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December 26 Merry Christmas to everyone! We truly hope your holiday is a good one and that you are safe and happy! We had a great weekend at The Octane. Friday was a little bittersweet. We took some to remember our friend Big John who had passed away the Monday before. He was a big part of the Octane family and also a great friend to the band. The place was packed with people who had just come from his funeral. We took about 15 minutes to pay our respects and thank some people that had helped during a very rough time. We played a song we learned for him and then we did Simple Man for his mother. It was actually very nice and many people thanked us for what we did. The rest of the night went pretty well. People seemed to need to be together there and be cheered up as well. It felt good to be apart of that. Saturday was a bit slower, but still a lot of fun. Ex-Angry Jon members, Steve and Tom showed up and played a few songs and we had a good time. Thanks, to The Octane Lounge for always being so good to us and Big John will be missed! This Friday we are back, after two years, at The Waterfront. They have new owners and have re-modeled since the last time we were there. We are looking forward to getting back there and need your support for our first time back. Two days before New Years Eve is a tough slot, but they wanted us and we love playing. Now, we just need you!!! For the first time in six years, we won't be playing The Blooze for New Years Eve! We love being there, this year we wanted to try something else and The Octane had been asking for a long time. So we will be at The Octane Lounge Monday, December 31 st to ring in the New Year. We love this place and they are really looking forward to having us. There will be a $10.00 per person cover or $15.00 per couple. They will also be having a costume contest with a $100.00 prize for most creative and $100.00 for sexiest. There will also be a champagne toast at midnight. It's going to be a blast and a night not to be missed. December 19 Last Friday is the busiest night for company and personal Christmas parties. That usually means a slow night at the bar. Except at Cactus Jacks! Thanks to everyone who came out and helped celebrate Will's birthday. It was a fun night and Charlie even stopped by for a couple of tunes. The bar was understaffed and they still did a great job taking care of everyone. Next year we will be playing a few double night weekends at Cactus, so keep your eye on the schedule. This weekend we head out to The Octane Lounge. It's a drive, but it's a great place to play. The staff always rocks and they are very hot as well. We always look forward to playing here and seeing the regulars that we get out there. Come out for a little pre-Christmas cheer. They are located on Bell Road , just east of Grand Ave. On New Years Eve, we will be at The Octane once again. We expect a full house and it should be a great time. We have one other show before the end of the year at The Waterfront in Chandler. We would really appreciate your support at this show. We haven't been there in over two years and since then they have re-modeled and have a new owner. Help us show them what an Angry Jon show is all about!!! December 12 Blooze always feels like home. It is our longest standing gig and we love playing there. For the second Friday in a row, it was pouring rain. That didn't stop people though. We had a great weekend. Saturday was bitter sweet. We celebrated Charlie's birthday and also his last show with us. He played great and it was sad to say goodbye, but I'm sure we will see him in the future. We also celebrated Tumbleweeds birthday as well. It was good to see him up and around and in good spirits. The staff was awesome and our light man Larry did an awesome light show for us! Thanks to everyone who came out and Charlie wanted me to tell everyone that he has had a blast during his time in the band and he appreciated everyone's support thru the years. This weekend we will be celebrating another birthday… Mr Will Pierce!!! He actual age is a mystery, but we keep threatening to cut him in half and count the rings. We will be celebrating at Cactus Jacks on Friday night. Cactus Jacks now has the kitchen re-opened and open late. They always have cold beer and jager and the staff rocks! We play from 9:30 til wasted, so come join the fun!!! We have The Octane Lounge coming up next weekend and then we go back to The Waterfront in Chandler the following Friday night. New Years Eve will be out at The Octane this year. We have some new venues coming up next year and we are looking forward to rocking 2008!!! December 3 I know we need the rain here in Arizona , but not when were playing a biker bar! Hardtailz did rock, but it was a little light on Friday night, as I'm hearing it was everywhere. There wasn't one bike in the parking lot all night and that was a little weird. It was still a fun night and we did see quite a few friends. Saturday was much busier and the house was rocking! We really like playing Hardtailz! The place always seems to have a great vibe, the staff is awesome and the people are that go there are just really cool. Thanks for another great night!!! This weekend will be a little bitter sweet. We are playing at The Blooze, another of our favorite clubs. Saturday night is going to be a pretty special night. It will be Charlie's official last gig with us. It is also his birthday! Not only that, it's also Tumbleweeds birthday. Mike will be playing with us on Friday and then Charlie will be playing the whole night on Saturday. Come out and help us celebrate a great friends birthday and last show with the band. Let's send Charlie off with a bang and a great memory. We will also have Larry the Light Guy running a full light show for us. We will be celebrating Will's birthday at Cactus Jacks the following Friday. We have New Years Eve this year at The Octane, which is revving up to be a big night at a very cool club. November 27 We hope your Thanksgiving weekend was a great one. We started our week off early by playing this past Wednesday night at Pepper's. It wasn't very busy, but it was a good time. Thanks to Donavan from Big Town for stopping by and singing a couple of songs. Also, the guy's from Mr. Hyde for coming out and jamming a few tunes and just hanging out! We knew it was going to be a light night, but we usually play a show Thanksgiving eve and it was nice to be close to home. On Saturday, Eden and I opened our home to a few good friends for our Thanksgiving Too party. We cooked the whole spread again and had a blast with some good friends. We will be posting a few pictures from this party as well on the website. This weekend, we get back to one of our favorite clubs… Hardtailz! We always have a great time here. The crowds never disappoint and the staff is awesome. We know it's tough to get out with the holidays upon us, but Hardtailz is such a good time, we hope to see you all there!!! November 20 We know that the smoking ban and the new DUI laws have people thinking twice about going out these days, but we really want to thank those of you who have continued to come out to the shows. We had another fun weekend at Octane, although the crowds were a little lighter than normal, we still had a blast. It was the debut of our new drummer Mike and he did a fantastic job. It's not easy to just step in and take over the drums in this band, but he did a great job and we know it will only get better. We will be back out to the Octane in December and we will also be playing New Years Eve there as well. We won't be playing this coming weekend, but we are playing a special show this Wednesday at Pepper's for our annual Thanksgiving Eve show. Come out and join us for some pre-holiday partying. It's a great chance to cut loose a little bit before the stress of the big day takes hold. So do all your food prep early and get that turkey thawing out, then come down to Pepper's for a great night of drinks, music and fun. They have good food, fun atmosphere and an awesome staff. Come see why Pepper's is fast becoming our East Valley home. Check the website for all the special shows coming up in December. We have Charlie's b-day/final show, Will's b-day, our Christmas party and of course… New years eve! Spend a little bit of the holidays with the angry one's!!! November 13 NASCAR, Hanna Montana, 68 Guns multiple band benefit show the following day and Cactus Jacks still rocked! It wasn't the busiest night we have ever had there, but it was still a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came out. It was also Charlie's last show with us until December 8 th at Blooze, where we will send him off in style and also celebrate his birthday. We hate to see him go, but we are parting ways still great friends. He will be missed. It looks like Cactus Jacks is going to have us play full weekends starting in January. We are going to be sort of the test band for them there. This weekend we head back out to Surprise and The Octane Lounge. This will be the first full shows we will be playing with our new drummer Mike. He is really excited to get going with us and has been working hard on the songs. While we are sad that Charlie is leaving, we are looking forward to working with Mike. He has a different style and things will sound a little different, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, just a new thing. You also know how much we love Octane. It's a lot of fun to play there and the staff is second to none. Next week we will be playing on Wednesday, Nov. 21 st , which is Thanksgiving Eve. This is typically a great night to play. Everyone gets the chance to cut loose a little bit before things get hectic with the cooking, relatives, and hectic holiday gets underway. We will be at Pepper's in Mesa and the show starts around 9:00pm. There are going to be food and drink specials, which I will update you all on next week. You can find addresses and maps on the website schedule page for all of our shows. November 6 The nights are just awesome these days! Now if we could just get the days to cool down that would be nice. It was very nice at Pepper's this weekend. We had a couple of good nights and saw some friends. Brett from Innuendo came down and thru down a song on guitar with us, as did Pyro from Mr Hyde. The staff was once again top notch and we really appreciated all of you who showed up to rock the joint. We will be back at Pepper's on Thanksgiving Eve for a pre holiday party. Bring out those friends and family that here from out of