Saturday night at Tapeo. September 1, 2007
Matteo, Claudia, Gil, Ginette Perea and Miguelito at Tapeo. September 1, 2007 9:03pm (photo by Mom)
Wow, I can't believe it's already September! This summer went by so quickly. I guess that's a good thing--time flies when you're having fun, right? It's always a blast here at Tapeo, but admittedly some nights are better than others and it's usually on the better nights that it so happens a lot of our friends come out.
So last night (Saturday), my Mom came to my show and she brought with her a large group of filipino friends including the Cui's, a couple I hadn't seen since I went to high school in West Africa--yeah, it's true, I spent two years living in Ghana, but that's another story. Of course, I made sure they got the table right in front of the stage.
My Mom, if you recall, majored in music in college (she went to USC and majored in voice) and I followed in her footsteps and got my Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance at Cal State Fullerton. Both of my parents are artists and my brother Kevin followed in my Dad's footsteps (Dad went to Art Center College of Design, a very prestigious graphic and industrial design school) and became a full-time visual artist. Anywayz, the point is that I'm sure whenever my Mom comes to my shows these days, she always gets a little kick out of the fact that she had a major influence in my career choice. When I was growing up as a child doing student recitals she was always the one in the audience shouting "That's my son!" I don't know if she still does that cuz if she did, her shouts would be drowned out by the thunderous applause. Hehe.
Also, I invited my guitar student Matteo to join us onstage. And his parents showed up and got a table with a good view for taking a video. No doubt his parents were proud to see him making beautiful music with us onstage and musically connecting with the audience.
Miguelito and Matteo. September 1, 2007 8:07pm (photo by Mom)
Apologies for the blurry pic. I forgot to my reset camera back to normal settings before I handed it to my Mom. But it's important to me to have a visual record of one of Matteo's first flamenco performances.
It had been awhile since I last saw Serenity and friends--I think the last time was at my birthday in July. So she brought along her brother Isaiah, her sister Rachel, Vic, Carol, Chris and Rebecca. Seriously though, wherever Serenity and friends are, that's where the party's at. 
And we mustn't forget my fellow musician friend Gil, who may not come every week but comes to my shows more than anyone I know. Thanks Gil. He plays acoustic classic rock mostly and hanging out with him sort of rekindled my interest in guitarist Steve Vai (Yeah, I played electric as a teenager when Steve and Eddie Van Halen were among my music idols).
Ginette, Mom and Claudia. September 1, 2007 9:05pm
OK, this is just a quick blog entry. What can I say? It's 8-something in the morning on Sunday and despite going to bed at 3 or 4am, I'm up at this early hour. Just to quickly sum up last night: the weather was gorgeous, we had a great audience, my Mom came and so did a lot of our friends, my guitar student joined us onstage and Ginette, Claudia and I were feeling inspired. Good times!
As for tomorrow (Monday), my flamenco show at Cafe Citron is canceled for the Labor Day holiday and will resume next week.
As a little sidenote, just want to mention that María, who writes for the blog A Time to Dance: Juggling a Passion for Dance with Real Life, mentioned me in an entry titled Challenges of Keeping a Community Dance Website. Thanks for your support María!
Ciao for now!
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