it-what-you-will is known as “Popple”. They sing and play instruments and joke and lead prayer and witness and in general, evangelize – and I missed it. I did get to stop in later at night just to meet them and casually jam for a bit. They seem like real nice guys, and it’s cool to think that their “job” is to travel around the country getting paid to put on retreats/programs of various durations/intensity. Not a bad gig if you can get it. It’s probably good that I didn’t get to see them “in action” ‘cause I’d probably spend way too much time thinking “I could do that” (actually, you reading this is proof that I already have) even though logistics if nothing else would say otherwise. Having a wife & kids and being a wandering minstrel just doesn’t go together very well (damned family values are killing me!). I suppose it would help to for starters actually develop a program (it’s not enough to just have an idea and have an ability) but we have trouble finding the time to attend retreats, never mind develop and run one professionally. But maybe some day I’ll have time to work it all out (of course “that day” will probably be as I lie in my bed, an invalid at the nursing home. I’ll do lots of good thinking then!). Sue could be the MC and primary speaker and I would be her support/fill-in-the –gaps/offer-a-different-voice-perspective/music person (I know –it’s hard to imagine us in those roles but I think we could pull it off convincingly). Whether a real possibility or just a pipe-dream, it’s fun to envision it. And of course, we’d need a catchy name for ourselves.
(no Margo, not Both Dakota's)

The High Holy Cathedral of Saint Ted

Fenway Park - Thursday Sept. 20th

Earlier in the week my friend Mark called Sue to ask if we wanted his tickets to the Thursday Night RedSox game. Mark has “week-night-games-only season tickets” (who knew you could be that specific?) and we have managed to attend a few games over the years on night that he was unable to go. So, four games left in the regular season, a chance to clinch 1st place (if we were to win and if the Yanks had been kind enough to lose), of course we want to go!

Alright, so we lost and the Yankees won – but we totally enjoyed ourselves at baseballs greatest shrine!

Happy Phone Call

So I'm at work and my phone rings (usually means it's an upset customer) so I answer with my best Customer Service voice and am pleasantly surprised to hear Mary's chearful voice saying "Hi Papa" (she apparently doesn't know that I now have my own cell phone back from Corey -- and funny but she is the only person in the world who refers to me as "Papa" not that I mind, it's sorta cute - just an observation as I don't know where it originated from or when). Just wanted to tell me who she bumped into as she was returning to work from lunch break and happened to hold the door for a very large mailman who was entering at the same time. OK - I already know who THAT is before she tells me. Boston, Mail Man, Very Large -- the one and only "Little Drummer Boy" Andy. She of course confirms this to be true. He recognized her and spoke up first - she (who until just recently was still a kid and apparently never picked up on the fact that Andy was a mailman or that he worked in Boston - but to her credit did know he was very large) was at first caught off guard (the shades threw her off?) and then recognized him. So she told him how the family was and he told her about the movie that was coming out that he was an extra in (Game Plan), and that he hasn't played the drums for a while (well I coulda told ya that - they are still in storage at our church for the past 6 months). Anyway, what a nice surprise call - hearing unexpectedly from a loving daughter about a good friend - made a nice day even better.

Across My Own Universe

I just saw the new musical/movie “Across The Universe”.
Stunningly good – and that’s my completely biased opinion.

I’m not sure how to describe it. I’m not sure why or even how it affected me. I’m sure there must be deep psychological reasons and underlying issues and repressed memories and unfulfilled dreams churning inside of me that lots of therapy could wring out. In 1969 I started high school, my brother started college, the Vietnam War was raging, psychedelia and hippydom was trying to spread peace and love even if it meant fighting the police and National Guard, and music (specifically The Beatles) was sort of a lightning rod for channeling young people’s emotions.

