7th & 8th Church Service 9/28/08

125th Anniversary Parking Lot Party
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Brian, Bill and I performed for the 125th anniversary of the church. They had us in the parking lot, under a tent, for a huge fish fry. We slammed through a whole bunch of songs, and before we were done, the kids were requesting Hannah Montana tunes.

Zydeco's 9/28/08

After the fish fry, Bill and I went to Zydeco's to perform for a privat event. It turned out, it was a fund raiser for Nels Ackerson who is running for congress.
http://www.nels4congress.com/ 
It was a nice event which wrapped up fairly early. I was able to get some sleep after driving and performing every other second of the past week!

Kreso's 9/27/08

Duke led us to Bardstown, KY for a private show. The venue was this cool old movie theater, which had been converted into a dining area/performance hall. Brian had lived near where the family who owns the venue was originally from in Croatia.

My camera was passed around the room, and just about everybody took pictures with it, and then someone took it home with them.

Howl At The Moon 9/26/08

Bill and I ran into one of the women who worked at a differet club we played at for a couple of years as soon as we arrived at Howl. She used to work at Papa Joe's in Avon, and she told us how much she missed us. Brian pulled up at 5:59 and we started right at six.

We played a few of her favoites and the crowd kept us on stage longer than we were supposed to be up. Fun was had by all.

Zydeco's 9/25/08

The first part of the evening, the crowd was less than thrilled for us to be performing. As a matter of fact, the term "Energy Vampires" comes to mind. We played less than forty-five minute to a group of people who continually snarled at us, and then took a break. When we came back, most of the crowd had turned over, and it was like a breath of fresh air. The new people were so much fun, we played an extra half-hour.

Thanks, new people.

Bob & Tom 9/24/08

Mark Rohrman did an epiosde of Bass Talk this morning. It went something like this:

"A bass player and his girlfriend decided to wait to make love until after they were married. Time went by and they tied the knot. On their wedding night, they went to a hotel and made love for the first time. Immediately afterwards, the woman burst into tears.
The bass player asked, 'What's wrong?'
The woman responded, 'You're a terrible lover!'
The bass player asked,

'How could you tell in just thirty seconds?"

Howl At The Moon 9/23/08

Tod called me in to perform at the dueling piano club in downtown Indy tonight because he had to send some of his crew up to Chicago to help out a Howl there.

Garwood Orchards 9/21/08

Dan Holmes and Brian Yarde in Garwood Orchards
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

We followed Duke up to LaPorte, IN to play for some of the nicest folks around. Bill Ritter was out of town, so Jack Joseph took over bass duties. At the end of the show, we were given a couple of bags each to go pick apples. What a cool way to end a gig.

Adaggio's 9/20/08

Michael Shelton and Dan Holmes Dueling Pianos
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Michael Shelton and I brought our dueling piano show to the town of Greenfield, Indiana for a one night show. Being the dueling machines we are, we performed a four-hour show with no breaks. I brought along a drumset so we could slam through such favorites as "I Like Big Butts" and "Living On A Prayer".

Elks Lodge 9/19/08

Elks Lodge in Ft. Wayne, IN
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Ft. Wayne, IN once again welcomed us into the city limits. We backed Duke at a country club / lodge which had a golf course, bowling alley and a bar. We performed outside under a tent for a bunch of Duke's fans. One lady came up and gave us some unsolicited advice. She said the best thing for motion sickness was to smoke pot. Then she pointed to Brian and said we could do that with a teenager in the band. Ah, drunk people say the darndest things.

Zydeco's 9/18/08

Dan & Bill at Zydeco's
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

The Red Hat Society showed up twenty strong and before we even hit our first note, one of them came up to ask if we were going to be loud. I told her we were extreemly loud and she wouldn't like us very much. We played tons of stuff the red hats liked until the very end of the night when I faid to deliver. One lady asked me if I knew some more Chuck Berry. When I said no, she told me to go home and practice.

Bob & Tom 9/17/08

Empty Bob and Tom Studios after the show
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Duke wore a tie today to the Bob and Tom show. I should've taken his picture because it was the talk of the morning. It had little crabs on it, and if there's one thing you don't want to do around the Bob & Tom show is to bring up crabs. The only pic I took was after the show with no one in the studio.

Still cool, though not as cool as a pic of the crab tie.

Zydeco's 9/13/08

Dan Sings
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

For the third gig of the day, Bill and I performed as a duo inside Zydeco's to a packed house. The people inside were very reponsive to what we were doing, and it turned out to be a great gig. Sometimes, when performing more than one or two shows in a day, you can start to feel a little burned out. Zydeco's is one of those places where you gain energy just by being there. Too cool.

Roots and Rythm Fest 9/13/08

Roots and Rhythm Fest
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

After the bike event in Carmel, IN, we drove about 45 minutes southwest to Mooresville, IN. We setup outside on Main Street, in the middle of a bunch of classic cars to perform for about three hours. Brian, Bill and I were joined by the great Rob Dixon on sax.

If you'd like to hear Rob, check out his myspace at:
http://www.myspace.com/robdixonandtriology

 

Tour De Carmel 9/13/08

Tour De Carmel
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

An 8:00am start time found Brian, Bill and I in a shelter at a park during a pit stop on the path of a bike event which took cyclists all over Carmel, IN. As we performed, the crowd was constantly changing, so before each song, I had to introduce the band. We gave out tons of stickers to people wanting to know more about us. I hope the other bands performing at other stops had as much fun as we did!

Howl At The Moon 9/12/08

Bill, Brian and I rocked Howl tonight so hard that the crowd almost was interested. A couple of golf claps here, a slight chuckle there, you know, a crowd waiting for the warm up act to get off of the stage. We felt real love in the room.
Somewhere near the back.
By the bathroom cleaners.

