Varsity Strings

Monday, May 10, 2010

Where are the Nikbeats?!

A Nikbeat isn't ever square.

A Nikbeat has very long hair.

A Nikbeat doesn't wear silk ties.

A Nikbeat never brags or lies.

If you find one in your house,

She probably will be reading Proust.

If you find one in your kitchen,

He probably will be cooking pidgeon.

If you find some in the street,
Watch out for their size 12 feet.

So look around, stop and stare,

Cause Nikbeats could be ANYWHERE!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

KidsFest is a giant two day celebration of children that wraps up all of San Diego's Children's Week celebrations. It's a big bash they hold for non-profit children's charities and businesses that specialize in activities for kids. A huge thanks to Tina Platt, who asked us to both open the festival at 10am and headline it at noon with two super-fun music sets.

Varsity Strings' singer/songwriter James is going to do an acoustic set to open the festival, first thing in the morning. Here he is doing a sound check -

I don't think our neighbors liked this, we don't usually play Jimi Hendrix at 8:00am on a Saturday - we start practicing with Red House before Declan arrives. Hey, Curly Max can play drums! He didn't tell me!

Meanwhie, back at KidsFest, James is doing a set of his own songs -

Then Declan shows up for morning practice and the Garage Band really gets loud. This is the last practice before we run to the festival for our set -

The Cheer Squad from Madison High shows up!

GO MADISON!

By now James is out enjoying the festival, no worries for the rest of the day -

And we're ready. With a brief, accurate introduction from the announcer, ("this is Varsity Strings; they're all hams) we kick off a fire breathing set, starting with Johnny B. Goode! I (Dark Max) get to have the honor of playing the first guitar solo of the day!

And - here's our Song List:

Johnny B. Goode

Paint It Black

Bossa Dorado

Sweet Home Alabama

Always On The Run

Cissy Strut

Red River Blues

Communication Breakdown

Batman Wipes Out

I think we finally painted that door and that line of cars black.
(You're welcome, Mick.)

Wireless amps are fun! A ham I am. With the right tools, you can make any audience member feel awkward and uncomfortable!

Okay, this is just nuts. Watch it.

The dream is realized. Playing Zep's Communication Breakdown for a more than a thousand people. I think we're all having lots of fun right now!

And of course, this is a Kids Fest, so we had to teach the kids about who's who in the world, right?

With a name like "Batman Wipes Out," you know that this is going to have a healthy dosage of devastating Declan drum solos, cool Curly Max basslines, and devilish guitar abuse by Dark Max.

Once again, we're all hams.

Channel 9 News got to Point Loma on the double when they heard about Varsity Strings's performance!

"And if we're lucky, folks, we might catch 'Dangerous Digits' Declan for a rare interview, so keep your fingers crossed!"

There was a pond with millions of plastic ducks at the kids fest. What else is there to say?

Sound check at 9:00am - This is the best sound man in San Diego.

James arrives at the main gate -

And has time for a few photos -

There are those dang ducks again!

Actually, this looks pretty fun! Does 17 years old count as a kid?

Declan and his loyal roadies set up as fast as possible -

"Well, Dark Max, we've made it to the big time."

"Wanna get a burrito afterwards? I'm hungry."

" ... "

AAA! A Drill Sergeant is here to make us do push-ups and... oh, wait, it's just Declan. Phew!

For the second time in a row, Curly Max gets Golden Violin Special Diamond Edition Award for Looking the Most Like A Rock Musician and Having Jeans That Are Genuinely Ripped, Not Those Expensive Ones You Buy That Are Fake-Ripped.