Actually, its pretty easy to get kids to be excited about Christmas.  Just show up, set up and  the rest simply takes care of itself.

The smiles are everywhere; on each and every face.  Even our “musical expertise” can’t damper their spirits during this amazing time of year.

On Monday of last week, Carl and I fired up the O’l “Bob-and-Carl-Mobile”, and headed out to Garden City to begin our holiday music tour.

The inaugural show is always a bit clunky to us; as it is the very first show out of the gate, and lacks much of the polish and smoothness that we find after the first few shows are over.

No matter; those kids love it just as much as all of the other kids.  There are screams, bright faces and smiles as far as the eye can see.  We are always just more self-conscious, because we don’t have everything “down” yet.  While we might not think that the music is up to our standards that first show, the excitement level is always off the charts.

Seeing those kids watch in amazement as all of our props and lights burst fourth, always keeps us on our toes, and brings is joy.

We love playing music all year round.  We love playing at the many wonderful venues that we are lucky enough to be associated with.  We enjoy entertaining their customers, regulars, staff as well as all the patrons.

But most of all, we love playing for the children at Christmas.  There is something that is way more gratifying than anything else we ever do.  It might be the very first time that kids are exposed to live music being played.  (Well, mostly live).

These are the shows we truly love.

These are the very best of the very best shows that we do all year round.  We enjoy playing for the kids knowing whatever we do for them, stays with them for the entire year.

In 2017, we began with the Garden City show, and then had a day off to work out some of the timing issues.

Garden city works so well for us, as the atmosphere is calm and laid-back while we set up and get ready for the show.  We have a lot going on in our heads, that first one, since we have no idea really how the timing is going to play out.

While watching, some time, think about all of the things that are going on, many of them at the very same time.  Something has to keep us young. . . .

Wednesday was next up.  We arrived after lunch at Emerson Elementary, and began setting up for the show.

We started right on time to the delight of the huge crowd filling the gym-a-torium.  Helping us capture the show was budding photographer, Isabella.

The gym was filled with cheers, screams and song.  Just the way we like it.

The new show elements were a big hit, as we had hoped they would be.  2017 had one tight running show, that was for sure.  Carl moves pretty fast, and tries to get as many kids involved as he can.  Each element has as many participants as we can manage during our slam-bang hour tour.

Santa was this years’ focus, as the old guy and his red suit has taken a back seat to a lot of pretenders over the last several years.

    

Thursday morning found us at Twain Elementary, in frigid Fraser Michigan.  Playing to our second new principal in as many years, we were delighted to bring the holiday extravaganza back to Twain.  She stepped right in and helped everyone share in the fun.

So many people, parents, staff and kids have witnessed our show over the last twenty years; but Carl and I always wonder what it must be like to see the show for the very first time.  Crazy is the word that mostly comes to mind!

Moving on from the triumphant show at Twain, it was time to unload at Eisenhower.  The principal at Ike is one of our great friends, and so this show had better be hitting on all cylinders!

Oh, oh, the principal was out sick.  We’ll still do a good show anyway.  (why not, after all, we’re the consummate professionals!)  ((riggggght))

The Eisenhower show had everyone singing along, right from the very beginning.  Its almost as if they were waiting to sing form last year!

The schools crazy big, and the gym was crazy small.  Carl always works hard during these shows.  I’ll bet that he runs ten miles during every Holiday Extravaganza.

Before we knew it, Friday was upon us, and time for the last two shows of the year.  So happy, but so sad.

By this point, the show had each and every bug worked out of it.  It is tight, smooth and running at a very high level.  We know where the breaks are, the lulls and the laughs.  We know which direction they are looking, why they are screaming, and just what they want to be picked for.

Friday morning found us at Disney elementary.  Disney is the longest continuing running stop on our Holiday tour.  We have played here on Friday morning, since it became a Fraser tradition, way back in 2001.

The staff, principal, parents, kids and even PTO people join in as one to make it the jewel in the entire holiday lineup.

