Concert Countdown Week: #5 - King's Ridge Pool Party, 1998
Mosquito came up on the playlist today and I thought, hey, Okay Samurai has been apart long enough now for nostalgic VH1-style countdowns. So for every day through Friday, we'll be counting down the top five OKS concerts of all time. Any show from our ten years together is fair game, from Janine Mason's 16th birthday party to the final Mainstreet show at JMU. Dave & Russ performances, solo acoustic shows and WuTang Killa Beez concerts with Ferenczy won't count...only Don + Andrew + Dave + Asian Bassist shows do. It was relatively easy to pick these out; they remain as some of my favorite memories.
First up was the King's Ridge Pool Party from 1998. My girlfriend's family at the time was fairly involved with the local swimming pool across the street. They asked us to play a pool party concert to kick off the summer. We agreed, got a great turnout, and ended up playing two sets that lasted well into the night. Some of the highlights, if I remember correctly:
*Don's head was shaved, Eugene's glasses kept on shifting out of place from sweat, and Andrew and I had dyed our hair blond. The band was still called "Second Nature".
*We waited to start playing a song until a kid jumped off the high dive. When he hit the water, Andrew nailed the cymbals and we began.
*During the end of Third, I took my electric guitar and started rolling around on the ground while playing the heavily distorted ending. Don's Dad didn't like that very much.
*In the video of the performance, there's a great scene where a kid walks in front of the camera. When he realizes it's on, his eyes become as wide as a deer in headlights and he jumps out of the way.
*We played one of our longest versions of Hammock; everyone got a solo. When Eugene started his, Andrew left and jumped in the pool.
*Rusty Noesner must have done something funny.
*Carol Simpson came up and helped sing the song she wrote, Chlorine Girl.
The concert ended up being a family-friendly event: the neighborhood kids and their parents alike had a great time. Playing outside with a noise permit is always guaranteed fun. This concert barely beats out Ram Jam 1997, which would probably be #6 on the list, but got edged out simply because this was longer and we didn't have to share the bill with Bucket of Monkey or those two white kids who thought they could rap.
(Tomorrow: The samurai go to the Fairfax Government Center to talk business...)
Sunday, August 21 at 9:00 PM
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