It's been a couple weeks since we played at Fontana's in New York City, and it's taken almost that long to get over how much fun it was!  I had a bit of a different perspective on the whole experience, as I was there not only for the show but also to celebrate my one-year anniversary/honeymoon.  This blog isn't about my time with my wife April, though.  It's about The Oaks breaking new ground.   

So as many of you might know, The Oaks have been on a self-imposed hiatus from playing live. This was so we could really concentrate on recording our second album.  But we couldn't turn down the chance to play in the Big Apple, as part of one of the biggest music festivals in the country!  We played a "warm-up" show on Sunday, October 14th, at the Social here in Orlando, opening for Caribou.  It was a great show, and really got us pumped and ready to take on New York.  The next day, Matt drove all the way up to New York by himself.  Drummers.  They're all crazy.  The rest of us flew, mostly on Monday, although April and I flew up on Tuesday. I'd never been to The City before, and let me just say: NY taxi drivers are insane.  After much rushing around and trying to find a place to eat in Chinatown that took credit cards (or even spoke English), April and I made our way to Fontana's. 
 

It was a really neat place, although a bit smaller than I had anticipated.  One of the bands that played before us was a Tampa band called Giddy Up Helicopter.  They certainly had an interesting sound.  For their age (they seemed really young) they did pretty well.  Good for them!  The band after us was a trio made up of three girls that had the most amazing voices. I'm fairly certain they were classically trained.  I think they were called "3 Sisters." 

But you didn't come here to read about them!  When it came time for us to take the stage, we were psyched and ready.  There was an almost tangible electricity in the air. After we lugged all our gear onto the stage (can't wait until we have our own roadies), we all started tuning. I plugged into this very nice Ampeg cabinet with 8 10-inch speakers.  We sound checked, and the sound guy seemed very knowledgeable.  We started with "Attraction of the Pilgrim", which is a tough opener for me, but a good one nonetheless.  As we made our way through the set, it seemed like the room started to fill up more and more.  Cameras were going off, people were swaying to the music, and it was just a lot of fun.

A bunch of people from Fanatic Promotion (our new promotions partners) were there.  I felt like it was one of our top shows ever, sound-wise and performance-wise.  My wife videotaped the whole thing; some clips can be seen on our myspace page. 

I was a bit sad when it was over, because it was so fun.  That set is emotionally draining, especially with "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" ending the show.  And yet, I can't wait until we start playing longer, multi-set shows.  The energy and level of musicianship we are reaching right now is awesome, just as a personal experience, and I can't wait to see what heights we can attain when we add more and more songs and grow even tighter as a band.

JS














(All black and white photos courtesy of the very kind Deanna Wallach with Dragon Eyes Photography)