Sunday, August 30, 1998

Worcester State College

Worcester, Massachusetts

(Were you at this show?  Please introduce yourself!)

I’ve been hired by Worcester State four times now. All thanks to Renee Arnold and now Lori Morrissette. First time was Professional Pests. Last three with Hit Me. Worcester State has these cool welcome-back concerts in the courtyard / quad. We did the same show last year and it was a blast.

Secret: This was the first Hit Me show the band had done in months. We took the summer off to work on our own things. And for this show, Christine was already booked somewhere else on her own, so it was just the three of us. I was a little nervous it might not go well – but it was great.

Highlights of the show:

• Tried out three new songs we had never played before
• Somewhere near the first song, Rodney (the drummer) shouted out, "Stretch it out!" and so we did longer versions of songs that are usually tightly structured. Left more room to listen to the music instead of just the song or arrangement. We got a little more instrumental and it felt GREAT. I played better than I usually do. I think we all did.
• It was the first time I had my bass drum on stage with Hit Me.
• Rodney & Pete took a break, while I got up to do some cover songs solo. When I did George Michael’s "Faith", everyone got up dancing. Then Lori grabbed a stick & got the whole crowd doing the limbo underneath it while the band came up & joined in the groove.
• Everyone stayed dancing after that.
• Lastly – got everyone in the crowd into a big group picture with the digital camera (see below). It’s the best picture of an audience I’ve ever seen. I love it.