Lord Bongo's 50th Birthday Bash

Apparently I turned 50 on 2 November. People tell me that 50 is the new 40.

Okay.

Anyway, the fabulous Miss Erika had an idea to have a party with a few friends, perhaps take over a local bar
and have Cowpilot play a bit followed by some kind of jam session. This seemed good to me.

Then a friend of mine, let's call him Big Poppa, heard about this and said, "If you don't mind, maybe I'll
join forces with Miss Erika and make this sort of a combination birthday party and cheap marketing ploy
for my little manufacturing company." I said I didn't mind and Erika said she was in so we were off.

I'm not sure the marketing ploy was really that cheap. This thing got big in a hurry.

We had people from England, Australia, Peru, Canada, Spain, Germany and from all over the USA.

The event was split into two days. For members of the Ernie Ball Music Man Forums, Big Poppa sponsored a
Texas-style BBQ at Love and War In Texas on Friday, 3 November. After rather seriously good chow, the
forumites played onstage and had a chance to fondle some special Music Man instruments.

The next day, Saturday 4 November, the gathered masses had a chance during the afternoon to sit down
for some clinics with Dave LaRue and Steve Lukather. They also had an opportunity to get to know Marty
Albertson, CEO of Guitar Center. I am told they also tortured Big Poppa a bit.

Saturday night, the big event took place at the Hyatt Regency DFW. We had cajun food! We had drinks! Cowpilot
played for about an hour followed by Biff Baby's All Stars. (I'm glad Cowpilot went first.)

Big thanks to all who attended and made it a rousing success, but especially to:

- my wife, Miss Erika, who saw her initial idea go insane but who soldiered on. She worked out
the details for the venues, planned the menu, talked Love & War into letting us invade, designed the
tables, you name it. Without her, it never would have happened. Erika, I love you.

- the larger than life Big Poppa, aka Biff, aka Sterling Ball. When we wondered whether to go the less
expensive route, when we had questions about food, when Erika thought she might go bonkers, Sterling
was always available and always said, "Let's get the best", no matter what it was. The list of
what he did to make this special is too long to include, but he made sure that we had everything
We needed - and more. A better friend is hard to imagine. I love you, too, Biff.

- Dave LaRue, John Ferraro, Tony Spinner, Steve Lukather aka the All Stars. I know you're busy
and it meant a lot to me to have you come celebrate and play and, in some cases, wear my hat.

- Marty and Ed and all the Guitar Center guys. Not only did the guys get to learn about what you
do and how you make it happen, but we also robbed your stores to build the stage!

- Derek, Ryan and the advance crew from EBMM (who actually did the robbing of Guitar Center). You
made sure we had great instruments, a fabulous stage and that we all sounded as good as we could.

- the Ernie Ball Music Man partygoers! It wouldn't have been the same without you guys!

- my family and my best friends who came from all over the United States. We need to get together a
bit more often, and you know who you are. I was so glad that you were there.

- and all my 'imaginary friends' from the Ernie Ball Forums and beyond. Dang, there are a lot of you!

Okay, the photos:

love and war	all stars	cowpilot	party people