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This Is Your Book Of Kills
MARCH 15
Saturday night was simply put, magical for me. I was very uptight...both wracked with nerves and consumed by my emotions as I stepped up to the microphone. When Casey Firkin, presented me with a plaque before we started, I came close to tears. I have met so many wonderful friends and acquaintances through music. I could never even begin to thank them all for giving me far more than I ever gave back. I barely got through the first song, "River Of Blood" and pretty much butchered it beyond recognition, even though Mike and George tried to hold the song together in spite of me, though from thereon at least the songs were largely decent enough to pass muster.
Was it the "greatest BOK show ever"? Who knows? It's definitely up there with the five other shows I rank as the most memorable BOK gigs ever: 3.9.1995, 10.27.2001, 4.13.2002, 2.1.2003 and 6.6.2009. I will say it was the most fun I've ever had playing live music.
My entire family was there, including my younger son Christian who had never seen a BOK show. Many of the folks I've played with over the years, including Garfield Banks, Gary Bugg, Randy Simpson, Jane Firkin, Mike C., Jeff Lown, and, of course, Casey, also showed up. How fun it was to have Casey, Billy Brett, Mike and Randy singing on the microphone with me!
Two of the best BOK photographers ever, Deanne Good and Jana Burtner, were both there. My brother and his lovely wife, Linda, were there. All told, over 100 folks attended this last BOK gig. To be able to play with Casey, Ike and Greg of Sleepfeeder and Billy and Terry of Buck Gooter made the night an even bigger honor and pleasure for me.
Over the last two days, I have received the most and the nicest comments I've ever gotten for a show. I know I didn't play very well, but I never play very well. (If there's any charm in seeing me perform I suppose it's knowing that I'm going to mess up a lot, but it'll all be in good fun and it won't be for lack of trying to hit most of the right notes.)
To say "You had to be there" is no doubt one of the hoariest of clichés, but in this case it is certainly true. I am still mulling over whether or not I want to release the recording. It's okay...the vocals are, as usual, very low in the mix, but otherwise the sound is decent. I know Casey recorded all three bands with a new reel-to-reel he just purchased (and how cool was it seeing that!) I don't know if his recording sounds any better, but I'll be in contact with him to find out. But the point is, listening to the show if you weren't there will give you very little indication of how much fun it actually was to be there. Those who were in attendance will understand what I'm talking about. This is not a jab at folks who couldn't come; it's just a matter of my wanting to dilute the magic or not by releasing the recording.
I know that Deanne and Jana, among others, took lots of photos. I am sure that they'll be available in the not-too-distant future.
Other than that, I don't know what to say other than to thank Billy Brett for setting up the whole thing. I can't believe it has been twenty-two years since I recorded "The Night John Lennon Died". Time flies when you're making music with friends.
MARCH 14
I was very busy today with a grandchild and had no time to write any sort of serious update. And besides, I thought it would make sense to think about "the end of an era" (as one friend called it in an email to me late last evening) for a day or two before I wrote about it. Late Monday should see a full report.
I will say this...after the first song last night - "River Of Blood" - which I butchered, I feared my nerves were going to conquer me and the gig would end up a complete disaster. Fortunately, the warmth of the crowd helped pull me together and the show turned out to be one of the four or five most memorable I've ever been a part of. It was a truly fitting end to an era. The hardest part of the evening came when I said goodbye to Mike and George and Mike said something about how sad the moment was and I realized that I really had forced an end to a very, very good partnership in the name of...what? Artistry I suppose. New challenges. The future.
I don't exactly know what paths my muse will travel now, but one of them might well include an accordion.
MARCH 13
As Uncle Neil once sang, "Tonight's the night." Might be raining buckets tonight. That's okay. It'll just weed out the BOK-head wannabes. Hope that we see you there.
MARCH 10
How strange to think that in three days Book Of Kills becomes a memory. Some people have remarked to me or acquaintances of mine that this isn't really the "last" show, because I'll continue to play in some form or another, but they completely miss the point, don't they?
MARCH 8
I've pretty much finished the track for Billy Brett's new compilation album. I don't know if it's any good. I'll send it off to him soon and see what he thinks.
Last practice this Thursday. I recorded last week's practice and I'll undoubtedly record this one as well.
MARCH 5
We had a really good practice last evening. In fact, all three of the practices we've had since "re-uniting" have been lots of fun. I am not sure, by the way, what time BOK will be playing March 13. I guess we'll be going last? Regardless, with Sleepfeeder and Buck Gooter on the bill it'll be a solid night of entertainment ALL night. Will we be pulling off any surprises for the last show? No...it'll be (as it should be) just one last typical BOK show.
MARCH 3
Some folks mistakenly think that March 13 is the final show I'm ever going to play. Unless I die shortly after the final song that night, I do intend to start a new band. As I said a week or two ago, I will eventually have news about that. Right now I just want to focus on this last show.
I will say that I'm not sure exactly what I'll do with this web site. No...I'm not going to dismantle it as I did back in 2008. Everything that's here now will remain for the foreseeable future. However, since I do intend to start a new band (and not BOK), I will have to come up with some plan to maintain this site while beginning a whole new one. I suppose I'll probably link off Bookofkills.com. Folks who want to follow the new band from its gestation onward will obviously simply set up a direct connection to the new site (which ultimately will simply be branched off from my current web address.) It ought to be cool to track the new band from its date of birth on. I look forward to documenting its life.
But for the next ten days or so, it's still all about the final days of Book Of Kills. I wonder...does that thought make anyone sad?
MARCH 1
Suppose I should write something here since this is the first day of a new month and all. Okay. There.