Concert Review: I Spent Three Nights With The Bangles: April 29 - May 2, 2010

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Figuratively speaking, of course... I believe The Bangles are all about aging gracefully and doing something you love with your life. How are you measuring up? After not quite 25 years with the same corporation I was laid off this spring. How's a middle-aged guy facing yet another crisis supposed to react? In my Animal House moment, I, too, decided "road trip". I followed The Bangles around for four nights as they toured the Midwest. Not creepy followed around mind you - I only caught up with them as an audience member at the foot of the stage. The concert tickets were inexpensive. The band played indoors at intimate venues with room for 500-600 fans. As this YouTube video someone shot at the Fine Line Music Cafe attests (just below) I (look to the left of the guy in the red ball cap, closer to Victoria than he) beheld The Bangles. As you see, I am a subdued and respectful audience member.

For my trip I just needed gas money, discounted hotel rooms from Internet travel sites, and food money to eat once a day (the standard when I travel by myself). Oh, and (ahem) some beer money. But not a lot. I first caught The Bangles at The Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis, then drove to Milwaukee to see them at The Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee. I had to skip The Bangles in Chicago. It was an AIDS black tie benefit. I could have pulled off black tie, but couldn't cough up the $500 donation. I spent the afternoon in The Art Institute of Chicago (We seem to have bought all of France's objects d'art) taking photographs. That night, a ticket scalper sold me a $50 ticket to see Craig Ferguson at a State Street theater for only $20. Row EE (fifth row) just off-center. He puts on a great show. The next morning I drove to St. Louis to see The Bangles play that night at The Pageant in The Loop District. Here are my YouTube Downfall parodies (YES, I play the role of Herr Hitler) along with some live video clips per the Fair Use Doctrine:  Hitler sure loves The Bangles   Hitler told his Bangles video a bust. The audio quality isn't good. It's a limitation of the camera. In hindsight, that's okay. I am trying to coax you to get off your butt and see The Bangles play live - go to their web site Bangles and see if you can't catch a show - you won't regret it!

Let me give you my take on The Bangles. My knowledge of the group is by nature incomplete. I can only attempt to figure them out by reading online and listening to CD's and concerts. They wrote their first album themselves, adding Micki Steele as the bassist just prior. This is an important distinction, because none of her material is on this album All Over the Place. The next two albums were products of the hit-machine thinking that was the 1980's music industry. As far as I can tell, the story of most bands is they spend years honing their sound with a dozen or so songs they write themselves, polish to perfection, then release. In some fashion they get popular. For most bands, there's a hit single on the album. For the Bangles, there was no hit on All Over the Place. Critical acclaim garnered them a record deal. They "got popular" and faced a dilemma: now what? They were forced to write many new songs in a short amount of time or ... enter the song writers.

The band and management no sift through piles and piles of submissions from professional song makers looking for material for a second "cash in" album. Specifically, they are looking for singles and 'hits'. Bands used to deliver albums that had a general feel or tenor to them. Susanna Hoffs has been quoted that All Over the Place is about "If your man gives you shit then dump him, don't let him spoil your life". The members of the Bangles continued to write the majority of the material, although a lot of the time now it was in collaboration with other song writers, not with other members of The Bangles. The record industry got a hold of The Bangles and glammed them up and over-produced their sound. On the second album the producer even brought in studio musicians to record over the Bangles own instrumentals. Micki Steel is quoted on The Bangles websight as saying only her playing remained because the producer ran out of money and couldn't afford to record over her bass lines.

So had the band sold out? I say "no". I don't want our rock goddesses to be poor. I hope they made some money. Read the article about how little a popular band makes while out making millions for the record industry: The Problem With Music by Steve Albini Steve Albini is an independent and corporate rock record producer most widely known for having produced Nirvana's "In Utero". To me, the evidence that the group never consciously sold out are evident in the live performances they still give. The Bangles simply have to be experienced live - they are who they are when they play live.