town for a rocking good time. This coming Friday we will be at Cactus Jacks once again. One of our favorite stomping grounds. Always a good crowd and a good time. I do believe we will be playing on the new stage again, so there will be plenty of room for dancing. They have a great staff and the Jager is always really cold!!! They are located on Elliot and 48 th Street in Ahwatukee with the show starting at 9:30pm. Keep an eye on the schedule for all the special shows we have coming up between now and the end of the year. Charlie will be playing his last show with us this Friday until December 8 th at The Blooze which will be his official last show and his birthday as well. Mike will be playing drums for us starting full time next week at The Octane, where we will also be celebrating New Years Eve this year. October 31 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! We hope you all enjoy your Trick or Treating this Wednesday! We had our Halloween party this past weekend at The Octane Lounge. Both nights were pretty good. We saw some really great costumes over the weekend. There was one I never need to see again, worn by our friend Larry from Tribe. (just look at the pics to see for yourself) The band went as the Ghostbusters this year. We gave away some money for best costume, sexiest costume and best couple. Thanks to everyone who came out and partied with us this past weekend. This coming weekend we head back to the east valley to Peppers (sign still might say Rockin Skies) in Mesa . We have been having a blast at this club. The staff is awesome and they have their new menu in place as well. It's a cool room with a big dance floor and a smoking patio. If you haven't been there yet, this will be the perfect weekend to come out. Charlie will still be with us this weekend and next, then Mike will be taking over on drums. Charlie's final show will be at The Blooze on December 8 th , where he will be celebrating his birthday as well as Tumbleweeds. We are going to miss him, that is a given. Come out and see us with Charlie for a couple more shows and let him know that he will be missed. Mike will also be on hand to play a few songs as well as he is preparing for taking over full time in a couple of weeks when we go back to The Octane Lounge. October 22 Well, this was an interesting weekend. We played at Lagerfields on Saturday night with Andy Watts from Innuendo filling in on bass guitar. He did a fantastic job and we were really glad he was available. There were a couple of rough points, but he covered very well and did a great job singing. A big thanks to Andy for being there for us! The night was getting going and we were finding a groove, when Charlie blew out his kick drum head. He called his fiancé who agreed to bring him another one and another big thanks goes out to Erica for saving the night. While we were waiting, Will, Andy and myself did a few acoustic songs. The crowd was very patient and we appreciated the understanding. We did it going again and finished the night out strong. On Sunday, we hosted Hardtailz 5 th year anniversary party. We played a few songs with each other, which included our new drummer Mike. We then got Pat from Shut Up & Drive up for a few songs on guitar and vocals. Next was Marty and Chad from Contraband, which included Marty's 12 year old son John who rocked the house. Our other friend Marty, who fronts the band Knucklehead, got up with his new band Organ Grinder. They played 6 songs and really kicked ass. They were really good. Steve from the Cover Junkies got up on guitar for a few and then Ed, Will, Charlie and I finished the night out. It was a really cool party and we were happy to help Dave celebrate his 5 th year owning one of the coolest bars in town. October 15 I know it’s a little confusing with the name change at Rockin Skies. They are called Peppers now, but the new owner has problems getting the new sign done. It was another good weekend there though. Friday was a bit slow, but Saturday more than made up for it! We had a full house and we also wanted to send out another Happy Birthday to Debbie who brought a big group of her friends to help celebrate. The staff was awesome once again. They are re-tooling the menu right now, but everything should be back up to speed by the next time we are there, which will be November 2 nd & 3 rd. This weekend we will be out at Lagerfields on Saturday. Ed is having some oral surgery this week, so we have our ole buddy Andy from Innuendo filling in on bass for the night. Andy is a great guy and good player. He is a lot of fun as well and it should be a blast. Lagerfields also has a really good menu and a great atmosphere. You can even bring the kids for the first set because they are a restaurant as well. They are located about 3 miles east of the 51 on Cactus. As you all know, Charlie is going to be leaving the band. We have been looking for a drummer to replace him and we expected this to take awhile. We auditioned our first three drummers this past weekend and low and behold, we found our guy. His name is Mike Adams and he has been playing drums for 30 years. He is a really cool guy and fits in personality wise as well as his playing ability. We met his wife Tina as well and both seem like really cool people. Charlie will continue playing with us for another month while Mike comes up to speed. Mike will be at the shows though, playing a song here and there and getting a feel for what we are about and how we do things. So, if you’re at a show say “HI” to Mike and welcome him aboard. Charlie’s final show will actually be on December 8 th at Blooze where we will be celebrating his birthday; along with Tumbleweeds, like we do every year. It will also be a good show for Charlie to go out on a good note and for us to celebrate his time in the band. He will definitely be missed!!! October 9 We figured things would pick up a bit with the summer coming to a close, but we didn’t expect it as big as it happened this past weekend. We had two packed nights at Hardtailz. Both nights were a blast! We had two big crowds and both nights were a party atmosphere. Thanks to everyone who came out and also to the staff that worked their tailz off to take care of everyone. We will be back at Hardtailz at the end of November. This weekend we are out in East Mesa again at Pepper’s (formerly Rockin Skies). This has a good venue for us. They are under new ownership that is trying very hard to make some very positive changes. They have an awesome staff and really, really good food! It’s a great room and we have had some great nights here. We really want to rock the house this weekend though, so we need your help to do that! Come out early and stay late. We will all party like Rock Stars!!! We have Lagerfields coming up next weekend, which is located in Paradise Valley (or about 5 miles east of Blooze on Cactus. Ed will be out that night, so we have our old friend Andy from the band Innuendo filling in that night. He has filled in before and he is a lot of fun. The last Saturday of the month we will be having our big Halloween party out at The Octane! Prizes for best and sexiest costumes and we are sure this is going to beat any other Halloween party we have had in the past! Check the website for all club dates, locations and general band information!!! October 2 That was a busy weekend! We played at Cactus Jacks on Friday night. It was pretty slow, but the people that were there had a great time. We played over on the new side of the room again, but we weren't supposed to. They are almost ready to open the new side soon. On Saturday we were at Flicka's in Scottsdale . It's a great room and they have the best patio of any club we play. We had some technical problems on stage, but all in all it went well. Our friend Gary who used to sing with Legend came by and he got up for a song. We even had some early trick or treaters as well. It was a fun weekend and the weather was simply gorgeous! This weekend we head back out to one of favorites… Hartailz!!! We always have great nights here and we love this room. The staff is awesome as well and always take great care of us. They are located on Bell Road and 35 th Avenue . If you haven't been to Hardtailz yet, this would be a great time to check it out. It really is a great club. We regret to inform everyone that Charlie will be leaving the band. He has a lot going on in his personal life and we keep a pretty heavy schedule. He also wants to play more Funk and some Jazz, so we wish him well. He will be sorely missed for sure. He isn't taking off right away though. He wants to stay with us until we can find his replacement and he isn't rushing us to do it. So… If you are or know of a good drummer with vocal abilities (vocals is a must), send us an e-mail or hit us up on our MySpace. We will start auditioning drummers as soon as we have some solid candidates, so please spread the word. September 25 I want to start this week by saying a great big, huge THANK YOU!!! Our benefit was a success once again. It was a little slower this year (I think we can thank the no smoking law for that) but all in all was still a great event. All of the band brought their “A” games and just did a fantastic job. Body Positive had volunteers there working the door and they handled that job very well considering you always get the jerks who try to talk their way in without paying the cover. The staff was wonderful all day and Cactus Jacks in general really went to the wall for us this year. There were a ton of very cool prizes and a lot of people won things. A big thanks to Eden, Alicia, Will and Larry for being there all day and not once complaining about it. They all worked very hard and helped make the day what it was. I rally want to spotlight the bands here… Phat Bastard, Wall Street, Contraband, Rizon, Chuck Hall and the other guys from Angry Jon. You all kicked major ass and kept the day rolling along with some excellent entertainment. To all of you who showed up, spent money and showed your support… You will forever hold a special place in my heart. Next year, I think we are going to move the benefit & golf tournament to a cooler month. Either October or maybe April. Angry Against Aids has been a booming success and I thank all of you for that! September 18 We had a great weekend this past weekend. It was very busy, but a lot of fun. We were playing at Rockin Skies, soon to be known as Peppers. The staff is really second to none and the crowds were really great. Friday night was a bit slower than Saturday, but we had a few special guests… Dave from Live Krysus