I liked the musical “Hair” – the music, the story, the performers, the vibrant colors – but the characters did seem somewhat like exaggerated charactatures of common 60’s strereotypes. I’m sure that somewhere those exact characters existed, but I didn’t personally know any that were quite that extreme (in their own individual stereotypes) and it was certainly a stretch to think they all would have ended up associated together as they were in the plot. This story feels real, the characters are not larger-than-life. You do not feel like “here is the hippy, here is the tortured soul, here is the innocent sweetheart”, even thought they are all there. This would be a very good story without the music (or with different music). But here, the story line fits the music, or the music fits the story line – not only fits but is an essential part of the dialogue and the plot. It is heresy (to some Beatles fanatics) to imply that somebody could actually improve a Beatles song, but the interpretations of the songs so impressively fit the mood of each moment of the movie (no, not fit the mood – define the mood) that I was so glad that they didn’t just use the original Beatles songs, they recreated them powerfully. As stand alone songs they are beautiful, sweet, sad, joyous, and well loved friends forever. Used within a story, with characters who bring specific emotions out of them, with visual and physical content applied to them they can make you cry in pain or shake your soul or leap for joy or fall in love. AND you could insert yourself into the story as being any one of the characters and feel exactly what they were feeling on screen. But in the end, I’m not too interested in explaining the movie to you – although I will highly recommend you go see it (especially anyone between the ages of 50 – 60).

What I wish I could address is the way I respond to music (and I’m sure I will fail in trying). Most of you might want to simply stop here now, as the rest is destined to come off sounding like a vain attempt at being transcendental and pseudo-psychological and self-indulgent or just a load of crap. As much as I know I should not attempt to explain, I am much more stubborn than I am intelligent – so here goes.

There is something about certain music (not all music) that affects me deeply. Sure, lots of music can prompt lots people to tap their toes, bounce their heads, rise up and move or sing. It’s a common reaction and for some people, the primary function of music – simply entertainment. The right music can make my entire being hum. My insides react like a tuning fork that has encountered the exact matching frequency and responds by spontaneously vibrating. Susan was actually able to sense it as it was happening (she herself has an amazing ability to tune in to other peoples feelings) even though we were just sitting still – holding hands or with my arm over her shoulder. Harmonies and certain chord progressions (and usage of dischords) do that to me. It’s not a note, but the combined affects of specific notes- used simultaneously, or in sequence as the resonance or memory of the previous note is still audible. It literally moves my inner being like a microwave oven setting the molecules of frozen food into motion and generating tremendous heat. In particular, the songs “Dear Prudence” and “Because” nearly brought me to tears during the movie – and she could feel it through my arm. These are songs that most people easily pass over – would never show up on anybody’s list of “1000 greatest songs ever recorded” or even “top 20 Beatles songs”. But for me it’s as if I’m the earth, with a thick solid crust. Underneath is a mass of molten emotion, well contained (some may argue TOO well contained) and only able to occasionally vent through narrow, temporary outlets. But somehow, from somewhere, some harmonic vibration causes the lava to become excited and boil with greater intensity, building up pressure. This can cause the outer crust to feel excitedly alive and unusually flexible – bordering on ecstasy, but also bordering on pure serenity. It is complicated, and made more so as I feel as if I could easily go into a trance-like state if only I would allow it. What if I totally gave in and let it all flow out? (Is this where an accusation of being anal-retentive comes into play?)

There is an old story about a scientist who is working on the concept of the song that gets stuck in your mind and you can’t get it out. But of course you eventually do. So he studies and experiments and tries to construct “the perfect song” that you would happily NEVER get out of your head – and he succeeds and goes into a blissfully vegetative state for the rest of his life. His assistants are of course desperately tempted to know what the song sounds like but can see what their fate will be if they dare listen.

I have wondered what would happen if I assembled my perfect collection of songs (it would be HEAVILY dominated by Beatles) and put on my headphones. Maybe my controlling my insides from boiling too much is saving me from certain self-absorbed destruction, or maybe I’m preventing an incredible inner force from coming forth and redefining a totally transformed version of me. Like the scientists assistants dilemma, is it worth the risk? Why am I like this (not the long-winded story-telling problem (that’s a different issue), the inner musical vibration thing)? Do other people feel this way? About other things? HerMajesty about babies and puppies? Certainly some religious people feel this way about God? Maybe it’s like Timmy and his numbers in his head? Am I (are we) supposed to do something about it or simply live with it? But it’s not like I could turn it into a career or save peoples lives with it. It’s just my own personal universe.