Each night Sick of Sara opened for The Bangles. They hail from good old Minneapolis, Minnesota. (I subsequently caught SOS again Dec 7th on a cold night at Honey on East Hennepin Avenue. So in 2010 I saw the Bangles and Sick of Sara four times each.) I have had no formal music education. I like what I like. I enjoyed this band. They have some catchy songs and some nice "angstful" prose-like lyrics. Jamie on bass and Jessica on drums form the metronome which the rest of the band is built on. Confirmed by 'Uncle Jeff' at Honey, Jessie Farmer and Katie Murphy switch being lead and rhythm guitar. Believe it or not, it bothered me since the summer that I couldn'd figure out "lead". Watch for Jessie (2nd photo from the left, wearing heavy motorcycle(?) boots) to dance while she plays. She springs from side to side pushing off athletically with her ankles while spinning and bouncing up. The agile lead singer Abisha likes to stand on the speakers, and at one point in the show always stands on the bass drum facing the drummer. Speaking as someone now feeling the excesses of youth myself, my urge is to warn this young lady that one unfortunate slip and it's the express train to old age for her body ... but she'll have to figure that out for herself. I didn't start out that way, now I totally "feel" Sick of Sarah ...

Now The Bangles. I caught them Thursday, Friday, and Sunday nights. I got to the Fine Line Music Cafe about an hour before the doors open. Too 'fricken late, as it turned out. The people in line ahead of me said some of The Bangles (I didn't ask which ones) came out and talked to them. I did spot Abisha and Jessie from Sick of Sara circling the theater. Funny thing girls - Mick and Keith used to do the same thing. A guy I was talking to in line to get in, like me, caught The Bangles here in Minneapolis in 2007 when they played First Avenue. Back then, I stood at Sue's feet and he stood at Vicki's. He remembered that at one point I asked the band who the keyboardist was, and they introduced Greg Hilfman a.k.a. Harpo to the crowd. Alas, I am and will always be hopelessly ADHD ...

Here is the play list. Some people asked for it after the show, but the stage hands said "no" and un-taped it from the stage to re-use it the next few nights. This is Sue's cheat sheet for "Watching the Sky" taped to the floor. Here's the chords for the song from one of the experts. I don't think they ever played "Pushing too Hard" by The Seeds, which was listed last on the set list. Perhaps that's just a reminder about fret or string technique? ( *** Editors note: the author of this article is a smart ass, whenever he makes a comment like this, it's his lame attempt at humor. Thank you for your patience and please, continue reading. ***)

Let's start out with the 800 pound gorilla in the room. His name is "Taking Videos of the Band". It's frowned upon. It can get ugly. Fair Use Doctrine. My use of these illustrative images are my argument for you the viewer to get out and buy tickets to see The Bangles perform live. They are not a substitute for seeing the band live. Bangles Site - choose TOUR This review is opinion. All the band pictures are from Minneapolis. You have to view my trip to see all of them (so start scrolling).

These images and my comments illustrate why I believe you should see The Bangles play while they are still tour. My argument is you can't really appreciate them unless you hear them live. They are posted on my web site where I have commented on society and art since 1996. A young woman in the audience near me was absolutely freaked out by the actions of someone trying to prevent her from video taping with a camera. This person mimicked her camera getting broken in two. To this person who freaked her out's credit, he came up to her in the bar afterwards and they talked for quite a while and made up. I got a second beer while they talked and waited for him to come and talk to me. Didn't happen. I didn't bring my camera along inside the theaters in Milwaukee or St. Louis. In Milwaukee a guy sitting across from me taped nearly 75% of the show before he was escorted out. They had him erase his camera memory, then they let him back in. Well, one of his two memory cards was erased. He told me the video was for personal use. So, here we have this dilemma. The band wants to control (rightly so) it's product. Fans (rightly so) hunger for a personal connection to a concert. Bands have to tolerate a certain amount of being taped because they can't risk pissing off their fans. I wish the solution could be more concert tapes provided by the band - something with decent sound quality. This ends any bitching I plan to do. Even the beer was reasonably priced -

I feel bad about not being able to photograph Debbi. From where I was standing (Close! Vicki played one song right at the edge of the stage, as she turned at an angle her guitar cord rested on my head for about ten seconds) I was too low to get shots of Debbi playing. As you see, anything I took just showed the mike in front of her face. I don't know what the "critics" say about her drumming, I would characterize it as precise. I really like the songs where her drum line suddenly leaps to life in the middle of a song. You can't have a rock band worth a damn without a drummer who can keep the beat. I admire that Debbi can sing lead while drumming. Yes, she still does that thing where she comes out and plays guitar on "Going Down to Liverpool" and plays the tambourine (I think that happened) for "Walk Like and Egyptian" while the drum machine plays away. I figure she deserves her time out front. When its Debbi's turn to sing lead on a song, Vicki and Sue part like the Red Sea and move away from the center of the stage so the crowd has a better view of her.