showed up and sang, the boys from Big Town also jammed with us and Nick from Phat Bastard, who will be playing our benefit this weekend jammed as well. It was a great weekend and we will be back there in October. Saturday we our first annual Angry Against AIDS gold tournament and it was a great success. We raised just over $1100.00 for our charity and everyone had a blast. Cactus Jacks and The Lakes @ Ahwatukke co-sponsored with me and it couldn't have gone smoother. Everyone who signed up, showed up and other than it being a bit hot, we all really enjoyed out time on the course. This weekend is the biggest event we do every year. This Saturday is the Angry Against AIDS benefit show. The doors open at 10:00am with the first band going on at noon. We have six bands all day long and some special guests at the end of the night. There will be some great prizes that we will be raffling off all day long and half of the money made from food will also be going to the charity. It's going to be a great day full of music, love and good times. Here is the band schedule… 12:00pm………………………………….. Phat Bastard 2:00pm……………………………………Wallstreet 4:00pm……………………………………Contraband 6:00pm……………………………………Rizon 8:00pm……………………………………The Chuck Hall Band 10:00pm…………………………………...Angry Jon Midnight - close… All Star Jam featuring members from Bang Tango, Icon, and many others. This is going to be a great day with a lot of great memories. There will be a $10.00 donation at the door to get in, but you will be able to come and go all day. If you were there last year, then you know what a great event this was and this one is promising to be even bigger!!! September 11 I remember my birthday in 2001; it wasn't the funnest party, that's for sure. I look back on that day and how we all stood outside and stared at an empty sky. How we watched the towers fall again and again. How we all just went thru the motions of a party. The night before, I had told my wife at the time “No one famous or of importance was born on my birthday and nothing interesting or big ever happened in history on my birthday either”. The morning of my birthday, I wanted to take those words back. I figured my birthday was just going to be a bummer every year. Well I have changed that stance over the years. I look at it as an honor now. It was tragic and a lot of people died that day. But, it was also a day that most Americans stood united in one heart and one feeling. Collectively, we picked up the pieces and became stronger in many ways. It's not our fault that our president used the opportunity to line his pockets with more oil money and lead us into a war we can't win. I was proud to watch the hundreds of thousands of people who pitched in to help and get things as right again as possible. We will never be completely healed, but we know what to expect out of ourselves if it happens again. A big thanks to those of you who came out this past weekend to The Blooze to help celebrate my birthday. It was two nights of great fun and something that I really needed after dealing with my sisters death the week before. The staff was awesome and Eden, Julie and JD did a great job with decorations. We will be back there in December to celebrate Charlie and Tumbleweeds birthdays. This weekend we are heading back to the east side. I figure we can celebrate my birthday with all of our eastside freaks! We will be back at Rockin Skies both Friday & Saturday nights! Great food, great staff and it's been awhile since we have been there. They are located on Main , just east of Recker Rd. and we hoping for big crowds from our eastsiders. We haven't been out this way in a few weeks! Remember to mark your calendars for the AIDS Benefit next Saturday September 22 nd at Cactus Jacks. Six bands, lots of food and and a great cause! September 4 We hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. I barely made it back in town in time to play The Octane on Friday. It was a slower weekend, as we expected it to be, but we still had fun. The Octane is always a good time and the staff was once again awesome. We expect the weekends to start picking up more now that the summer is over. This weekend we will be having another Blooze Blowout! We will be celebrating my birthday on Saturday! These shows are always a great time and Blooze is always the place we have my birthday parties. We usually have a few special guests stop by and you never know what will happen. We are there both nights this weekend, so come start the party on Friday and we will continue it on Saturday! This month also brings two other big events! On September 22 nd , we will be holding our annual Angry Against Aids benefit show at Cactus Jacks. Six bands, lots of prizes, great food and all for a great cause. On September 15 th , we will be having our Angry Against Aids golf tournament at The Lakes of Ahwatukee. We still have slots open, but I need to know soon if you will be golfing! Just e-mail me at angryjon1@yahoo.com to sign up! I want to THANK those of you who have been so supportive and kind over the last week, in the wake of my sister passing away. It was a shock to our family and has been a very difficult time for me personally. I did make to Utah and her bedside before she passed last Tuesday, so I did get to say good-bye. Eden and I have adopted her little dog as well. No one else could take her and she is such a sweet little thing. It has been comforting to have a piece of my sister living with me. Once again… Thank You so much for the support! August 28 Another long, but fun weekend! We kicked things off at Cactus Jacks on Friday and it was another great night there. On Saturday we celebrated Eden’s birthday at Hardtailz where we all had a blast. Both clubs are very good to us and this weekend was no exception. This weekend we head back out to Surprise and The Octane Lounge! This place just flat out rocks and we always have such a great time. We will be there both Friday & Saturday nights. We know it’s Labor Day weekend, but it’s too hot to play outside, so come get drunk with us!!! We have two very special events coming up in September. The Benefit show will be on September 22 nd at Cactus Jacks and we are having a Golf tournament for our charity the Saturday before on September 15 th. The golf tournament is a great way to donate money and do something fun at the same time. If you would like to play in the tournament, please contact me at angryjon1@yahoo.com to sign up. It will be a two man scramble and more details are available on the website. August 21 I haven’ stayed at home for a full weekend in a couple of years. It felt weird, but good. I got some good family time in, we celebrated Eden’s B-Day and it was very relaxing. Ed went to New Orleans over the weekend and said he didn’t want to come home, but while in a drunken stupor, he tried getting guy’s to throw him beads so they made him go home. Will spent the whole weekend cutting out coupons from papers he had been saving, but on Monday morning he realized they were all expired. Charlie went to group therapy for quiet and anti-social people, but that didn’t work out so well, no one would say anything. Anyway, we are ready to start rocking again. We took more time off this summer than we have in years. The rest of the year, we have a pretty heavy schedule starting with this weekend! We start the party off on Friday at Cactus Jacks in Ahwatukee. Cactus and their crowds always treat us well and we always have a great time. Saturday night we are doing a rare one nighter at Hardtailz. We will also be celebrating Eden’s birthday there as well. Two great clubs and we get to cover both sides of town! So, we expect to see a lot of our friends this weekend! August 13 This past weekend we played at Lagerfields. It was a new/old club for us. We had played there years before, but they have new owners (who are very cool) and the vibe was much better. We didn’t have a packed house, but it was our first time in, on the first night of football pre season games and school just starting. But, we did get a good feel for the place and we had a lot of fun. The staff was great and we hear the food is good as well. We will be back there in October, so come check it out then. We will be off this coming weekend. Everyone is scattering and taking some family time. We have a heavy schedule coming up for the rest of the year and figured the time would do us some good. We will be back at it the following weekend at Cactus Jacks and Hardtailz. The AIDS benefit, golf tournament and my birthday are coming up next month, and so September is looking like a fun month already. Keep an eye on the website for updates and schedule changes, pictures and benefit information. We look forward to rocking with you at a club near you soon!!! August 6 Getting out of town is always a lot of fun. It was a bit slower this time at The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill, but it was still a blast! It was a little rainy at times and the crowd was a little lean, but everyone who was there seemed to be in a party mood. They opened the door because people wanted to be outside where it was cool and they would come and go, in and out. Dancing and partying. We don't know when we will be back, but I'm sure there will be at least one more show in Sedona before the end of the year. On Saturday, we headed over to Flicka's in Scottsdale . There was a problem with the A/C and it was pretty warm in there, but we really appreciated the people who stuck it out. We played a lot of different music, including stuff we don't do very often. The staff was great and DJ Tiger was right on the ball! We will be back at Flicka's at the end of September. This weekend, we will be playing at a new club for us. Lagerfields! We have actually played there before, but it's been a few years and they have new owners and have re-modeled. They are on 32 nd Street and Paradise Village Parkway . We won't be playing the following weekend, so we hope to see as many of you as possible this weekend. Check the schedule for where we will be the rest of the month. We also have my Birthday show, Aids Benefit, Halloween, Thanksgiving Eve and New Years still to come. Check the schedule for new updates, club directions and additions! July 31 WOW! WOW, WOW, WOW!!! That's really all I can say. I was very overwhelmed by the turnout, reaction, support, the whole night this past Saturday night at Blooze. Our 10-year anniversary show was absolutely the best show we have ever had! All the ex-members who came back and played did a great job. Nothing was rehearsed, so there was potential for some