Sportstime's Sunday Night Open Mic - May 29th

Greetings Cats and Dogs!!

Memorial Day weekend facing off against the Jazz Festival with the house and Drew's Mixing boards all put to rest, and still we had a good times and put on a great show.  Luckily we have our own equipment, and I would like to take a moment on this great holiday of ours to offer my condolensces to the Didactic Drew Epton on his loss.  To have to watch a dumb drunk stumble and kill his board with a glass of house draft while a Godsmack tribute band performed was the sort of heartless torture that a man like Drew doesn't deserve.  This is in no way a reference to the quality of sound being played, nor in any way a reflection on my opinion of that band or Godsmack.  I am just showing my support for a good friend who lost an expensive and sentimental piece of equipment.

We did not have our best night in terms of attendence, but we had a great one last night anyways as many of our regular fans and musicans still came out in support of our event.  Londee is a great talent, we at FA-Q ALLiance look forward to performing with her on full time gigs.  She is a complete talent while on stage and an amazing performer.  Her musical versatility was put on display last night to the delight of everyone in attendance.  I understand she is gigging not only with us but also with Multiple Dimensions, so make it a point to check out both bands and hear Londee perform.

Krystal and her man (who will be reviewed next week I hope, left handed guitar players are cool) came by on a whim and seemed to enjoy themselves.  Krystal has obviously had a history as a lead singer and while she felt rusty, it didn't show that way on stage.  Her set was amazing and I only wish we had more time on Sunday Nights as I could have listened to her for hours.  The crowd was just as appreciative of her talents.

Dubs led a long set that the crowd ate up.  You can hear his other band, the Shrewd Louis Trio, playing right now as you read this.  We have heard him on bass, Percussion, and last night brought him Lead Singing and Guitar.  Check out the Shrewd Louis link on this blog if you want to learn more.

Hugh came back by but did not stay long but it's always nice to see him and J. Alan jam together.  Manuel led the band with his trademark style for a set and has spent the week adding to his songlist.  Stephen Powers and Graham Sisk were back this week and sounded great as is their norm, they are definately the basis of a solid sound.  Still haven't heard Stephen play the harmonica, but we look forward to it.  Ernie and Jose played and closed the night on an Ernie original that was a great leadin to Bryan's fire spinning finale in the parking lot. 

Our Song Chart for the night:

 

Performance Time		Band Name	Musicians					Comments
Start	Finish		Singers	Guitar	Drum	Bass	Keys
7:30	8:00	Sound Check and opening Jam		Sergio Quesada Bryan Bell	J. Alan	Brent L. Miller Bryan Bell	Bubba	Bluesy sound check
8:00	8:30	The Cucumber Set		Bryan Bell	J. Alan			Bryan doing solo acoustic work with guitar percussion then jazzy songs with J. Alan
8:30	9:00	FA-Q ALLiance	Bubba Brent L. Miller Londee	Sergio Quesada Bryan Bell	J. Alan	Bryan Bell Brent L. Miller	Bubba	Jazz, Blues, and Rock Covers.   Londee is an amazing talent who plays with both FA-Q ALLiance and Multiple Dimensions
9:15	10:00	Graham and Stephen		Sergio Quesada Graham Sisk	Stephen Powers	Bryan Bell Graham Sisk		Rock Covers, without vocal
10:00	10:30	Manual Set	Manual Santana	Hugh	J. Alan	Bryan Bell	Bubba	Pop covers, and some
10:30	11:15	Dubs Set	Dubs	Sergio Dubs	J. Alan	Bryan Bell		Good Sounding Rock and Roll with some Shrewd Louis Sound
11:15	11:38	Krystal	Krystal	Krystal	J. Alan	Bryan Bell	Bubba	Krystal was amazing and it’s not hard to believe she has recorded in the past.
11:38	Close	Ernie Stott	Ernie Stott	Ernie Stott Jose	J. Alan	Bryan Bell	Bubba	Great Ernie Original

I'd like to thank Gretchen Schmid for again doing video work for us.  We hope to put out a pure FA-Q ALLiance video as well as one that documents all the performers from last night out soon.  To see the first one click below or goto youtube and search FA-Q ALLiance.  Gretchen is a good friend and does great work.

Dubs was great on the sound as has become his norm.  Thanks again for a job well done and certainly appreciated.  I do hope as Bubba always asks that people tipped out the servers well as Eric and Lena worked hard last night.  We hope to get some songs down next week and are still looking to set another photo shoot event in the coming weeks.

Our performers list:

List of Performers:	Band/Performer	Performance Skills	Links and Upcoming Events
Brent L. Miller, Rabbi Pimp Shoes, Mr. Brand New	Performer, Host	Pocket Bass, Lead Singing
Preacher Bubba	Performer	Keyboards, Lead Singing, Bass, Mixing and Production
Bryan Bell, the Cucumber	Performer	Lead Bass, Lead Guitar, Lead Singing
Josh Alan	Performer	Drums
John “Dubs” Gomez	Performer	Sound Master,  Lead Guitar, Lead Singer, Song Writer	Shrewd Louis Trio and other bands
FA-Q ALLiance	Band	Fusion R&B and Alternative Rock Band	Performing in June: June 16th at Sportstime II June 17th at Zuffies
Sergio Quesada	Performer	Lead Guitar
Londee	Peformer	Lead Singer	Featured Performer with both FA-Q ALLiance, and Multiple Dimensions
Manual	Performer	Rapper, Lead Singer
Stephen Powers	Performer	Drums, Harmonica
Graham Sisk	Performer	Lead Guitar, Bass
Hugh “J.Alan’s dad”	Performer	Lead Guitar
Krystal	Performer	Lead Singer, Accoustic Guitar
Jose	Performer	Lead Guitar
Ernie Stott	Performer	Guitar	Kudzu Killers

I'm going to close the blog this week by mentioning Bryan "the Cucumber" Bell.  He is an amazing performer on a lot of levels.  He started the night doing a unique number on his accoustic guitar.  The night finished with him spinning fire, something I have written about before and is a lot of fun to watch.  In between the two Bryan also showcased as a lead singer and one hell of a bassman.

I'd like to thank everyone for your support, the band appreciates it and we hope everyone enjoys themselves.

So until next week, FA-Q ALL!!

Sportstime's Sunday Night Open Mic - May 22nd

Greetings Cats and Dogs!!

Before I get into the review of our Open Mic last night, I want to point out that the very first FA-Q Alliance hosting Sportstime Open Mic Video is out on youtube, just search FA-Q Alliance.  I think Gretchen Schmid did a great job and I look forward to seeing her do more videos of our events.  We got together before publishing it to make certain that everyone that is shown on the video got proper credit.  I think one of Tiye's friends is on it but at the time didn't want to be on the list, otherwise we nailed it.  I have also attached a utility at the bottom of the Blog to lead you to the video, it is the top one as the other ones are unaffiliated.  As we get more videos, they will be replaced.  I hope everyone who watches our video is entertained.

Now to focus on our most recent event, Open Mic at Sportstime.  Sunday Night may have been our best night ever.  From top to bottom it was just an amazing all around night and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did.  The sound system up at Sportstime Bar and Grill was running perfectly, allowing Dubs to jam out a lot more.  Drew Epton put some work in over the weekend and it showed.  Kudos to the Didactic Drew and the Dynamic Dubs!! 

Blaise Zieman, a regular of ours since the start of these events, led off by leading the entire band on some seriously grooving classic rock tunes.  While we played none of the FA-Q Alliance covers (we are more classic blues and progressive rock), I did hold the bottom with Blaise for my longest stint yet on a Sunday Night and loved every second of it.  Chris and Brian were content to let me play as long as I wanted, and I appreciated it.  Blaise was his best yet last night and will be required to lead a set every week from now on (per Bubba and everyone).  Great start to the fun, as we hit our traditional Jazz Jam following the rocking start.

The last couple of weeks we have had Conga's set up, and we have often ventured into having multiple Bass players onstage at the same time as readers of this blog know, but surprisingly it wasn't until last night that we had our largest lineups onstage.  At one point we had 1 lead singer, 3 backup singers, a Bassman, two Lead Guitar Players, Keyboard, Drums and Congas.  Great jam that I wish was video recorded.  We do not play any house sound from the moment we start until we throw everyone off the stage, nights like last night are tougher to stop than fill.  It is a trend that I hope continues unabated.

Serious Kudos go out to many people, but J. Alan's father Hugh came out and was a Rob Roux level player who mixed well with everyone.  Black Shampu was another highlight of the night as they were awesome and really got the crowd behind them.  Kamal, a friend of ours from Zuffy's, is a great stage presence.  Matter of fact, everyone was good and everyone mixed it up as is our tradition.  Matt Harshaw was entertaining the patio with my Accoustic Bass while we set up, and hopefully soon he will join us onstage.  I think every song grooved and every moment was special.  Just look at the chart of the music for the night:

Performance Time		Band Name	Musicians					Comments
Start	Finish		Singers	Guitar	Drum	Bass	Keys
6:00	8:00	Patio Jam and Open Mic setup				Matthew Harshaw		The old acoustic set on the patio
8:00	8:45	Opening Sound Check Jam	Blaise Zieman	Blaise Zieman	J .Alan Dubs	Brent L Miller	Bubba	Rock and Roll plus Blues Cover Songs
8:45	9:30	Jazz Jam		Sergio Quesada	J. Alan Bubba Brent Miller	Bryan Bell	Bubba	Jazz Covers and Jams
9:30	10:00	Open Jam		Hugh (Josh’s Dad)	J. Alan Sargento	Chris Edwards	Simian	Great Jazz Covers, and some blues
10:00	10:30	Black Sampu	Carlos Hayes	Red Dog	Rex	Black Piranha	Simian	Great Covers
10:30	11:00	Dubs Set	Andrew Meredeth Dubs	Andrew Meredeth	Spangler Mike Nii	Dubs	Bubba	Grooving Covers and Original Work
11:00	11:15	Londee Set	Londee	Hugh	Mike Nii	Chris Edwards	Bubba	Originals and Great Covers
11:15	11:30	Rob Roux Set		Rob Roux Sergio Quesada Hugh	Mike Nii Dubs	Bryan Bell	Simian Bubba	Jazz Jam
11:30	11:45	Kamal and Manual Set	Kamal Manual Londee Andrew	Rob Roux Sergio Quesada Hugh	J.Alan Dubs	Chris Edwards	Bubba	Kamal and Manual both led while Manual, Londee and even Andrew sang backup.  Only had 2 guitar players at a time though.
11:45	Close	The Cucumber Closes		Bryan Bell	Bryan Bell			Accoustic Jazz Guitar/percussion Close

Bryan does a great solo act, and we will try and work that in earlier in the night each week, as a closing act I think we are better suited to having him out in the parking lot spinning fire and getting everyone out of the bar so Anna and Lena can close.  As Bubba often pushes, I hope everyone tipped those hard working ladies well.  They really had their hands full last night as it was our best crowd yet.

I don't normally comment on the crowd, but Matt's folks (Sky, Crystal and Crystal's Man) were great.  Having Elizabeth Blackmon, Sarah Barker, Eric Osman and his beautiful wife, OhSoZen, Rebecca, Joi, Jay added to our ever growing crowd was just awesome.  Having a couple of them talk with the band and plot lead singing adventures in future events was priceless. 

It's not our blog unless I mention the Rob Roux set, he played almost an hour and said it felt like a few minutes.  A feeling shared by everyone at Sportstime I believe.   Not only was the music and conversation great, but everyone seemed on the same page.  Night's like that make all the practice and hard work setting up and breaking down worthwhile. 

List of Performers:	Band/Performer	Performance Skills	Links and Upcoming Events
Brent L. Miller, Rabbi Pimp Shoes, Mr. Brand New	Performer, Host	Pocket Bass, Lead Singing	FA-Q Alliance
Preacher Bubba	Performer	Keyboards, Lead Singing, Bass, Mixing and Production	FA-Q Alliance and multiple bands
Bryan Bell, the Cucumber	Performer	Lead Bass, Lead Guitar, Lead Singing	FA-Q Alliance and multiple bands
Josh Alan	Performer	Drums	FA-Q Alliance and other projects
John “Dubs” Gomez	Performer	Sound Master,  Lead Guitar, Lead Singer, Song Writer	Shrewd Louis Trio and other bands
FA-Q Alliance	Band	Fusion R&B and Alternative Rock Band	Covers and Originals
Sergio Quesada	Performer	Lead Guitar	FA-Q Alliance
Chris Edwards	Performer	Bass	Multiple Bands
Carlos Hayes	Performer	Bass, Lead Singer, Keyboards	Black Shampu
Simian	Performer	Keyboards	Muliple Bands
Rob Roux	Performer	Lead Guitar
Eric Osman	Performer	Singer
Hugh (Josh’s Dad)	Performer	Lead Guitar
Blaise Zieman	Performer	Lead Singer
Manual	Performer	Rapper, Singer
Black Shampu	Band	Rock and Funk	Reverb Nation:  Black Shampu
Rex	Performer	Drums	Black Shampu
Blake Piranha	Performer	Bass	Black Shampu
Red Dog	Performer	Lead Guitar	Black Shampu
Sargento	Performer	Purcussion
Eric Osman	Performer	Lead Guitar
Kamal	Performer	Host, Singer
Mike Nii	Performer	Drummer
Londee	Performer	Lead Singer
Matt Harshaw	Performer	Accoustic Bass

If I wasn't Jewish, I'd hope for an early Christmas gift of a few brass guys coming out and checking out the show.  We will in the future have to work at closing up earlier so we can get Anna and Lena home earlier, but the quality of music and entertainment at these events has quickly become a matter of pride for the FA-Q Alliance.  Until shown otherwise, we honestly have the best Open Mic event running in Atlanta.  Doubt me, come and check it out for yourself.

Until next time check out our video on youtube and never forget, FA-Q ALL!!