Ogallalapalooza (Ogallala, Nebraska)

Why would I update the “Road” journal tonight from our hometown of Boulder, you ask? Because I absolutely cannot let a week go by without reporting on this past Saturday’s show – Ogallalapalooza.

We headed up to Ogallala, Nebraska on Saturday (05/03) to play at an Elks Lodge. I’ve never spent any time in the Ogallalalopolis, nor in an Elks Lodge – so I had no idea what to expect. When we arrived at the lodge, we found that they’d sold 100 tickets for the show (at $10 a pop… a steep ticket in a tiny town), and the crowd was quite eager to hear us in person. Evidently our album had been circulating in the months prior, to the point that there were people singing along to “Hazel” as if we were playing here in Boulder. Crazy.

Let’s just say that Ogallalaliliputians know how to have a good time. From the very first song we played at 9pm to the last song at midnight, we had people up and dancing… people of all ages and demographics. At one point I looked up and saw a couple in full authentic Mexican garb (sombrero, colorful shirt, dungarees, boots) country swing dancing to “Turn My Egg”… and let’s just say that when we broke into “Don,” “View From Way Up Here,” and “Park,” we had to improvise on the spot to extend the songs to double their typical length, as the floor space in front of us was packed with more and more couples with each verse. They loved our dip into the alt-country genre on those tunes. Surprisingly, we were able to rock Marula Binge for almost 10 minutes… not a song that we would have guessed would go over well… but they loved it. It may have been the best song of the night, in terms of the folks having a good time dancing and “whooping” it up (literally).

It’s funny how when we reflect back on the tour to the Northeast, some of the best nights we had were in small towns – be it Des Moines or Portland – and now this town of 5,000 in Nebraska. These were some of the friendliest, most out-to-have-fun people we’ve ever had the pleasure of performing for. They’ve asked us to come back this summer to play a beach party at the local lake, and we’ll likely take them up on it. It’s guaranteed to be a great time. Here are some pics courtesy of Bob Alberts, an Ogallala photographer who shot the event:

The end-of-the-night DieHards; midnight and still goin’ strong!

Thanks to all of the people in Ogallala who gave us such a great time. We had an interesting show on Thursday night in Denver (live recording of it will be up online shortly, show described in the post below), so this was a nice pick-me/us-up to keep us jazzed!

FYI, loyal readers, we’re heading into the studio this week to record our second album. We want to have a really strong follow-up to This Room Becomes A Crowd, and we’d love to have it out by the end of the year. We’ll post initial recordings and ideas here on the Backstage over the coming weeks and months (see “Music > Backstage Sessions and/or Scratch Tracks”)… we’re excited to get you a full new album of material. We’ll be back on the Road in June to the mid-Atlantic and southern East Coast, and recording in the time between. More later…