Without exception, I met interesting people while waiting in line to get into the concerts. I'd say the crowd in Minneapolis was 80% people around age 25. They responded very enthusiastically to The Bangles, so I surmise they didn't just come only to hear Sick of Sara. I left for Milwaukee the next morning with light rain falling. By the time I took these pictures the threatening weather was gone. Here is chimney rock or whatever that you pass on I94. The rest of you - keep both your hands on the wheel! Anyone else see the image of the front of a piggy bank in the blue outline of the journey?

The stage at the Fine Line Music Cafe is only about three feet off main floor. Enlarge and look to the left. This dude is Greg "Harpo" Hilfman. I think the band had a different keyboard player in the 80's. If there's a 5th Bangle, this guy has to be "her". So, technically, The Bangles were never an all-girl band? Bangle LP's (young folks, ask your parents what they were), cassettes (again - parents), and CD's all have a keyboardist playing along. The keyboardist is never overwhelming, just like no single instrument ever dominates for long with this egalitarian (use the Google) group. (STOP with the parentheses, okay?)((Okay)). Plenty of groups have a keyboardist. The Bangles bring Greg everywhere: he's important to their sound.

I have been told Vicki isn't a good guitarist by someone involved with booking bands. I can't claim to be a critic of guitar technique. Maybe by studio musician standards she's not (I hear studio musicians are the real technicians) but who cares? I heard Vicki play for something like four and a half hours and didn't hear any mistakes. She makes a hell of a lot of sound. The real mystery is Sue, who I will get to presently.

I think there was an issue in the 80's about The Bangles not playing their own instruments on their albums. To be fair, I think that happens a lot. The true test of a band, to me, is "can they play the song live?" Bangles 1982-2000  Bangles 2000-2003 So let's say for the sake of argument that here in 2010 The Bangles need some sort of "help" in concert. Could that could take the form of piping recorded music or vocals through the PA system with the result being "concert augmentation"? In Minneapolis, for the only time on this Midwest tour, the band started a song then quickly stopped because Victoria's guitar cord had come unplugged. Both she and Sue take the cord, loop it through the bottom of their guitar strap, pull some slack, then plug in. Afterwards, Vicki hit a few chords to make sure she was good to go, then they started the song again. Since neither the music nor the vocals continued to play while Vicki fixed her technical problem, I think that pretty much clears up whether or not there is any "assistance" at Bangles concerts. So the point is this - this band sounds great live. Holy shit they sound good. They hit all the cords and produce all the effects and PRODUCE THE HARMONY you get used to listening to their CD's and are simply amazing. Before I went to The Bangles in 2007, the last concert I heard was Fleetwood Mac. Talk about playing for a paycheck ... I can't see how The Bangles make money doing these concerts. I think their motivation is something other than money. I think the mystery can be solved by looking at my many photos of their faces - I see Joy. These women are so comfortable and confident playing and singing together. They exchange knowing looks between themselves as they play. This is their thing: they share a confident exuberance. The band seems to always open with "Hazy Shade of Winter." Listen for the exhaled "Ha" at the end of the song.

These women don't mess around. They hardly take breaks between songs - not zero seconds from song to song like the Ramones but close. They bang(le) out a 23-24 song power set. If you stand next to the stage, you get the sound from their amplifiers. I think their voices go over the PA system - that kind of sucked. You would think club speakers would be better quality, but to me in all three places they seem to deliver a flat vocal sound. A microphone is placed by the band's guitar speakers and in that way blasted out the club's PA system. So to hear better sound, stand in front of the band. Duh. The vocals were somewhat drowned out in Minneapolis, but nowhere else.

I can't say I enjoy casinos. The Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee allows smoking, which is even less enjoyable. I met a couple of guys who worked for the state of Wisconsin - one guy was a college professor. I suggested to the one dude that "Ride the Ride" was The Bangles best song. He scoffed. During the concert, halfway through that song he tapped me on the shoulder and mouthed, "You were right." The guy across me was escorted out for video taping, as I mentioned earlier. He had no billy club marks on him when he returned. The theater had booths as well as tables right up against the stage, with a small orchestra pit if I remember correctly. A drunk guy next to me screamed "Vicki" all night. Thank you sir: yes, indeed her name is Vicki. How about lying down now under one of the tables and going to sleep? The guitar playing seemed tighter the second night, so did the vocals. Perhaps the vocals seems less muddy because some of the sound wasn't coming from speakers over my head, but from speakers in front of me.

