Happy Birthday America!

I am sending out my 4th of July wishes early, because I don't expect to be blogging for a while. Probably not until after the 4th. I will be out of town, doing many things. I'm heading out to a place I haven't been in a LONG time, and to another place that is very familiar. It's nice to get away from the every day monotony.


Tonight, we have VAL practice, and we are working on a set list for our show next Friday JULY 8th at OMALLEYS. If you recall, Andy won't be making it to the show, so we are re-working the songs to make them sound grand. It won't be the same without him, but we'll do our best to entertain.

Puck's Pistons Pissed On

A picture is worth a thousand words. Yes, Dan is crushed. His beloved Piston's couldn't do it again. It's a shame, but dems the breaks! There's always next year... oh wait... it's that the Cubbies mantra ??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PANTZ !

Yes, here we go again..
Today, our guitar hero is one year wiser.
Sto Lat, bro!
Behold, the montage :




























AND... a Happy Birthday to twin brother (ex-VAL bass man) Chris!
Sto Lat!

HAPPY BUDA BIRTHDAY !!

Yes, he's a year older!
Here is a photo montage of the man in action.
Congratulations and STO LAT, bro!

Pumpkins May Smash Again ?

From the Chicago Trib via Tankboy.
Corgan's letter to Chicago.

MOBFEST 2005

Mobfest is upon us again. One show I have to recommend is :
The Assembly at Elbo Room this Friday June 24th. They will be playing with "The Ladies and Gentelmen", "The Idle Hands", Cisco Pike, and Textbook. All great bands. Dave Suh leads The Assembly and he has been a good friend of VAL for many years. I have heard some of his new stuff and it's excellent... More about The Assembly here and here.

Did I mention it's a Tankboy Production?

VAL LIVE at O'Malleys - FRI JULY 8th - 10PM

Yes, we are finally playing out again! Can you believe it? However, due to scheduling problems we will be doing this show without Andy. It's gonna be rough, and we will have to re-work some songs to make it happen. So, it will be an unconventional VAL performance. Should be interesting. We are playing from 10pm to 11pm. Many of you have been asking for a show. Well, here it is. BE THERE!


Vultures are Lovebirds @ OMALLEYS
FRI JULY 8th - 10PM
11957 S Pulaski, Alsip IL
21+ $5 cover
with Darkness Brings The Cold and Voodoo Kitty

Map

Weekend Celebrations!

Congratulations to:


Andy and Desiree. They are celebrating their anniversary this Sunday!
Us VAL boys are devoted!


Freshy. He is celebrating his birthday! Happy Birthday Fresh-MAN


Father's everywhere!

Cruise Control, Rumor of the Day, X and Y

It's official! Our favorite hollywood couple are engaged!
PS - Does anyone else find it creepy that she says she dreamed of marrying him back when she was a pre-teen? ick.


Rumor Mill - There is a chance that VAL will play a show in JULY! Check back for updates.


X and Y
Been listening to the new Coldplay album, and it's definately one that grows on you. At first listen I felt it was a handful of great songs, and some forgettable ones. There still are many forgettable moments, and I am on the fence as to wether it's better than "Rush of Blood..". But, it's so endearing hearing Chris Martins voice with the rest of the Coldplay boys playing, that you can't dismiss them. They really have become a band that is loved because of what they sound like. Those 4 guys in a room together. They could sing the alphabet over some piano and strings and it would be a hit. They're like a favorite sweater.

Batman is a James Fan

So, I'm sitting here thinking about all of the movies that I have to get my butt out to see, and I take a look at the credits for the new "Batman Begins" movie. Low and behold, I find that one of our biggest influences during the 90's has a role in the summer blockbuster! Tim Booth (yes, ex-lead singer from JAMES) plays Victor Zsasz in the movie. Rumor is that he will have a bigger role in the sequel! Good job Tim!

Polishing the Covers, Rumor Mill

Practice went as well as expected yesterday night. A bit rusty, but we're polishing many of the new cover songs we have planned for the block party in August. We actually spent some of the time updating Dan's computer with a "cover song" MP3 library. We now have all our cover songs at the touch of a button!

Rumor is we might be playing a small south west suburban college in the Fall ....

Doing Lunch, Rob Bass, F wav

I met the boyz for lunch today. We were able to sit outside since the heat isn't that brutal today. Good times. Tradin' stories about the weekend, talkin' about music and such. I have a new little stash of music to listen to this week. Coldplay, White Stripes, and Black Eyed Peas. I will give some short reviews down the line.


VAL practice tonight, and we finally have Bob back in the fold. He has been AWOL for a few weeks. Andy will still be out for a while. I am anxious to get back to rocking out to that funky ass Rob Bass.


Tom F. is currently working on editing the wav files of our WXAV performance I hope to get some mp3's up soon. I just have to find a good host for all of the files. I may have as many as 11 acoustic numbers to post for FREE. I have to check out myspace.com. Maybe that will work?? Any suggestions ?

getting steady, total eclipse of the.., summer sweat, fine fine dining

I'm feeling a bit better after the weekend. The dizziness has subsided, but I still feel a little "out of it".


