News from Minarik guitars

Here's an excerpt from the latest Minarik guitars newsletter. I'm sharing this because it features two bands that I know and a shout out to my brother for his photos. Enjoy! ~M

Minarik:

Thanks to Bernard Baur, who connected us with Debra Collins who booked the Private Industry Party at the Fender Ave. Bar and Grille, we got 2 of our top artists on the stage Thursday night.

To give you some background on the venue, The place is located on Fender Avenue in Fullerton where the Legendary Fender Guitar Company first started producing the Strat way back when. While a totally industrial area, there is one hot spot on the entire block and that is the legendary Fender Ave Bar and Grille. While not the biggest club in the city, it has one of the coolest stages and sound systems around, with a totally intimate atmosphere, and more beers on draft than you could possibly imagine.

Our entourage which included Marc, Nicole, me, Rick and Dawn Drago, Alexa and Vinny Vetere Jr, Justin and Linda Emord, and Peter Lustall went up together and got seated right in front of the stage. And the action began right at 7 PM. But before we begin with the action, we almost didn't get any pix. With all the komotion at the NAMM Show, we were charging the battery on our camera and ended up leaving it at the Show. However, Alexa seems to have just about everything in her purse, and in this case it was her camera, so we have a record of the night's activities. In addition, Jason Mills also lent his camera to the cause so together we got some pretty decent shots. A Big thanks to Lexi and Jason.

JOE WALLA'S BAND

If there is one guy you would want to get the night off to a rousing start at any venue, that would be our story-teller extraodinaire, JoeWalla. And Joe and his band were at their very best with all of their hits, including the classic "Little Crack Whore". I can't remember an opener at a club where the place was so crowded from the first number. I was glad we got ours eats when we did, as it was SRO before Joe struck his first note.

SHEENA'S BEER BONG BAND

Well, Sheena's Beer Bong Band came into the venue as The Most Outrageous Band in Hollywood, and left the stage as the most outrageous band in Orange County. In fact, in a conservative area like O/C, I'm surprised they didn't raid the place. In any case, those that were expecting the unusual were not disappointed. The heptet of Sheena, Layfette Lixx, Freddi Fretz, Rikki Rokkstar, Ivana Rock Mistress Cheery Pie, and Lovitt Loud left the industry-only crowd in a daze, wondering if what they had just seen and heard was for real or something from a psychedelic trip.

Unlike their performance at the All Access Awards Show, the BB Band didn't confine their outrage to the stage, they spread it into the audience by passing out "The Beer Bong Song Book" AKA "Sing Along With Bong."