New Guitarist!

Fast Forward is pleased to announce that Jason Ellison has joined the band. He replaces Mike Anderson whose career required that he relocate. Jason has over ten years experience leading Bottomzup, another very successful Lafayette area bar band. Come out to Curly 'N' Blondie's Hideaway May 18 or 19 to help give Jason a Fast Forward welcome!

Difficult Setup in Wingate

This morning I was wondering how I was going to do another "setup went well, no problems" post tonight. Be careful what you worry about. Tony is immobilized with the flu and Mike had to work late. That left Kyle, Brian, Donna and me to bring all of the equipment in. Fortunately the High Street Bar & Grill has no steps into the back door so we could use a hand truck for the heavy stuff.

Things got interesting when we realized that the only person who knows how to connect the lights to the controllers is Tony. I hope he feels well enough tomorrow to plug all of that stuff in or it's going to be a very dark stage.

Sound check was very abbreviated, we could only make sure everything was working, no songs to check balance or anything. Donna will be pretty busy the first few tunes tomorrow. Sound check revealed an annoying problem; one of the subs wasn't making any sound. We removed the 18" driver and found an open voice coil. That driver is less than a year old so it's still under warranty but it's such a pain to ship it back to the factory for repair. For this weekend we'll use an old driver that was removed last year.

That leaves a lot of things to be done tomorrow before the show. We need to carry Tony in so he can connect the lights. We might have to duct tape him to a mic stand so he can play. We need to install the replacement driver and also do a mini sound check. The bright side is that we'll be there early enough to get some of the prime rib special, usually they've run out by the time we get there. Mary and Triva will be ready to serve up some of their excellent food. Don't forget to try one of Triva's desserts!

Jessica came in to pick up a carryout order. She had her dog with her and Kyle wanted a picture with the dog. We talked about funny captions for the photo, such as "Kyle and his new girlfriend, along with her owner Jessica", but the more I look at the pic and the later it gets the more twisted the ideas get. So, let's have a contest. Post YOUR idea of a caption for this photo as a comment to this blog. I'll pick the best one at 5:00PM this Saturday. The winner gets a free drink either this Saturday night in Wingate or next month at the Hideaway. Twisted and kinky are good, bizarre is better.

Last Weekend

Wow, here it is Wednesday already and I'm just now putting together a post about last weekend! I've been busy with moving our website to a new hosting company. That always takes a lot more time than you think it should. You may have noticed the downtime we've been having with the old one. I hope this move takes care of that.

Enough excuses. Last weekend followed the same pattern as the January show at the Hideaway. There was a good, lively audience on Friday. Saturday was even better. We have more pics for the photo album, including some new ones for the "Show Us Your Tats" section. There were birthdays both nights.

Jim, Dan and Eddy from the Cole-Matthews Band (not sure I got that name right) were there with a big group celebrating a birthday. They sat in with us on "Every Rose" and "Dreams". Jared Skaggs sat in on "Pride and Joy". We had lots of people on stage Saturday!

It's time to start thinking about this coming weekend at the High Street Bar & Grill. We'll set up the equipment tomorrow night and be ready for another fun weekend. Show time there is 9:30 but if you want to enjoy some of their excellent food don't forget that the kitchen closes at 9:00.

Ready for another weekend at the Hideaway

Yesterday I wasn't sure we'd be able to get the trailer up the driveway but after a lot of work it was cleaned out. We got an early start this afternoon and had the trailer unloaded before the sun set. Hooray for longer days and more light. Bright sunshine yesterday and today was a welcome contrast to Tuesday's blizzard. It was also nice to get out for a change. We stayed inside during the blizzard and then yesterday pushed snow out of three driveways.


I think Brian's spent too much time indoors too. He was ready to play some drums tonight. We warmed up with 'Crazy Bitch' and then went over most of the new stuff. There were some that aren't really new, we just haven't done them for a while. The rest are all new for us, including a couple of Kyle's originals. Of course I'm not going to tell you what they are, you'll have to come to the show and hear them for yourself.




We've not played the last three weekends so we're all ready to have some fun, as I'm sure you are. Come on out to Curly 'N' Blondie's Hideaway Friday or Saturday (or both) and we'll have a great time!

Great Weekend

Well, that sure felt good. We made it through our first weekend with a new singer. Kyle did a fantastic job of learning a huge amount of new material in a very short time. Saturday night had an encore and we still got by with no repeats, although it was close. Kyle opend the third set with some material from his solo act so that gave us a bit of a cushion.