Between songs, Sue puts on a capo tasto. Vicki addresses the crowd. Like I said, they didn't take very long breaks between songs. The Bangles don't talk much to the audience, but you get a touch of what I guess is extensive personality from them. These women remind me of the smart women I knew in college. If one Bangle dated themselves, the others would complain, "Hey, quit making us sound so old". Sue observed once, "We were popular before the Internet." Vicki observed that "yes" the band has released a CD "this century." Vicki spoke the most. It looks like she is signaling to a bartender for a beer, but that's not the case. In St. Louis the roadie guy put up little speakers in front. Maybe that what to help the sound quality of illegal videos destined for YouTube? Vicki asked the crowd not to post videos with poor sound quality. In my Hitler parodies, I fail to heed her (see above for the links).

I would never show Vicki's butt. I have more class. I wandered around the casino before the show. I ran into Sick of Sara. I have daughters their ages, so I thought they were cute (in their mid 20's way) running around living their dream. After the show, I lost $110 on the slots, then won $120 back. I lost another $60 and then won $100 so I packed it in. That took about 20 minutes. I don't want complicated wheels or games, I just want three fruit columns to either line up or not. Call me a Luddite - more accurately, call me someone who never visits casinos. But I do want to go to Vegas - for photography. Also, if I could win a million dollars within my 20 minute gambling tolerance, that would be just great.

I had a few beers and people-watched. If you close your eyes and listen, sometimes the crowd noise goes way down and the background casino noise sounds just like an orchestra warming up. I went to downtown for a bit but couldn't find anything to do. I came back to my hotel near Marquette University at perhaps one in the morning.

I didn't see anyone else travelling around to the midwest shows. Allow me to coin a term. The Grateful Dead had "Dead Heads" who followed that band around. Vicki calls it "Bangling" when she goes on tour. How about "Bangle Ganging" for those who follow the band around from Bangle concert to Bangle concert? Too much?

The drive from Milwaukee to Chicago is short.I just wandered around The Art Institute of Chicago in the afternoon and downtown Chicago that night. Like most major cities nowadays, there are lots and lots of police so you can walk around and be safe. I caught Craig Ferguson at The Chicago Theater. I would recommend seeing him if you can.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1841-1919 Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881 Oil on canvas Art Institute of Chicago paintings I liked. The last picture is of the "L" as I drove away from my hotel the next morning - only green lights ahead!

I would classify Sue's rhythm guitar playing as "minimalist." Is that bad? I'm not saying that it is. In St. Louis she dropped her pick, used her thumb for about six strums, then ran back for another pick. I had a few beers with a guy named Vince before the show in St. Louis. Early seating is great. I told him my fantasy didn't involve the married band members, but their music. I would enjoy asking all sorts of questions about particular songs. If I won the lottery I would pony up for The Bangles to let me sit in and listen to them practice. The payment would be for the annoyance of interrupting them to hear the difference between Vicki and Sue playing together and then hear their parts individually - stuff like that. At practice, I could discover the mysterious influence Harpo has on these women. There is a persistent rumor that The Bangles are merely automatons which Harpo controls from his panels in the back of the stage! That can't be right, can it? Then again, there are an awful lot of wires, and these "women" don't seem to have aged much ...

I hope this is not taken the wrong way - Sue sometimes practices upcoming chord changes in the silence before the next song. You can sometimes guess the next song that way. (No, I couldn't see the play list during the concert). I don't think it's unprofessional, by the way. I thought it was very down to earth, once I figured out to listen for it - it's drummer Debbi who shouldn't be allowed to practice her upcoming parts (crash! bang-bang ... thump thump thump - for upwards of ten minutes!)((*** See my earlier note -the editor ***)) (((Hey, wait a minute, there is no editor - you're the author, right? You son of a bitch!))).

