Our Third Orderup!

On Friday, July 24, The Tim and Bob Show played our first ever gig at the new Orderup in Stone Ridge. It was memorable for this reason, and it was memorable for Mary Lou's expanded return to the group. If we had any doubts that she was ready to sing her full load again, this gig removed them all. We are back to a full-time four person vocal band.

We were also pleased to see some Tim and Bob Nationals "in the house." In addition to Bethany, Hillary, Matt, and Evan, our good friends John and Tina also showed up. It was a hot, very hot, exceedingly hot evening, and we were happy to be playing inside, and happy to meet even more Orderup staff and management. Oh, and we had some wonderful dancing children. They look great, don't they?

July was a very busy month, and August looks even busier. Where will we be playing? Check out our upcoming gigs by clicking here. While you're on the site, drop by the guestbook and TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!.

Mary Lou Returns!

Yes, the weekend of July 17-19 marked Mary Lou's return to the band. She had missed several performances since recovering from her surgery in late June, and has been doing vocal exercises and singing along [gently] to KONO 101! We were taking it very easy with her, since the first week of August is going to be pretty much non-stop singing for all four of us.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

On Friday, July 17, we returned to Orderup at The Colonnade for our usual 3rd Friday performance. We drove over in a cooling rain storm. How cooling? Well, it was 103 in my garage, but by the time we had driven about a mile in the rain, the outside temperature had dropped to 74! Boy was it nice to have rain, even if I just had my car washed for the first time in months.

As usual, Orderup was a party. "The Other Don" was there, along with Casey, Karen [and her new car, woo hoo!] and Martha and Dave. Our very good friends Louie and Cathy were there as part of a group of 11! I've lost count of the number of people they've introduced to us over the months, but we're always glad to see them. Louie's daughter Angelina helped us start the second set. Our new friend Gavin helped us end the first set, encouraged by the Orderup crowd. You can see our latest "band members" here. Other new friends included Kyle, Ron and Carolyn, and newlyweds John and Lacey. As always, it was serious fun for us. Mary Lou joined us for two songs, but only for percussion. Singing was still two days away.

On Sunday, we returned to Patty Lou's for a Sunday brunch gig. We hadn't played there since New Years Day, although we've eaten there several times in the interim.

Tim and Bob Nationals Casey, Katy, and Matt were there, along with Angela and Ryan, and our friend Wendy and her brother. We also made new friends in Gilbert and Maria and their two sons.

On either side of eating very tasty Patty Lou specials, we played a lot of our "indoor" music to an appreciative audience. A very treasured member of that audience was our good friend Mrs. Miller, a lovely lady who always chats with us when we stop by to visit Patty Lou. While I was taking a brief break from the bandstand, Mrs. Miller asked me if we knew anything from the 1940s. I told her that we had some songs in our repertoire written as far back as 1921! I said I'd see what we could do for her.

Shortly thereafter, I returned to the bandstand and played Johnny Mercer's 1941 hit "I Remember You" just for her. At intermission, she told me that the song had special meaning for her since it was one she and her then fiancée had danced to. They had to wait for him to return from Europe at the end of World War II to marry. They did and had a brilliant life together. She thanked me for helping her have a good memory of their time together. None of us in the band plays music because we're after fame or money; we do it to help people enjoy themselves. Sunday was a very successful day for us, thanks to Mrs. Miller.

And yes, Mary Lou did get up and sing with us, taking part in four of our four-part songs. Always her own toughest critic, she was only a bit pleased with her performance, but there were no ill effects, and she [and all of us] are looking forward to her taking an even larger part in our next gig. When will that be? Well check out our website for details of our upcoming gigs and, if you're so inclined, check out our guest book and TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

Of Birthdays, Tote Bags, and Loads of Good Friends

The second weekend of July found The Tim and Bob Show performing at a "regular" venue as well as in a location we'd never played. Each performance was memorable, and each was very well attended by folks friendly to the band.

On Friday, we returned to Beto's Comida Latina for our regular 2nd Friday gig. We were buoyed by the news that Tim and Bob National Katie had decided to have the San Antonio celebration of her birthday with us [Katie lives and works in Austin]. We knew she would bring some friends, but we weren't sure just how many. What we DIDN'T know is that a regular visitor to our Orderup gigs would decide not only to visit us at Beto's but also to bring some out-of-town visitors. Between those two parties, a party of folks that included a gent that used to work with Steve, and a few other unexpected Tim and Bobbers, we had lots of friendly faces to entertain on the evening. While the wait staff informed us that, indoors outside of the raging heat, there wasn't much business, outside in the 100+ degree temperatures, the joint was jumpin'.

In addition to Katie, the Tim and Bob Nationals who attended were Hillary, Frank and Elizabeth, Cathy, Elizabeth, Cristina, Ryan, Aaron, Peter, Marguerite, Dylan, Brianna, Justin, Sandra, Kelly, Erin, and Louie. In addition, we inducted these new Nationals: Susan, Ron, Stephen, Jennifer, Seth, Bodoin, Jim [and five of his friends], Tara, and Mary. During our last visit to Beto's -- also in screaming heat, there was a period of time there when Tara and Mary were our ONLY audience. A big change this time.

