Ok, so this won't be the most poignant post of all time. But here is what Mission 101 would look like if they were on the Simpsons:
Silly I know. I found a Simpson character creator a while back, and in a moment of boredom, I played around with it. Now if I could just get us to guest spot on the show...
Well it's certainly been the musical weekend for both Barrett and I. First off on Friday night I headed up 
to Berkeley to attend a show by Hans York and produced by my good friend Phil Cohen from CoYo Productions. It was a great show in the quaint community run theatre/coffee house 'Freight and Salvage' with many happy fans treated to an excellent show from Hans. Han's new CD 'Young Amelia' is well worth checking out - cool, melodic, mellow and very polished. You're likely to hear it on KFOG as it's getting good airplay there over the past few months, especially on Acoustic Sunrise every Sunday morning.
On Saturday Mission 101 again played Santana Row in the same location and boy did we enjoy it! Again the location was hot, hot, hot, and shade was again of paramount importance. That said the show went very well if a little quiet. The location in particular is rather transient so we tend to find ourselves now keeping it very relaxed, very mellow and laid back as that better suits the mood of folks in that venue. By the end of the show we were both pretty tired. It's amazing how three hours of performing in 80deg heat can drain you. Regular water breaks and sit downs are a must.
On Sunday there was one final excursion for the week. This time we headed south to Salinas to try out for a backup band opportunity for Randy Travis who will be playing in the area in a few weeks time. It was a akin to a small-town American Idol experience for both of us. First off the auditions were held in a large downtown theatre attended by two hundred or so locals. After casing the joint for an hour or so and getting a feel for the venue, the stage and the audience, we headed back stage to sign in and await our turn. Backstage was fun to say the least as we were surrounded by fellow performers of every age and music genre. There were young kids with their moms, teenagers, old fogies in their latter years and Mission 101 somewhere there in the middle. When our time came to perform we went on stage and plugged in. After a brief introduction from the host for the show, we kicked straight into 'Riding Shotgun' - our up-tempo crowd favorite.
The whole thing was over in minutes and we were shuttled off stage to make space for the next. All performers were allowed to do one song, and having finished ours I packed up and headed back to the Valley for the remainder of my weekend with my family. The only problem was the traffic which had me stuck on the freeway for almost two hours.
On arriving home Barrett informed me that we didn't make it to the next level of the competition. Apparently the judges were looking for uber-country type music and we certainly don't fall into that category - I think I'm happy to say.
So that's if folks, next weekend is quiet but there is a show in Santana Row again during the week. I'm sure Barrett will update the schedule as soon as we have details. Until then, once again, thanks for riding shotgun with us!
Mission 101
Just to let y'all know, we have a show coming up this Saturday in Satana Row again.
Santana Row - Park Valencia
368 SANTANA ROW
SAN JOSE CA 95128
Park Valencia is located near Maggiano's Italian Restaurant and Starbucks
The show starts at 1:00pm and goes til 4:00pm. If you happen to be in town, we'd love to see you drop by to join us for a set or two.
So we played Santana Row again but this time it was a new location known as Park Valencia - located near Maggiano's Italian Restaurant and Starbucks. The good news is that it was a good location with a proper stage. The bad news is that it was the day after Independence Day and everybody seemed a little bit tired - almost in recovery mode. To add to that we had a last minute notice that we would be sharing our mic with the organizers of a dog parade - yes folks, a dog parade.
The day itself was hot, hot, hot. Shade was an imperative and we managed to wrangle a large sun umbrella from one corner of the stage to another and that at least afforded me the quality shade I needed for that Irish skin of mine. Barrett was suitably attired for the day with a classic Fedora and that did the trick for him.
As per our previous gig at Santana Row, the set up was quick and easy and the sound check with the system we have took no more than five minutes of Barrett and I ranting miscellaneous nothings into the mic...two, two...one, two, two...
Once all was setup, we took a quick bio-break and returned for the start of the show, which of late we've started with 'Alone In My Room'. From there we went straight into 'The Journey' and then a few more standard Mission 101 numbers. In the whole show, we tried only one new song and that was a cover - 'Mrs Robinson' from Simon and Garfunkel. It was the last song we did and despite some intial audio problems where I couldn't hear my own voice, we managed to get a handle on it and finish it out quite tightly. Trying a new song is always problematic.
You can practice only so much before you gotta throw your hat over the fence and do it in front of an audience. The problem with that however is this is when you discover a new set of problems and difficulties not revealed during normal practice. For example, in doing this, we both found the tempo to be tricky - I wanted it faster, but Barrett thought slower was better - he was right. Similary, the harmonies of the opening bar are deceptively simple until you do it in front of fifty or so people in 90 degree heat when you can't hear your partner that well. All in all, it went well, but there's room for improvement and personally I cannot wait to sink my teeth into it again in a few weeks time - same location.
Overall the show went well, but the need to break for the dog show folks kinda cramped our style. That
too is something we're learning to contend with. The key things we took away from this show is that we gotta tweak our set given the audience and it's state of mind. I feel we should have played more mellow material. On the technical side of affairs, Barrett noticed that we should place our mics closer to the front of the stage the next time. Aparently this is an old trick of the greats - don't distance yourself from your audience. Get as close as you can.
The really great thing about the show however was the attendance of so many friends and acquaintances. We really do appreciate folks taking the time to come and support us and it really makes a difference getting such positive feedback on the show and requests for songs folks have come love from the CD - Sky Blue. So, to you folks - a big thank you from both Barrett and I.
In the larger scheme of things, we have a few more gigs lined up in Santana Row in July and August and possibly the Bad Ass Cafe in Monterey. Then we go quiet for a while as Barrett and Tasha will be having their wedding and honeymoon. Following the wedding, we'll be back in the saddle doing more gigs and starting to work once again on the next CD. Hopefully, we'll get a few samplers of the new material available on this site for you to check-out once they're ready.
So, until then amigos, thank you for Riding Shotgun with Mision 101