The Heart Of The Matter

“The call came yesterday I didn’t want to hear,
but I knew it had to come”

"there are people in your life who come and go
they let you down, you know they hurt your pride
you gotta put it all behind you 'cause life goes on
if you keep carrying that anger, it'll eat you up inside
It’s time to get down to the heart of the matter
‘cause everything changes
and my thoughts seem to scatter but I think it’s about
forgiveness,
forgiveness,
even if, even if you don’t love me anymore”

The Heart Of The Matter by Don Henley

And the call did come. I wasn’t sure if it would, or if we would have it out at one last practice. In the end, the band member who seemed to be most on my side (or at least the most understanding of my side) got to be the one who called to let me know I was no longer in the band – they were moving on without me. I had spoken up too much, voiced too strong of an opinion, called them out when they said they would do one thing but immediately did the opposite. In the end, I think Rob mostly agreed with my point of view but couldn’t successfully defend me against the other angry members (of whom he was still band-mates with). I can’t help but think that he and I could very easily and successfully put our own band together – but of course it never was my intention to break up the band and I certainly would not feel right in suggesting it now. It would seem very vengeful and vindictive and possibly be construed as pre-meditated – none of which is true. (I may very well call him in a couple of months just to see how they are doing, though. I admit that part of me would be happy to hear they were stalled – and I would absolutely consider suggesting a new project with Rob in a heartbeat)

I believe the heart of the matter is this:
in Joni’s mind it was her band - even though she refused to publicly say so (she actually publicly rejected the idea of herself as the leader) and she hated confrontation and would avoid it as much as possible (but she got edgy if things didn’t go her way). When I auditioned, they narrowed it down to me and another guy. They called us both back with some thought of keeping us both and going as a 5-piece band (but the other guy bailed out the day of the return try-out). In retrospect and pure speculation, I wonder if she liked the other guy but Rob (or even Rob & Ken) liked me, and then when the other one dropped out she was stuck with me. To her credit, she never tried to hide the fact that she thought we should look for a 5th member – but she (initially) lost the vote. When I announced I couldn’t make it to her family cookout/band gig she was seriously distraught and insistent that the gig had to be played, it was critically important to her personally and for the band, and we HAD to and would find someone to fill in. And of course it would be hard to request somebody come learn a bunch of our songs on short notice, be the lead singer, for free, and not be offering him a continuing fulltime membership if he wanted it. This is when Bill came into the picture, and being a good friend of Ken’s meant she now had three of five votes in her favor. The funny thing is, when Bill first came to listen to us, he couldn’t understand why we would want him – we sounded too good (and the short prep time before the cookout gig was too daunting of a task). Whether he simply changed his mind or was talked into it I’m sure I will never know, but after turning us down he surprisingly did an about face and accepted enthusiastically.

So as I understand it (from general conversations and comments I picked up on) the gig went only so-so, but Bill was determined that this could turn out very good. He also repeatedly expressed how Joni’s vocals should be much more heavily featured (and of course he had a ton of songs of his own to offer). I know – this is where it becomes hard to retell the story without me sounding jealous or egotistical or threatened or paranoid – but despite my belief that a 5th member only complicated things, I made every effort to cooperate and figure out how to make it work. It helped that Bill had a lot of songs I really liked. But now with a majority bloc, Joni, Ken and Bill started speaking out that I had too many songs, we had too many worn out tunes, and too many bland tunes – and that we had to hit the brakes, back up and start over. And this is where I took a stand. I didn’t mind giving up songs – I had been actively trying to get the others to increase their own lists (and after discussion, everybody admitted this was true). I disagreed that slow songs aren’t dance songs – of course they are (and after discussion, everybody agreed). I disagreed that people are sick of hearing the same old songs – they WANT to hear songs they know (and after discussion, there was at least some agreement from all). I insisted that if we were so close to being ready before, we couldn’t be too far away now – but if we attempted mass renovations of our song list, we would never make it out of the garage (this is when we discussed the 2 in & 2 out concept and everybody CLAIMED to agree).

Rob told me over the phone that the others thought maybe I was trying for a power play. I suggest that Joni pulled off the real power play – slowly and steadily. I suppose I played right into it, but I also can envision that it was all just a matter of time. I wasn’t her choice, I tried to move us along, she didn’t trust my methods or my agenda – but she couldn’t say it (I’m guessing she didn’t even confide this to Ken or Rob).

