I write contemporary women's fiction, and some really weird short stories. In this blog, I plan to talk about writing, and my path towards publication. Stick around. (For the time being I am not blogging on any regular schedule.)
Okay, here are the last two songs performed by the Rock Bottom Remainders in Boston on April 24, 2010. (The "final" song, then an encore added in at the last minute. Sam Barry is bringing the amazingness on vocals and harmonica.) Pardon the shaky video, but I was at the foot of the stage, being jostled by dancers (and yes, bopping a bit myself), plus I was three margaritas in. You understand. Fortunately, you probably won't be able to figure out which of the cheers, screams, and singing in the background are mine...
Also, I got another piece of Tweet-fiction published in Thaumatrope last week! Check it out: cold-hearted.
So, The Rock Bottom Remainders concert on Saturday in Boston benefited WORLD VISION's efforts on behalf of Haiti relief and the AMERICA’S PROMISE ALLIANCE (according to the website), and apparently also was affiliated with the WE GIVE BOOKS campaign... I caught one of the free t-shirts that were thrown into the audience by the band (shown above), and later found out that proceeds from all Rock Bottom Remainders merchandise was going to support that same campaign (I bought an RBR t-shirt).
My friend and I hung around the stage after the show and as you can see, I was able to get signatures from Ridley Pearson, Dave Barry, Mitch Albom, and Amy Tan (on the penguin). My friend tried to get a cell phone photo of me getting the signature from Amy, but the light was too low.
You don't care! You want more video! Here is Greg Iles, singing another RBR original tune (once again I'm sorry for missing the first few verses) with the help of "ringers" Sam Barry (Dave's younger brother) on harmonica, and Erasmo Paolo on saxophone.
I'm a Big Bestseller
(There's an official band upload/higher quality version of this song from the Philly show here if anyone's interested. But there's no possibility of hearing me cheering drunkenly on the audio, so it's up to you which version you want to mark as your favorite in your own YouTube accounts...)
On Saturday night I went to see The Rock Bottom Remainders live in concert at the Royale (formerly the Roxy) in Boston. Author-friend Debra Schubert got to see the band a little more up-close than I did, since her city (Philly) had an option for "VIP" tickets with a meet & greet cocktail hour before the show, but I managed to get some signatures anyway, and I had a thoroughly wonderful evening.
Band members on Saturday included: Mitch Albom, Ridley Pearson, Dave Barry, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Amy Tan, Greg Iles, and Roy Blount, Jr. At the end of the night I asked the band's sound guy if there was any reason why Steve King didn't make it, and he said that King was behind on a deadline, and owed 6,000 words to his editor and needed to be home writing. Yes, even Stephen King still has deadlines. Yes, he has to skip fun events to get his word count in. I said that was the best excuse I'd ever heard, and the sound guy didn't believe me, but I was totally serious.
I expected the band to just do covers ("Paperback Writer," of course) but was delighted by a couple of their original songs! And I hope you will be, too. I'm going to quit writing now and just give you the video. In fact, I have enough video to last ALL WEEK. Come back on Wednesday and again on Friday for more.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:
THE ROCK BOTTOM REMAINDERS!
Amy Tan sings These Boots Were Made For Walking
The bearded gentleman on the left is Greg Iles (guitar). To the right you'll see Ridley Pearson (bass) and Dave Barry in the blue t-shirt (guitar). Mitch Albom is barely visible here (keyboards) but you'll see more of him later.
Mitch Albom sings Buddy Holly
Sorry, I didn't get video of him as Elvis. This isn't the best clip, but I assure you the man can sing. The man way on the end in the stars-and-stripes top hat is Roy Blount, Jr. He can't sing (he said it, not me!) but he was a great MC, and if you see a man in a weird hat in any of these videos, that's Roy. Amy Tan is rocking the white wig, and between her and Mitch you'll see Kathi Kamen Goldmark, who is married to Sam "the talented brother" Barry (again, they said it, not me!). You'll see Sam featured prominently in the Wednesday and Friday videos.
Dave Barry is in love with a Proofreading Woman
I sadly missed filming the first verse of this (original!) song, but it went something like:
Some men like a woman with a sexy body
Some men want a woman with a beautiful face
I like a woman with a big vocabulary
Who never leaves a comma out of place.
Okay, I've had it dealing with Blogger and YouTube, so you'll get more video on Wednesday. See you then!