interesting moments, but they never came. It was really cool to see and play with all these guys again. The place was packed and everyone was in a real party mood. I was a little overwhelmed with emotion at times, but that was to be expected. There was many times over the years that I thought this band would end, but somehow, someway, we found a way to keep it going. I want to send out a big thanks to Tumbleweed and his staff for making things as smooth as possible. A big thanks to Byron, Dave, Brent, Paul, Steve, John, Paul Jr and Hector for coming out and making the night a great success and so much fun. The biggest thanks goes out to all of you who came out to help us celebrate and for your support for the past 10 years. There would have been no way we could have kept it going without you. Checkout the pics from the night on the website! This weekend we kick-off our next ten years! We start off Friday in Sedona at the Olde Sedona Bar & Grill. This is such a cool place t play and Sedona is a bit cooler this time of year. We always have a great time every time we play here and hope that a few of you want to make a little road trip with us. On Saturday we head back to valley to play Flicka's Baja Cantina in Scottsdale . This is another great club with some awesome food and just a great vibe. We are looking forward to our Angry Against Aids Benefit show coming up in September. We will also be having a golf tournament this year as well. The tournament will be held on September 15 th at The Lakes At Ahwatukee. It will be a two man scramble that will start at 11:00am. We will also be having some other activities that day on the course as well. It's going to be a lot of fun and a great way to raise some money. The entry fee is $60.00 per person and if you are interested in playing, you can e-mail Jon thru the website or talk to him at a show. We expect slots to fill up fast, so get your spot reserved now. July 25 We had another awesome weekend at Octane! I am going to leave it at that for now because I really want to concentrate on our show coming up this weekend. But, The Octane Rocked as always! As you all know, this band means a lot to me. When I started this band, I really didn't know what I was doing. I had no idea how to book gigs or what kind of equipment we needed or how to organize such a thing. I just started hitting clubs and talking to other musicians and learned as I went. One of the first things I learned was that most bar owners are scum and don't know a damn thing about music. The second was that it was really hard to find 3 or 4 guys that wanted to put the work in, were good enough to make good music and weren't absolute assholes! Needless to say, it has been a long strange trip, but I wouldn't trade for anything. This Saturday we will be celebrating 10 years of Angry Jon playing music! This anniversary is very special to me and personally a huge milestone. I can't tell you how many times I though this band was going to just go away over the years. Between members quitting or being fired, PA equipment being stolen, personal issues, vehicle issues, inept bar owners, kids, pets, dull razors, ex-wives, the man purse, tampon commercials and lagging turn signals, I feel very lucky to have kept this beast alive for 10 years. There have been some real interesting people in this band through the years. Many were interesting for not so great reasons, but some are people I will never forget for the rest of my life, because they helped shape and mold the band into what it is today. These people will be joining me on-stage this weekend to help celebrate the juggernaut that has become Angry Jon. Here are the people you will see play with us on Saturday… Dave Townsend & Byron Roe… O ur original guitar players. They will be joined on stage by Paul Sarver on Drums. (Who replaced Tom, who replaced Clay) Brent Wright… Who played during Dave's tenure and was replaced by Harley, will join Dave and Paul on stage for a few songs. Harley Harkins, Steve Dreher & John Ogle… This is the crew that really put Angry Jon on the map. Paulie C & Hector Amparan… These were the boys just before Will and Charlie joined the band. Of course, Will, Charlie and Ed will be playing as well, so as you can see, this is going to be the Ultimate Angry Jon Show! All 5 versions of the band will be playing sets together and also playing music you haven't heard from us in years. We know that a lot of people are planning to attend this show, so you will want to come early if you want any hope of finding a seat. The show on Saturday will be starting at 9:00pm so make your plans now! We are also playing on Friday and will be celebrating long time fan Tanya's 40 th birthday! That show will start at the normal 9:30. July 18 Cactus Jacks was rocking once again. We had a fantastic night on Friday and the crowd was primed for a fun night. Cactus Jacks is in the process of expanding, so there is a little dust and a tarp hanging where they tore a wall down, but it didn't stop people from having a great time. The expansion is going to be great. There is going to be even more room in the club and we will have a bigger stage, that won't be shoved in the corner. This also bodes well for our benefit show there on September 22 nd ! The staff was once again awesome and we always look forward to playing there! This weekend we are heading out to The Octane Lounge for the weekend. We always look forward to playing here. They have an awesome staff (that is also smoking hot!) and a great atmosphere. We have never had a bad show here. We know it's a drive, but it really is well worth it. Come and see for yourself why we are always raving about this place! Next week will be a BIG weekend for us. We will be celebrating 10 years of Angry Jon! We will be having a very special show at Blooze featuring many members from years past. A lot of music you haven't heard us do in years and maybe not at all. It's going to be one huge party with the show starting at 9:00 on Saturday for the Anniversary/Reunion show! This will definitely be a show not to be missed!!! July 11 We are back from vacation and ready to rock, but we will only be playing Friday night this week. Cactus Jacks will be the place to be this Friday. It has been over two months since our last show there and I think they have the expansion and remodeling done. This will also be the home of Angry Against Aids this year in September. We always have a great time at Cactus and are really looking forward to the show this Friday. We hope to see you there. Next week we will be out at The Octane Lounge in Surprise. These clubs just flat out rocks, but don't take our word for it. Make the long ass drive. It's worth it! We will also be at Blooze on the 27 th & 28 th . That Saturday is our 10 Year Anniversary/Reunion show with many players from over the years coming back for a full night of music and entertainment. It is going to be a show to remember! On a side note… The Transformers movie ROCKED!!! July 4 Happy 4 th of July!!! We hope it is a safe one for you all. We are all on vacation this week and won't be playing this weekend. But, we will be back at it next weekend. We will be playing at Cactus Jacks on Friday, July 13 th . FRIDAY THE 13 th !!!!!!! We haven't been to Cactus in awhile and we always look forward to playing there. That is also where our Angry Against AIDS benefit will be held this year on September 22 nd . We almost have the band line up taken care of and we also will be having a golf tournament the week before. We will have more details on the website soon. This month we are also celebrating Angry Jon's 10 Year Anniversary! We have a big show planned for July 28 th at The Blooze to celebrate. We will be having many ex-members coming back for this show. Dave, Byron, Brent, Paul, Harley, Steve, John, Hector & Paulie! All will be playing and it will be a full night of music. There will be a lot of songs that we haven't done in years. It's really going to be a helluva night and one not to be missed. This will only happen once! We will be at Blooze the night before as well. We will also be at The Octane Lounge this month, another one of our favorites. It's a long drive, but well worth it! June 28 We had another great weekend at Rockin Skies. We had two party crowds that were ready to rock! We pulled out 3 new songs that went over well and everyone seemed to like our choices. The dance floor was moving both nights and we really appreciated everyone’s enthusiasm. The staff was once again on top of everything and did a kick ass job. I got a few more people to eat the food and was pleasantly surprised. They do have the best food I have ever had in a bar! We regret that we won’t be back there until September, but all of you eastside people should really check this place out. This weekend we will be back on the Westside at Hardtailz! We always love playing here and it has been awhile, so we are looking forward to a great weekend. We will be there both Friday and Saturday nights and they also have a great staff. This is one of the bigger rooms that we play and they have a big patio right outside for all you smokers. Come early for a good seat and stay late for all the shenanigans! June 21 I hope all the fathers out there had a great Fathers Day! I did, I got to spend it with all my daughters and both of my grandkids in California. I also got to see my third daughter graduate High School. It was a really great weekend, even though it was really wearing with all the driving. Alicia graduated on Friday night in a really pretty outdoor amphitheater. Instead of throwing their hats in the air at the end, they sprayed each other with about 500 cans of silly string. I was very proud of her and she wouldn’t let me go when we found each other after the graduation. On Saturday we all went to the beach. I even was able to stomach two of my daughter’s boyfriends, even though I still don’t think they should like boys! My granddaughter went as well and I had a blast with her. She loved being at the “BIG WAWA” with Poppy! She kept taking me down to the water and having me swing her over the waves when they came in. I also did some boogie boarding. The waves were actually pretty big and I had never done that before. It wore me the hell out, but it was a lot of fun. (Note to self… remember to put sun block on feet as well as rest of body! OUCH!) It was hard leaving, but I did drag one of my daughters back with me. This weekend we are back to reality and will be playing at Rockin Skies in Mesa again. We really like this club and hope to see all of our east valley fans