Friday's crowd was really good, Saturday the place was packed. The dance floor was full most of the time and everyone seemed to be having a good time. You can check our Photo Album for some pics and see for yourself. They're in the new "Friends 2007" section.

Setup at the Hideaway

Is everyone ready for a great weekend? We sure are. A new year, a new singer. Come on out and help us welcome Kyle Bledsoe to Fast Forward! We're at Curly 'N' Blondie's Hideaway this Friday and Saturday. Show time is 9:00PM. Setup went well and again we had lots of people there. Maybe they'll start a cover charge for Thursday night.

Blondie likes the new sound. She'll be there for the shows so be sure to say "Hi". We're ready for something new for the new year, are you? Come on out, we're going to have a great time!

Has Soundcheck become another part of the show?

We setup tonight at the Hideaway and again had a number of people in there watching us move equipment. When we started soundcheck there were applause and song requests and most of the other things that go on at a regular show.


Corin was there exhibiting her usual exuberance and promised to be there for the real show too. Do you see the nice shirt Doug is wearing? You can have one too - just see Donna at the show. They're $15 each or two for $25. You need a Fast Forward shirt - come get one!



Mandy was expecting a quiet night tending bar. That didn't happen. At least she was having as much fun as everyone else. She has Friday off but will be there as usual on Saturday.



Brenda stopped in for a beer and stayed awhile. She said she would be back this weekend. I hope she makes it to the weekend.

Come on out and see us! I'm sure this is going to be a really fun weekend at Curly 'N' Blondie's Hideaway
.

Halloween Party

What a weekend at the High Street Bar & Grill. Good times both nights but Saturday was especially fun. Lots of people were in costume, including the band. Yes, that's Doug in the little black dress - we didn't add a female vocalist.





We've not had the dance floor this full here before. A lot of people were out for a good time this weekend. We dusted off our traditional Halloween song, "Monster Mash". Thank goodness we won't have to do that again for another year. At Mike's suggestion we learned another vaguely Halloween type tune. It was originally done in the sixties by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs and has recently been redone by Bowling for Soup. "Little Red Riding Hood" could be a keeper. You might hear us play it again soon.

Steve kept busy giving away lots of prizes. There were free drinks, tee shirts and sweatshirts, and probably some other stuff I didn't hear about because I was busy taking pictures. Oh yeah, this is the place for the plug for our Photo Album. You'll find more pics from this weekend there.




As expected, there was a costume contest, judged by the audience. I think the kinky nurse won. There were quite a few hippie costumes with very impressive wigs, worn mostly by people who probably wished they still had that much hair.

Halloween on High Street

We're all set up for this weekend at the High Street Bar & Grill. This guy looks ready too, but I think he's spent a little too much time at the bar. Saturday night is costume night, so be sure to dress creatively. If there are enough people in costume we'll start a new section of the Photo Album and post some pictures.


We had a lot of people there when we did our sound check. That seems to be happening a lot lately, I'm not sure why. The shorter days and cooler weather put more people in the bars so maybe they're just getting an early start on the weekend. Or maybe it was just the pumpkin. Anyway, it does make sound check more fun.


Janessa was kind enough to pose with the skeleton. If you're disappointed that I didn't make any jokes involving the word bone you'll just have to make up your own and post it as a comment!

Setup at Wingate

We had a big surprise when we got to the High Street Bar & Grill tonight. The stage has been completely rebuilt making it larger in both width and depth. All of our equipment and all of us now fit entirely on the stage leaving the dance floor clear. We had to redo some of the rigging but overall it's a vast improvement over the old one.

While the new stage was a nice surprise it wasn't really a very happy evening. Our good friend Steve Madary passed away on Monday after a long fight with cancer. We went to his viewing tonight but couldn't stay as long as we would have liked because we needed to set up the equipment. Steve was a good friend and we will miss him.

2nd Annual Todd Smith Memorial Benefit and Poker Run

Tipmont REMC, friends, and co-workers, of the Smith Family are hosting the “2nd Annual Memorial Benefit” along with a Poker Run to help raise funds for the young Smith Children. This Annual Event will be held on Saturday, September 30, 2006, at the Lafayette Eagles Club, 3208 S. 18th St., Lafayette, IN. Poker Run Registration Begins at, Crawfordsville Eagles Club, 920 South Blvd, from 11:00 – Noon. Registration Fee is $20.00 per Bike.

Memory of Todd Smith

Todd Smith was 34 years old, a Journeyman Lineman, employed at Tipmont REMC for over ten years. On May 13, 2005, Todd was electrocuted while working on a high voltage distribution line in Wingate, IN, while restoring power after a storm went through leaving many homes without power.