I wondered what she would say to me when I went to her house to remove my amps and equipment from the practice garage. Would she be apologetic, cool but polite, angry? I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me but when I showed up, Joe (Joni’s husband) politely helped me pack my stuff and offered to pay me for the new strings I had just put on Joni’s mandolin. Despite the fact that her car was there, Joni never appeared - deftly avoiding a possible confrontation again.

So it’s over. In the end I can’t be mad at them. I feel sorry for them – Rob because he was really eager to get going and this is a big setback, especially considering that at least two other band members will be trying to determine the direction of the band which bears his name (Joni actually suggested the band name, not Rob) – Ken because all of the crap was coming down days before his daughters wedding – Bill because he was just the “new guy” trying to get with the flow, and he quickly figured out what direction the tide was flowing – and Joni because she should be able to put together her own band, a good band, the way she wants to but if she refuses to be the leader of her own band she will forever find herself avoiding confrontations with whoever dares to direct things – and desperately trying to turn things around to her satisfaction with out offending anybody. That is a tall task.

I am deeply disappointed as to how things turned out, but forgiving them is actually fairly easy and just feels right. I take responsibility for my own contribution to the situation, and I accept the consequenses. I feel better already.

“The ending of the tale is the singing of the song”
Simple Man by Graham Nash

Perspective

1) I felt that I was fighting for the band – they felt like I was fighting against the band
2) Sue was worrying that the new (potential) job would be too hard for her - the interviewer worried that it might be too boring for her
3) Sue is looking forward to getting out of working at the rehab, while cousin Dickie is looking forward to staying out of rehab

And now for something completely different....

being the signature line from Monty Pythons Flying Circus as they were about to introduce a new farce / segment ......

Wednesday night when I got home from band practice there was a message from Dick - he needed a fill-in guitarist for saturday night and wanted to know if I could do it. I played in Dick's band many years ago as a regular member until I decided that I really wanted to have my own band to play more current music. My goal was to play anything more current than 1950. You see, Dick is now 72 years old but still going strong. He is actually a pretty darned good lead guitar player, although when somebody else is singing a song he thinks nothing of over-playing on your lyrics. Most of his repeirtoire is old country and old oldies (think Hank Williams, Eddie Arnold, The Drifters, "She Stopped Loving Him Today" and "Red Roses For A Blue Lady") and a few Portugese traditional favorites sung with that stereotypical "too many drinks and too many smokes" gravel voice . So 10-12 years ago I left Dick and started my own band "Heartland"- all modern country from the 1990's. For anyone who follows new country music - yes - somebody else took my band name that I had never registered (and became a grammy winning band). I still would fill-in for Dick anytime he needed someone and time allowed. Dick is a great guy, always the sales man, always the entertainer, always your best friend - and sincerely so. OK - so he never has as much work as he claims, he hasn't learned a new song in ages, but he will on most nights let me sing some that I know (provided it's something easy that he can vaguely grasp as I'm in the middle of playing it to a live audience for the first time)(OK- live is a relative term as Dick's following is primarily his age and older - but they do like to dance and they ususally don't mind if Dick lets the young guy - me - sing some too). Now I have a three-consecutive-weekends stint with "The Travellers" while I wait and see what-the-heck is going on with the "Shain Reaction" band. I will enjoy it. It is no stress, low pay, low expectations, same ol' songs, with happy people who are simply grateful to have woken up this morning able to get out of bed. Dick's long-time drummer had to quit years ago due to cancer. Now his longer-time bass player recently followed suit. Dick now plays all of his gigs with whatever waifs and strays he can track down. I guess that makes me a "waif" and/or a "stray", but I'm happy enough with it for what it's worth. After 3 weekends in a row, I will once again be clear as to why I left in the first place and how much I want to be in a band with like minded enthusiastic musicians, a band that rehearses, that plays really good tunes, that sounds tight, that has pride, and enjoys the comradarie of "team-mates".

