Im not the best with remembering dates. If I had to guess, it was roughly a year ago when my friend and a name both of you faith blog readers have seen before, Daniel Pratt, contacted me about a gig. There are only a few things that need to be checked off when accepting a gig. This gig hit them all..then some

The items to be check off are..Does it pay? Do I have to travel? How much prep is required? All the answers to these questions were good for me, so I said yes. Then he added..”its next May”. PSH! Call me next April homie!! Well, he did..with a list of about 30 songs that I underestimated. I mean, we all know Eye of the Tiger? You dont even have to play an instrument to know how that song goes… DUN…DUN DUN DUN…….DUN DUN DUN…..DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUNNNNN.. Yeah thats the one. How about “ABC” by the Jackson 5? Yes that one..little Michael all groovin and adorable. Did you know theres a sambra break down in ABC? Did you know there are no drums for more than half of Tonights Gonna Be a Good Night? Did you know that Every Tear Drop is a Waterfall, is an awful song? OK you probably knew the last one. Well I had to learn sooo many songs and I misjudged the time required to learn them.

The kicker is, all of these songs were to be performed by choir kiddos. So…Glee. Yes, that Glee. Though Im not sure of the antics of these kiddos, its was some fairly talented boys and girls performing in their annual pop show. This year they wanted a live band. Well damnitt, we assembled one hell of a band. Then, we assembled another one…then for the last time, we assembled another one. Sure a few guys fell out of love with the idea, whatever, their loss. I had Chilis, pizza and chic fil a, FREE! SUCKERS!! Ok Im off track..Once we had all the members in place, it was time for the first rehearsal. We showed up and ran through all the tunes with the performers. We worked out the kinks and got comfortable with their renditions of the songs.

If there was one thing that didnt surprise me…heres my kit during rehearsal.

Here it is once we showed up for the real thing

Thats right, I GOT SHIELDED! Though it was honestly for the best. I was playing very low without a shield and was not comfortable. With the shield in place, it was go time!

The show took place on a Friday and Saturday night. You could honestly feel the excitement from the performers. Something I thought of as just a gig, was really a big deal to them. This was their chance to shine. Their parents, grandparents, neighbors, peers and well…maybe their kids, were in attendance. They all really did a great job and seemed to have a lot of fun. The only real interaction I had with any of them was the compliments I received from wearing my “Flynt Flossy Is My Favorite Rapper” shirt. Apparently Turquoise Jeep is popular with the youth these days.

After it was all over, we were pulled aside by Jason, the directo,r who ask if we would be interested in doing it again next year. We all agreed that it was a lot of fun and we would gladly be a part of next years POP SHOW!