Donations

A memorial fund has been established at Linden State Bank, donations may be sent to:
Todd Smith Memorial Fund
C/o Linden State Bank
PO Box 60
Linden, IN 47955

Admission is FREE and Open to the Public

Doors open at 3:00 – 11:00 pm: Lafayette Eagles Club. The day’s events will include live bands, dancing, food & beverages, gambling & raffles for adults, games & clowns for children, dunk tank & games, for teenagers and much more.

Fast Forward will be one of the live bands at the Lafayette Eagles location, as will Salazar.

Click here to download the official flyer for this event.

Setup at the Hideaway

We got an early start today. Tony got off work early so we headed over to the Hideaway at around 4:30 this afternoon. This is the first time there with the new backdrop. Roma and Mike enjoyed our sound check. We did all of our new material (sorry, no hints, you'll just have to come to the show to find out what's new) as well as a few requests. What the heck, as long as we were setup early we might as well play for a while and have some fun.


Laura and Jack seemed to be having a good time. She's from Indianapolis and was in Lafayette to meet a photophobic fireman from Chicago. He probably knows how flammable that Jack Daniels is and didn't want to be seen near it.


We also had a sort of art show. I think it's called "Jill in the Box" and is supposed to have everything you can imagine. Maybe you can see it this weekend although I can't say for sure if they will be there.

Great Weekend in Wingate

Another Thursday night at the High Street Bar & Grill in Wingate setting up the equipment for the weekend show. We got there early so we could enjoy some of Chef Triva's tasty fare.






People were ready to party in Wingate this weekend. Friday night saw the liveliest group we've had here. Things really got interesting when Duane asked if he could sit in and sing a song to his wife Donna. His choice was "Born to be Wild" which then prompted Steve to Ride his Harley through the back door and park it on the dance floor.

Hideaway, Benefit and Setup at Wingate

It's hard to believe it's been 10 days since the last posting. Lots has happened since then. We played the Hideaway last Friday and Saturday. Great time, lots of fun.







On Sunday we managed to get ourselves out of bed and back to work setting everything up again for Steve's benefit. What a party. The parking lot was a sea of HDs. Two bars were open with long lines at both. Hot sun and cold beer, yeah!



That brings us to today. We hauled everything to Wingate to set up at the High Street Bar & Grill. Soundcheck went well . This was our second time there so there was no confusion and we actually got home before dark! We're looking forward to enjoying the great food tomorrow. George and Wilma were just finishing when we got there tonight.

Preparation for Steve's benefit

We went to the American Legion Post 492 to check out the progress on the stage and other stuff needed for the benefit on July 9. Unfortunately, nothing has been done yet on the 16' x 24' stage so we'll check again tomorrow.

The people at the Legion have done a great job with their sign.




This is a really nice place. There's lots of room outside and if we need it, the inside is very roomy and available for the Steve's benefit.




The bar is well stocked so nobody will go thirsty this Sunday. Friendly bartenders will take very good care of everyone.







This will be a family friendly event so bring your kids and grandkids. There will be lots to do for everyone.

Don't forget, registration for the poker run starts at 10:AM. The hog roast and other exciting events begin at 3:00PM

Important announcement!

A good friend of ours, Steve Madary, is seriously ill and many people are trying to help. That certainly includes us and we hope it will include you.

There will be a benefit on Sunday, July 9 at American Legion Post 492 in West Lafayette. Activities include two different poker runs with sign in from 10 to 12. The fun and games, raffles, hog roast and live music start at 3. Fast Forward will be there making our usual amount of noise.

Cost is $5 adults / kids free

Here's a link to a map:




Map of
4929 State Road 43 N
West Lafayette, IN 47906-5763

If you weren't here you missed it!

Yoohoo, boys and girls, what a weekend!!! Energy levels and fan responce were AMAZING!!! Once again we thank you ALL for coning out to see the Fast Forward band. Hope you all enjoy the pics and make MANY comments. We've pulled off a few pics to tempt you over to the regular site. hope you enjoy!!!



Tony is wearing his damn hamster shirt. Regarding other familiar rodents I don't think that Mike brought his dead gerbil but it doesn't make much noise so you can never be sure.





Brian is still looking for a warmer place to sleep (he's single now).









Is it live or is it Shiva? You'll have to be here next time to find out. Or create your own demigod.












Mikey's magic moves mesmerize the masses.

Say that ten times fast after the third set and you get a free drink.