Faces in the Crowd, 2007

*ING New York Marathon, New York City, NY, November 4, 2007* (Click on any photo to see a larger version.)
	Pre-dawn arrival at Fort Wadsworth by bus at the starting line on Sunday morning. It is COLD at that time in the morning as the buses starts streaming in from the city carrying first the workers and then the runners. It's a continuous line of buses for hours. The band members pose with them man who makes it all possible, Peter Chiacia of the New York Roadrunners, the organizer of the event (2nd from left in orange jacket).
	Security before the event is tight. With 40,000 runners, you need lots of porta-potties at the start area. Each one has to be checked the night before by a police K9 team searching for hidden explosives. In the morning, the runners gather in designated areas to warm up. The Verazano Bridge is in the background. The start takes them back across the bridge from Staten Island through all 5 boroughs of New York to the finish in Central Park.
	The first act, the Dan Levinson Band warms up the start with some hot dixieland music. See Dan's site at www.danlevinson.com. They are all great guys and great musicians and have been playing the start of the marathon for many more years than we have. Their music is a fine way to start the day.
	Joe and Geoff get ready to perform. The equipment provided for us from Studio Equipment Rentals is first class all the way, and the sound people do a great job of getting it all set up and balanced for us. Our thanks to you all for making us sound good. We hope the music helped the runners get in the mood for that long run.
	The first stage at the starting line at 7 AM--It's still COLD, as you can probably tell from the scarves and jackets. These California boys aren't used to this kind of weather, although once again, it didn't rain and turned out to be a great day for running. The second shot is later in the afternoon on the stage at Columbus Circle on the edge of Central Park where we close out the day as the last act.
	In Central Park we play in front of the runners as they enter the last 250 or so yards of the marathon. They can see themselves on a giant screen TV as they come around the corner, the late afternoon sun at their backs. These guys have been running about 5 hours. Some don't take it quite as seriously, like this guy with the colored hair and matching poodle in a cart.
	The curb on that last corner tripped up a number of runners. Here is one of the finishers, a gentleman from Sweden who posed for Joe's camera after receiving his participation medal.
	Here's what they are all running for.
	Bob dressed for the afternoon chill.
	Craig and Brion share a laugh at something as the runners file past in front of the stage. I think it shows that we have a really good time at this gig. Thanks again Peter for inviting us.
	We do have a few hours between arrival, sound check, playing twice on Sunday and leaving early Monday morning. On Saturday morning Craig and Joe took the subway out to Brooklyn to the Harley dealer to buy some T-shirts. In the past 4 years we done most of the touristy things--Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc.--so now we are looking for more local destinations. Saturday night we had dinner at the Hardrock Cafe in Times Square. They have an incredible collection of music memorabilia you can wander through, and the stage is a rather interesting collection of iconic images.
	Now THAT's a SANDWICH! We've learned to split the pastrami and swiss on rye between two people at the Stage Deli across from Carnegie Hall. Behind the sandwich is a bowl of chicken soup with a matzo ball. It ain't cheap, but it sure is good. If you enjoy a sip now and then, the Russian Samovar bar on 53rd street features an interesting selection of flavored vodkas. Vats behind the bar have cranberries, pears, horseradish, peppers and other items soaking in vodka in them.
	Joe stands in front of the statue at the Navy Memorial in Battery Park while we wait for the Statten Island Ferry to get over to the sound check on Saturday afternoon. Downtown at night near Times Square--sort of like our trip...it's all a blur.
*Pete Mallory's Blues and BarBQ, Hyatt Hotel, Huntington Beach, CA, August 18* (Click on any photo to see a larger version.)
	Drummer JoJo Hughes and wife Vickie celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary at Pete Mallory's. Congratulations Joe and Vickie!
	Bob calls for the crowd to recognize another great solo by guitar player Geoff Gurrola. We couldn't take photos while we were playing, but Geoff again got the crowd going with his vocals and behind-the-head guitar solos. Bob's patriotic hat mans the microphone during the break.