Did I Miss Something

Did I miss the real meeting and only dream the one that I recall? After determining that we would take the existing (near)working song list and each band member would identify 2 songs that they thought were worth replacing and suggest 2 songs to put in their place. Bill volunteered to redraft the existing list (there were actually two – one that we have been practicing and building for 6 months and one that they used at a cookout they played without me) and email it out to everyone. Bill is a close friend of Ken’s and was specifically recruited because I couldn’t attend our first informal gig - the aforementioned cookout. Bound and determined that this family gathering was very important to our future, Joni insisted we find a fill-in – or even a full-time 5th member. Although agreeing that a 5th member – one who can sing, play guitar and piano – would make us more versatile, I wasn’t convinced that we needed more versatility (we could certainly select and learn to play 1000 good songs very well with the original 4 of us). I expressed a concern about trying to add a new unknown (to most of us) member might disrupt the friendly easy-going atmosphere and feared that the process of getting him up to speed and learning a dozen or more of his songs would seriously slow down our progress. As good as everybody is, we already weren’t as far along as I would have hoped but we were starting to feel very good about ourselves. We were convinced that we were “almost there”.

Now, instead of redrafting “the working list” and suggesting 2 to drop, 2 to add - Bill opted to forward a list of 20 songs to practice – 18 that were not on the existing list. My recollection was that this is what we were deliberately trying to avoid – endlessly suggesting “potential songs” that may or may not eventually make it while never solidifying the working list. So I end up having this silent debate in my mind – do I stand my ground, do I shut up and just see what happens, do I try to be politically correct, try to negotiate, tell myself I’m being defensive or jealous or egotistic or overly sensitive, trust that things will work out alright, or see the writing on the wall? Did I intuitively predict the future or am I creating a problem that doesn't actually exist? Was I right or am I wrong?

Shoveling Against The Tide

So we had our big band meeting. Not bad, not 100% rosy but people got to voice their concerns and opinions. Everyone still agrees we should be able to be a very fun band (for ourselves and an audience). Everyone still professes to respect and like each other. Rob was good at sticking firm that we should be working toward playing out as soon as possible and that we need to put together a CD/Tape and Band Bio so he can start talking to clubs. Our plan is to record a few songs for this on Sunday the 23rd. This is good – it should get us focused and motivated. The sooner he can line up a gig or two, the more determined we will be about solidifying a set list.

In the end, different people had different ideas over what songs we should be learning. While the general type of song is fairly well agreed on, there is some debate over “is this really danceable?” or “how many slow songs per set is too many?” or simply “I always wanted to do this song! Can we try it?” These are certainly not irreconcilable differences that would break up the band.

We basically agreed that we should look at the current song list and each of us should pick two songs we would like to dump and offer two songs we would like to replace them with. Then we would all vote whether or not to indeed replace any individual song that someone proposed to dump. If we all picked different songs and with no objections, in one session this could result in 10 out of 45 being turned over. Not a horrible solution and everyone seemed to accept this suggestion. Of course we weren’t totally clear if we are doing this based on the “set list” or based on the “here are all of the songs we’ve tried so far” list.

Finally we got to actually practice some music. Bill had mentioned a Mick Jagger song (not a Rolling Stones song) that he felt was probably Mick’s best song ever and a great tune for us to try – catchy beat with a different but not difficult chord structure. Of course nobody had ever heard the song before but Bill had it on CD and had the lyrics already printed out – which included lines like "You're a apin in the butt when you're Puking out your guts" and“You blew Jelly-Faced Joe and Pedro the Pimp. I’m as hard as a brick, I hope I never go limp”. Maybe I’m a hypocrite by cringing at the thought of playing that song in public while gladly singing “Love The One You’re With”, but if choosing between the vaguely veiled moral looseness of the whole 60’s “peace, free love” attitude and the specifically crass and not even remotely poetic or romantic “shock rock” imagery of one rude/horny guy’s urges – I’ll go with the one with the lyrics that everyone knows so well and that only insinuates what might happen with the boy and girl. I’ll pass over the one that I would be embarrassed to sing in front of my kids or my mother.

I guess I’m still not clear on who is pushing the tide and who IS the tide.

