www.marilynbrant.com

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Rockin' in the U.S.A.



Pictured above: The Mojo Daddies, singing and playing. L to R: Rob Twardock (bass/keyboards), Jim Campbell (drums--hard to see in this photo!--talking with the stage manager), Mike Dikelsky (rhythm guitar) and Craig James (lead guitar).

This past weekend, I had the rare opportunity to tag along as a rock-n-roll groupie at a concert by a fabulous local band, The Mojo Daddies, as they opened for Los Lobos. What a blast!! Their show was called "Centerpalooza," and it was held on Saturday at Governors State University in Illinois. I've had the pleasure of seeing The Mojo Daddies (TMD) perform live many times, and I have their awesome CD of original songs, "Back to Champaign" (you can listen to tracks from it, as well as to several of their cover tunes, on their website), so I was already a big fan. And since two of my very good friends are married to band members (!!), I knew it was going to be an all-day/night party months before we ordered our tickets. But getting to watch and be a part of all the cool behind-the-stage stuff was really exciting, and the new people I met were so welcoming and such fun to be around. Below are some of the highlights:

(left) The Los Lobos with TMD sign.

(right) Joyce, Carol and Sarah, married to band members Rob, Mike and Craig, respectively, showing off their new TMD t-shirts.

(left) Joyce, Sarah, Carol and I (they gave me a shirt, too!) posing in the party room near the stage--where there were many treats, including pizza, beer/wine and some delicious cupcakes *made for adults* with Irish cream in the frosting and Guinness in the batter...

(right) The view from backstage, looking out into the theater.

(left) TMD doing their sound check before the show with a better glimpse of Jim on drums this time!

(right) The band practicing and getting instructions from the stage manager.

(left) Some *very* cute shoes worn by two friends, although not the kind of footwear one should have on for 12 straight hours, isn't that right, ladies?! ;-)

Finally, Los Lobos performing live onstage after their special guests The Mojo Daddies and Backyard Tire Fire. What a great show!!

17 comments:

L.A. Mitchell said...

Marilyn,
Sounds like you had a blast last weekend, too! It's all about the music ;)

Hope you're enjoying Spring!

Anonymous said...

WOOOOO, loved having you there to hang and listen and have all the fun! :)

Edie Ramer said...

Marilyn, it sounds like it was a blast! The music, the food, and friends. All fun. You can use this in a book some day.

Pamala Knight said...

Looks like a good time was had by all! Edie beat me to it when she said that it should make for an excellent scene in a book someday, ;-).

Glad you had fun and that is some spiffy-looking footwear, lol.

*waves*

Maria Geraci said...

Fun! Love all the pics;)

Tonya Kappes said...

I'm glad you got out and had fun!!

Pamela Cayne said...

What fun!!! (And if you can get the recipe for those cupcakes, I would appreciate it greatly!)

Marilyn Brant said...

L.A., spring couldn't get here soon enough for my tastes! Hope you're having a wonderful one, too ;).

Hey, Ms. Anonymous! Love you xoxo.

Edie, LOL! You bet! I had my imaginary writer's notebook open and was mentally scribbling all day :-).

Pamala~I totally loved the footwear, too...from a nice, safe, admiring distance! I was very practical myself and wore boring sneakers!

Thanks, Maria!! I took far more than I had space to include, but these were my faves ;).

Tonya~thank you! It was totally a break from my normal (and pretty boring) weekend routine--LOL.

Pamela, ohhhh, those cupcakes...your 1/8 Irish heart would enjoy them very much, I think :). I'll see what I can find out!

Robin said...

How fun! Thanks for sharing pictures! You've got me jazzed to look into a concert - I haven't been to one in too long.

Marilyn Brant said...

Thanks, Robin!! I hadn't been to one in a while either, so it was great fun ;).

Unknown said...

Sounds like a lot of fun to me! We never get to do anything like that!

miriama said...

I'm with Pamela. I would love the recipe for those cupcakes!

Unknown said...

Marilyn, Thanks for your Mojo Daddie commentary! It was a special night for us. Glad you were able to make it down and share the fun with us!
BTW, very cool blog - saving it to my favorites.
Thanks again,
Tmdjim

Marilyn Brant said...

Thanks, Virginia :). It was a pretty unusual event for me, too!!

Miriama~I am totally gonna hunt down that recipe for all of us! I'm not even Irish, but those cupcakes had me wanting to keep celebrating St. Patrick's Day--LOL.

Jim!!! It was a pleasure, and you guys were absolutely awesome onstage! I enjoyed watching all 3 bands, but TMD was my clear fave ;). Any chance you guys might open for Bon Jovi someday?! (Hey, a girl can dream...)

Morgan Mandel said...

There's something about music that makes a person happy. I'm glad you had a good time.

Marilyn, check my blog listed below on Monday, because you are one of the recipients of the Happy 101 award.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Marilyn Brant said...

Morgan, thank you for the blog award!! That was so nice ;). I just changed over my blog and website this weekend and am having some trouble with the images here...I'm hoping it will correct itself soon, but even if I can't put up the award you gave me right away, I really appreciate it!

Brittany Roshelle said...

That sounds like so much fun!