The busiest month for the Evangenitals yet! Spent last weekend in the studio with veteran producer Blair Lamb and captured four songs on three reels of 2 inch tape. For me "Gasoline" was the undisputed highlight with "Never Again" running a close second. We'll be posting these in a short while once post production is completed. On the second day of recording (Saturday) we also performed for Alan Murdock's birthday party. A great set and a great crowd, we closed that performance with the appropriately themed "Home" in which the entire building sang along. Back in the studio on Sunday where I stayed late working on the rhythm tracks for "Que Queg". Monday we grabbed our shit and plunked it on the El Cid stage for the big show in Silverlake.



In my mind, the Return of El Cid was an important lesson for the band. The music was beautiful and the draw was noteworthy but behind the scenes, there was some fear and perhaps a lack of faith and gratitude from a few heavies which threatened to cast a dark cloud over the evening. By the time we hit the stage, I could feel the humidity in the crowd, who seemed a little less receptive than usual. Ugh. The fear was understated yet contageous, the spiritual stakes were high, and we absolutely needed to dig deep if we were going to rise up, turn the room, and spread some love before the whole damn barrel went bad. We opened the set with our new super-slow countrified version of OutKast's "Hey Ya". My guitar was falling out of tune but I managed to dance around the problem, smile, and not panic. The tune was a perfect opener that captured the room's attention and laid the groundwork for the change of vibe we were petitioning for. To me, that song was the first administering of the antidote. So sweet, playful and innocent- it was our way of saying to the crowd and to ourselves,"Hey, we know the vibe in here is a little dim but you can rest easy now. You're among friends and everthing is OK. Have a good time!" Next up was "Never Again" with pro drummer Jeff Donovan on the skins. Another rocky start. I looked over at Juli. I could see she too was rattled but angrily defiant- like only an undefeated champion boxer can be, I suppose. I swear she had a look in her eye that said "I'm not going to let you friggin' haters win, whoever you are!" This gave me added strength and by the end of the tune we had a fair shake of momentum going. Still, our bid for One Love was strong but not yet unanimous. The middle of the set revisited the quiet "truckstop fairytale thing" we do so well. My favorite mechanic, Fabian, told me some woman started crying right next to him during the new ballad "Lisa's Song". Apparently, we were getting through after all. I should mention that our new bubble machine prop was introduced for the epic sea tale "Que Queg". With Donovan returning to the kit, we ran through another new tune "Fuck 'Em All". But it was the one-two punch of "Gasoline" and the closer, a ROCKING reprisal of "Hey Ya" that nailed the coffin shut on any surviving naysayers. Lisa and Juli went into an hysterical freestyle bit where they said their goodbyes and dirty danced off the stage, leaving the rhythym section to close out the evening with a big KaBoom! The crowd went nuts and the closing arguments had been made: One Love, Dammit! It was a scene right out from either Heaven or Las Vegas! Total kitsch! Divine, flawed and fucking brilliant!