THE YEAR OF 35: TWO AND TWO

On Aug. 3, G's Livid Penny played its second show. We were back at The Strike Zone where we had won a battle of the bands two weeks before. This time we played with two other bands, both of whom were battling (since we had already qualified for the finals, we were not eligible). We ended up getting there early and hung around playing pool and such, so our energy taking the stage was a bit lower than usual. We started out pretty well with a brand-new one, "TV Crush." It features some killer John Bonham-like drumming by Tom and some funked out bass by Graham with me singing dumb lyrics about loving Alyssa Milano and Jennifer Aniston. We didn't end it that well, which turned out to be a theme for the night. We were just a little off, though some songs went off without a hitch. Graham lost a guitar string in "Tempo" and I futzed up parts of a few songs. Still, our audience enjoyed it.

This Thursday saw us right back at The Strike Zone; this time for the battle of the band finals. We were one of 11 bands vying for the $300 prize for winning it all. Our slot was second-to-last at 10:30 (though it turned out one band couldn't make their earlier slot and went on very late). We got there around 9:00 and heard a couple bands play before it was time to load on our equipment. We'd practiced earlier that evening and had a setlist firmly in mind. We started with "Tempo," which hadn't gone well either of our first two performances. This time we nailed it and set the tone for the rest of the set - "Give Yourself," "Woke Up," "Song for a Day," "Jews and Gypsies," "Liquor Sink," and "Poor." Not only did we hear positive feedback from our family and friends but we also had comments by other listeners, who were very enthusiastic about our sound; no one else was playing keys or a harmonica. In the end, we tied for 3rd place. Not bad at all. It was only our third show after all.

Last night we played in DeMotte, which is where I grew up. We were one of several bands playing in the upper floor of a professional building...not the best setup for sound quality. Most of the bands were heavier, so we were definitely different once again. The kids in the audience seemed to appreciate what we were doing and those who came specifically to hear us thought we did well. We just made up our setlist on the fly and that was fine - our energy was there and we were pretty tight.

In the next few weeks we'll start working on some new songs and will hopefully be able to record an EP. As of now our next scheduled show is Sept. 2 and we have another one Sept. 15. We're still having fun and are happy with how it's all going.