I'm all about that Drummers life ya know. 😎

Seems that now that summer is drawing to an end, all the "Dad Bands" I'm associated with are suddenly wanting to get back together and get out there and do something musically. This is the moment that being in 5 different bands at once comes out to bite me in the ass. I don't mind really, because most of these guys will barely do one gig before family commitments puts them back on the bench instead of being in the game, but I'm gonna enjoy it for as long as it lasts. These guys are my friends, my Brothers, and I love them all, so I'm ready to get on the plane once again and enjoy the scene and the ride before it gets too rocky and I jump off mid-flight. Let's do this! 😉

If I'm not practicing drums or watching Raiders preseason football, then I'm going to nostalgic Heavy Metal gigs with my friends. 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽

Yeah, since the supposed Civilians practice didn't happen (big shock, right? 😂) Jeff and I decided to jam together for a bit before heading off to Vamp'd to see Armored Saint play. I haven't seen Armored Saint play since they opened for Metallica and W.A.S.P. at the Country Club in Reseda in '85, and Jeff has never seen them play before, so I kind of wanted to go, because I was kind of intrigued to see how the band sounded these millions of years later, and I kind of wanted to see who would come out to see Armored Saint on a Thursday night! LOL The place was packed! Opening band Act Of Defiance delivered a pretty solid warm up set, Heavy Metal 101, and after Jeff and I demolished a Hawaiian pizza of some sorts (yes with pineapple on it - get over it), Armored Saint came out and just killed it from the first note played onward. They did not disappoint. They opened up with March Of The Saint, one of the only songs I wanted to hear them play, and despite the bass heavy, echo ringing, bouncing around shitty sound system inside Vamp'd, the band sounded great. Armored Saint were playing their Symbol Of Salvation album in its entirety, not one of my favorites from them, but they did a good job playing the tunes from that classic album. Of course, original guitarist Dave Prichard was missed, but it was cool seeing Gonzo still behind the drum kit, and still whalloping the shit out of everything in front of him and around him. He's a hard hitting monster, that's for sure... heh heh When they were done with the album they played a few more tunes I wanted to hear - Win Hands Down and, of course, Can U Deliver, and that was that. The show was over, the crowd was happy and so was I. It was a good gig - I even bought a shirt! 😉

You ever been to Boron, CA? Well, neither had I until this weekend... I mean, I know a few borons in California, but other than that... hahaha
The gig this past weekend with Headnoise was fun as fuck! The drive to Bakersfield was interesting, to say the least, much easier than driving to LA, that's for sure, and having Bob as a co-pilot always makes things even more interesting than they should be, both in a good way and in a bad way. The venue was a giant hall or cafeteria or something, and we were given full backstage privileges including a kitchen staff at beck and call that made us all sorts of awesome foods and cookies and fruits and drinks and we wanted for nothing! I spent most of my time in the kitchen eating homemade cookies and drinking coffee by the gallon (Mug mug mug!), but I did manage to tear myself away long enough to watch some bands play... ha ha Doulos has this new drummer that's made them sound 1,362,964,189,673 times better than they already did, and they played a great set. I think they kept their mistakes down to single digits this time around. 😆 They keep teasing me about having recorded a 4 song demo a while back, but they won't give it to me to listen to for some reason... heh. Until We Die! just get better and better every time I see them with their Black Flag tinged musical onslaught. They remind me so much of Git Some that it's scary. Their guitarist Chuck just kills me everytime I see him play, and I'm not even a guitar guy, but he's a monster riffer who makes the most of his Marshall full stack. They're a great band - check them out when you get the chance. The Bedlam Saints were OK but then they started playing cliched Ska Punk covers and I tuned out real quick. Headnoise played a sloppy but energetic set. People dug it. Bob took pictures. Maybe I'll post them someday, maybe I won't. Afterwards it was all hug hug hug kiss kiss handshakes all around wanna go get something to eat? No? OK. I'm going home then! See ya last month! LOL Yeah, the Headnoise gig in Bakersfield was a happy fun time. Thanx to Nick and everyone with the Bruised Reeds collective in Bakersfield for the hospitality and excellent accommodations. Find a reason for us to come back. I'd love to play there again. 😉