BruceM

Somebody put something in the brownies, and I didn't have my glasses on all night, so I didn't take many pictures and all my exposures were a little fuzzy. Here's a late-night pic featuring a few of the guys, and Lawrence on the pink cruisebass. They were probably playing Miss You. This pic certainly captures the spirit of the evening!

Here's Ted, our fearless leader. And a couple of clowns playing Standards.

Here's a few more pics from that 1st party: Bruce sweats on the 25th Ltd. The 4-3-2-1 Club was NOT climate controlled back in the old days! We threw the Cruisebass at Robb as soon as he waltzed down the steps, and he's never looked back!

Here's SirDan and Eric from that first party in June, 2003. Unfortunately, Eric won't be able to join us at the party this week due to an out-of-town commitment, but that 12-string eclipse will! Dan's 25th Ltd is long gone (as is mine, which I bought after playing that one on that day), but Dan's not!

This one's coming right up. I've talked personally to a number of local players who indicated they will be there. It's almost time to head over to Everett's for wieners and brats, and I'll start thinking about a chili to prepare. Anyone else I haven't talked to that needs a little persuasion?

I don't know what else could excite a 61 year old man quite like this. That's right, the 4321 All-Stars are creeping out of the basement that is the 4-3-2-1 Club onto the stage a couple miles West at the the Driftwood Char Bar. We're taking this show on the road and hope to see a few of you local guys and gals there. Here's the details: 4321 All-Stars with the Jeff Ellington Experience Saturday, May 26, 7:00 - 9:00 PM Driftwood Char Bar 4415 Nicollet Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55419 And to top it all off, my brother Scott has been relentlessly hammering the virtues of early Blue Oyster Cult into the local minions, oops, I mean Rock Gods, and they've agreed to open our set with Career of Evil off the Secret Treaties album. Woo Hoo! The first words I get to intone into the ears of the hapless audience (Hopefully that's you): I plot your rubric scarab, I steal your satellite, I want your wife to be my baby tonight, baby tonight. (Thank you Patti) Anyway, we've also got young David Watts singing most of the songs so we're not just a bunch of old fat guys up there now. He wants to bill us as the Bad Dads and the Mad Lad, but well, I'd rather be an All-Star. Here's a photo of us in action a year ago. Come on out if you're not doing anything. We promise to entertain!

They're lucky they got in at all, as evidenced by this quote from the Bowie writeup. Pffft indeed. Where are my girly men in glittery outfits? "Note that, besides the undeniable Bowie and cuddly Elton John, the hall has been very wary of the effete and glam side of rock — no Todd Rundgren, no Dolls, no Mott, no Roxy Music, no Pet Shop, no Marc Bolan, and stretching all the way to the Smiths and Joy Division — while just about every hirsute assemblage of spandexed wankers from that era and every one since have been ushered right in. It’s obvious that the hall has “issues.” " Edited to add: Not that there's anything wrong with a spandexed wanker.

And here's photo #2: SirDan and the silver Duotone:

It's REALLY hard for me to believe that it's been 15 years since my awakening. That's right, 15 years ago, on June 14, 2003, I opened my house the the HFC, Minneapolis Chapter. As Robb would later say, and I repeat, my life was never the same after meeting these guys. Fast forward 15 years, and I find that ALL the participants from that first gathering are still regulars at the 4-3-2-1 Club HFC jams, and we've included many, many more local participants and celebrity guests. I still remember the trepidation I felt as the date approached and I thought, "My God, what am I doing? I'm opening my house to random strangers (kinda) from the internet. Are you effing crazy?" The rest is history. In honor of this auspicious anniversary, I'd like to open the house up one more time, just to see what might happen. ha. In order to pick a Saturday closest to the original date, I'd like to propose Saturday, June 16 as the date for the 4-3-2-1 Club 15 Year Anniversary Jam. How does this date look for you guys? Any celebrities want to make the pilgrimage? Here's the first picture ever taken at a 4-3-2-1 Club Jam, and it features Bill W with one of his beloved copper Hamers. This is the only photo of Bill from that day, because IIRC he had to leave for a gig. I'll post a few more photos from that fateful day in the coming weeks. It's amazing to me that the cast of characters, and in some cases even the guitars, are still in heavy rotation at the 4-3-2-1 Club. The HFC has staying power, I guess.

Glad to hear the guitar made it safely! I delayed shipping it by two weeks so I could play it at practice a couple more times. There's definitely magic in that one. Here's a few more case pics I took a few weeks back.

Sounds like it'd be right up my alley. Dibs.