So, we head on out to Talking Stick Casino since I promised Keith Secola and the Wild Band of Indians I would show some support by being in attendance. We pulled into Valet Parking and the valet doots took our car so we just walked towards the tents that were set up, you know Keith was playing there due to all the natives hanging around. I found a seat near the display table and didn't notice who was getting ready to go on stage, it was Irene Bedard and her husband Deni, we went up to her and she was happy and pleased and we started a conversation with her.
They performed their first set, and then Keith came on with his Jazz, Blues and some Christmas song. Irene and her husband came over and hung around us, we talked about when we last seen her at Sky City. Her performance that night was better because she's gotten used to performing before a live audience. Deni reminded me of Ede-G and it was very comfortable and nice to chat with him. Irene is just pretty and so tiny...I mean you can't believe she's native, theres no bit of fat on that girl. (ha ha). I even offered my baby sitting services when they head over to Apache Gold this weekend. So, by the time we departed each other, it was late, we hadn't eaten and so we went to Denny's and had somrthing small to eat and finally made it to our room like about 2:30 am. So, yeah, hanging out and visiting with Irene was just so awesome. She even went into the Casino and left Deni behind...ha ha, girls like to chat alone away from the men.
The next morning, we wanted to sleep in but I was up again at 8:00 am and we got ready and headed out to Vee Quiva, if you want delicious breakfast and very, very reasonable thats the place to go! On our way over I called Mato but he was out flying outta some chute near Wickenburg. So, I just left a message and said "what the heck..", nah just kidding. Can't keep a good cowboy down, right? So, this little old lady like in her late 80's just zoomed right passed us and flew around us in a no-passing-zone just to make it to Bingo! When we got to Vee Quiva, she had just pulled up not to long before us and was jumping out of car, walking stick (not Talking Stick) and all with her red,white and blue, bingo bag, leaving her car running, next thing you know the valet parking guy comes out to drive her car away. That little old lady meant business with her dabbers! We went in and had breakfast, played a little slots and then left. Most of the day we visited Guyz family and then we went to purchase me a new cell phone with the camera and downloading system, it is neat! Then, I splurge on some clothes and finally left to have dinner with Guyz parents and his brother by that time, sleep hit me and we still had to get back to our room and change. We got back like about 6:00, shut my eyes for a sec and Mato calls, chatted awhile and he must have known I was tired, but I still just got ready and we headed out. I was late for my own show! I was suppose to be there at 8:00 and I was like 20 minutes late, we got in, and the line was super long. I thought "oh my god." I went up but everyone already had their work duty and station, the place was packed and the table was set up with DVD's, Posters, and the autograph table was already set up. So, I was thinking man, were gonna be the ones way in the back and can't see the show. But behind us, the line was just as long as in front of us. So, I get back into line and started moving with the crowd. When we finally got in the Showroom, our tickets had "VIP" so we were like way up front and had our own waitress there serving us drinks. There was some other people at our table but no one was really talking to each other. The show started on time, and the show was "Sold Out". I was happy, everything was so organized and the stage was awesome. Being there and just getting the VIP treatment was nice. Their show was even funnier than the others I had seen. They joked around more about the natives in that area, but they had some new skits and very funny ones too! They even mentioned "Holbrook girls" to show that they were teasing me.
"Who's hair is this? Is she from Holbrook!?"
I also was pleased by James remarks about the hard work and promoting native talent will someday show others how far natives have gone. The house was packed and everyone was laughing and as we walked out Mary Kim Titla was there too with the TV News. People walking out were telling other people in line for the 11 o'clock show that "Its a great show, well worth every penny spend"...now, hearing that I was happy, so anyone who was in attendance reading this. "Thank you for your support". You don't know that being there in the audience means to the performers, they're having to travel alot to get to the shows is hard and having a supportive audience is their reward, the smiling faces in the audience makes up for all that travel.