this weekend!!! Come early for a good seat and grab some food. I am telling you… they have GREAT food! Not just good, but great. The staff is awesome and we always have a party at Rockin Skies. This will be our last east-side show for a few weeks, so take advantage!!! We will be out at Hardtailz next weekend! June 14 There just aren't that many clubs in the east valley worth playing for us. We have tried a few and never have really been satisfied. I have to say that Rockin Skies is the closet so far. This was our third time playing there and the best yet. The staff is awesome and the food is probably the best I have ever had in a club. They told us that a lot of people ask when we will be coming back and the people that were there this weekend really kicked some ass. We had two very fun crowds and we had a blast!!! I think we have finally found a place in the east valley to build on and call home. Thanks to Rick from Shut Up & Drive for coming out and playing some guitar, allowing Ed to play some drums and Will to jam on the bass. We will be back there in two weeks and then not again until September, so come check the place out and rock with us! This weekend we will be taking our first weekend off since, well… I don't even remember. I will be going to California to see my third daughter graduate high school and see my grandson for the first time. The other guys are scattering this weekend and taking advantage of the time off. We know that a few of our friends bands are playing this weekend, so check out the links page on the website and support local music. We will see you east-siders next week at Rockin Skies and you west-siders in a couple of weeks at Hardtailz!!! June 7 Sedona was beautiful!!! We got up there early on Friday to get set up and settled at the hotel. The weather was a little overcast, but the temperatures were perfect. Our show went really well. There was a festival up the street, so it was a little slower than it could have been, but the crowd we had was definitely a party crowd. Dancing started the minute we started and continued thru the night. The staff was amazing as well… once again! We celebrated our good friend Ralph’s birthday and his cake ended up all over everybody and somehow he ended up handcuffed to the railing out on the patio. You need to see the pictures for the visual on this one. We figured after the mess we made that the staff was going to be pissed, but they were right out there with us. We all stuck around an extra day to enjoy this beautiful place. We went up to slide rock and even though the water was a bit too cold, a few of us still got wet. We all went to dinner that evening and then we stayed up most of the night playing poker. It was a really good time and nice to be able to just hang with everyone. Thank to everyone who went up in support!!! We will be back up there in August. This weekend we are in the east valley. It’s been a few weeks, so we are looking forward to seeing our eastside friends. We will be at Rockin Skies this coming Friday and Saturday. This has become a great place for us. Great staff, very cool crowds and the food is really, really good there. We start at 9:00pm at this club, so get there early and grab a bite to eat! We are off the following weekend, but will be back at Rockin Skies the weekend after that. If that is too confusing, just check the schedule page on the website! May 29 We truly hope that everyone had a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. We had a great one ourselves out at The Octane. It was by no means a record breaking weekend. We knew it would be slower because of the holiday and we knew of a lot of people who were going out of town, but we still had two great shows. The crowds were smaller than normal, but a lot of fun. We will entertain whether or not there are 30 people or 130 people. The response we got was really good and everyone had a good time. Thanks to all of you who came out this past weekend. We will be back at The Octane in July and we will be having a Pajama Party on the Saturday that we are there. This weekend we are heading north to Sedona. We have been looking forward to this show for awhile. We have quite a few friends coming up and The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill is a great little venue. The weather is supposed to be really hot in the valley this weekend, so it's also a chance to beat the heat. We will be playing on Friday night only, but some are staying the weekend to enjoy Sedona for more than just an evening. Every time we go, we see more and more friends from the valley and have been building our own following up there as well. Every show has been bigger and bigger this has become a great place for us to play! ROAD TRIP TIME!!! Keep an eye on the schedule for upcoming shows in your area and a few special events we have planned throughout the year. And as always… THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!! May 22 The Suns broke our hearts once again. I really felt like this was the year. I have a feeling there are going to be some changes in the off-season. Some, many people won't like, but it looks like we need to do something to get over the hump. They still had a great season and once again, Steve Nash was amazing. They really should give him some kind of tough man award for the beating he took in the play offs. Go Cardinals!!! We watched the Suns lose just as we were getting ready to go on stage at Blooze. The mood was a little down, but it picked up soon. We had another good weekend there. In fact, I got reports from all over the valley, that it was pretty slow all over. We didn't have record-breaking crowds, but we did have good crowds. People still need to get used to the no smoking law, but I believe they will come around. Like any other big change… people adjust and then figure out that there is nothing they can do about, but still want to go to the bar and see bands. I do commend Tumbleweed though. He decided to do something instead of just bitch and complain. He remodeled and the place is looking great! (They didn't close down, he just re-modeled) Come check it out in July when we will be there for our 10 Year Anniversary/Reunion show. This weekend we head out to Surprise and The Octane Lounge. I'm not going to go on and on like I usually do about Octane, but it really is a very cool place. If you haven't been, you really need to check it out. They are located on Bell Rd , just east of Grand Ave. No cover and the staff is very HOT!!! Next Friday we invite you to go on a road trip with us up to Sedona. The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill is a great club and the weather is supposed to be awesome! We only play on Friday, but will be staying the whole weekend this time for some R&R. Make your plans to party with us in one of the most beautiful places on the planet! May 15 The Suns are going to make us all have nervous breakdowns before it’s over and the Spurs may not leave anything of Steve Nash for the next round. Even with the loss on Saturday night, Ed wore his Suns Jersey on stage to show support. It ain’t over till it’s over, but I think the Ref’s need to quit babying Mr Duncan and pay attention to what’s going on in the game. I never blame refereeing on a loss, but the Ref’s in this series have been horrendous. Maybe Nash should show them the MULTIPLE bruises that the thugs from San Antonio have been inflicting the whole series! He may not have won MVP, but they should give him some kind of Iron Man award for the beating he is taking. Anyway, it is a good series and for the first time, I think the Suns showed that can dig deep when they have to, at the end of game four. That was two minutes of some of the best basketball I have ever seen! GO SUNS!!! We played at Rock N Skies this weekend and once again, we had a great time. This is still a new club and they are building their reputation and I think they are doing the right things. The staff is really really good and the food is excellent! For a bar, I was really surprised by the food. Everyone who had food there that I talked to all said the same thing. Considering that people are still adjusting to the new smoking laws, the crowds were good and people were in a party mood! We will be back there next month for two weekends, and will be the only east valley gigs for that month. So, we hope to see our East Valley fans in June!!! This weekend we head back to Blooze for another tour of Rock & Roll duty! We love the Blooze and always have good shows there. We have been playing Blooze now for 7 years and will be having our 10 year reunion show there in July. The vibe is always great and you never know who might show up and party with us. We know it’s starting to get hot and it‘s not going to get cooler anytime soon. So, we are doing another road trip up north to Sedona on June 1 st at The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill. This is a cool little club and we are expecting quite a few friends to follow us up for this one. Reserve your hotel rooms now and come party with us in the beautiful Red Rocks of Sedona. May 8 This was the first weekend since the new smoking law took effect. We were very curious as to how it was going to go. We were at Hardtailz, which we thought was a pretty safe club because they already have a patio that you can take your drinks out to and smoke. Well, Friday night was a pretty weird vibe. The crowd was late coming in and it never did get packed. It was a decent crowd, but you could just feel something wasn’t right. The next day, I got reports from other bands that were at other clubs and they all said it was the same for them as well. Saturday night, we got to the club about an hour before it was time to play and there were three people in the place, so we were expecting a bad night. About fifteen minutes before we were to start playing, people started coming in and by the time we were into our first set, it was getting busy. The mood was waaaaaayyyyy better and the night went really well. We are sure it’s just going to take people time to adjust, they always do. This weekend we head back out to East Mesa to play at Rockin Skies. We had a great time there last month and that was our first time in. Will and I went over there for a benefit show a couple of weeks ago and everyone was asking when we were going to be there again. They have an awesome staff and the food is good as well. It’s a good room with a big dance floor. It’s a really good place to see a band. We like it a lot and are looking forward to the rest of the year with this club. They are located