It's Fucking Neal Schon!

Lately, I've been in a nostalgic mood, when it comes to the music I listen to. I'm talking pop punk (namely New Found Glory, Sugarcult, Allister, The Ataris, Blink 182, etc), mainstream radio, and Billy Joel. I can't seem to get out of it either, but I'm not complaining. It's pretty cool to see how my taste has been refined to what it has been now. It turns out that there's more to music than the 4 same power chords and a catchy chorus.

Speaking of music, Jeff and I went over to Dave's house yesterday for a little jam session. His Dad had a few of his friends over, so we knew it was going to be a fun time. When we walked in the door, Eric was in a trance-like state, sitting at the Rock Band drum throne. In the background, the guys were playing a standard E blues, in the 12 bar variety. Mr. Centeno was on bass, his other friend on guitar, and his other buddy, Vick, on the drum kit. On lead guitar, I saw this little guy with long curly hair, playing on a Gibson Les Paul, just shredding and tearing it up. It took me a few seconds at first, but I realized that it was Tony Okal, one of my buddies from high school. Jeff had no idea who he was until they all stopped playing. In the midst of all this, Dave was taking photos. Luckily, I brought my camera also, so I took a few of my own. Once that was all over, we had the introduction thing, and started to play more. I whipped out my acoustic, and we busted out with Feel Like Making Love by Bad Company. Siiiick stuff man. Songs by Sixpence None The Richer, Jimmy Eat World, Oasis, Sister Hazel, 3 Doors Down, and Third Eye Blind were all part of the remaining set. We would have played longer, but blame that on Franklin Park for having a 10:30 curfew for having loud jam bands playing in the home, or something like that. Afterwards, we all had burgers and hot dogs. Vick and Jim (Mr. Centeno) reminded me of my Dad and Uncle Roland, and how much they used to laugh and goof around with each other. Needless to say, we were all laughing our asses off. A few quotes, from what I can remember:

Vick: "Alright guys, I want you college kids to listen to me for a second."
*Jeff starts eating a burger*
Vick: "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! LISTEN! All right, paying attention? Good. Don't. Get. Married. For Christ's sake, fucking don't get married. Please. Be free. Have the most fun that you'll have. Fuck."

Jim: "I had this crazy ass dream last night, man. King Kong came out behind that tree that I've been wanting to cut down for 10 years. He swooped down, and grabbed me by the chest! Then in the background, there were some freaking pterodactyls....just milling around man!"
Vick: "Milling around? What, were they in the fuckin' smoking lounge?"
Jim: "Yeah man! Just milling around."


Jim: "I like that word.....'Drugs.' 'Druuugsss.' I like that word."
Vick: "Yeah. You can get around through jail by saying that, Bill Gates. 'Hey man, what are you in for?' *pushes up imaginary glasses* 'Drugsssss.' 'Oh, I won't mess with you man.'"

Vick: *looks at Dave* "Stop bullshitting around man, and let's get playing! I swear to God, I'm going to take my finger, stick it in my fucking ear, and shove it up your ass!!! At the same time!! And THAT'S NOT EVEN POSSIBLE! *looks at Jeff* AND I'M GOING TO SET YOU ON FIRE! But that's actually possible!!!"

Vick: "It's fucking Neal Schon! You know who he is, right?"
Okal: "Yes, I'm pretty well aware; I know who he is."
Vick: "Don't get testy with me, Neal. Fuck." *looks over at me, playing a Craig D'Andrea tune*.......And.....Hyroki!
*everyone laughs*
Vick: "Look at how all my beers have inspired him. You're playing the SHIT out of that guitar, man. You're good. Are you Japanese?"
*laughs*
Me: "Thanks man! And no, I'm not."
Vick: "Are you Pill-e-pee-no?"
Me: "Nice guess, and accent."

Me: *starts playing All For You by Sister Hazel*
Vick: "Fuck man, I thought I was old."

My cheeks and sides were hurting the whole night, and we were sad to see Vick leave for the night. He was hysterical, as you can probably tell from the above quotes. We're going to have another jam scheduled in the coming weekend, expect some photos.

Finally, here's a song that I've been learning by ear. I can't wait to bust out in this when the moment is just right. For now, I'll keep on practicing. Here it is: