Dreams

Did you ever have a dream?

And no, I’m not talking about the obvious one where you’re about do something nasty with Johnny Depp or… take your pick.

I’m talking about having something in the back of your mind that you’ve always wanted to do or be but never dared or had the opportunity to do something about it. Maybe you thought it was silly or impractical. Maybe your parents told you that was something you never could/would ever achieve. Although my parents never outright denied me of it, I wanted to be the next John Bonham.

It was just understood that I should do something worthwhile, meaningful, practical. Logical. And that’s what I did.

But deep in my heart I was meant to be a drummer. I have never felt more at ease than when I’m playing to my favorite music. It is my escape. My vacation. It’s how I keep my balance. I must have been some sort of tribal drummer in a past life. Anyway. Several months ago a mom from my son’s baseball team asked me if I played drums (I was wearing a Zildjian shirt at the time). Then she asked if I would be interested in playing with the band at her church. I was hesitant at first. A church band? Me?

And I say that because I was never raised with religion. But I was brought up to know the difference between right and wrong. And I’m a big fan of the Golden Rule. Hell, Gosh my son, per his mother’s wish, went to catholic school up until this past year. So I get it. ‘Nuf said.

At first, I was thinking to myself, well… I don’t know. The music has to be lame. All organs and choirs and shit. When do the drums kick in? But come to find out, church has gone multi-media. They not only have the live band but a kickin’ 80” video screen for spiritual videos and lyrics to the songs they’re singing. That’s a good thing because as long as I’ve been practicing/playing, I’ve never, well almost never, performed in front of an audience. It’s always been more of a serious hobby than anything else. So I’m happy to not be the center of attention. But after a few rehearsals, and just a few days to learn a dozen songs I’ve never heard before, I played two Sundays in a row, and it felt fucking (’scuse me Lord) great! I have to say that the music isn’t bad. Mostly cover tunes of modern/semi-modern Christian rock tunes. The lyrics… well… typical. On one of the songs the lyric was “God is awesome”. That is so 80’s. Yeah, I guess he’s tubular and rad too. If we were to translate it to the parlance of our times I guess God would be wicked sick. Umm…I don’t think the parishioners are ready for that.

All in all I’m loving every minute of it. To be finally playing with a group of musicians, real musicians, is my dream come true. And who knows? Maybe I’ll earn some major points with the Big Guy along the way.
But not to worry. I’m always going to the beer-drinkin’, pot-smokin’, but completely responsible, red-blooded California dude I’ve always been. And as a bonus, the church band is a rotating line-up of local musicians from different bands, so the exposure…c’mon,… it’s only a matter of time before I’m the next Tommy Lee. I’ve got the package. Ha!

Although, if I had my way, the set list would be the following:
Opening: Holy Diver – Dio
Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath – Black Sabbath
Judas Priest medley of tunes – The Sinner, Devil’s Child, Hell Patrol…etc.
Heaven and Hell – Sabbath w/Dio
Stairway To Heaven – Zep
Encore: God Of Thunder – Kiss

But that’s just me.