on Main Street, between Power and Recker. This is our last East Valley show for about another month, so we hope to see all of our East Valley friends this weekend! Mark your calendars for Saturday, July 25th. We will be having our 10 year Anniversary/Reunion show at Blooze. It’s going to be a great time with many of our past members coming out to jam. It should be very memorable! May 1 The Octane Lounge, once again, totally kicked ass! We just love playing this place, even if it is out in Far Far Away Land. The staff really is the best in the valley. From the door guys to the bartenders and the best looking wait staff around, they just all really get the whole “rock band” thing. The crowds were once again great and everyone just had a great weekend. Thanks to all our “Surprise” friends for coming out and rocking with us as well. We will be back throughout the year and even New Years Eve. You really need to check this place out if you haven’t gotten the chance. This weekend we head back to Hardtailz… YEAH!!! Another one of our favorites. We will be there this Friday and Saturday night for two nights of debauchery and partying like rock stars! Our old friend Layden will back with us this weekend to run our light show. He was our light man for almost 5 years and brings the best light show in town. It should be an awesome weekend and we are hoping to see all of our friends and hope to make a few new ones. They are located at Bell Road and 35 th Avenue. They have a big patio already as well. Since this will be the first weekend with no smoking in the bars, they are already ahead of the game. You can go out to smoke and take your drink with you. April 25 NASCAR in Phoenix is tough to compete against. I have even toyed with not booking when NASCAR is in town, because it seems to affect our crowds worse than some holidays do. I will say though, that it was a decent weekend of shows. Friday night at Cactus Jacks was slower than usual, but we did have a consistent crowd that stuck around and had a good time. We always see a lot of friends there and that is always cool. Saturday night at Flicka’s was better than expected. Again, it wasn’t a record breaker, but they said it was better than expected and apparently a lot of other bars in town were really slow, so we really can’t complain. Both nights were a lot of fun and we appreciate everyone who came out. Sunday night, Steve Favela and I went to see Heaven & Hell at the Dodge Theater. It was a really good show and it was really cool to see Dio with Black Sabbath. They played a lot of really cool songs and Dio sounded Awsome! Megadeath opened the show and kicked ass as well. I also wanted to thank all of the people who came up to me and had some very nice things to say about our band. Well… After being on the east side of the valley for the last couple of weeks, we head west again out to The Octane Lounge. We love this place and we just can’t say enough about how cool it is. The staff is second to none and they know what what having a rock band is all about. We always have great shows here and we are sure this weekend won’t be any different. We look forward to seeing all of our Westside friends! A personal note… On Sunday, I became a grandfather for the second time and too a grandson AT LAST!!! He was almost 9lbs and 18”long. He is in good health and yet another off spring of mine inherits my crooked pinkies. I will post some pictures when I have some good ones. My daughter went nuts with his name, so he has like five of them. Let’s just say I will be calling him JD. April 18 Another new club, another great success! We never really know how a new club is going to be until we play there. The first time in is always a little up in the air because you don’t know what they are expecting or what to expect. Rockin Skies was awesome. It always takes a few times of playing a place for your name to get known and the word spread, but this was a pretty good first weekend for us. The crowds were very vocal and ready to have fun. It makes our job so much easier and a lot more fun when the crowd is just ready to go, and our crowds over the weekend were very responsive. The staff was excellent, the food was good and the room has a very cool vibe. I am really excited about our shows coming up out there. I think this is going to be another great club for us to play. We will be back out there next month. This weekend we will be splitting the weekend. On Friday we will be at Cactus Jacks, a long time staple for us. We always have a good time out here and always know we will have a good crowd. This is also the home of our Angry Against Aids Benefit show, which will be in September this year. On Saturday we will be getting back to Flicka’s! We always look forward to Flicka’s because the place is just cool and it’s our only Scottsdale venue currently. (We will be playing a new club in Scottsdale called Shayna’s soon though) They have awesome food, it’s a big room with a great patio so you can enjoy the weather, the staff is really good and it’s a big stage for us. So, we hope to see you at least one night this weekend. Next week we head back to Surprise. Don’t forget about the Angry Jon 10 Year Anniversary reunion show coming up in July on the 28 th at The Blooze. We will be bringing back many of the musicians and friends who have played with us through the years. We will have some other special things going on as well and we will let you know more details as it gets closer. We really want to make this a good show for you… The fans, to say “THANK YOU”, for keeping Angry Jon alive and successful for 10 years. April 11 We hope everyone had a very pleasant Easter. I still can’t figure out the connection between a rabbit, eggs and Jesus. But if you find the bunny that shits chocolate eggs, let us know! We want in on that action. We heard reports from a lot of clubs that it was a really slow weekend. Well… not for us, Blooze rocked! We didn’t have wall to wall people, but it was busy both nights. Even the club seemed surprise by the turn out. We are grateful for that and we really appreciate the support. We had some more special guests as well. Chad and Marty from Contraband, who are such great supporters of our band. We really appreciate that from them. Steve, formerly of Whisper Alley came out both nights and jammed with us. Danny Wexler of ICON fame jammed on a few and Rick from Shut Up & Drive also played with us. We really do appreciate the support from other musicians. (It’s nice to know that there isn’t that stupid “competing, egotistical musicians” bullshit to contend with). Thanks to all of you who came out and rocked with us this past weekend. You all rock and we love you for it! This weekend we are rocking a new club in the east valley called Rocking Skies. From the times I have been in here and the things I have heard from other bands, this is going to be a great venue for us. It’s a little further east than we usually play and we are happy about that. We have a lot of east valley supporters that don’t want to make the long drives, even if it’s just to Ahwatukee. This club has a big room, good stage, a very nice staff and we hear the food is good as well. They are located on Main Street between Higley and Power Rd, right in front of Goodwill. We go on stage at 9:30 both nights and we would really appreciate your support at this new club. April 4 One of the coolest feelings for a musician is to play on a real, concert stage. But it is really rare and most never get to experience that. This last Friday at Westworld, we got to for the second time. It’s cool to be on a stage where we never have to touch each other if we don’t want to. The sound was incredible and when the sun went down, the light show was amazing. They even had us on the big screens on each side of the stage. It was a great experience. Harley, Tumbleweed and Danny Wexler all did a great job for us. We want to thank them for contributing and helping me out when I was struggling. It wasn’t Bad Company after all. It was Brian Howe, formerly of Bad Company. Apparently they had broken up a couple of weeks before. He wasn’t too bad. He didn’t do as many Bad Company songs as I think he should have, seeing that people came to see them, but he did have a good band. Gary Busey was there as well. He got up for a song with them and pretty much blew ass! He wasn’t very good at all, but it was kinda cool to see him. Anyway, it was a great time and hopefully we will get to do it again next year. A big thanks to Eden for all of the awesome pictures she took, that you can see on the website. This weekend we head back to The Blooze to party with Tumbleweed and all of our friends there. We will be there both nights and are really looking forward to it. We haven’t been there since New Years Eve, so we are ready to rock the house. Blooze is a great place to see a band and they won’t rape you on drink prices. We hope to see you all there. Remember… We still have our 10 year reunion show coming up in July and our Angry Against Aids benefit show coming up in September. We have a lot of other great shows coming up for you and also a couple of new clubs we are excited about. Keep checking the website for weekly updates, pictures, shows and stuff. March 28 We had a very busy weekend. We started out up in Sedona on Friday night. The weather didn’t co-operate and we had rain on the way up. We got the equipment up there and loaded into the club. We had just enough time to check into the hotel and get back for the show. We had a few people come up form the valley, which was a pleasant surprise. We also had our friend, Mike Mentor who is a radio DJ up there on the local rock station, The Wolf. He even through out some free advertisement. The club got packed and the show went great. We are really enjoying playing up there. We will be back in June. On Saturday we were out at Hardtailz to help kick off Bike Week. We had a good crowd and the show went really good. We had a few special guests as well. Marty and Chad from Contraband rocked the stage for a couple of songs. Micheal Nitro was out and played a couple as well. Our friend Danny Wexler from the band ICON got up and played a couple of songs that he will be playing with us this coming Friday. We had a blast and really appreciated everyone being there. This Friday is our biggest show of the year. I say biggest, because we are playing in front of a ton of people, on a real concert stage, opening for Bad Company out at Westworld of Scottsdale for Cycle Fest. We hit the stage at about 4:00pm and play until about 8:00pm. This is a very