Hooked on Sonics Fest
To describe the joy of this festival is difficult. Sure, before hand I paid a visit to Dave's wedding party where the margarita's were stiff as a board and as tasty as Remington's solos. Then I visited Konrad's birthday party with an iced down keg of dark beer that seemed to call my name. No telling how many of those I sucked down before realizing I was two hours late for the Hooked On Sonics Festival. The long walk to the Mercury helped me to realize I was more than half in the bag. But when I arrived at the club, and Astroblast was halfway through their set, my guilt melted into the sublime mood of the rock show.

I quickly found my camera and set to work as cameraman, the beer encouraging me to continually flash the Hooked On Sonics handsign of "Number One" whenever possible. Astroblast played wonderfully, and Bob's guitar work soon mesmirized me. When their set ended, I had a moment to catch my breath (and a few beers). By the time Halley took the stage, my buzz had taken on a capital B.

Halley seared through a near flawless set in front of a huge crowd of music fans who were all Hooked On Sonics. Hip Williams gave me all the direction I needed when he said "Your focus is the drums!" and I had the pleasure of filming nearly half of the Halley band as they traded musical chairs throughout the set.

I'll be honest, I remember very little of Experimental Aircraft's set. It took all my energy to keep the camera in my hand, but I can say this: Jason Ferguson fucking rocks. There are few things more exciting than watching a bad-ass drummer play an entire set, and I had the best seat in the house. I was grateful, however, when Catalina de Loren offered to work the camera for the last two songs, which allowed me to run the Kissinger lights that were donated for the evening, a much less stressful task.

My only regret was missing A Tiger Named Lovesick who opened the show. For the second time I failed to see their set, (the first time I tried to see them, they were opening for Spoon at Beerland, and the show was sold out when Hip Williams and I arrived) I have some recordings they've done at Pocket Change Studios which make me want to see them badly. I did get to hang out with them some between sets (over beer) and had lots of fun talking with them. Catalina raved about their set after the show, as did Hip. I'm hopeful they'll be able to play with us at Beerland in July.

The night was capped off fittingly when I went to use the restroom before leaving, and a concert goer recognized me as the cameraman who continually gave the Hooked On Sonics signature "Number One" sign all night. I humbly tried to excuse myself by mentioning that I'd had a bit to drink, and he replied. "yeah... no kidding."

What can I say? I'm Hooked!