Faces in the Crowd, 2005

*ING New York Marathon, New York City, NY, November 6, 2005* (Click on any photo to see a larger version.)
	1. The Statue of Liberty is much more impressive in person than we expected. We were lucky to have great weather once again and enough time to take the tour of Liberty and Ellis Islandz before the sound check on Saturday. 2. Saturday sound check went fast due to one of the best sound crews we've worked with. Thanks guys! Here Brion clowns behind Bob.
	1. Craig's keys get a level check Saturday evening. 2. Early Sunday morning the Dan Levinson Quartet plays Dixieland jazz for the first set as the buses full of runners begin to pour in on the Varrazano Narrows Bridge in the background.
	1. After we did a couple of sets, the featured National talent came on. Country singer and Mercury recording star Billy Currington did a half-hour set including 3 minutes of live TV coverage by NBC. 2. After his set the band posed for a photo with young star Billy Currington.
	1. Runners rest, stretch and keep warm in the early morning fog. 2. Runners start to head to the line for the start.
	1. They say "You can't take it with you." That is certainly the case as 35,000 runners shed their warm-up suits at the start, leaving them behind on the streets to be recovered by local Staten Island residents and charities. 2. Runners several hours and 26 miles later pass the big Jumbotron TV screen with just 400 yards to go to the finish line.
	1. More runners pass in front of the stage at Columbus Circle in Central Park on their way to the finish line. 2. Times Square as seen from our room on the 19th floor of the Marriott Marquis. We were really given first class treatment all weekend by the host club, the New York Roadrunners thanks to event manager Peter Ciaccia.
	1. On stage at Columbus Circle from 3:30 to 5:30 PM as the runners we saw start early in the day continue to stream across the line. 2. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? PhotoShop!
	Kenyan Paul Tergat gets mobbed by photographers just after beating South Africa's Hendrick Ramaala by just 1/3 of a second in the closest finish in the race's history.
*JoJo's 5th Annual Blues Bash, Huntington Beach, CA, October 16, 2005*
	Buck Wildstar kicked off the music with Geoff Gurolla on guitar, Bobby Abarca on Bass and host JoJo Hughes on drums. A few umbrellas are in evidence, but JoJo and Vickie were well prepared with 4 easy-ups and plenty of tarp to keep everyone dry when the showers came through. Despite the gloomy look of the weather it was a storm up from Mexico, so the air was warm and humid.
	Talented guitarist and singer Brophy Dale sat in with Buck Wildstar and Thomas "TK" Kowalczyk smoked on the keyboards.
	Dancers danced, drinkers drank and sometimes drinkers even danced and dancers drank. What the hell, it's a party!
	The second band up was the Chris Anderson group. Deanna Savage from Savage City joined Chris on vocals, and TK added to the mix on keyboards.
	The crowd (including harp player River Blue of the former "Raging Sun" band in the white shirt) enjoy the show as Deanna does Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy." (Next up was Blues Bar-BQ, but since Craig played keyboards the whole set and is also the photographer there won't be any photos of the band unless someone e-mails some they took.)
	The final band was The United Blues Band. The normally 8-piece band was short a trumpet player, but the trombone and sax players held up their end for the horn section. This band has talent all around from vocals to guitar to keyboards. We hope you will go see all the bands who played at the party in a club setting and support the Orange County music scene.
	Christine Landgraff and Geoff Gurolla dance it up to the United Blues Band as do the most of the rest of the crowd before we finally had to turn down the volume and call it a night. Thanks again to Joe and Vickie Hughes for another great Blues Bash. What started with just Blues Bar-BQ playing in the living room in 2001 has turned into a lineup that rivals some of the better blues shows in town.
	River Blue, Christine and Bob Landgraff and Brion Munsey share a party moment.
*McLaughlin Re-wedding (Renaissance Hotel), Long Beach, CA, July 30, 2005* (Click on any photo to see a larger version.)
	John, Ria and their pastor get ready to renew their vows. Friends Pam and Gene Kinsey look on.
	A good group of friends was on hand for the festivities. Dancers of all ages filled the dance floor.
	The band loves it when people get up and dance. More dancers.
	Craig looks like he's having a good time. Ria shares a dance.
	The "Briquettes" rhythm section rocks out.
*Wynn Las Vegas, (for Bosch Corporation) Las Vegas, NV, August 5, 2005*
	Wynn Las Vegas, outside and in--pretty luxurious!
	A great feed was set up for the key Bosch Corporation personnel. TK sat in for Craig on keys while Geoff, Joe, Bob and Brion play for the guests.
	Annie looks like she's having a good time... June and Earl came for the music.
	Our thanks to the Bosch Corporation for again selecting Blues BarBQ to provide music for their event. It's one of the highlight events of our year, and we hope theirs too. OK, the sign might be a little fanciful, but we can dream!
*Hyatt Regency (Pete Mallory's Bar and Grill), Huntington Beach, CA, July 3,4, 2005*
	The lovely ladies were out in force to celebrate 4th of July at Pete Mallory's Grill at the Hyatt. From left to right, Debbie, C.C., Jamie, Alissa and Melissa. Even the kids got into the act as our rhythm section.