cool event and the stage and PA are totally pro. We have been looking forward to this show for months. We have our ex-guitar player, Harley Harkins coming out to play with Will on a few songs. Our friend and owner of The Blooze is coming out to sing a couple of songs and play some harmonica. And Danny Wexler will also be playing with us for a couple of songs as well. It’s going to be a greatshow and I do believe it is all ages. We really hope to see you there! March 21 We hope everyone had a great St Patrick’s Day, we sure did! Once again we had another fantastic weekend at The Octane. We had two very busy nights, with Saturday being a little busier than Friday, but both were really good. The green beer was flowing and everyone was just in a prime party mood. Lot’s of dancing both nights and we saw a lot of return fans as well. We are really building a great following out there. We also decided that this year, we will be celebrating New Years Eve there as well. We weren’t sure we wanted to play all the way out there for New Years, but they have been asking and pushing for us since last September, so we decided that that is where we need to be. I know it’s a long drive for a lot of you, but this place is just way too cool. This weekend is the first weekend of Bike Week! We start out this Friday up in Sedona at The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill. We had a blast the last time and the weather is just perfect up there, so we are looking forward to it. On Saturday we will be playing at another of our favorites who wanted us to help out in kicking off Bike Week… Hardtailz! Here is another bar that knows how to do it right. We never have a bad night here and we are looking forward to it! Next Friday we take the BIG stage out at Westworld of Scottsdale for Bike Fest. We will be playing in front of Bad Company. We played on Sunday afternoon last year and it was really cool. We can’t wait to get back on that stage with 5000 people in front of us! It will rock! March 14 This past weekend we only played one night, but it was a good one! Cactus jacks rocked once again. A really big thanks to all of those who bought our new shirts we had for sale. The staff was great once again and the crowd was ready to party and Rich from Krak Smokin Grannies got up to sing a tune.. They are even starting to get revved up about the AIDS benefit that we will be holding there in September. Keep an eye and ear out for more info on that, down the road. We will be back at Cactus Jacks next month. This weekend we head way west again out to The Octane Lounge in Surprise. We love this bar and we will be celebrating St Patrick’s Day out there as well. I’m sure they will have something special planned. They always do and the staff is always on board for a good time. They also understand what a rock band is all about. It’s just a great club and always a great time. We will be there both Friday and Saturday and we will have our new T-Shirts with us as well! Next weekend we kick off Bike Week at Hardtailz on the 24 th and then we get to go play the “real” stage out at Westworld of Scottsdale for Cyclefest and opening for Bad Company. We hit the stage at 4:00pm and play til 8:00pm. We will have special guests… Tumbleweed, Harley Harkins and local legend from the band ICON, Dan Wexler. It’s going to be a great night. Don’t miss it!!! March 7 It was nice to be playing in the east valley. We haven't played that side of town for awhile and it was good to be closer to home. We had two good nights at Papillions. We had similar sized crowds both nights and everyone seemed ready to party both nights. Sometimes it's hard to get the crowd involved early on a Saturday night, but not this time. People were in a good mood and wanted to have a good time right off the bat. Thanks to Jimmy from Tribe and Billy from Dirty Goat for getting up to jam with us and thanks to Larry the Light Guy for putting on another great light show for us. We may be back at Papillions at some point, but at this time, we are not sure. Thanks to everyone who has come to see us there and to the staff for being very cool to us! This Friday we will be at Cactus Jacks. We always look forward to playing there because they always seem to look forward to us being there. Plus… It's another Sudo-East Valley show. In fact, we won't be back to this side of town until April, so we hope to see all of our Eastside people this weekend. We will also have our brand new T-Shirts available for the first time this Friday. They have an all new color design with the picture from our posters and website front page and we also have ladies tanks with the band logo on the front. They are really cool and we are very happy with the way they turned out. We will be selling all shirts for $20.00 each. Every time we sell shirts, the popular sizes go quickly, so get yours soon. Arizona Bike Week is coming up very soon. The opening night of Bike Week is Friday, March 23 rd and we will be in Sedona at The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill. We will be coming back down to kick off things in the valley at Hardtailz on Saturday, March 24 th . This will be leading up to a very big show for us out at Westworld of Scottsdale on Friday, March 30 th opening for Bad Company. Opening for Bad Company is cool and all, but the bigger deal for us is that we will be in front of thousands of people and we will be playing on a real concert stage, with a real sound system. We will start playing at about 4:00pm and play until 8:00 or 8:30 it looks like. I will have more details about that as we get closer, but make your plans now to join us for one of these events. February 28 The Octane lounge does not disappoint!!! We had another great weekend and they just seem to get better every time. We have built a pretty good following out there. We met a lot of people who say they are watching for us to be there and it shows. Saturday was a bit busier than Friday, but both nights were great! The staff at Octane is just second to none. They really do a kick ass job each and every time. They seem to understand what a rock club and a rock show is all about and we appreciate that soooo much. We will be back out there for St Patrick’s Day weekend, March 23 rd & 24 th. This should be another great weekend. I don’t do the green beer, but JAGER is green!!! This weekend we will be playing in Mesa at Papillions Too. This will probably be our last weekend there. They are making some changes, and all though they will still be having bands, we have decided to direct our efforts in the east valley towards another club. They have been good to us and this isn’t a move out of anger or spite, we just have some other opportunities that we want to explore. So, come out and help us rock the house, one last time. We will be on the small stage, as they have made the other side exclusively a restaurant. We will be there both nights, so don’t miss it! A lot of people have been asking for T-Shirts and we keep telling everyone that we will be doing more at some point. Well, the time has come again and we are really excited about this round of shirts. We are putting our poster picture on the T-shirts and they will be kick ass. There was a lot more put into these shirts than the last ones, and we will be selling all shirts for $20.00 starting next Friday. We can’t get them by this weekend, but they are coming! We will have T-Shirts and women’s tanks. We got a lot more requests for Tanks, than we did for baby dolls or spaghetti straps. So, start saving your pennies now and show your support by sporting a new Angry Jon shirt! February 21 We had Friday night off, so I took the opportunity to go check out a couple of new clubs we will be playing in the near future. The first place I stopped was a bar called “Rockin Skies”. They are located in East Mesa on Main near Power Rd. This place has great potential. They just remodeled and re-opened. Good size stage, great room to see a band and a cool vibe. The second place was “Uncle Bears” in Gilbert. Pretty tight for the band… but a cool place. They have great food and there was a pretty big crowd as well. We are looking forward to playing both places. Saturday night we played out at Tailgaters in Glendale. What a great place! We always have a good time and the crowds are really awesome. Thanks to everyone who came out and all the new people we had met. (Thanks for the Jager!!!) Thanks to Marty & Chad from Contraband for sitting in with us as well as our buddy Dave! We don’t get out there very often, but we always have good shows there! We aren’t sure when we will be returning there, but they are working on it. This coming weekend we are heading back to Surprise and The Octane Lounge! This place is always so good to us. The staff completely rocks and we always have a blast. I truly don’t think we have ever had a bad show here. We know it’s a bit of a drive for most of you, but it is soooo worth it! We will be there both Friday & Saturday nights. Come see why we always rave about this club. February 14 It was sure nice getting out of town. Sedona was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We played a cool little club called The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill and it turned out to be a great night. We weren't sure how we would be taken at first. At the beginning of the night, there seemed to be a little bit of an older crowd and we thought we would clear the place out, but it didn't happen that way at all. We started and right from the beginning people were into it. The crowd grew steadily and by the end of the first set, we pretty much had a full house. Our buddy Mike who is a DJ on the local rock radio station up there, threw some plugs out for us that we didn't know about until people started telling us that was why they were there. We had some good friends come up with us as well, who all had a great time. We all stayed at the same hotel, which was up on the mountain and had a great view of Sedona. It was a really great time and we are looking forward to upcoming gigs there this year. We want to send out a big thanks to John, Sandy, Ralph, Julie, Rick, Melanie, Casey, Tanya, Janell, Eden, Tina and Mike (who is the one who told the club about us) for coming up with us and showing all that great support! Let's do it again!!! We will be going back up there in March, June and August! This Saturday we are heading over to the west side to Tailgaters. We haven't been there since November and are really looking forward to playing there. We always have great crowds and a real fun time whenever we play