"ALLIANCE" VIRGINIA TOUR - 1989

I played for the band Alliance for a few gigs in 1989 after Tracy Hollingsworth left the band.  Tracy asked me to take over for him and I was thrilled.  I began rehearsing with the guys immediately and became an integral part of the group in no time.  Unfortunately, only months after I became the official drummer, Alliance broke up.  For some reason, this tends to happen to every band I've ever played in, so it's probably best if you do not ask me to join yours.  Lonnie announced he was quitting, to which Mark replied, "No, I'm quitting!" Then Tony interjected, "Not if I quit first!" and it all came to a sorry end.  My career with Alliance was over.  Turns out we didn't have much of an alliance.  We all went our separate ways.

Anyway, I have an amateur home video of the last two concerts I played with these guys, which turned out to be the last concerts Alliance ever played.  While this memory is somewhat sad, it is entertaining and interesting to pull out this old video and remember how much fun it was to play with Mark, Tony and Lonnie.  We really had a good time together.

This was a concert for a youth group at a Baptist Church somewhere in Virginia, and the crowd was very enthusiastic and rowdy.  The Fortress was at the peak of its splendor, and I was still pretty good at playing on it.

I love the two fills in this clip.  I can hear them start on the "timbale" to my left, then proceed down the long line of toms I had on this kit.  The "timbale" was actually a Stewart snare drum with the bottom head and hardware removed, but it served the same purpose.  There is also a quick glimpse of my bar chimes at the end of this song, which is "Eye Contact" off of Alliance's "Answer Beyond the Pieces."

I also love the footage of Tony Feliciano in the beginning of this clip, because he botches his solo and then smiles at the camera.  It's such a "Tony" moment.  I love that guy.