The nightmare is always about the same. Standing on stage, in front of a large crowd, playing some show of some unremembered significance, we start the first song. Except I have forgotten how to play. Strings break, instruments topple, vocals sound alien, stages collapse, panic ensues. Jerking awake in a pool of sweat, I am relieved to discover it was only a dream.

At Scolari's Office, no one ever wakes up. Why is everyone watching me? As the applause transforms from an exaggerated roar to an appropriate display of appreciation, I am certain the jig is up. Pay no attention to the band behind the curtain. We make it look easy.

= adam =

Ah... Secret Apollo's first show. Or rather, Secret Apollo's first show with their new bassist (me!) after 8 months of searching and 3 months of rehearsal, and my first show EVER. We met up at our rehearsal space (aka ROCK CENTRAL) at nine to load, try and make each other nervous, and drove our Swingerís-like caravan five blocks to Scolari's Office.

We were supposed to be the first act, but a couple days before the show, a fourth act ‚ and I do mean act, as opposed to band ‚ was added to the bill and they would be "playing" first. It was a one-man show with a laptop (or three) and a screen with tons of psychedelic light patterns projected on to it. Very...experimental/atmospheric. It ran a bit long and we eventually took the corner ‚ erm... stage around 11pm.

A lot of our friends came out to support our first show which was awesome (my friend Jim even drove down from the LBC!). Nobody stood too close, but a few did break through the invisible wall when we bribed them with Red Vines. The set went well, with only a couple of errors (I expected much more than this for a first show!) which nobody but us noticed. Adam jumped around, lost his glasses, and handled all banter-responsibilities. Steve didn't loose his drumsticks, not even once. I managed to nail the one song I consistently screw up (vocally) in practice. Go Secret Apollo! And the only drunken heckler we had was quite nice, playing his own version of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, called 299 Secret Apollo Songs on the Set List.

In reality, our set was 15 songs. We opened with "Rock Out" for the "what the hell is this?!" factor, and closed with "Simple Thing" because it's fun and fast (unlike all our other songs...not). There was stuff in between which you don't care about. It was good. You should come see our next show.

In sum, Steve and I had a good time (although if you were to quote me, I'd actually say "blast") and Adam too will admit he had fun, but only after bemoaning some general disappointment in his vocal performance. I didn't notice it. I'd rather he jumped around and brought the emotion and the rock to our performance (which he did quite nicely) rather than hit every note right. And apparently Steve was doing some entertaining stuff behind me too as several people commented on how "great" he was during post-rock schmooz. I missed it since I've yet to learn the art of going to visit the drummer while I play. And me? Well, I made it through my first show pretty darn well if I do say so myself and am looking forward to playing many more!

~*~Amber~*~

Ah, yes.