Around 1887 Eadweard Muybridge took a sequence of photos (left). He showed definitively that at one point a galloping race horse has all four feet off the ground, helping to end contentious debate on the subject. Similarly, here in 2010, I end decades of controversy by offering definitive photographic proof that Sue sings on her tip toes (right-most). Told 'ya. Pay up beotches.

Those things that look like an open fishing tackle box are individual electronic gizmos that modify the sound of the guitars - like reverb and stuff like that. Both Vicki and Sue are always walking over to stomp on one switch or another as they play.

Enlarge the picture to see the guy who played bass guitar on this midwest tour (Derek Anderson). I thought he was excellent. I don't suppose he has the freedom to run wild with the bass groove. I think the bass lines are always a bit understated in Bangles recordings. Now Bangles bassists have become like Spinal Tap drummers Debbi auditions for Spinal Tap and have a high rate of turn-over. (Aside: Debbi, Debbi, Debbi, were you really so ready to run to The Tap? Hadn't you played enough Air Force Bases? I know The Bangles had broken up, but ...) Speaking of Bangle bassists who burst into flame (Zilinskas, Steele, Travis, the fellow who PLAYED ONE GIG in Pasadena) you note that they have this latest gentleman placed well in the back, away from Debbi. Derek's has awesome technique. He played well and enjoyed himself (Sue called him "smooth" at the end one night) but I was concerned about him over-heating. Perhaps the heat coming from Debbi's drumming dries the bassists out first, then they catch fire. Think heat shield, fans, or at a minimum keep the bassist moist. We'll wait while you, in the name of safety, wet them down every so often.

I guess the loss of Micki is most apparent in the lead vocals and Bangle harmonies. That said, the three remaining voices meld well. That is a huge appeal to me - the fact that the group members put forth as much effort singing accompaniment as when singing lead. And they use correct English (I don't believe they, for instance, would ever start a sentence with "and"). Vicki has a resonance in her voice that is appealing. Listen for Debbi's lower register where she sounds like Karen Carpenter. Of course, Sue sounds like that really hot girl at the loud college party whose raspy voice which has given out from too much partying coos loudly in your ear so you hear her - which makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up and your brain short-circuit. The only other analogy I can think of was when, as a much younger man visiting my friend on spring break, Southern coeds at the University of Alabama drawled at me at a kegger - that effect, too, was simply captivating. I should add that Sue has no Southern "twang" in her voice (just in case you aren't familiar with it) - she just has a truly one-of-a-kind voice.

I would be interested to know if all the Bangles are altos. Sue would be my guess for the highest range. She doesn't have a lot of power at the top - not a big deal. Debbi and Vicki (and Micki) ((HEY - why not Susi?))(((Sid and Susie)))((((Ya, but with an "e" at the end))))(((((You promised way back when to knock these off!))))) all have pleasant voices and figure out good harmonies. Micki was kind of the Ringo, in tune but maybe the least likely lead singer (check out "Glitter Years, she doesn't always finish the line strong in this under-rated song), except she was way way closer in vocal ability to the other Bangles than Ringo ever was to the rest of the Beatles. Then again, I can think of her singing "Between The Two" later in her career, I guess that's a pretty strong performance. So just disregard me. I found this on YouTube - judge for yourself Micky Steele and Micky Steele Between the Two. Here it is, she *sometimes* doesn't finish a phrase strong, and tails off - that's what I hear on Glitter Years and maybe that impression has stayed with me all these years. Really thinking about it, I am ready to pronounce that the Bangles before Micki retired had 3 3/4 solo voices, giving Ms. Steele the 3/4. Pretty cruel? Not really, her voice does something interesting in combination with the others - Sue singing backup is not the same as Sue with Micky, ditto for either of the Peterson's with Micki. There is a song where I couldn't tell for sure if Vicki sings lead or Debbi does - I think it's both of them, and it's notable. How so? Debbi has a more full sound, Vicki's voice has a certain clarity and resonance. When they punch lead out at the same time, you hear a blend of their voices which is like temporarily having a transitory Bangle, like one of those heavy elements on the periodic table that only exist in the lab for a few seconds. So, each Bangle voice can shape the others - I think this might be one of the major reason's I like this band.