there. It's a big bar with a very attractive, hard working staff. We are only there for one night, so we hope to see all of our Westside friends. We know of a couple of birthdays that we will be helping to celebrate and we just always have a great time at Tailgaters! We hope to see you there! Remember to make your plans to join us out at Westworld of Scottsdale on Friday, March 30 th for Arizona Bike Week. We will be sharing the stage with Bad Company and we have a couple of surprises in store for this show as well. Check our website for more details and a link to this event. February 7 Happy Birthday to Ed!!! Even though we celebrated Ed's birthday this past Saturday at Hardtailz, today is Ed's birthday. The longest standing member of the band, other than myself, he has been a great friend and a huge part of our success. You gotta love the guy!!! We had a big show on Saturday to celebrate as well. A lot of people showed up this weekend to celebrate with him. We had a great time and the crowds once again, did not disappoint. We had Marty & Chad from Contraband up to play as well as Frank and Steve from Whisper Alley (RIP). The place rocked all weekend and the staff was once again awesome to us! We really like playing Hardtailz and we will be back there, hopefully in March to help kick off bike week. We will let you know more about that when it is confirmed. ROAD TRIP… This Friday we are heading north to the beautiful town of Sedona ! We have really been looking forward to this trip since we booked it. We will be playing at the Old Sedona Bar & Grill Friday night ONLY! This is our first time playing here, so I can't tell you anything about the place, other than I have heard nothing but good things about it. We know of quite a few people who are going up with us and we will be meeting for dinner at around 7:00pm Friday night. If you are going and want to meet up with us, just e-mail us through the website, and if we like you, we will give you more details. If you can get away, come & party with Angry Jon in the beautiful town of Sedona! January 30 The two niters at two clubs is tough, but what makes it worth it is when we have two kick ass nights in a row like we did this past weekend. Cactus Jacks once again didn't disappoint. It started out a little slow, but picked up after the first set. Half way through the night, the place was really rocking. Rhonda from the band “Help Me Rhonda” came out and sang on a couple and our friend Alan from the Uncle Mike band got up and played guitar. We saw some friends, made a few new ones and had a great time. Saturday at Flicka's, we were celebrating Janell's birthday and a lot of friends showed up to help her celebrate. We had a great night with a great crowd (who stayed all night) and we just had blast! Flicka's has been really good to us and we have a bunch more shows coming up for you there. This coming weekend is another great one! We will be back at Hardtailz and we are really happy to be back. The bigger deal is that we will be celebrating Ed's Birthday on Saturday! We always have great shows at Hardtailz and we expect the same this trip in. This is one of the roomier places we play, but you still want to get there at a decent time to get a good table. We are there both nights and we are looking forward to seeing all of our friends from that side of town! We are taking a road trip to Sedona on the following Friday, February 9 th . We already know of a lot of friends that are making the trip with us and many others have asked. We don't know much about the club, but we hear it's very cool and Sedona is just beautiful no matter what time of year it is. We will be at The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill and we go on at the normal time. We may find a place to eat dinner for anyone who goes up early enough. Get outta town with us!!! January 24 Well, it was an interesting weekend. I showed up to set up the PA on Thursday and was informed that we had to play the small stage because they were having 5 original bands playing that Friday on that side. Needless to say, I was waaaaay less than thrilled. Friday night went pretty well regardless. We had a good crowd and people were in a party mood. Saturday started off weak and pretty much stayed that way. It wasn’t a stellar night by any means. We had fun and goofed off a bit too much, but at some point it just became about entertaining ourselves I think. It was just a weird night. Thanks to those of you who came out and made some noise!!!! This weekend we are getting back two of our favorites! Friday night we will be in Ahwatukee at Cactus Jacks. Always a good time to be had here. It’s been awhile since we have here as well. They have a great staff and the crowd always seems ready to have some fun. Saturday night we will be in Scottsdale at Flicka’s. This is a great club with a big stage. They serve some really good food and the staff is awesome as well. We haven’t played here since before Thanksgiving, so we are really looking forward to this show. We will also be celebrating Janell a.k.a. Lil Bit a.k.a Will’s wife… Birthday! It should be a great weekend, no matter which night you choose to come and play! Keep checking the website for new clubs, updates, shows, pictures and news. We have a lot of really cool stuff coming up for you in the coming months! January 17 I don’t know what they put in the water out in Surprise, but every time we play at The Octane… I GET THE HICCUPS! Maybe it’s the long drive or maybe, just maybe, it’s never ending shots of Jager that get sent up to the stage out there. But, besides that little problem, this club just kicks ass! They truly have one of the best staffs of all the bars we have ever played. The crowds are always very responsive and everyone is just so cool. This has become a great club for us and we are looking forward to all the gigs we have coming up this year with them. We will be back out there next month! This weekend, we head back to Mesa and Papillions Too and for the first time, we will be playing both Friday & Saturday night. We really like playing here and it’s fast becoming our east valley home. We will be playing on the big stage both nights and we are looking forward to playing for our east side fans. They also serve some pretty good food and the room sounds great for bands. It’s been a looooooooong time since we have done a double nighter in Mesa, so pick a night and come party with us! We have some great shows coming up in the next couple of months, including our show out at Westworld of Scottsdale for Arizona Bike week on Friday, March 30 th. We will be sharing the stage with Bad Company that night. We also have a road trip to Sedona coming up on Friday, February 9 th at The Olde Sedona Bar & Grill. Check the schedule for all of our upcoming shows. January 10 It was nice having the weekend off. While it seemed that every other band played this past weekend, we decided to give it a rest right after New Years Eve. We needed the break anyway. We all got together with some friends this past Saturday for a little dinner party at my house. ( I do have pictures and will post them if people really want to see them)My daughters were here; we had a big spread, lit a fire in the backyard and really enjoyed the company of good friends. The weather was actually pretty decent as well. The only down side was that the cold I had been fighting, came back with a vengeance the day after the party. I got some meds though and should be good to go by the weekend. This weekend we are heading west again to a place that was very good to us last year, The Octane Lounge. I know this is too much of a drive for most people, but it is a really great place to play and see a band. The staff, from ownership down to the door guys, is just completely kick ass! We always have great crowds and there seems to be a real appreciation for what we do. If you live on that side of town, or feel like making the drive, come party with us and see for yourself why we love this place. We have some great shows coming up in the next three months, so check the schedule and make your plans now. We would love to see you up in Sedona with us as well! January 3 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We had a great weekend, bringing in the New Year. We played at Papillions on Friday and although it was a stellar night, it was still pretty damn good. Two of my daughters were able to be there, so that made it very cool for me. We had quite a few friends show up to party with us and that is always appreciated. We played the big stage, which we should be playing on from here on out, and everyone had a great time. We brought the New Year in at Blooze. It was our 5 th year in a row and probably the best one yet. It filled up early and stayed that way. Of course, at midnight we had a toast with the bar. Tumblweed gave it and we rang in the New Year with everyone. We had a couple of special guests as well. Dave from Thieves in the Temple played a couple of tunes and then too our surprise, Danny Wexler of Icon fame was there as well. He got up for a couple of tunes as well. It was cool to see him! At the end of the night I put a CD with a slow songs, so I could get one dance in this year with my girl. It was a great night and it was just a lot of fun. We aren't sure where we will be for New Years Eve this year because we wanted to keep our options open, but as the year progresses, we will let you know. We are off this weekend for a little R/R, but will be back at it next weekend at The Octane Lounge. Thank you sooooooo much for all of your support this past year. It was a great year for the band. We played more shows than we ever had before and we picked up some really cool new clubs along the way because of all of you! I am sure we will be finding a couple of new ones this year as well. We will also be playing at Westworld of Scottsdale for Az Bike Week at the end of March for about 4500 people! We will be playing right before Bad Company and we have a couple of very special guests planned as well for that show! Keep an eye on the website for all updates and news about the band in the coming year. We try very hard to keep it updated frequently and I will even try harder to keep up with my Thought of the Week better. We should also have our new T-Shirts available in the next couple of months. We hope your holidays went well and we look forward to seeing you all this year and making some new friends as well. Thanks for spreading the word and keeping us rocking every weekend! We love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |