Before I go on, I wanted to say how fortunate I felt to be in the company of my old mates playing music again. It is my wish that we could record at least one more time if not more. We have the material. It would be an honor to go into the studio again with these guys.
With that said, I wish my honey would have taken more photos of the other lads, but most of what Janis got were shots of me onstage during the IRRMA concert in the Roof Garden in Arnolds Park, Iowa on Lake Okoboji. Hopefully when the Iowa R&R Music Association releases its material for 2014 there will be more of a variety.
Anyway, the first photo is of most of the band that performed for the concert. Mark had not yet arrived. It was our first day in Okoboji in front of the Roof Garden/Pavilion/Hall of Fame Museum. Behind that red truck to the left is the stage on which we performed.
The second photo is of the band from Janis’s seat in the large room. I originally estimated there were over 500 people in attendance, but after some thought and mental arithmetic, it had to be well over 1,000 attendees. So where is Kim in this picture? From left, Mark, Mick, Paul and Jon.
The third photo is another close up of me playing my new Hofner bass with Mark behind me. Where are those smiles? Since I sang on all of the songs we performed, it is hard to tell which one this was. I don’t remember Mark moving behind me toward center stage. I do remember having to dodge his effects pedal!
I was playing through the small Peavey amplifier behind Mark, and he was using the Fender which you see behind me. Maybe one day an equipment company like Vox or Fender will sponsor these concerts so the gear would match!
Finally the last photo is a follow up to the second one of “Where’s Waldo… I mean Kim”. Here he is playing guitar and singing.
More photos will follow, but it would have been nice to have the rest of the guys onstage with us. Steve Elliott, Ken Wiles, John Carstensen, Denny Walton and Dick Beadle (deceased) were not present, but we could not have been there without their participation over the years.
Mick Orton
Categories: Current News, Hall of Fame, Photos
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