Also attending was Mary Lou. Still unable to sing after her recent surgery, she kept herself busy by taking pictures, chatting with patrons, and helping us sell some CDs and band merchandise. Band merchandise? What band merchandise, I hear you cry? Well, this gig was the debut of The Tim and Bob Show Take It Outside tote bags. Yes, our first foray into brand merchandising is a wonderfully handy and versatile [and environment friendly] tote bag that's available in four colors. How much do they cost? I'm so glad you inquired. Come to a future gig and find out.

Three hours of music and lots of handshakes and hugs later, we trooped home and got ready to do it all again the next day.

On Saturday, the band was booked as entertainment for a joint birthday party for two of our most favorite Tim and Bobbers. Both Mara and Loyce were celebrating, and the party was held at Mara's business, Jewell's Gymnastics, in Schertz. We played for two hours, intermingled with the attendees -- most of whom we knew very well -- and even sampled some of the food, beer, and wine they had on hand. Once again, Mary Lou didn't sing, but she did take pictures and socialize, and like the rest of us, watched whenever a party-goer got up to dance or decided to try his or her hand at the trampoline or balance beam. I resisted the temptation to try the gymnastics, but I did sneak in a dance with Mary Lou.

Listing the Tim and Bob Nationals who attended would be silly, since just about everyone there was a long-time friend of the band. Just leave it at the fact that we enjoyed playing indoors, we loved the company, and the audience might just have had as much fun as we did! Thanks Mara and Loyce!

Well, that's it for the weekend of July 10-12. Next weekend we're working on Friday and Sunday, and we're hoping that Mary Lou can sing with us a bit on Sunday. Once again, we invite you to check out our website, especially our upcoming gigs, CD sales, and photographs sections. And, as always, thank you for supporting live music, and try to keep cool!

And please, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

It's All About the Fans!!!!

On Saturday, July 4, The Tim and Bob Show helped celebrate our nation's 233rd birthday by playing "some old time rock 'n roll" at HEB Central Market in Alamo Heights. We usually play there the first Saturday of the month, but we usually play indoors in their nicely appointed cafe. But because the first Saturday in July was "the 4th," we moved our performance time forward 5 hours and played an outdoor afternoon gig in their patio dining area. For those of you reading this in the San Antonio area, you know what it was like on the 4th. Our drought continued and the previous record high temperature for the day was smashed as the mercury hit 103 at the airport. And, yes, we were outside in it.

The FIRST person to come to our rescue was our contact at Central Market, Emily, who provided us with a fan about the size of a child's wading pool. We set it up behind us and it ran for more than 5 hours keeping our equipment cooled and ourselves reasonably dry. The SECOND person to come to our rescue remains anonymous to us. It could have been the woman that I chatted with and gave a card to when she stopped at our sign to listen to us play. She went inside to shop and could have bought us lunch. It also could have been the couple that Steve talked to who were concerned about our lack of sustenance. Or it could have been any one of our other fans; we'll never know. Whomever it was, he, she, or they treated us all to lunch -- lunch that we could smell cooking on the outdoor grill.

The THIRD persons to come to our rescue were Elizabeth, Emma, and their father, Rodney, who came to listen to a few tunes and left us with an ice chest loaded with popsicles. They figured we'd be hot and in need of something sweet, and they were right. Finally, the FOURTH person to come to our rescue was our friend Chris, who drove back home just to get us insulated gloves. Why were these necessary? Well, our speakers and speaker stands were standing out in the sunshine for more than five hours, and they were seriously hot. As the song goes, "you've got to have friends," and The Tim and Bob Show are blessed with many.

Speaking of friends, in addition to the four we just mentioned, a huge crowd of Tim and Bob Nationals came out to enjoy the music. Vicki and Linda were there, along with Mara, Larry, David, Stephanie, Marcie, Rich, Patrick, Flo, Holly and Gary, and Richard and Justa. By my count, that's EIGHTEEN Tim and Bobbers out in triple digits to hear their favorite band. That may be a record for us, and I know that Central Market was pleased that they all showed up. We also made new friends Tillie, Eloise, and Jeff.

With four hours to fill and with Mary Lou still at home recovering from her recent surgery, the three of us had a little more singing to do. We replaced our signature 4-parters with eight songs that Kathy, Steve, and I do together. The best of these, in my opinion, was Steve's arrangement of Greenday's "Wake Me Up When September Ends." Kathy also had another eight songs that featured only Steve and her, and I sang eight by myself to give Steve a chance to sit and rehydrate. I introduced a new number, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out." It's new to our repertoire, but it's hardly new to anyone else, since it was first recorded in 1923!

We finished the day with as much performance energy as we began with, broke down the equipment, loaded up our cars, dropped off the equipment, and then the three of us drove back to my house to splash in the pool. Four hours in 100+ temperatures? Not bad for a bunch of oldies like us.

Further special applause has to go out to Steve and Kathy. We were about 5 minutes into our setup when I was hit by extremely painful back spasms. Already missing Mary Lou's assistance, Steve and Kathy had to take on most of my lifting and carrying as well. I didn't hear a single complaint.

So, thanks to Central Market's fan, and thanks to all the fans of The Tim and Bob Show -- veterans and first-timers -- who made this gig very special!

And please, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!