SILLY STORIES FROM OUR LATEST GIGS: Luau in Hell, August 29, 2009

Band Element of Surprise, Ventura County CA

Do you <3 classic rock? Strange pairings of music, such as Richie Valens & the Ramones meet Deep Purple? You may appreciate us. We're the band Element of Surprise! We may get thru the song-or it may go horribly AWRY. You pays yer money & you takes yer chance! We play a very eclectic mix of classic & alt rock...if you live in the SoCal area & listen to either KLOS or KRTH-101, you've heard most of our songs. We're a 6-piece consisting of Pat on vocals & percussion, James on lead guitar, Hector on bass, Rob on drums, newest member Danny on acoustic and electric guitars, and your humble scribe Rita on rhythm guitar/keyboard/harmonica and vocals. We've been together for 5 years (longer than some marriages!) and have had some memorable gigs. I started this blog to keep a list of them--and to chronicle our RISE-TO POWER! Well, not really--all of us have a day job, and we're all over 45 (except for Danny, who is young and impressionable!) so this is more of a hobby. But we all have an abiding love for music, and we have healthy self-images, and some of us are major hams, so here we are. Walking down the street. We get the funniest looks. From everyone we meet. Hey hey--no, stop, that's plagiarism. Anyways, I don't expect anyone (other than MY FRIENDS & FAMILY) to ever read this, but if you do and you have an interest in an elderly garage band on the first level of getting started gigging, welcome and well-met. If YOU have an interest in starting a band and are curious about equipment, etc-let us know. Maybe we can help you avoid a TON of trouble.
Well, cheers, and see you "on the cover of the 'Rolling Stone,'"
Rita aka MrsMMars :-)

Monday, December 28, 2009

Luau in Hell, August 29, 2009

We played in the Purgatory that was Simi Valley on this date. It wasn't Hell, but we could see it from there. It was a toasty 102 degrees, and the gig was an outside one. No, maybe not Vegas hot, but plenty HOT enough. Fortunately for us, the Moose Lodge property had many shade trees and we were able to set up out of the direct sun. The Colonel and I arrived about 9 am. We listened to our favorite podcast, "This Ain't Iowa," on the way out (Simi is about 45 minutes away from us.) The treat ended, however, when we had to exit our air-conditioned vehicle to lug our equipment under the shade. The kind Moose Lodge people were having another fundraiser-a luau, with vendors and food booths. Looked like a lot of fun. Set-up took about an hour, after which we started our set.
We played straight through about 18 songs. Thank you, yes, I'm impressed too. We took a brief break to grab some liquid refreshment and started up again. We got to our third song of the set (Suavecito, by Malo) when the power inexplicably shut off. Had the Moosers (?) forgotten to pay the electric bill? Or was the combined efforts of all the air conditioners going full blast in Simi too much for Southern California Edison? We looked at each other with the 'Deer In The Headlights' look, and then because of the consumate professionals that we are, the singer, the drummer and I (playing my acoustic guitar) finished the song. No, there are NO Attention Whores in OUR band! LOL! After we finished, I looked at the Colonel and asked him to call the time of death. He said, "OK...2 pm." Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Packing up our crap in 100+ degree heat was NOT.