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

Moose Lodge (old) from August 21, 2009

We did our first gig for the Simi Valley Moose Lodge in August 2009. We provided music for a fundraising dinner.

Before I tell you about the gig, what does the term 'Moose Lodge' conjure up? Images of guys and their wives, like on the Flintstones' 'Loyal Order of Water Buffalo'? Or do you get images of smoky, stinky halls, where the windows haven't been cleaned in 30 years and the ceilings have such a dense layer of cigarette smoke, that they are yellow?

Well, the place we played was probably the nicest Moose Lodge (or VFW hall, for that matter) that we've ever seen. It was smoky, but very clean and well-run. The Moosers (?) were really nice people, very generous with the drinks, and dinner was tasty and adequate. We went on from about 7:30 to 11:15; the crowd was up and dancing for hours, and we left them hollering for more. We were asked back for next week!

The fun part was seeing the initially kind of intimidating Governor and Lt. Governor of the Moose Lodge going from dignified to 'happy' in about 4 beers. These guys are GREAT, very low keyed and easygoing.

The Colonel advised me there was an amusing sticker in the mens' room urinal--it was a picture of Jane Fonda superimposed over a target, with the words 'HANOI JANE URINAL TARGET' around it.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)