Zydeco's 9/11/08

Zydeco's 10 Year Anniversary
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Tonight, Zydeco's celebrated their 10 year anniversary! Bill and I played for three hours for a bunch of people who were forced (by Deb) to listen to us play her new favorite song, "Pasadena King" three times. I love the fact that she loves our songs, so that is the reason I let her push me into performing the same song three times in one night when we normally don't repeat anything.

Oh, yeah, she also signs our checks. Luv ya, Deb!

Rum Runners 9/10/08

Rum Runners-1
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

This was the first Wednesday in a long time where I played with two other piano players (as opposed to a guitar and a piano). Billy and Tommy were the other two players that entertained the crowd with me this evening. As always, lots of Journey, Billy Joel and Elton John were played.

Bob & Tom 9/10/08

The Bob and Tom Show
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Lungs, Colts, hearts, Tumatoes, brains and bass talk weralon the air this morning. Right after we finished performing the two songs, "Lord, Help Our Colts" and "The NFL Song", two ladies from the traveling exibit, "Bodies Revealed" brought in parts of real human bodies as sort of a morbid show and tell. The exibit looks interesting, but it is off-puting to see a woman reach into a suitcase and pull out a smokers lung. Yuck.

Milano Inn 9/7/08

Milano Inn Colts Party
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Go Colts!

A party in the parking lot of the Milano Inn with everyone dressed in blue & white when you've had very little sleep and played a bunch of the hours which filled two days is almost like being on some weird hallucinogen in the middle of a dream involving deranged Smurfs or something.

I need sleep.

Zydeco's Brunch 9/7/08

Zydeco's Brunch
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

So we arrived at home from our gig last night at 4:45am this mornig. I was up by 8:15am to get showered and be downtown to set up P.A. for the gig this afternoon, which I'll head to straight from Zydeco's. Ugg.

If Zydeco's weren't so much fun, I'd never have made it through the day. Deb always has a way of perking you up no matter how tired you are. Plus my awesome wife kept me focused everytime I'd start to drift. Did I mention how awesome she is? Look at the photos she took.
Awesome, I tell you.

St. Jullian Wine Fest 9/6/08

St. Julian's Wine Fest
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Paw Paw, MI is about a four-and-a-half hour drive from Indy, so we arrived at almost 9p. The place was packed with people just waiting to get thier groove on with Duke's tunes. It was a cool, outdoor venue with hundreds of wine-loving fans. What more could we ask for?

The only thing that would've made this better is if we hadn't played a gig just prior to this one, and if we didn't have two more gigs in the morning. We finished at midnight, packed up and drove four-and-a-half hours home.

Penrod 9/6/08

Penrod
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

In front of the Indianapolis Museum Of Art each year, they hold a huge art fair with food, music, a kids area, and of coures, lots of booths selling artwork of every kind. We performed with Duke on the rock stage at 2p to people scattered all over the grounds of the IMA. It was a lot of fuun, but very rushed due to the switch over between acts. As soon as we finished, we jumped in our cars and with only a brief stop for lunch, headed to Paw Paw, MI for our evening performance.

Side note: The band before us ended with "Play That Funky Music White Boy" and the band after us opened with, yep, you guessed it, "Play That Funky Music White Boy".

Brooks Elementary School 9/5/08

Rob Dixon, Brian Yarde, Bill Ritter, and Dan Holmes
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Rob Dixon joined us on sax this evening at a back to school event for the kids in Noblesville, IN. We played for two-hours straight, and hit everything from "My Favorite Things" to "Great Balls Of Fire" to our biggest hit of the night, "Spongebob Squarepants". It's good to know a song like Spongebob when playing for hundreds of kids.

Zydeco's 9/4/08

From the piano...
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Well, it was a little rainy. I think Bill is getting sick. People were tired. But I did find out that the kung-fu joint next door will be moving soon, which means more parking in front of the building for Zydeco's customers.

I had fun, even if it was a little bit weird tonight.

Bob & Tom 9/3/08

Dan Holmes on the Bob & Tom Show
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

We're back on the air with Bob & Tom every Wednesday until the end of football season. Even though Mark Rohrman is no longer on the road with Duke, he will be joining us on the air. Tom remembered my name, Mark plugged his new group, "the Flying Toasters", and Duke had some good lines in the new songs. Thanks for listening!

Labor Dayz 9/1/08

Duke Tumatoe in Michigan City
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Michigan City, IN has had Duke close out their Labor Day Festival for years. We had a great crowd and the band was slamming. After our first set, I had a very nice woman approached me to let me know that we were not Duke's usual band. I told her that, in fact, we were Duke's new band, and we would be with him from now on. She told me I was wrong because in the past twenty-five years she had seen Duke, he always had the same people in his band. I decided that I would let her think what she wanted, and I went and ate an elephant ear.

JCC Pool Party 8/31/08

Dan Holmes Group at the JCC
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

The last pool party of the year, and the weather was perfect! Warm enough to make the pool feel great, but not too hot to sit and listen to us play some tunes. Brian was rockin' on my new little drum kit. It has an 18" kick, and 8' 10" & 12" toms. That guy can make anything sound good.

Linton Music Fest 8/30/08

Duke Tumatoe and the Power Trio at the Linton Music Fest
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Linton Music Fest 8/30/08

Duke Tumatoe had a bunch of fans out to support us in Linton, Indiana for a very cool music fest the town has put together. We played well and had a great time. After the show, a guy from the crowd came up to me and said, "Me and my buddy were trying to figure out if you were stoned. It turns out, you're just really happy." Weird.

Oh yeah, this was also the place where Duke left his guitar cable.
And his pants.
And his shoes.

Thanks goes out to my awesome wife for the great shots of the band.