Sounds like everyone had a blast at the Mary and Michelle fest at Eclipse on Saturday. Dollface and I stopped in to the pre-party at Barb's place for a bit, but we didn't continue on to the euro-centric bash that went on into the wee-hours.

The Sunday afternoon picnic at Buffalo Woods in Hickory Hills was also great. Lots of people sweating together in the thick humidity. Kids running around everywhere, beer flowing, and volleyball spiking.

Dollface and I celebrated our anniversary at a wonderful Italian spot (Isabella) in Downers Grove. They treated us well, and the food was wonderful. Check it out sometime.

Hello, Hello... I'm at a place called...

Vertigo.

I'm not feeling well. Possibly a viral infection to the middle or inner ear.
I'll write more next week.

Summer happenings with the VAL army

Yes, another sweltering day in Chiacago Land. Summer hit us like that dude that knocked out Golata a few weeks back.


Practice went well yesterday for Dan, Eric and I. Rob is missing, and Andy is a workaholic. We got to go over more cover songs for our block party show in August, and Dan's new song entitled "Overkill".


BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Myron and Beth. They are celebrating their anniversary today!


This Saturday, our good friends Michelle and Mary are celebrating. Michelle's one year older and Mary is a few years wiser (congrats on finishing school!). There will be a big VAL Army bash at Eclipse.


Sunday brings the anual Maria Konopnicka Polish Language School Picnic / Party at Buffalo Woods near 87th and Kean Ave. in Hickory Hills. Should be fun. Doll Face and I will also be celebrating our anniversary that day!

WXAV Live Recap

Happy Monday to yah. Remember them from the 90's ?

The acoustic set / interview on 88.3FM WXAV this past Friday was a blast. Dan and I went through the OC Recap segement with Pooch, listened to Marc Columbo's band, heard a new song from the highly anticipated Coldplay album, and did 5 VAL songs.

Here's the songs we played :
Not Alone, Never Say Never, Did You Call?, Starved, and Forget the World.

We've been playing the first 3 new songs at our recent shows, but "Starved" is a very old song that was written before VAL even existed. I thought it would be cool to bring it out as an acoustic number this time. Also, "Forget the World" is actually an idea we have been kicking around, but haven't really completed yet with the full band. So, if you listened in, it was quite interesting.

Tom (BT Rentals) from the VAL Street Team was able to record the whole thing, so we should have FREE mp3's available on the web in the near future. Also, Pooch gave me a disk of our last appearance on WXAV and those acoustic songs will be on the site as well. Last time, it was Dan, Andy and I and we did : Meant to Be, Still There, 100 States, This Life Is Blind, and Mr. Superlove. So, we will have a whole new "acoustic" download section on the web! Nice.

PS - have any of you checked out the new photos on the site?

Stone Roses to Reunite ??

FROM PITCHFORK:
David Nadelle reports:"I Am the Resurrection"...yet again? Rumors continue to circulate regarding the possibility of a Stone Roses reunion, as three-quarters of the legendary "Madchester" band were seen together taking in a gig in their hometown a couple of months back. With online fans petitioning for a historic reconciliation (or at least some semblance of closure), this has been the most serious talk about the subject since the band unceremoniously split following an undisputed disastrous Reading Festival show in 1996.
Read more...

practice, overkill, give a guy a gig.

Practice last night went well. It was just Dan and I. We are ready for our radio interview / acoustic set on Friday. Dan also gave me a listen to a new song he's working on. It's called "Overkill" and it's a great indie ballad. The rest of the band sans Andy will be together again next Tuesday with the ultimate goal of getting prepared for an all-day block party show in August. That means lots of covers and new songs. Since scheduling this summer has been a nightmare, I don't think we will be playing out until then. Sorry. One date that might work is FRI JUNE 24th. However, I haven't been able to get any clubs to bite yet. If you know of a venue that would have us, please contact me.

NEW VAL PICTURES !

Hundreds of new pictures are up on the VAL website! The ones I have been procrastinating on for the past 5 months! Check them out here. They are in the "LIVE - recent" link.

Wild Memorial Memories, Back in the VAL saddle

Man, still recovering from the weekend. What a blast. I need a holiday from the holiday. The weekend was packed with non stop action! Bar-b-Ques, Weddings, Volleyball, Yardwork, did I mention booze? My little muscles are sore with delight. What a workout. Everyone, thanks for the memories. You know who you are.




Tonight, I will be doing the music thing with Dan. VAL-lite as they say. Tune in to hear us on Friday during the afternoon drive! REMEMBER - FRI from 5 to 6 pm 88.3FM WXAV(southside). You can also listen to the stream on the net. Just go to www.wxav.com.

Big thanks to the recent VAL Guestbook signings. Good to know your out there! Sometimes cyberspace is a lonely place.