	Everybody gets into the act on Sunday night, July 3rd. Fourth of July brought perfect weather and a great place to play. The Hyatt is right in the center of the holiday action at the beach.
	Parking is the name of the game at the beach on the 4th of July. Being able to ride your bike to the beach was the hot setup. (We heard valet parking at the hotel for non-guests was $50 for the day...and good luck finding a metered parking spot if you got there after 8 AM.) This little guy thought he was part of the band.
	Brion belts out Cream favorite "Sunshine of Your Love" by special request. As night falls, Pete Mallory's Grill is a great place to hang out to wait for the fireworks.
	The fireworks show from the Huntington Pier was easily visible from the courtyard at the Hyatt. The place was packed, as many guests turned out for the show which lasted over 25 minutes.
*The Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix, Long Beach, CA, April 8,9,10, 2005*
	(L) On stage before the friday night corporate sponsor's party in the Grand Ballroom. (R) The band's equipment gets escorted into the ballroom through the race crowd. You can see people looking at JoJo wondering which famous rock star they should be recognizing.
	(L) A two-passenger ChampCar gives rides to a few really lucky people. (R) Brion looks a little out of control in this older model.
	(L) Three Toyotas head for the start in the Pro/Celebrity race. (R) JoJo showed up early on Friday and managed to wangle four laps around the track in two different cars.
	(L) Folks enjoy the Paddock Club's exclusive atmosphere. For a mere couple hundred bucks you can have a place to sit, have breakfast and lunch, sip drinks, get a massage and many other perks...not to mention Blues Bar-BQ to dance to. (R) Paco (at Left in black shirt) mixes a mean Margarita and Bloody Mary. He was Geoff's best friend all day.
	Break time in the Paddock Club. On the left is Pete, our guest slide guitar player for the weekend. He and Geoff played well off each other, each having totally different style. Thanks for the efforts, Pete. Since we played from 10 AM to 5 PM both days it was a tiring weekend, but a lot of fun.
*The Oasis, Garden Grove, CA, March 5, 2005*
	(L) Outside the Oasis, and (R) JoJo and Brion take a break. Ya gotta love a bar that opens at 6 AM...
	(L) Inside there's a dance floor in front of the stage and plenty of TV's to keep up on the games. (R) To the right of the stage are a number of pool tables and the bar. The Saint Patrick's Day decor says they're ready to celebrate.
*The Jumping Turtle, March 3, 2005*
	The Jumping Turtle is your basic pool tables, 20-cent chicken wings, big dance floor, good sound system, local kind of bar. We took the gig with just a few days notice when the scheduled band had to cancel. Since Craig just lives a few blocks away, he told family, friends and Sherline employees, and we had a pretty fun night for mid-week. Charla's mom can be seen at the far right in the last picture.
	Marda took these photos without a flash and thought they were failures. I like the way they capture the feel of the music better than the flash shots. Being out of focus is a natural state for us anyway.

Faces in the Crowd, 2005

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