Back In the Swing (2005 Edition)

[Listening to: QB3 - Before Dawn from the album "The Form of Space"]

Happy September everyone! I'm here back exactly where I was in May, sitting on my side of the corner in my dorm, on my computer. I moved back to school on Sunday after a long period of not knowing if I'd be able to get all my stuff back up to school due to the fact that my dad is on some "all about me" shit right now. But it's all good, I have a mother that rolls with the punches, a very good driver and friend, and a very brave aunt that let us borrow her minivan for the day, so all went well. Classes are going to be a bit hard this term, but I'm ready to take on whatever is ahead of me. I'm also planning to find a jorb in order to pay for the laptop that I want to get. I'm pretty optimistic about this year, especially since RLC 111 is looking pretty bright the second time around. Room 1101 has two new suitemates. In the place of Kyle (who ended up in Park River somehow even though he was status 3 that lucky motherf.....) is Gary, a senior and Communications major. He's pretty laid back and cool. In the place of Ron (who transferred to Worcester State since he got his Associate's Degree) is Curtis, an electrical engineering student from Hong Kong. Really nice guy, hard to understand at times but we all like him. Darren and CJ are still here, I'm very happy about that.

Now that I got that out of the way, I have to talk about Friday before I headed back to school. Friday night, St. Clair and I went to see an Indie Fusion group called Root Valdez. They were performing at this spot called The Lucky Cat in Williamsburg. It's a nice little spot, I like the intimate feel and vibe of it. I had talked to Fred Gerantabee (the guitarist) and Chris Heinz (the drummer) on this forum for Indie label Ghetto Crush Industries. They persuaded me to drop by for the show. What a great show it was. Along with Root Valdez was a band called Soleo, and Acid Jazz/Funk group. They were incredible! Their band hits were on point and were their specialty. There was this Salsa song they played, that was the highlight of their set. I wish I could hear it again and again.

Soleo and RV switched sets through the night, keeping things fresh and giving the bands a rest between sets. Root Valdez killed it on their sets man! They are such a cohesive band, that in the first song, the bassist was running a little late, so the keyboardist and Fred G played bass notes, and the bassist came in during mid song and joined in like he had been there the whole time. I have to say, Chris Heinz is a hell of a drummer. I had never seen any drummer play 16th notes so cleanly with one hand and 32nd notes without missing a beat. He also did some crazy sound effects with his drum kit, like echo with no effects pedals or anything. Just watching him work his magic was entertainment in itself. Fred G had his guitar hooked up to his laptop using a MIDI pickup, and he had a bunch of different effects using his copy of Reason, and he had some wild sounds coming from his guitar. It was great watching everyone contribute to the surreal sounds that resulted. The saxaphonist was absolutely on fire through the night. He played tenor, alto and soprano sax throughout the sets and even the flute! I don't know what else I can say as to how awesome these guys were!

I got a chance to meet and chat with Fred and Chris. Both really cool guys. Chris recognized me from the message board, which was really cool. Fred said whenever I'm in town to let him know and we'll get together and jam or he'll buy me a drink or something of the sort. I will definitely take him up on the offer to jam, because I'd like to learn a few things from him. Maybe I'll take him up on the drink as well! I also got to meet the sax player, though I never got his name, and I also got to meet Joe Hardy, the bassist from Aleda, a very cool Indie Rock group.

Ah, let me tell you about Ryan and Jill. St. Clair and I decided to take a breather outside for a bit, and while we were out there, we met these two people named Ryan and Jill. I'm not sure if they were a couple, but anyway, we were sharing stories of where we live and where we used to live. Ryan had lived a few places, including Crown Heights at one point. He talked about how he moved from Western Mass, to Crown Heights, to Vermont of all places, and back to NY. His Vermont story was hilarious! He talked about how boring his Vermont town was, and everyone in the town was bored, so they decided to sleep with each other just so they could have a story to tell. Everyone knew who was sleeping with who since the town had only about 40 or so residents.

Ryan: They would wake up one morning and say to themself: "You know what, I think I'm going to sleep with Bob's wife. That would make things interesting."

That story had St. Clair and I rolling. Ryan kinda reminded me of David Cross just a bit, both in appearance and the way he talked. Ryan and Jill were cool people. Jill was realy cute and petite, she had to have been at most 5' tall.

Root Valdez was getting ready to close out the night with one last track, but had to end abruptly because all acts, according to the bar's policy, are supposed to wrap up at 12:30. It was around 2:30 at that point.

Fred: Alright, we're gonna end tonight on a high note! (Someone in the bar notifies him of something) Okay, I guess we're gonna end it here. I think that note was a C#! (Laughs all around)

I was hoping to hear Mind's Eye, and I think they were gonna play it for the last song, but oh well, it was a hell of a set, with songs from their latest album and songs from QB3, a previous album. I left that night with a new found appreciation for two great bands, new friends, and some amazing pictures! St. Clair had an equally great time. What a great night that was.

And now I'm back to the old grind, but what a way to top off my summer!