Glasses from IHS..."Look on this pain chart, how bad is your pain?"
visit: http://www.jamesandernie.com
This weekend was more of a business trip but to me it was a vacation I enjoyed myself and now I have to get up and start my week off again at work. We drove back home through the Salt River Canyon, finally I got to view the scenery in the day time, every time I go through there its at night. Then we arrived in Showlow and detoured to Hon Dah Casino for our last adventure of the evening. We won back all the money we spend and was pleased with our weekend. It was nice and fun.
The concert was a celebration of indigenous survival, resistance, and persistence to continue a legacy of indigenous cultural strength for the next seven generations of people to come. “The event was beautiful,” Yaiva an organizer for the event said, “People showed up in record numbers to support and express appreciation for this event. The message that we sent to the public is that we are still here, we have always been here, and we aren’t going anywhere. We are growing, and we are building a movement that celebrates life, the sacred, resistance, community, and family, as opposed to destruction, genocide, death, greed, and ignorance.”
“This mountain (San Francisco Peaks) is a part of who we are as indigenous youth, as indigenous people. We have to fight for our culture, so we can survive. The Youth of the Peaks is an all youth organization committed to stopping Snowbowl and defending sacred sites, culture, and youth empowerment,” said Alberta Nells of the Youth of the Peaks, one of the many representatives of organizations that spoke throughout the night about issues affecting the community.
Kelvin Long, ECHOES - Educating Communites while Healing and Offering Environmental Support
Alberta Nells, Youth of the Peaks, Youth Movement
Serai Festival II
THE SERAI FEST II
REVIEW FROM Marcus AKA A PERFECT TOOL:
"man what a killer show that was!! it was awesome!! "MKIO" put on a killer performance and EDG did too. I missed Swell Chemistry, but from what i heard they tore it up!!looking forward to the next one next year!!...........oh the after party was also a big hit!! which i couldn't enjoy 'cuz my fuggin sinus's were killing me!! but all in all...........it was an A-ok night!!~~ApT~~
REVIEW FROM DEE:
It was so awesome to see my gurr RHONDIZZLE... razzgurl...DANELLE...miss KARE BEAR...da jazzer BEV...ANGIE...and a new addition miss goth herself ANGEL!
plus da shi-spacers...NATASHA and GUYZ..
I went down with shi hard rocker sister of rock N roll Joann...we been always hard core and rocking..we also came with my nephew, Savannah and Bev..we had fun and it was down rite one of the best shows I've been to!
SWELL CHEMISTRY came on strong, sound good, new and full improvement sound!!
SHEEPHEADS was all badd ..even tho there was a new vox but I heard shi songs..
FUCK DIS FUCK DAT...CRAZY...NATIVES....and BRING IT ON!
BLACK MARIA ....FUCKIN AWESOME! they always kick ass...da last time I seen them was prolly when I first met Danelle in Winna Rock! Fuggin Nice riffs!
MANKIND IS OBSOLETE...well before the show started we went over and met Natasha...she is so awesome! she remembered me from myspace which was hella cool and we took foto shots with her because you know ..shes all hard core metal woman! she totally kicked ass on stage with her band and after the show we gave her mad props again! fuggin bad ass! EDG...well you know my boys..there all bad ass muthas...but always great to see them too...ROCKED EVERYONES SHEEPHERDINGS SOX OFF! but through the intermissions sound check and all..we hung out with DJ ABEL , SONYA AND THE DU CROWD... it was cool to catch up and jes talk then jam the hell out! we were invited to the after party with the EDG crew but we were with minors so you know the story....and a couple hours later DJ ABEL called me and the whole partying crowd of Holbrook gave a shout out...HELLO DEE! *l* it was awesome to see my old frens and shi-spacers...you all know how to keep it HEAVY UP DA WALL! \M/
REVIEW FROM "G" of BLACK MARIA:
G from Black Maria here. On behalf of Marc, Brent, Terry, Brian and myself, I want to thank you and your crew for such a great time! Y'all know how to put on one hell of a rock show! And I know what a thankless task it can be to do what you did. Everything was totally professional and ran so smoothly. Your staff was mega-cool to us and we had such a blast playing for everyone. I'm so glad that people seemed to like us! We so appreciated all the amenities---the help from the stage crew with loading and off loading our gear, the accommodations (that was so fun having all the other bands at the same motel. We made new friends, networked and raged with all our new friends!), the great venue and most certainly for feeding us some of the greatest Navajo Tacos ever! Yum!! Yesterday morning it was fun seeing everyone again, heading to Denny's, sharing some more and seeing everyone off. Please keep us in mind for any upcoming shows and/or events that you feel Black Maria would fit in. Again, thank you so much Karen, for a great gig. We are stoked!!
Rock On!!!
-G
BLACK MARIA
REVIEW FROM ANOTHER MEMBER OF BLACK MARIA: Damn!! On behalf of Terry, Brent, Marc, Brian and myself, thank you all for a killer time! We had the chance to make new friend's and meet some of you e-mail friends face to face. Special thanks to Lady Bear, Angel (those tacos ruled!) and the rest of the Event Staff. Totally organized, yet relaxed and comfortable. Thanks to Mr. Book and Gordon for a slammin' sound system. Props to all the other bands that we had the privilege of sharing the stage with. Thanks for having us in "your house". Y'all tore shit up and it was way cool to party with y'all at the 6. It was good to meet D.J. Abel---thank you bro, for all that you do on this site and in the world in general. And most of all we thank everyone who took the time and spent the money to not just come out to have a killer time, rocking out and buying merch, but for supporting a cause that is important to all of us---Native or otherwise.
On a side note---I don't think you guys know how good y'all have it with those cops.....if that was Albuquerque, they would have been swinging their battons, cracking head's with their flashlight's and shooting bean-bag rounds into the crowd! No, those cops freaked us out on how mellow they were.
I suppose they realized they didn't have enough room to lock all us motherfuckers up!!
Thanks again to all y'all! We can't wait to come back and rage some more............
REVIEW FROM ZIM OF SHEEPHEADS:
Thanks a bunch for having us ober this weekend. That was one of the best times I've ever had. Nice pics too. I might have to steal those ones of Natasha for umm.........personal use! Thanks again and take care.The After Party? Yeah that dude was raising hell in our room when i got back to it about 4am. So we took him outside and locked him out, and he kept saying "Hey, that's my room". That's about the ttime our in-promptu singer tossed him about 10 feet to the pavement. Made a cool sound too. Kinda like "kish kish kishhhhhhhhhhhhh."
Big thanks to Wally and Karen (Asdza Shash) for putting on one of the best shows I've been to!
www.thesheepheads.com
JEREMY subbing for JOHN of SHEEPHEADS
SHEEPHEADS
FROM RICKER SCALE aka Rick Abasta:
Goddamn, I thought. Luckily, my younger brother KAOS1 decided to take me to the show, even though he would wind up getting into trouble. Ah, hell! It was well worth it though. We got to the American Legion when SHEEPHEADS took stage. These guys were pretty cool and the audience seemed to like their music too.
They were followed by SWELL CHEMISTRY and I have to say, the sound for them was a lot better this time around. The first time I saw them in Window Rock, the sound didn't match their style. This time around, Mr. Book and his crew totally amazed me!! My younger brother didn't really want to see the gig because he would rather be out skating, but he was impressed with SWELL CHEMISTRY. We both enjoyed the set closing DEFTONES cover and Mr. Book looked pretty emo for that one, ha!
Hot damn!! When BLACK MARIA took stage, I think the audience didn't really know what to expect from this tough crew from Albuquerque. What they got was a double dose of stoner rock and a whole lotta guitar!! By the time the first song ended, more and more people came from the walls to stand up by the stage. BLACK MARIA easily whipped the crowd into a frenzy and not a single person in the joint was disappointed. For me, seeing BLACK MARIA again was like baptism by fire all over again...hellacious!!
FROM VIVIAN OF DU:
hell yea..that show was awesome..i mainly went to see EDG play cause i've never seen them before..and man i was not disappointed. Delvin/ James was fuckin awesome on the guitar. lmao, During the last part of their show, he handed me his guitar..and stupid ass me, i was caught off guard and didn't know what to do with it!! i thought ' HOLY SHIT, I GOTTA FREE GUITAR'!! awesome ..he let me touch his guitar! haha. yae...great time..the lil party afterwards was pretty fun too. Made friends and got hit on..yea..thats always a graet time!!! Cant wait for serai number three!!
FROM DJ ABEL:
We (Abel, Sonya, Billy, and Delvin) arrived Early so those of us who were in the Parking Lot got a taste of EDG unplugged. James sang a kik ass blues song about rocking out in a ghost town..the Unplugged performance was very impromptu.. but it was pretty cool!! We are very sorry we didn't get pics of Sacred Blood, or SHeepheads.. They were the opening bands for the festival.. at that time we were treated to some Good home cooking.. Karen and Family made us the Best Navajo Taco's we've ever had before a Metal Show.. the best catering ever!!!...anyhow while we were eating we missed Sheepheads (with a last minute Fill-in singer.. good looking out to Jaime for stepping in for the sick Billy from Sheepheads..get better soon Billy)... So we got there in time to see Swell Chemistry!!.. the host band was both melodic and very experimental.. with Wizh on drums, Swell rocked out with a style we've yet to become familiar with here on Rez Metal Land.. it was definately interesting and worth hearing though!! Following Swell Chemistry the stage was set for Albuquerque's bad boys who call themselves "BLACK MARIA".. Black maria suprised everyone especially us who caught up with fans who drove from Farmington, Albuqurque, Flagstaff, Window Rock all to witness the Black Maria Experience!!
"IT looks like we're the only ROCK and Roll Band Tonight..thats alright though.." yelled the frontman from Black Maria.. They definately were welcomed with open minds and open hearts as they blasted through their set of straight up hard rock and roll... Black Maria was awesome..even with a sidelined Bass Player they still ripped through an energetic, loud, aggressive hard rock set!! We thank Black Maria for coming out to the Serai Festival..it was good to see DU members roaming around the entire night!! We caught up with a whole mess of loyal du members!!!
After a kik ass raffle with autographed copies of Dvd's and music, LA's Mankind is Obsolete took the stage...."NATASHA, NATASHA, NATASHA" screamed the crowd of about 500. Welcomed with open arms Mankind Ripped through a theatrical set. Both Melodic and heavy, Mankind is definately a band we need to keep an ear out for..
The Co-headliners for the Serai Festival took the stage for a good 30 minute set.. Even with bouncers trying to stop the Mosh Pits, WE weren't outdone as the Pits circled and even got a little aggressive during the EDG set..
Outside Mankind is Obsolete hung out with fans and even other bands... EDG, Mankind is obsolete all exchanged thanks and support for each other..
Sheepheads Substitute Singer and guitarist took it easy as they finished out the night at the Hotel..Acoustic guitars in hand, Sheepheads, Edg, Myself (ABEL), Swell Chemistry all jammed 80's power ballads and EVEN ORIGINAL slow music that No one has heard before... Of Course after a kik ass show, it wouldn't be complete without a kik ass celebration!!...
The Serai festival was an awesome night!!... once again i got to apologize for not getting pics of Sacred Blood and Sheepheads and i didn't get a picture of Ikonoklast because my dumb ass forgot to take spare batteries to the show.. but overall this show was definately an honest to God kik ass Metal Show....very big thanks go to all the bands, all the fans and of course to Asdza Shush and Mr. Book for making Holbrook one cool kik ass hang out spot for the Serai Festival!! and Thanks again to all the bands for being so cool....
NO THANKS TO THE HOLBROOK POLICE FOR MACING EVERYONE FOR NO REASON!!!....that sucked..only bad part about the show....hell even the Bouncers were cool..
REVIEW FROM EDE_G of SWELL CHEMISTRY @ 07 Apr 2005 11:04 am Thank You!
As stated the SERAI FEST II was a Great success!! I cannot think of a better cause and it definately showed in the form of another great show, turnout, and social event.
Thank You Lady Bear, Mr. Book, and Family for the opportunity to follow my heart and support and be a part of something that is real and un-hollow! Thank You Dine Underground! For being the voice for all!
Thank you to the Bands, Fans, and Supporters who know Music and Art are the catalysts for growth, awareness, and rapture.
For those of you who know, putting on a show takes a lot of time and effort, money and grief. Yeah, promotors have it tough. They do all the legwork and put up their own cash to bring a show to a town near you, and if anything goes wrong, then all blame lies on them. I, myself had to stop recording on the album to concentrate on all the extra work in putting this show together. So I first must say, thank you, my Serai festival staff; (Asdza Shash, KeAndra, Lloyd, Sherron, Jeremy, Chuck, Angel, and Josh).
The Serai Festival was always about raising money to benefit a cause. Although last year was a reasonable success, this year was memorable. So first I shall tell the bad things of the night
1.) Not enough chicks. Well there probably was, but I was too busy to notice. Although Rondita looked pretty nice
2.) Moshing was ended by security. Apparently past shows at the venue made the staff of the Legion mad, so security was all bent out of shape. Cool guys though, they thought Natasha was hot.
3.) We ran out of drinks. Can you believe that? Well another snafu was that the Legion didn't get their liquor license in time so the bar wasn't allowed to open, therefore we sold all the drinks we could and ran out of any sort of beverage by 10:30pm.
4.) The Pepper Spray incident. The Holbrook Police have that in control though, I guess someone got mad at us for having too much fun.
5.) The local bars were mad because we took all the business. Sorry Winner's Circle, you have to learn to share.
and
6.) We had to tell other bands "No" on getting on the show last minute. Saying no is a hard thing, but I also need to HEAR your demo as well... so advice for the last minute bands, don't be last minute, and send me a demo at Swell Chemistry
Attn: Mr.Book
815 E. Florida St
Holbrook, Az 86025
DELVIN OF EDG
BILLY OF EDG
So how was this year? The benefit did well, attendance ran to about 232 people, including staff and bands, so the place was very packed. Despite scheduling conflicts with the sound, Gordon from MKIO and I did the best we could with the equiptment we had. I also want to thank Jonah Foree, Josh Foree, Billy Crawley II and Guitar Center of Scottsdale for helping us put together one of the best sound systems I've ever heard in the American Legion. I don't think I heard one complaint. I don't think anyone could hear anyway after that...
The music was awesome. From the start, with Sacred Blood, Everyone in attendance was there, up front, showing each band the love they deserve. The bands were excited, and I didn't hear one complaint, just kudos and "Are we doing this again next year?". I'll get back to that. But for now, I must thank the bands.
Sacred Blood: You guys did real good, I wish I could've done more for you but you ate all the navajo tacos... The Sheepheads: You always hooked us up in Flagstaff so this is a small token of my appreciatioin. And don't bogart the chicks again.
Swell Chemistry: I want to thank my bandmates for putting up with my stressful situation with practicing and organizing this event. I shall buy you cookies... Black Maria: I know alot of people came for you, even saw some folks as far away as Texas I believe. You guys did great, blew away the crowd. I owe you guys big time.
Mankind Is Obsolete: You all have been wonderful friends to us since our first Serai Festival. I'd give Gordon a big kiss for helping me out so much but I think I'd rather kiss the red head...
MANKIND IS OBSOLETE
Ethnic Degeneration: I don't think my band would exist without Biddy's help. Thanks for all, and we cleaned up the girls for you real nice this time... Ikonoklast: This show wouldn't have been a possibility without Ikonoklast giving us the chance (when we were known as True Fiction). Thanks for killing the Pope, by the way... (Apparently he died during the song "Bibles and Childporn", but that could be a rumour) These guys are definately evil enough to make glonnies dance...
Ah yes and thank you, American Legion. I know you were all mean to us, but hopefully our organization eliminates the blemish of past shows. We didn't plan on pepperspray, and we will frisk next time. Thanks to DINE UNDERGROUND and to Abel and Raistlin giving us much support, even though the Red Lake Benefit and Save the Peaks kept you busy. Some girl at the afterparty thought Abel wasn't tall enough to be THE DJ Abel of DineUnderground. Damn that was funny. Thank you, fans! for coming out, buying raffle tickets, supporting your scene. All of you who endured the thirst, gave it your all for 6 hours deserve the most kudos. You didn't mess up anything. There wasn't blood on the floor... (or was there?). Did we do well enough for you, oh Holbrook fans?
Which brings us to the final subject... the question asked by everyone. "Is there a next year?" The location might change, but as long as Nostrodamus's predictions stay untrue and the world doesn't end with not a bang or a whimper... or doesn't end by aliens... or doesn't end from another unholy alliance of epic proportions (Example?: Aerosmith and Britney Spears)...
I believe I said it best when I said... "yes."
FROM THE STAFF OF ASDZA SHASH PRODUCTIONS:
I would like to express my utmost appreciation to all who have been apart of my life, all the bands, friends, business, donations and support...Thank you! Ahe’he! ,
The next night there was a larger crowd in attendance, at last count half way throught the show was at 600 and more were in line to be apart of the Reggae Festival. To start Saturday evenings festivities was Trinidad Calypso. This group threw a little "Jammin" and "Red, Red, Wine" in for good measure, changing the lyrics to “Red, Red Gatorade” due to the children who were also packing the Veterans Civic Center. They also threw in “No Woman, No Cry” and “Stir It Up”.
Th Magnificent Dreadmors came on next, stage presence was defined by their name, as they performed.
Philly Blunt, a beautiful lady, beautiful electrifying voice seems an amalgamation of many great voices in reggae--soulful, chanting, and edgy. Sista Philly's potent lyrical style and exquisite music formed the nucleus of this quintet which wove the cultural lyrics of "Jah, Has A Whole on Me" creates a unique listening encounter. Reggae-naked and raw-is an apt description for Sista Philly's musical style, in which she forgoes the frills of musical refinements and puts her all into every song she sings.
Although a reggae festival in Hopiland is no surprise at drawing a large crowd as evidenced from the past, this event was made up of a majority of family enjoyment, with especially solid performances by Casper Lomayesva. The reason behind Hopiland favorite reggae artist, their home artist, as he came on stage with his opening hit “Last Train To Hopiland”, “Jealousy” as the crowd sang along with Casper singing right along with him. He introduced his new song from his latest CD release “Rezz Cop”, Casper ask “How many have been in the Hopi Pizza Hut? This is out to the BIA…take it easy on us, we’re your brothers, your cousins.” As the crowd danced to their favorite artist, Casper asked what he should play for his hometown crowd, and finished his song with “Rub A Dub Style”
Hailing from the island of Jamaica is Abijah, one of the most promising roots reggae musicians of the millennium. Abijah is one of a vanguard of conscious reggae artist who represent the King's of music to the fullness of Jah. Abijah's profound and innovative lyrics are sincere and deeply rooted to present the other half of the story. Abijah’s CD’s and live performances will have reggae and non-reggae listeners open to the message he brings. The people in attendance had gathered for the past two days, welcomed back Abijah , people in the crowd came as far as Whiteriver and Supai, with Dine representing their taste of reggae with the Hopi people.
Reggae always does well in Hopiland and it's a shame that it is not emphasized more in other tribal nations schedules. Hopefully more shows such as this will help encourage the return of all-day reggae festivals to other tribal nations, as well as Hopiland, in the future.
It was a pleasure meeting Rock Steady and his lady Gail, it was nice working with you both and we will continue our support.
by Karen of Asdza Shash Productions
Honoring Our Veterans Music Festival
I would like to thank the 300 people who purchased a ticket to attend the “Honoring our Veterans Music Fest.”…which took place at the Elk’s Lodge, Feb. 19th. Thank you to the talents including, James Bilagody, Amounting to Nothing, Dacia Kinsel, The Night Breeze Band, Robert Carr, Dog Soliderz, Lil Dre’, Yaiva, Rocking Horse, Coalition and the James and Ernie Comedy Duo.
Mostly, thank you to the members of the Holbrook Elk’s Lodge who opened the night’s them “Honoring Our Veterans” by posting the colors, followed by a 21-gun salute.
My appreciation to Amounting to Nothing, for kicking off the concert with your original music…”Arise” one of my favorite songs this band has released. Musician James Bilagody for serving as the master of ceremonies of this event, the 8 year old songbird, Dacia Kinsel, also known as “Little Miss Loretta Lynn”. Thank you all band members who took the night’s theme so much to heart that you all had our guest, the Navajo Code Talkers, Frank Thompson and Bill H. Toledo autograph your guitars. I’d like to quote Mr. Thompson as he expresses his gratitude, “It’s real exciting and it’s real nice.” “I think that it’s very nice that they are doing this to remember the veterans of all the wars.” “I wish that they could have more of these,” said Code Talker Frank Thompson, referring to musicians gathering to raise money for a worthly cause. “I am very happy we were able to be apart of this event.”
Thank you hip-hop/rap group Dogsoliderz for joining us and introducing Lil Dre’, the 12 year old rap sensation. Especially, I’d like to thank the funnymen, James Junes and Ernest Tsosie III who cracked up the audience with their humorous tales of the reservation life, you brought laughter among all.
Rocking Horse (Brodie!) as always, you rocked the house with electrifying blues riffs…thank you Bronson, not to forget from Tuba City, Tony Rosales (Cheii) of Coalition for finishing the night off, and thank you for the dedication song “Mother”…that meant a lot to me, also for your support Cheii and Alex Begay also of Coalition for providing sound.
To put on a show, it takes special people who are willing to take time and help me, so thank to the following, Lloyd, Book, Sherron, KeAnn, Keithan, Valeen, my mom, Beverly Nez, Angel Begaye, Shandiin Deputee, Bannon Lomahquahu, KUYI Radio Station, Jan-Mikael Patterson and Donavan Quintero of the Navajo Times, Julia of Motel 6, and Hon Dah Casino and Resort.
AMOUNTNG TO NOTHING
Amounting to Nothing was the first band to hit the stage. I can never get enough of their song “Arise.” Thank you for coming, you guys were great.
MISS LIL LORETTA LYNN...DACIA KINSEL
The next act was a little 8 year old girl from Bloomfield, “Little Miss Loretta Lynn” Dacia Kinsel, who blew away the audience as she took the stage and wowed them with her rendition of Loretta Lynn songs… the audience was enthralled with her singing talent as they all clapped and swayed to “Lil Miss Loretta Lynn.”
The next band was the Night Breeze Band who entertained the audience with their Country & Western tunes, and "Indian Car". They were followed by Robert Carr and his accompanist. They filled the audience with emotion with their dedication songs to the veterans. Mr. Carr incorporated the names of the veterans into his song with Mr. Bill Toledo, Mr. Frank Thompson and Mr. Kee Tsinnie (Korean War Veteran) mentioned in the lyrics. The audience understood the sacrifices our veterans went through as they remembered their veterans who served and now serving.
LIL DRE'
Next up was Lil Dre’ and his dancers, opening for him was the rap group “Dogsoldierz.” As Lil Dre’ took the stage the audience was not aware that our native musicians were so talented at a young age. Lil Dre’ got the audience grooving to his music.
Dogsoldierz
ERNIE & JAMES
The following act was the one that everyone wanted to see, the funny guys, James Junes and Ernie Tsosie. These two talented comedians had everyone in tears doing their skits about reservation children, the Board of Education, IHS, “Goats and Rams” (Gun-n-Roses), their rendition of the 70’s, remembering XIT, Indian Wal Mart, RN Model Photo Shoot, and more.
The next act, Yaiva had a hard act to follow but they came through with their rap performance
Rocking Horse
Rocking Horse was next, what can I say about them, once they took the stage, I knew I was into some great blues…they did their song “Simple Man” as I was swaying our hands in the air…and Ponee, you lived up to your promise on that “Star Spangle Banner”…this is one great band, they will never let you down and the first time I heard Bronson play was four years ago at the Legion Hall in Flagstaff, since then I became your fan.
COALITION
The last band to play, Coalition, is to me personally, some of the nicest people I have ever dealt with. They helped me out big time with the sound and getting this show on the road. Along with Iris, their manager, they performed a great show, plus, I finally got my favorite song “Mother” dedicated to me because Tony knows that every time I’m on travel with my co-workers, we listen to this song and try to sing to it in our out of tune voices, (because we know the words by heart).
And in closing, Thank you to all the veterans past and present for the sacrifices you have made for this country, you will always be remembered for your courage and dedication.
Concert Review -- Rock Steady and Gail Dees hosted their first successful Reggae Festival featuring the reggae family of Dee Dread & The zion Knights, Danny Clark, Trinidad Calypso Band , Isis, Magnificent Dread Moots, Stokes, Walt Richardson, Philly Blunt, Dread Warriors Heavy Dub, and reggae legend from previous visits to Hopiland, Abijah and Bonafide, with Hopi’s very own Casper Lomayesa.
The Dread Warriors Heavy Dub started the evening off with their popular style of reggae, a form of music that has an energy and sound that had the Hopiland crowd dancing on their feet, with vocalist Isis stepping in to sing “I’m In Love.” The Dread Warriors were followed by the ska punk band the Stokes whose covers of Pink Floyd’s “Time” and the Eagle’s “Hotel California” were done with a reggae beat that were refreshing takes on otherwise often played FM standards. Surprisingly, even with their extreme popularity in the south, the crowd was pretty lukewarm to their performance since they were relatively new to the Hopiland scene.
Danny Clark and the Mighty 602 Band set was a nice sound of reggae and a mixture of high-energy tunes and ballads from Philly Blunt. Next was, Walt Richardson, He covered tracks from Bob Marley like "Redemption Song" to “Exodus”,”Get Up-Stand Up” and “Slipping in the Darkness” by War his live shows are always great because of the energy and passion he puts into his performance.
Closing the out night was "Bonifide" from Jamaica, he always managed to put on an excellent show. He performed a straight string of songs off his CD, his way of getting the crowd to move. he seemed absolutely at peace with everything as he ran through his set. It was a great performance topped off by a true performer from the homeland of reggae, Jamaica.
REGGAE INNA HOPILAND
Steady, Gail & Karen
Trying to zoom out of town is just so hard sometimes especially when your facing a destination deadline. We made it to Phoenix at 5:30 pm and screeched into the parking lot at Arizona Casino to get my detail duties and complimentary VIP passes for the show Saturday night. Right after that we zoom over to get checked into our rooms, then we hauled ass to the American West Arena, got lost in Central Phoenix due to road construction but we found parking available near the AliceCoopertown (owned by Alice Cooper) and had to walk all the way around the block to find the front lobby of the America West Arena, not ever being there before and at night I lost my sense of direction. We went up to the Will Call Window to pick up our complimentary passes and found our seating and started getting into the game. I was keeping my eyes out for Steve Nash #13 all through the game. This was a great game, because Phoenix Suns was kicking butt all through the game and it made the game more pleasing sitting with Sun fans and all. Of course they won 113 to 81 (something like that). It was a blow out!! So, after the game, we headed out the building (the wrong way again) and had to do our several mile walk around the building back to where we parked. Its funny how you can easily get lost when your suppose to be somewhere huh?
Phoenix Native American Recognition Days
The “Thanks But NO Thanks Given” concert was a concert with an all-indigenous line up. The concert’s focus was to educated the public about the importance and remembrance of the actual history of American Indians and how it is overlooked or told with overshadowing biases in the media, schools and universities.
Holiday’s such as Thanksgiving and Columbus Day promote a type of thinking that American history was a moral success story, sweeping under the rug the fact that millions of indigenous people were murdered in order for America to be what it is today. This legacy of genocide continues today in the forms of sacred site desecration such as the San Francisco Peaks and Snowbowl issue, alcoholism, poverty and unemployment, hopelessness, high suicide rates, and loss of language and cultural identity.
