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This Past Weekend in PA, OH, IL & OK
Tue., Jul. 3. 2007 12:54am EDT
We began our 10-day tour this past weekend with the 15th Anniversary Celebration concert in Wexford PA (Friday), plus concerts in Geneva-on-the-Lake OH (Saturday), Wood River IL (Sunday), and Oklahoma City OK (Monday). What a way to kick things off ... it felt like we got a 100-yard return for a touchdown.
We started and finished the anniversary show with the band's current line-up -- J. Jackson on lead vocals, Karl Messner on lead guitar, Keith "Holy Driver" Haynie on bass, Bill "Wild Thing" Hubauer on keyboards, and Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner on drums for "None Too Ladylike," "Tom Saw Ya," "Boulevard of Both Extremes," and "Love and Kisses."
At various times throughout the rest of the show, Keith and Jimmy graciously allowed a parade of alumni bassists and drummers to sit in with us. Here's the final list of our guest stars at the anniversary show and what they played:
Jeff Pakula (our original drummer) played percussion on numerous songs throughout the show, including "Meshach," "Hotel Can't Afford Ya," "Baa! We're Lambs," "Bad Dad," and more.
Ron Zanski (fill-in drummer at a few concerts in 1993) played tambourine on "Meshach."
John Taylor (fill-in bassist at five concerts from 2005-06) played bass on "Hotel Can't Afford Ya" and "Baa! We're Lambs."
Sarah Haynie (Keith's daughter), Julie Tanner (Jimmy's daughter), and Destiny Dynasty sang the female vocals (originally performed by Everlife) on "Meshach" and "Heavenly Hill." Sarah provided the female vocals on "Heavenly Hill" on our "Wordplay" CD.
Jerry Hayostek (our original bassist, a.k.a. "Jammin' Jerry Jangles") played bass on "Bad Dad" and "Heavenly Hill."
When Jerry and Jeff both were on stage simultaneously with J. and Karl, four of the original five ApologetiX band members were on stage together for the first time since 1994. Original rhythm guitarist Andy Sparks, who later switched to bass, was unable to attend because of health reasons.
Steve Kayner (bassist on "Isn't Wasn't Ain't" and at various concerts from 1992-94) played bass on "Little Esther" and "He Really Got Mad." Friday was also Steve's birthday.
Keith Harrold (drummer on "Isn't Wasn't Ain't," and various times from 1992-00) played drums on "Little Esther" and "He Really Got Mad."
Bob Flaherty (drummer from 1995-98) played drums on "People" and "Walk His Way."
Fred Behanna (drummer from 1999-01) played drums on "I Love Apostle Paul" and "Smart Blest Man."
Bill "Moose" Rieger (drummer from 2001-05), played drums on "Devil Went Down to Jordan," "Look Yourself," and "Enter Samson."
Besides Andy Sparks, others invited to the show who couldn't come included Rick Servocky (drummer from 1993-95), B.J. Collins (keyboardist on "Ticked" and part of "Jesus Christ Morningstar"), David "BZ" McKee (drummer on "Jesus Christ Morningstar"), Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz (drummer on part of "Biblical Graffiti"), Scott Gilbert (fill-in bassist at two concerts in 2001), and Allen Muckle (drummer at three concerts in 2001).
The weekend's other two concerts were well organized and well attended, although they included some uninvited guest stars.
Saturday's show was the ideal atmosphere for an outdoor concert -- a warm, clear summer night with a gentle breeze. Then we were besieged by swarms of midges -- tiny insects that look like big gnats. Thankfully, they weren't biting, so it just made for great visuals. We've done shows near lakes before, and bugs come with the territory.
We almost had more bug problems at Sunday's show. The promoters informed us they'd had to change our dressing room before we arrived, because the original room had been infested with gnats. Meanwhile, our fellow Pittsburgh residents, the Pirates, were defeated by the Nats (the Washington Nationals) 3-2 that same afternoon.
Special thanks to:
Our concert coordinators: Pastor Dave Chambers (Wexford), Richard Urch (Geneva-on-the-Lake), Anna Broadfoot (Wood River); and Paul Means (Oklahoma City).
Our merchandise coordinators: Marie (Wexford, Geneva-on-the-Lake, Wood River, and Oklahoma City); Audra, Eve, Bonnie, Sally-Ann, and Danielle (Wexford); Josh, Katy, Tim, Amanda, Alison, Beth, Becca, and Angie (Geneva-on-the-Lake); Christen, Tara, Erin, Lyndsey, Amanda, James, and Audra (Wood River); and Sarah (Oklahoma City)
Our roadies: Rich, Greg, Larry, Bethany, Brandon and Evan (Wexford and Geneva-on-the-Lake)
Our sound and light crew: Micah, Ted, and Goose
Our video crew: Eric and Marger (from Video Horizons) and Greg
Our opening band: Supertropolis (Oklahoma City)
Our bus driver: Pastor Dave Johnson, the pride of Travers City MI. For more information on Dave, see related story.
Honorable mention to:
- Derek, Brandi, Jenna, and Caleb Leasure, who thus far have followed through on their promise of attending every show on this 10-day tour. Not only that, they brought along our friend "Pipe Down" Marie Polick, who has now seen us in 14 states. What a nice surprise!
- Audra Knatcal, who attended the shows in both Wexford and Wood River and has now seen us 49 times in 10 states.
- Chris Christopherson (and her pals Brandi, Memory and Missy), who attended the shows in both Wexford and Geneva-on-the-Lake, and has now been to 48 concerts in 14 states. Chris has also brought 35 different people to our shows!
- Darrell "Mad Dog" Doesken, who promoted last year's concert in Wichita KS and came to the Wood River and Oklahoma City shows with his wife, Mary Beth, and son, David. Darrell has now seen ApologetiX play in five states -- Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. And rumor has it, he and his family may be coming to Tuesday's show in Abilene.
- Charles Palmer, who promoted our concert a few years ago in Sykeston MO, and has now seen us in at five states -- Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee. As usual, his cool Aunt Dianne came along.
- the many fans who came from out of state, including Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin, to Friday's anniversary show. There are too many to name here, but thanks for packing the house. Here's a nice comment from one of them:
I am from Massachusetts. My family and I celebrated with you at your 15th anniversary concert this past Friday. We just happened to be coming home from visiting Grandma in Wisconsin, and your concert fit right in! It was a great time! Thank you for allowing us to be there and to see the bus. The bus looks great! I hope you will spend many comfortable miles in it.
My husband and my ten-year-old son, Levi, got to sit right next to the place where Karl played guitar while standing on a pew. My eight-year-old son, Evan, who has a broken finger, was able to have Karl sign his cast. Thank you for being Christian role models for my children. Evan wants to play drums, and Levi wants to play guitar.
Julia Duprey
Belchertown MA
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