As opposed to last time when we only had one day to write three songs and learn a cover, the Champagne of Bands actually rehearsed TWICE before this show.  I know, I know – but we’re perfectionists like that.

The cool part of this show was that each of us performed with our individual projects before the reunion.  Duncan Wilder Johnson did his spoken word thing, delivering hilarious and touching stories of heavy metal and friendship.  Bo Barringer played solo.  On bass.  It was unbelievably compelling and innovative.  Sidewalk Driver played a beautiful acoustic set, including a cover of Sade’s “Smooth Operator.”  And Kuuluuko brought the house down with a scorching blues/rock set.

As for us, the Best Intentions were once again down a man, but Jason Dunn of The Luxury ably stepped in.  Not to brag or nuttin, but we felt pretty g-darn good about our performance.  We brought the rock and roll to this sleepy town on a Tuesday night like it hasn’t been broughten in a wee bit. 

Here was the problem – I gave it all during my set… completely forgetting that I had to play ANOTHER set with my OTHER band.  In that brief moment in between the two sets, I realized exactly how old and decrepit I really am.

Luckily, playing with the fellas in Champagne of Bands gets the adrenaline pumping.  Here’s our first song, “Boston Band Crush:  The Song (a.k.a. Ode to Sophia)”:

And here’s the new song we wrote for the occasion, aptly entitled “Reunion”:

Not to get all sensitive on you, but I do feel very fortunate to have been randomly placed in this band with these four guys.  I’m grateful to not only have them as bandmates, but as friends.  This is definitely not the last you’ve seen of the Champagne of Bands.

We had our first rehearsal last night and it didn’t take long to recapture the magic.  Bo was laying down tasty licks, Tad was making terrible jokes, Cullen was continuing the streak as the nicest guy ever, Duncan was cursing his way through power pop hooks – it was like we never left. 

More importantly, we wrote a new song which combines our powers like Voltron.  And it just might be our most epic piece of work to date.  It’s all happening, Penny.  It’s all happening.  (February 9 at the Middle East Upstairs, to be specific).

For a walk down memory lane, here’s a video of “Boston Band Crush:  The Song” by the Champagne of Bands.  Bo’s guitar was out of tune on purpose, just in case you were wondering.