Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Crazy Busy ... it's a good thing!

After being off for almost five weeks, it has been a CRAZY BUSY month for the band with a total of TEN gigs in 28 days! It's been soooo cool to be back, however, that we've hardly noticed.
The gigs this past weekend were really two very unique ones. On Saturday, we were back at Pat O'Brien's on the Riverwalk, one of our favorite places to play. While this is a major pain to load in and out of, and downtown parking is pricey, I would never give up this gig. Scott and the management take SUCH good care of us, spotting us a bar tab, and giving us a bonus this time around. They were kind enough to feature the band in the TV commercial they have, and that is the kind of publicity you can't buy!
The show was INCREDIBLE ... easily the best and most crowded one we have had down there. The people were just so cool all night and really got into it, which, in turn, fires us up to play better! I can always tell when it is a good night when it seems to fly by, and this night certainly did. I felt like I could have played 4 more hours! Everyone was really on top of ther game and the PA sounded great.
Scott was, once again, very cool to us and gave us a bonus along with a bar tab, so it was a great situation all around. Now I have heard certain bands in SA bitch and whine that why should they play for what others tell them, rather than what they want ... these are bands that cancel at the last minute with no explanation to take another gig and leave Pat O'Brien's management hanging ... all I have to say is: KARMA ... what goes around comes around. When a local cover band starts to think it is just the shit, and can act like divas, that band isn't going to be around for long, as their reputation will suffer and their gigs will dry up. The egos in those band will eventually explode and take everyone down with them. That is why I stress for everyone in AE to be humble .. we are truly lucky to be in demand, and to be able to play these great gigs, and to have a good reputation with bar owners, but that can be undone in seconds. When someone comes up to one of us during a break or after a gig and tells us how much they liked us, then say thank you, and please come again. Put on your best show no mattrer how many people are out there ... they deserve it and you are cheating no one but yourself if you do any less.
On Sunday, we played about an hour set at the Slinging Ink Tattoo Expo at the Airport Convention Center. We've done a lot of shows with Nikita Productions, and while I enjoy them, they need to gfet their stage and sound issues taken care of. We received excellent publicity from this show, which was good because we did the show for free! It was fun to play on the big stage with a huge sound system!
Seeing more than 100 tattoo artists was pretty cool as well, but I decided not to get any more ink this time around. One thing I had to laugh about was how the appearance of several porn stars was played up. First you have Ron Jeremy ... the Hedgehog. This guy had his heyday a looong time ago, and now just looks like a disgusting fat slob. With his gut, I don't think he's SEEN his famous schlong for a long time! And then in the VIP tent, I see the guy sticking his finger in different food items to taste them. I mean, who knows where that finger has been .. actually, most people probably do know..it's all on video!
And the female porn stars ... I don't know ... they looked pretty skankalanking to me. I mean, there were girls walking around that were ten times hotter than any one of these so-called porn stars. I'm no expert in adult entertainment, but c'mon, they could have done better than these three tired-looking, spaced-out women!
Lots of gigs coming up for March as well, and we're working on learning a lot of new material.

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Sunday, February 18, 2007

The future's so bright ....

.... I gotta wear shades! Things have been going incredibly well, and it's only our seventh gig wit the new lineup! Case in point, last night at the Revolution Room, our first show there. Pretty much, bands are background music there, while people head to one of the other four bars in the vclub. But we had people coming in, staying to watch the band, or coming back after they cruised the rest of the place!
The Rev Room has some pretty impressive eye candy coming and going in there, and where the girls go, the guys will follow! And we had plenty of both hanging out in the bad area, and the band responded to the great crowd. Brett did a phenomenal job getting the crowd into it, and I though we sounded great. Everyone was "on" musically, and the PA sounded great. With some tweaking of the sound system, it'll only get better!
We should be getting back into the Rev Room, but they are pretty booked through June, so it might take a while. The was a "foot in the door" gig, and I think we pretty firmly established our credentials! This will be a NICE place to add to our rotation!
I've said it before and I'll say it again ... it is FUN t play in this band again! Thanks to Brett, Paul and Tony for doing such a great job, and BIG THANKS to our families, friends, and fans for supporting us so much in the past, present and future!

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Glad to be back!

We've completed our first two gigs with the new and improved ALTER EGO lineup, and WOW... what an incredible change for the better! With Brett Alton, we finally have a frontman with energy, with charisma, with unbridled talent and enthusiasm, with a voice that has to be heard to be believed, and that has made playing in this band FUN again!

For anyone reading this, sorry if you think I'm ragging on the former lead singer, but tough shit, I am! I have heard so many people tell us that he looked bored on stage, and that he was talking major shit about the rest of the band to other people, and even called Paul to make personal attacks on me. Well, I hope he's happy with his new setup (which he never told anyone about) , because we have made a MAJOR upgrade in talent with Brett. THis is what I always wanted ALTER EGO to be .. fun, full of energy, and a badass band!

We're all having more fun than ever, and for the first time I can remember, I heard Paul say he was having fun! Tony is smiling the entire night, and I am no longer having to stress about whether the singer is going to show up or not, and what kind of pissy mood he's going to be in!

So out with the old, and in with the new! ALTER EGO is FUN again!