Thank You, Thank You

What a great time I had at my anniversary show last night. It would never have occurred to me three years ago when I started this blog that within that time I would be well regarded enough to warrant a bunch of bands happily putting on a show for me. It's pretty humbling. A huge thank you to Eileen Leslie and the staff at Lot 1 Cafe for letting us take over, Another thank you to the wonderful bands that all played so well: Torches In Trees, Judson, Avi Zahner Isenberg and Pauie Pesh; and a big thanks to John Seasons, who got much of this talent to play.

Among the highlights:

Torches In Trees opened the show with a set that, although marred by sound issues during the first number, once the vocals were more clearly heard, they sounded just fine to me. In fact, so much so, that people hearing them for the first time were blown away. There's nothing like looking around at all your friends with their mouths hanging open, and when I catch their eye, they mouth to me, "This band is GREAT!" and all I can say is "I know, I know".

Not only does Azad Cheikosman (at right at Coachella) and the band write beautifully constructed songs that are varied and never repetitious, but the three band members are so perfectly attuned to one another that it's hard to remember that they started as a band of five. Eric Fabbro is an absolute maniac on the drums and Bridgette Moody (also in the photo) contributes the thundering bass lines while singing pitch-perfect harmony that blends into the mix like another instrument.

Judson sang with Sheridan Riley on drums and John Seasons on bass, a strong set, dedicating a song to Mary, and holding the audience in the palm of his hand. Avi Zahner Isenberg continued to explore the outer reaches of our collective sonic boundaries and left the audience limp, in awe, and simply dazed. Sheridan Riley showed a lot of diversity in the way she kept her drums right in the middle of the mix, especially impressive when compared to her knowing drumming during the performance with Judson. And Paulie Pesh crowded the stage with at least eight musicians producing an enormous sound and beautiful music that brought the evening to an exciting close.

I hope everyone had as good a time as I did, and another thank you to all who came out to help celebrate a terrific milestone for me.

whrabbit