This is the continuation of a series of posts – select Category LIFE AS A BAND MEMBER to read in sequence.

After all the practicing in a garage for months, Second Chance version 1.0 (Me, Dennis, Steve, Mick and Howard) was ready to play out. We started looking to play at local bars but of course with no experience and no media package or word of mouth, we had to take what we could get. Even if it was for free.

I can’t remember if it was our first gig but in the Fall of 1980 we played the Ellison High School commons area during lunch time. Playing my old High School was a dream come true. The commons area was like a big open area with a stage that abutted the open cafeteria. A really big area with a nice, big stage. Back then, we had cheap instruments and borrowed speakers and amps from the Fort Hood Music Center but we made the best of it.

We were playing in front of people that knew me. My brothers and their friends and our girlfriends were in the audience. Because Ellison had two lunch periods and we were only playing during the first, we had kids skipping their classes to sit and listen to us.

Playing my old high school was a feeling I will never forget. I started to come out of my introvert shell and become a front man. We were a five piece at the time but we would later return and play Ellison High School again as a four piece after Howard moved away with his family.

We got another gig on Fort Hood playing for the Grunts (slang for military personnel) at Fiddlers Green, a recreation center for the military folks. It was a kind of activity hall for adults. We set up our equipment, once again we were borrowing from the Fort Hood Music Center, and that night during our sound check Howard touched his bass and then touched a microphone and started shocking the shit out of himself. Dennis, being the quick thinker, tackled him to get him to release the mic. It was a scary moment and a learning experience – make sure everything is grounded.  Howard was shook up and disappeared for a walk outside for 30-45 minutes. He returned and played the gig. It was a small audience but we had fun playing for them. They loved the live music. We were getting better and better at playing live. We were ready for bigger things.

Fiddlers Green ©John Sturgeon Photography

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