You face the future with a weary past
Those dreams you banked upon are fading fast
You know you love her but it may not last you fear
It's never easy and it's never clear
Who's to navigate and who's to steer
And so you flounder drifting ever near the rocks
(Dan Fogelberg – Hard To Say)

Pushing The Tide

“Push The Tide” was the band name proposed by Ken the bass player. It refers to the difficulty of trying to exit the harbor while the tide is entering. Although the name “Shain Reaction” is apparently the name that won out, I see where the other would be a very appropriate name for a group of all over-50ish musicians attempting to form a new Rock & Roll band. At the beginning of August we were talking excitedly about being on the verge of “ready to play out”. Now in early September, for a variety of reasons both simple and complicated, there is some discussion about needing to revamp our song list, define our direction, and not rush into anything anytime soon. Apparently being with a bunch of genteel easy going people can be as frustrating as being with a bunch of egotists. For my part of the problem, while the others all seem to have ideas of what they want to accomplish – I (after meeting them) had a clear vision of how it could be. I auditioned with them knowing what I wanted and listened to what they said they wanted. After a couple of weeks, it appeared to all that this was really an excellent combination of talent and had great potential. But it was THEIR band that I was joining (despite no name at the time) so although they were counting on me being able to initially carry the nights worth of music (about 75-80% so in effect, they were looking for a front man for them to be the backup band to) it was not a situation that I felt like I could or should be the “leader”. Unfortunately NOBODY felt comfortable being in charge, which can be a disabling or even fatal situation.

So we have been practicing as much as time allows for a bunch of busy working family people can get away with. I tested out a large number of well known and not too difficult songs with them, and many fell together rather easily. I also made it clear that I felt that vocal diversity was desirable – my voice wouldn’t last too long as being THE vocalist all night, and the audience would get bored listening to my voice all night long. And in the end, with somebody else being the lead vocalist on whatever amount of songs, I would end up harmonizing on those songs (which is less taxing than being constantly the lead vocalist) so in effect I would be singing almost every song in some capacity any way. NOT being the full time lead vocalist was not going to be a problem with me.

Joni the drummer also had a number of songs she had done in the past and hoped to continue doing. Some went well, some didn’t click right away. I tried to identify which ones I thought we could put together with the least amount of time and difficulty, and continued to encourage her to work on them and find more – and even suggested many that I had played with other female vocalists that I thought she/we could do well. Despite finding a number of her songs to be ones we should be able to do, she continued to add to her list of “potential” songs while not pushing to actually finish rehearsing ones that we had previously attempted.

Rob only had a couple of songs to sing and although he liked the idea of doing more, lacked the confidence to attempt too many too fast. I suggested that he look at any of “my” songs that we were doing and see if there were any that HE could take over singing. So far he HAS taken a couple of mine – with my blessing.

Ken has continually resisted being the vocalist on any songs despite having a perfectly good singing voice – citing the difficulty in playing bass and simultaneously singing.

Bill the newest and 5th member arrived with an extensive list of possibilities – of which we quickly tried to identify which ones would fit in best and that we could play without setting back our time table too far.

So, as we are all busy besides trying to do the band and have trouble focusing and making forward progress, I hoped to help the situation by taking the songs we had developed the best so far and try to create a 3-set song list from them. I find this to be the best way to see if you have too many slow songs, or too many that are too similar, and to balance the vocals so that no set gets overloaded with one persons songs while another is under utilized. I can’t/don’t want to sing eight songs in a row. Each version offered was always with the expressed hope that the others would comment and contribute to the process. The most recent list (adding a handful of Bills songs and therefore reducing my workload to less than 50%) I sent out a week ago. A couple of comments/ suggestions were emailed back and forth, and then surprisingly some previously with-held complaints started coming out. Apparently I was hogging too many of the songs, and too many of the songs were worn out and beat to death while others were not rocking or danceable enough. Not surprisingly, I was initially upset at the criticism (I had been hoping for input, not blame). I felt that they were unfairly forgetting that when we met, they NEEDED me to sing most of the songs, and I had – through my own efforts – REDUCED my work load considerably already. It also drove home the fact that we NEED a leader, and I am still not the right choice for the situation – someone else has to step up.

So tonight we gather for practice, where we know we have to talk over these differences of opinions and maybe sooth a few hurt feelings (some of which may well be my own). I expect a fruitful outcome. Every body professes to have great admiration for each others musical abilities and personalities, and we all agree that there is indeed tremendous potential to proudly perform some really good music. Booking lots of work may indeed be a feat of “pushing the tide” but once we get out I believe the “Shain Reaction” will be a good one. This should be really fun and likely be the best band I have every played with. I just need it to happen soon because I can’t wait!