My choir sang at the bicentennial in Washington and I was in a lame 16 member pops group like "Up the People" (Think Beatles, Turtles, and Burt Bacharach) so I know personally what it is to be a blender, not a solo voice. If that's what 'ya got, that's what 'ya got. So no offense intended to Ms. Steele. Here's my epiphany - perhaps the harmonizing of The Bangles reminds me of the four part harmony of the choirs and singing groups of my youth, and that, rather than the fact that they are attractive women, is what drives my interest in the group. Yup, I'm definitely going with that. If you go to my homepage I accompany AC/DC on "Highway to Hell". My choir and pops group actually made records, some of those recordings are my web site too. You are welcome to criticize my voice ...

I suppose The Bangles and Bad Bangles will never tour together again after that awful dressing room brawl in Vegas. I heard the Bad Bangles were surprised afterwards that the "goody-two-shoes" Bangles could take and throw punches! I bet neither band can remember which band "borrowed" the other's hair spray to start the fight ... sigh. I have had nothing but bad luck rocking out with the Bad Bangles. You have to admire a band so protective of their privacy that you don't even know the members names! I only heard them play once, in the old Colonial bar in Austin, in front of a really rough crowd. I was really pumped for the show. After beginning with their trademark belch into the microphone, The Gerls launched into their cover of the Knack's "Good Girls Don't (But I Do)" - followed by the Bad Bangles fan's favorite sing along - a cover of the Ramones - "The KKK Took My Baby Away". Half way through their first real song, "Just Shut Up and Listen", the bassist noticed she had been provided with the wrong brand of beer to swill between songs. I was told later by my friends that she just heaved her glass bottle full of beer into the crowd (it was Rhinelander - my friend Bill finished it), striking me in the temple (I had my head turned, watching the drummer taking her top off). That's all I remember. I next remember sitting on the curb outside the bar with one of the bouncers - one of the Bad Bangles had thrown him out of the club after their set finished. So I'm like that girl Sally Simpson who went to hear Tommy - I still carry the scar to remind me of my only Bad Bangles concert-

In Minneapolis Sue did the thing where she plays touching thigh-to-thigh with Vicki. I only saw it the one night. Sue also knelt in front of Vicki, you can find these kinds of photos if you search online. Come that lottery-pay-out-inspired rehearsal attendance I talked about earlier, I am definitely going to ask about this. In a video somewhere, Sue kneels in front of Vicki and Micki walks up behind her and pulls her head back by the hair. Ah, I daydream of the playful pillow fights these women might have had on their tour bus in the 80's, perhaps dressed in skimpy nighties ...

Here I am pulling into St. Louis. I stayed at a nice place right by The Pageant. This theater featured early seating, where those of us (well) over 21 could show up early, drink at the bar, then get first chance at general admission seating. Almost everyone else used this opportunity to grab a booth far away from the stage. I was the only person to go grab a place on the floor close to the band. Go figure. Let's talk about the obvious Arch picture. First, couldn't we re-route the ugly power lines? They're sure to draw the likes of Godzilla, Mothra, and David Lee Roth. Next let's talk advertising blight. It's an icon, the St. Louis Arch, Gateway to the West, but we have to be reminded of Steak 'n Shake? (Heeey buddy, I happen to like both steak AND shakes ... is this all this review-guy does, talk up The Bangles and trash meat and ice cream?) Hold the phone - IS DEBBI HOLDING A PILLOW in the poster?!! Damn! Oh, I just knew it! They are totally into pillow fighting! Now do you suppose ... in nighties?

Let's talk hair flips. Susanna Hoffs hair flips. Major-League Rock-and-Roll-Hall-of-Fame crowd-pleasing full-body wild-abandon power flips. You can tell when Sue is getting ready to start by observing her body language. She has to feel it first. Sue is no mere headbanger. Notice how she uses her whole body, not just cervical vertebrae, when hair flipping. Think Wayne's-World-head-bobbing to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody - NOT!

As you can see, though disorientated, she still makes it back to the microphone . I like that Derek the bassist head-bobs along with Sue. Dude, you have to grow your hair out first before you can flip it - Sue's even there to coach you! These women (and Harpo and the Derek) put on one hell of a show. You really have to catch one before they don't tour anymore. It would only take a bassist combusting and a slight breeze across the stage for the whole band to go up - poof! - so don't delay! Now excuse me, I have to go find a job ... (did that 7/2/10 whew!)

I went to Sausalito just north of San Francisco to see the Gurls play on September 4, 2010 Bangles Concert

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