At the end of a year, it's always fun to go back and think about all the fun times you've had over the last 12 months. There are good times and bad times, strange times and exciting times, but always interesting times.
In that spirit, we've come up with the
Most Interesting MEB Moments of 2004. For a lot of these, you just had to be there to understand, but for those that were around, we hope this brings back some great memories - and a few chuckles. Many of these may end up being inside jokes, but we'll enjoy them, anyway!
(Note: We've attempted to list them chronologically, but sometimes we just had to get close.)
January
- The "yoooouuuuuu" girl from PJ Dorseys (wasn't she a Catholic school teacher or something?) entertains Mike and Steve
- Last Train Home cancels @ Dinosaur, but we hang with Eric and he's picking up chicks with absolutely no effort. Damn rock stars.
February
- Steve donates a kidney to science (sort of ...)
March
- Mike is joined by young Mike @ Songwriter's Circle gig at Kelly Cole's
- Coleman's after the St. Pat's parade is a total zoo, especially when a drunk guy decides that he needs to get through the band while we're playing, and Jeff just about gets in a fight with him
April
- On our trip to DC, "12" (the bass player from the opening band) jumps on Jeff's amp @ Zig's in Alexandria. Dude, jump on your own equipment, OK?!
- Breakfast at the IHOP in our Alexandria hotel is and will always be a cosmic event
- The manager of the DC liquor store reminds Jeff/Paul that tastings are for customers only (nice joke, boys)
- Courtesy of LQ and his massive marketing effort, every girl in IOTA wears MEBeads
May
- At our 6th Anniversary Party (Buffalo's) an overzealous (OK, she was drunk) girl baptizes Mike's guitar with a celebratory shower of beer. Woo-hoo!
June
- The 5-foot-square "stage" at Taste of Syracuse proves to be an interesting platform for a really fun evening
July
- When it gets late at the Brae Loch, the wackos come out, and tonight a particularly inebriated guy stands directly in front of Jeff - really uncomfortably close
- Our Otto the Orange girl, Nicole (and former Hot107 DJ), acts like she doesn't know us and wants us to play some stupid song at the Bluewater Grill. Paul tells Steve who she is and he just shuts her up by repeating (dozens of times) - "You're Otto!"
- Mike, Steve and Paul perform a marathon feat: 18 holes of Gypsy Tour (speed) golf, then meeting up with Jeff for a Phol's gig on Sylvan Beach
August
- Hoping to do some good but with the weather not co-operating, we perform a charity event in Jeff's driveway/garage in a downpour. Luckily, the Christian karate team gets their act/sermon in before the heavens open
- It's a new experience for us as we mount a flatbed trailer and entertain the folks from CXtec and their annual "Billstock" company picnic
- We open for The Machine, a Pink Floyd tribute band at the Paper Mill Island Amphitheater. If only their freakin' bass player would have gotten off the stage before the show, we could have actually had a sound check
- Ah, the NYS Fair. Three days of rain, sheep balls, our best friend Carmen, new friends and old, and a seriously good time, no matter the situation
- And sometimes the stories that get told in the Fair parking lot over a cooler of beer make you sore for days from laughing so hard. If you're up for it, ask LQ to tell you his bike stealing story
- With no tequila in sight for the band shot before the first night at the Fair, we scramble over to the infield bar that was 800 degrees
- The annual Awful Al's golf day features Thumper proclaiming the numbness in his knees, and LQ claiming he can't feel his hands. Luckily, seasoned veterans Paul and Mike maintain enough sanity to get lots of pictures of beautiful women
September
- After our first Wacky Wyatt's gig, we stumble over to Brenden's and try to get LQ hooked up (Steve O works especially hard on this), but to no avail
- We love a college crowd, especially when a Hobart & William Smith coed flashes Mike and Jeff (numerous times) while dancing @ Jellybeans in Geneva
October
- Rochester will never be the same after a big bunch of Jeff and Shannon's work crowd & friends join us for the fun at Brü
- But just one night later, we're entertaining ourselves during the 3rd set at an empty bar in Auburn, as the late night crowd finds somewhere else to be
- Halloween @ the Brae Loch features a ton of interesting folks in costume, like Elvis and Priscilla, a couple of 50's housewives, runaway brides, and a slinky cat. But our favorites are the two Cowboys/girls who hop up on stage and make for a real gender-bending visual picture
November
- The Year of The Operation continues as Jeff goes under the knife
December
- Not content just to dance and enjoy the band, our friend Erin from Coleman's borrows some drumsticks and promises to join the band as our The Little Drummer Girl
- Steve O tops his numb knees at the golf tourney with his numb head at his B-day party. Man, that Long Island Ice Tea “hits him "haaaard"”
Overall Memories:
- One word... Borty
- All the drunk conversationalists (Rachel for one) approaching while we're trying to play
- Any gig @ Coleman's and the Brae Loch are memorable
- Playing new venues & cities
- Surviving 6 years together & getting closer each day
Ah, great times all around. Here's hoping that 2005 is even more exciting, and we know it will be.
Have you got any to add? Post a comment (below) and let us know if you have some memorable MEB moments from 2004.
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