Honored to be elected to the WASHINGTON PILOT’S ASSOCIATION/SPOKANE Board of Directors… So, we went flying! (of course) Not quite the challenge of  “Contaminated Surfaces” it was blustery cold~gusting to 20kts, and shooting some long approaches to the new extended Runway21 at Geiger… Kind of like the last time I tried to disco.
-=Gs=-

Spokane’s freshest rock, for two fun-filled days at CLUB-EDGE this weekend! It was the BATTLE OF THE BANDS; Six of the area’s finest (plus BUTT UGLY, the official “battle opening band”) taking stage for solid guitar-fury, screamin’ leads & enthusiastic audience appeal! All competing for their chance to score prime-opening slot for nationally touring ROYAL BLISS (Club Edge; 11-13)

A big thanks to ALL the bands, none of them ‘sucked’ and that made it hard; The judges definitely had their work cut out, weighing each band’s own strength and weakness, and the crowd had their favorites, too!

HERE ARE THE FINAL RESULTS:

#1. L S DIABLO  …Will be opening for ROYAL BLISS on 11-13!!!

#2. VANGUARD

#3. PRIOR SIN

Honorable mentions to BUMP DOOSIE, CRIMSON RESOLVE, and LEVEL ZERO for awesome sets. Everyone came to rock the place, and I would have been happy to have any one of theses bands opening for a number of shows…

NEXT UP: SUPERSUCKERS @ CLUB-EDGE (SPRAGUE & VISTA) THIS FRIDAY NIGHT, 10-30. I remember watching these all-star punkin’ rock-a-billy blues-dudes opening for FOO FIGHTERS, in San Fran about 15 years ago at the legendary Fillmore and the SMOKED THE NIGHT… Don’t miss this show! LO-DOUGH and good to go, we’ll see you Friday night.
-=Gs=-

POST-SHOW UPDATE:
Want to thank ROYAL BLISS for an awesome show at CLUB-EDGE! …You want some pictures?

Royal Bliss pics are here!

Playing to a “private party” of Rock listeners who braved the November weather to Rock the night away, we enjoyed opening acts; 33, Character Flaw, and L.S.Di-ablo (Winners of the “battle Of the Bands” two weeks ago, seen below) There were also many “Cameo” appearences by Tanzi and a few of the RACKTOBER CALANDER GIRLS sharing stage with GEOFF SCOTT as MC’s for the evening. It was a great night of solid wall-to-wall rockin’ and excitement! ROYAL BLISS performed a full set and then asked everybody if they minded if they played a few new songs (Not always a good idea, but this night, the crowd seemed genuinely receptive in the notion) it was good to hear a fresh set.

They also had a NEW CD in tow “STUDIO A” (that isn’t going to be officially released until next week) found one at the merch stand, and bought it, then I turned around to see Taylor standing there “Congratulations, you just bought the VERY FIRST copy of our new CD!” *Bonus prize* it was then promptly whisked backstage to be signed by the entire band. Kewl Beans!

PS: Chris, love the “Dudley Doo-right” you should keep it, bro.

A BIG “SHOUT OUT” to the vets, the V.A., the Air Force (Fairchild Volunteers) and WPA for an awesome turnout and the largest Foliage Flight in the 19 years Washington Pilots have been doing this incredibly heartfelt event. ( …If you’d like to follow along, see album posted here)… Absolutely LOVE working with the Vets, The Air Force People and the fellow Washingtonian-State Pilots on this event every year.

Then it was off for some well deserved R&R with those fun-loving hotties at THE TORCH. Always a lot of fun in the Lake City; Bikini Bull Riding, Bikini Ice Shots, Bikini Racktober Parties, or, in this case~

the Bikini FOXXY BOXING

(seen here in THE TORCH album)  this would wind up being my last LIVE broadcast for a while, but *hey* it was worth it, and it was great to see our old “Bikini Stubble” winner again. TAKE IT TO THE RING, CARMINE!!!

She is going to RACK IT UP for another crack at the RACKTOBER calander and I would hope for a year of whatever month she lands upon. That’s MY vote!

What month would YOU be? …I’m still kinda partial to Bunny Month ~ but am willing to negotiate. OW* stop hitting me!

OW!

America… LOOK OUT!  The year was 1995, and I had been working at a station in town doing the Local Music Show… from my Mom’s basement every week. The program lasted for 5 YEARS (A record for local Rock radio at the time) sometimes shipping them in from Oregon or Seattle – or Canadia just to play their CD and sit on “the couch” and hang out in the theme of a giant backstage party. We had great names and big stars and little bands and unknown stars. Artists like Peter Cornell (Chris’s brother), Supersonic Soul Pimps, Civilized Animal, and Myles Kennedy (remember Citizen Swing & Mayfield Four?) … all “cut their rug” with us and occasionally treated you to live sets while Mom & Floyd would come down and serve us hot chowder and try not to complain about the smoke pots too much…

I bring you this little “Flashback”, because: Today, the GEOFF SCOTT WEBSITE turns 14 years old! Born out of necessity (the mother of local-rock invention, like duct tape) as a way to post clips, photos and links to bands we were talking to each Sunday night  and every show. (that stations website never changed in the 5 years we ran this thing) But for ME… “if it’s on the air, you’ll find it there” has always been the key.

The website, in it’s original form, was housed on AOL Hometown and therefore was afforded just FIVE MEASLY MEGABYTES of internet world. We rotated graphics, made a little “chat” blog, and posted very tiny clips and announcements based on the current show and next week’s shows, etc. I even, for a time, produced a “streaming” video content that was actually (I can tell you now) nothing more than a series of .GIF images I shot while recording the show, and then constantly updated to the Hometown server at just the right time… as it played back on-air. But then there was this 4 track Akai Reel To Reel I to tow with me everywhere I went (including the station)

Rock 106 & a YES t-shirt... ahh good times!