The only tough part about the Disney show is the fact that we need to push them to begin a wee bit early, as well as excuse ourselves from the post-show afterglow because we have to be setup and ready to go at a completely different school in less than one hour.

Its a pretty neat trick.  One that I wouldn’t advise any band or entertainer to try at home.

We finished the show at 10:00, and were packed up and heading to Salk at twenty minutes after.  All we had to do was to load everything in the van, drive to the new school and unload everything, before setting it up in place.

Miraculously, we were ready to play at 10:40.

The Salk show this year was our last show of the season.  Time to pull out all of the stops’ and let our musical hair down, so to speak.

We put in all of the songs and all of the bits.  The response was everything that we could have hoped for.

In the end, all of the teachers danced and paraded throughout the gym, as they have in years past; excited that school was ultimately over until next year.

Speaking of next year . . .

Carl and his Bob and Carl Holiday Extravaganza Event Planning Team will have about eleven months to think up a bunch of new and amazing bits to entertain, enthrall and enlighten kids with, next year at this same time.

Until then . . .

We’re tired, horse, sore and most of all very, very contented with the show we brought to thousands of wonderful kids this year.

Each stop on the Holiday tour is one of a kind.  Each different and amazing for one reason or another.  We wish to thank all of the staff and the children for allowing us to entertain again at their school.

We hope to bring an even bigger and better show back again next year.  That is our promise!

Rb

After a near six-month absence, Carl and I returned to the Three Blind Mice Irish Pub, in winter-like downtown Mount Clemens on Friday.

Our biggest take-away from the night . . . It was as if we had never left.

Some places will always give you the feeling of home, and the Mice is just such a place.

After spending most of the summer and fall on the bountiful banks of the Clinton River, it was a much different vibe, being inside doing what we do best; entertaining, acoustically.

As we have always felt, playing “In the round”, suits our style more than any other musical opportunity.  It lets us commiserate with the audience, which is usually only a few feet away.  That, we are good at.

We began our evening in just such a way, getting to know two fun couples who were right next to us while we set up our gear for the night.

They had a wonderful time throwing out requests of artists that we might know and be able to play, even before they had heard us play one song.  It was great fun for us, as it almost became an audition rather than a scheduled performance.

We had a lot in common, musically, since they seemed to like all of the performers that we did.  I believe that we nearly played our entire first set, comprised entirely of requests.  If you know us at all, you know that for us, that was great fun.

There was a lot going on at the Three Blind Mice that evening.  We were entertaining downstairs; the Red Wing game was on the television, and a band was upstairs playing to a throng on the big stage.

The band upstairs was excellent, playing a wide variety of musical styles and genres. People were dancing and listening to the high-octane sound.  I heard them do Motown with a fervor that really had to be experienced to appreciated.  The band was comprised of great musicians, who were a bit older than most of the bands that entertain upstairs.  To my ear, that was what made them really good.  They lived those songs and brought them back to life when the drummer clicked off each song.

It is so rewarding to be a part of a great musical venue like the Three Blind Mice.  Since it’s opening, they have had so many quality musical acts, that patrons absolutely know they will not be let down when they come out to visit.

Back downstairs, it was our turn to turn up the tempo and the volume, as the pub began to fill with several tables of holiday shopping refugees.

Huddled together and barking out request, we are torn between classic rock hits by Tom Petty, Bob Seger and R.E.M., as well as country songs by Cash, Brooks and Williams.

Throw in some Irish and Christmas songs, and you had a wonderful musical cornucopia of audible delights.

Carl and I still think of the Three Blind Mice Irish Pub in Mount Clemens, as our musical home.  We have worked, toiled, sweated and delighted at many of the sights, sounds and experiences we have lived there.  We have been there since the soft opening in 2013, and hope to be there in the future.

Can’t wait to return, and see what is in store for us over this next year.

Rb

 

 

Some people simply have an innate sense of order and direction.