	Bill and Joni came out for some blues and Bar-BQ. Sally was there to enjoy the show too.
	Joe snapped this photo of Craig from the drummer's chair just before the start of the last set. As always in the summer at the Hyatt, the weather was great outside and the crowd stuck around to the end at 10 PM. Thanks to all for coming out.
*Bosch Corporate Party, Midway Aircraft Carrier, San Diego, CA, July 12*
	Each year the Bosch Corporation rewards its top employees with a grand bash. This is the third one we've played (two previous ones in Las Vegas) and the Midway Carrier Museum in San Diego Harbor is a great place to hold it this time. As always we got the first class treatment and would like to really thank the Bosch Corporation for bringing us back once again. The Midway is quite a place for a party too.
	Just loading our equipment on board is a little different from your usual gig. A giant forklift hoists a bucket with your gear from the parking lot to the hanger deck. Thanks to the crew for all your help!
	JoJo was checked in to the Hyatt and ready for the gig before the rest of us, so he and Vickie had time for a tour of the deck and vintage aircraft before we started playing at 7:00 PM. On the flight deck are some jets including an F-14 Tomcat and this A6 Intruder. In the hangar deck was some more vintage iron like this Dauntless plus and Avenger and a Navy trainer.
	The flight deck also has some helicopters on display, here Radioman No Class JoJo fine tunes some of the electronic gear. Joe and Vickie pose in front of the trainer on the hanger deck.
	These two shots from the bandstand during a break will give you some idea of the size of the hanger deck. The first is looking toward the bow, the second is from the same place looking toward the stern. (Sorry, it's a little soft in the focus department, but no flash was used.)
	Scott Jameson of the Bosch Corporation puts this shindig together each year, and we'd really like to thank him. Bosch also is a sponsor of IndyCar racing, and we met this fun-loving crew years ago when we played the corporate sponsors party at the Long Beach Grand Prix. After everybody else went home, these guys were still there to party. We're sure glad they liked our music. They provided a nice stage for us on the Midway too.
	This young sailor's grandfather brought him to the party from Salt Lake City. His grandmother is obviously getting a laugh out of his spirited dancing. Damon, Brion and Marda explore one of the passageways.
	Our guest guitar player for the evening, Damon, had a good time as did all of us in the band and audience as we enjoyed his mellow blues guitar and great vocals. "Bob-eye the sailor man" dances a little hornpipe.
	With all the partying it is easy to forget the Midway was a serious warship in its day, protecting our country for 47 years from its commission in 1945 up through the Desert Storm operation in 1991, where it was the flagship. Among its peacetime accomplishments were the recovery of a number of the Apollo space missions. Sailors Marda and Vickie are ready for shore leave. Are those approved Navy salutes?
*Jose Del Prado Park Concert, Lakewood, CA, July 5*
	A drummer's eye view of the crowd just before the start of the gig. It was a perfect summer afternoon for music in the park. Were you in the crowd?
	More crowd shots plus Sandy, Fanny and Ed. A great way to recover from the 4th of July holiday the day before.
	Some of the kids--like Mohawk-boy here--wanted a closer look. The right-hand photo shows Tom, Derek and Kyle.
	Jojo just labeled this "Suheil and the boys" (left) and "Suheil's wife" (right). Sorry, that's all the detail we got, but hope they like the pics! Thanks to all for coming.
*JoJo's Independance Day Blues Bash, July 1*
	Bobby and pals The Chris Anderson Group opens the show
	Craig plays keys for Blues Bar-BQ but also backed up Chris Anderson. Savage City's guitar player.
	Vickie Hughes and the "Briquette's" dancers. Deanna Savage of Savage City joins the dance group.
Some more party shots... Joe "welcomes" his guests... Sisters Marda and Nedra.
	Deanna Savage fronts another great Savage City performance. JoJo's drum kit got a workout by five excellent drummers.
	TK tore up the keyboards with the United Blues Band. JoJo and Vickie Hughes celebrate another great holiday blues bash.
For a slide show that includes these and many more photos of the daylong event featuring 5 great bands see Jojo's myspace page at www.myspace.com/JoeHughes2.

Faces in the Crowd, 2007

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