Now…  sure have come a long way together since the old days of my first Windows 95 computer (75 MHZ, 697MB hard-drive, 8mb of RAM= $3,000) and My mom’s old Apple2 on the dining room table back in Junior High; the “Commodore-64 Kids” could only gawk at.

after 20 years Rocking this place and decades more… to come

-=Gs=-

Do you remember Becky “I promise not to scream…EEEEEEk?!?”

of our ‘HIGH IN THE SKY‘ let’s-learn-to-fly-heli’s video series from last summer? (See the VIDEO HERE) Well, her &  Joe, “PhunBobby”, and I ~ went up in the Spokane Airways 172 for quite the little flight-reunion of sorts. I had recently gotten licensed and Becky was there through proxy, curious and learning right along… Call it “the big get-even” I guess, as she was the one to embarrass me in front of all the rock listeners when we found out I could fly an airplane solo to Missoula no problem, but when it came to hovering a helicopter; I could barely keep us from dancing an aerobatic slow-waltz for more than a minute or so.

Safety is #1 on the list. So, when i felt the 30mph gusts buffeting my car ~ I wasn’t even sure we’d be removing the tie-downs, let alone piling four people into the 1500lb aircraft and departing for the hazy azure colored smoke-filled sky.

Luckily, we had some weather smarts, planning this venture for later in the day, giving mother nature a chance to relax… As the Pilot-In-Command,  passenger comfort is #2 on that list. My instructor, Dave Du4,  just happened to be working this day, and happily looked over my paperwork. The biggest concern; besides the winds, were the four passengers in our 4-seat plane.  What if someone had “fudged” their weight a few pounds? Or had a 60lb camera? Dave made sure I knew the density altitude of our 2,475′ above-sea-level airport that day was 5,600′ and the Runway only 6,400′ long.

So, I added a “fudge” factor, determining we may be as little as 30lbs of max. So~ we removed some fuel. Now I had 80lbs to “play with”. Dave was satisfied with this, giving “thumbs-up” as we all slithered onto the 109-degree tarmac for pre-flight.

Hot, isn’t the word- It was a freakin’ oven in that plane, with one window~ about the size of a microwave.  I warned about “the bumps” assuring them we’d return shortly if things weren’t comfortable. We’d also scrapped plans for “touch & goes” at Deer Park simply not enough runway available, and instead, fly for “pleasure” over lake Coeur D’Alene.

Looking below it seemed everybody was out that evening! From numerous boats (looking like white caps on the lake), to the sold-out game at Avista stadium, races at Stateline & Spokane speedways,

to the small “tent-city”  on Sherman Ave “Art On The Green”… (PICS POSTED IN ‘FLYBOY2′ ALBUM)

Returning, we found the “big airport” through the haze of some thick BC Forrest-fire smoke, made a rather UN-eventful 12kt crosswind landing, commented to the ground-crew how we never did find any of those ’727 shaking’ bumps reported; Just happiness, smooth air, and the most beautiful summer’s sky one could hope to fly. “Go see Dave”, I said, and “get those wings, Becky!” …when she finished screaming, that is…  in pure delight of flight.

-=Gs=-

A kickin week of BIG NEWS, and outrageous EVENTS… It just doesn’t get much better than this!

1. GODSMACK announces their “warm-up” before joining the CREWFEST TOUR, right here in Spokane… It’s ROCK 94 & ½ PRESENTS, and it sells out in a world-record 3 minutes!
2. TESLA puts on a show (and a half) at THE FACTORY, but not before treating our lunchtime listners to a MOSH-PIT PERFORMANCE! (Photos & ‘Director’s Cut’ Full-length Video now posted)
3. Speaking of Mosh-Pit performances; While ITM continues to be the most downloaded performance on THE FREEWAY500 VIDEO PAGE, ROYAL BLISS set the record for most tunes played in a single performance, POP EVIL, the LONGEST performance… We’re about to set another MOSH-PIT RECORD: TWO bands ONE MOSH on THE 22^nd as TRAPT & RED share the table!
4. ALSO updated on the FREEWAY500 web page for your enjoyment… MAXIMUM BABE ALERT! From the SEAGALS, to the 6^th anniversary of THE TORCH…

   

   you’re going to want to close off the cubicle, hold your calls… and make sure that school teacher looking front desk receptionist is nowhere near your video screen when you check the PHOTOS PAGE!

And, finally, If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to fly an airplane to a distant city, by yourself, and make it back, safely.. NOT by F-16 escort, then you should check out my FLYBOY PAGE, as my flight training enters the final stage!

From Flyboy (pt2)

One of the tests is to plan, execute, and fly, a solo journey of 200 miles or more. So I chose the mountains to Western Montana. (piece of cake, huh?) It was AWESOME… a lot of work, but worth the incredible ride! (since age 12) I have been documenting the training for AOPA “PROJECT:PILOT” and there is even an introductory video we designed. Do I have what it takes to pass “the test”??? Soon, we shall find out~ for now; check out THE PICS, THE VIDS, and THE X-C from last week. And if you want learn more about training, you can find the early stages in the original FLYBOY (pt1) album on THEFREEWAY500.COM website…. So CAVU to YOU (Clear Air & VIS Unltd.) …BTW, ground school just started, maybe you should take the demo? See if it doesn’t re-define your definition of true “freedom”.

-=Gs=-