We know that and understand all too well, just how someone with that talent serves an important purpose in all our lives.

And so it was on a chilly Saturday evening in December that we had the great fortune to come face-to-face with just such a person.

Let’s back up for a second, though . . .

Carl and I arrived at Bumper’s to set up our gear, early as we usually do.  Everything was going perfectly according to our ultimate plan.  And then, the gear did not operate correctly, as it was designed to do.  Throwing us off our schedule by fifteen minutes, only gave us a few moments to get up for our evening excitement that awaited us.  Working together, it was however, everything that we hoped for, and more.

Ready to take on the evening in front of us, Carl and I began our first set at Bumper’s Landing, by rolling out the Bob Seger music right out of the gate.

It was a very “stable” song, that gives us a chance to balance all of our equipment and get a handle on the acoustics of the room before we attempted music that was a bit more ambitious.

There were several people who ambled in and populated the bar on both side.  All of them were very polite and in the cheeriest of moods.  When we played, “Christmas Time’s A’ Coming!” for them, their mood became even cheerier!

Our first set comprised of lots of special songs that we ordinarily do not get a chance to play.  Country, Irish, Island and holiday music.  We played some songs a completely different way.  Its fun for us, and hopefully entertaining for everyone else.

We were well into our second set of the evening when the door opened, and in walked a group of revelers unlike any we had ever seen.  They walked into the place like they owned it; offering suggestions regarding when we could begin playing, and exactly what our set list should entail.

As I have already  stated, it is wonderful when we have a little direction in our lives.  Things move ahead much smoother; and additionally, it takes much of the burden of having to think for our selves off our shoulders.

So with a little direction and purpose, we were led on an unique musical journey of exploration and self awareness.  It was fun to play, fun to watch and even more fun just to be a part of.

They were a great group of happy people.  They were all in the right place, as it tuns out.  Bumper’s Landing caters to happy people!

The night wore on with things accelerating from Billy Joel right into Van Morrisson, and well past Neil Diamond.

It was a very intimate evening that we were lucky enough to share.  Spending a night with this group was quite memorable.

It was also our very last night to play at Bumper’s this year.

Looking backwards gave us pause to admire all of the amazing shows that we played, summer through fall and now onto winter.

We are very lucky to be a cherished part of the Bumper’s Landing “family”.  We do not take it lightly.  We all work hard, and expect only excellence in our work ethic there.  The staff and all of the regulars each add so much to the experience that we are both so very excited to begin and optimistic new year!

Rb

So its the holiday season around these parts; and everyone seems to be into the holiday spirits.

That’s perfect for us.  We love the holiday spirits.  They keep everyone happy and in the right frame of mind during a busy time of the year.

It was just such an experience that we had last weekend at Bumper’s Landing in Harrison Township.

Right from the start, there were smiles and happy faces when we opened the door to set up for the night.  It seems that there were lovely ladies in the house from a salon in Macomb Township, hosting their holiday party.

They were so much fun that Carl and I were just hanging on for dear life from the very first set.  Some groups come in and visit Bumper’s . . . .

. . .and, then there are groups that simple come in and make themselves right at home.
They are all good and welcome, for sure.

We love it when we are told what to play and just when to play it.  You know that works for us.  The food, the fun, the drinks were flowing, and we did the best that we could just to keep up.

Bumper’s was open to the regular customers as well, as it has been this entire winter.  Its a new thing for them and they are adjusting accordingly.

The music was up-tempo for most of the night, with a few slow songs in there to keep everyone honest.

We had some wonderful fans that come to hear us at other venues, who decided to drop by and visit.  Always nice to connect with them.  We even had some gals that needed to sing, and a place to do it.  We were happy to oblige them.  Always happy to help a rising star on the way to reaching their musical goal.

This night simply flew past, as it became midnight before we even knew it.  One thing we can count on at Bumper’s is that we never know what to expect.  Its always something there, and mostly always something different!

Rb