Midori Longo and Ezra Boy Perform 'Summerlove' at the Temecula Film Festival in the Featured Video. Midori and Ezra Boy, a brand new 70's influenced rock group, take on the North American music scene, wielding their instruments of rock! With the Mighty Griswald (their tried and true 1977 RV tour bus) in tow, the sultry Midori and high energy Ezra's leave all venues dripping with sweat and ready for more!
8-17-12 ezra blog
Heading to Seattle and Colorado to play Summerfest and Hempfest with our NEW drummer and backup vocalist Dave "Fasho" Briggs (he played percussion and vox with us in Seattle and Colorado)!!!
Ok…hit the road on Wednesday night (actually VERY early Thursday) at midnight…we decided at the last minute to get Midori’s friend Jess to take 2 of us in her car. We met at Aroma’s Coffee house in Santa Rosa…the band’s big green Suburban pulling the trailer full of equipment.
There we were, standing in the parking lot in the chilly, midnight air smoking and chatting, and along came a little buzzing sound. I look up and I see a tiny, bright red Volkswagen sitting really low to the ground with blacked out windows and a missing grill pull into the parking lot…and then one, two….no! Three people emerge from a car that really shouldn’t have more than 2 people in it. No offense to Jess, but for a minute it kinda looked like a tiny, clown car with a bunch of folks unfolding out of it. It turned out Jess’s sister needed to go along with her to Red Bluff (about 3 hours north) where she said we would drop her off at a rest stop.
What? We’re gonna roll Jess’s teenage sister out of the car at a highway rest stop in the middle of the night and then keep on driving? Hmmm…doesn’t sound like a responsible thing to do, but she swore that her girlfriend was going to pick her up in Red Bluff. We’ll see.
And this was the car that Midori and Kyle were going to travel in for the next 18 hours…along with 3 other human beings…at least for part of the way. They are in for a long, fun ride…
So off we go!! Jess and the little clown car zipped off fast and we watched their little red taillights fade into the distance as they sped away from us.
About 20 minutes later off in the distance I saw the distinctive blue and red flashing lights of the California State Highway Patrol…and I knew. Yep. As we cruised by I saw Kyle doing his best Beaver Cleaver dimply, smiley face…obviously he was trying to convince the officer about something he didn’t do, or maybe something he DID do…I couldn’t tell exactly but I knew he was trying hard and he was also pissed that we were passing them. We smiled, waved and sped off. Knuckleheads in a little clown car…I knew this was going to be a silly trip for them.
After that it was a fairly uneventful trip up to Seattle…although towards the end of the trip it seemed every time we checked on our iPhone it said we had 3hours and 12 minutes to go. Wait a minute! It said 3 hours and 17 minutes to go an hour ago! This would go on like this for more than 6 hours…we were always about 3 hours away from Seattle in some strange time/space warp…
Now, it’s important to note that on EVERY long distance road trip Midori and Ezra Boy has had this year, our vehicles have broken down and I had to repair them in the middle of the road with whatever tools and duct tape I had at the time. But THIS trip looked like it was going to be different…we were making good time and almost into Seattle (just “3 hours” away) and other than a slight whirring sound in the engine bay, the truck was running fine. Hmmm. What WAS that whirring sound?
I decided that it must be the fan belt, so I decided for a quick gas station break so I could spray some WD40 onto the pulleys and belts. That will get rid of the whirring sound.
At the gas station apparently everyone was hungry because the minute I stopped, the band scattered in 4 directions in search of food. I proceeded to pop the hood and spray WD40 vigorously all over the serpentine belt and all the various pulleys, tensioners, bells, and whistles in the engine bay. Yep…if there was something that could potentially give off a whirring sound, it got drenched in WD40.
Satisfied with my handy work, I jumped in the drivers seat to start that bad boy up. I swear I had a funny feeling something was not gonna work, but that was a stupid thought since all I did was spray WD40 all over everything…and WD40′s not flammable, right? It wouldn’t be like what happened to the Griswald when I caught the engine on fire with my over-enthusiastic use of starter fluid…no way.
So I turned the key and immediately I heard a loud “SNAP” and then the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Nothing worked…all the gauges were dead but the truck was running! What the hell?
I turned off the engine and popped the hood again, dreading what i would find. Son of a bitch! The damn serpentine belt popped off the frigging pulleys and there it lay in a mangled, tangled mess…wrapped around pulleys and tension arms…and the fricken thing looked like it was 20 feet long!
What the hell? All this from some WD40 spray? And how do I weave this long, lanky thing back onto the million or so pulleys??
About this time, Gordy walked up chewing on a doughnut and he mumbled “watcha doin’ Ronno?” and then saw the twisted mess. He didn’t look impressed. Yep…out came the tools and duct tape again.
Gordy then jumped INTO the engine bay and helped me unwind the belt and route and weave it around the various pulleys…and THEN we had to figure out how to wrestle the tension arm under the belt so it would pull tight. This took us about 20 minutes of cussing and grunting and pushing and pulling until FINALLY we got the tensioner arm under the belt. Whew! That was hard work. And by this time the band had regrouped back and was circling around dreading that we were gonna have to get a hotel and call a mechanic, so there was a sigh of relief when the tensioner finally popped into place with me and Gordy breathing heavy and our sweat dripping and sizzling on the hot engine.
Now the moment of truth. I lept into the drivers eat and twisted the key…Viola! It started and everything was working. Yay!
Everyone piled in and we headed onto the Highway on-ramp…45 mph, 55 mph, 65 mph…nice! It drove nicely. And about 10 minutes later, the whirring sound started happening again. Well, so be it. And the iPhone said we had about 3 hours to go before we got to Seattle. Shit.
About 15 hours into the trip at the hottest part of the day, I started getting SOS’s from Midori. Apparently Jess’s mini clown car also did not have air conditioning. She was not a happy Grrrrilla.
And 3 hours later they rolled up the hotel in Seattle and unfolded out of the hot, smelly little clown car…and they did not have clowny smiley faces. They had frowny faces.
But hey! We all made it and could look forward to a hot shower and a nice bed to relax in before we had to cram onto the plane to Denver Colorado for the Summerfest music festival. Goodnight!
Ronno from MEZB
MEZB
On August 17 (Friday), we will be playing the main stage at Summerfest 2012 in Fairplay Colorado (they call it the "real" Southpark). OK…here is a perplexing story about this show. I’m sitting down doing my typical work thing, and I hear Kito exclaim, "Hey! We just got an email that they want us to open for Led Zeppelin on the main stage at the South Park Summer Fest in Colorado!!"
"Yippee!" I reply. "Finally! After all these shows we finally get our big break to open up for a massive headliner! They probably heard 'New Orleans' and thought we would really fit the show."
"Yeah" said Kito as she was busy banging out an email to the promoter that we were definitely interested in opening for the band that Midori idolizes. Meanwhile, I was hammering out a group text to the EZB bandmates…"Awesome news EZB!!!! We were asked to open for Led Zeppelin in Colorado on August 18!!!!! Get ready to rumble!!!!!"
About this time, Midori wanders downstairs and asks, "What's all the commotion?", and of course we tell her the news excitedly as we multi-task posts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, et al. She then sits down at her computer and starts to go through the posts and then says "Uh…it says 'LEZ Zeppelin', not 'LED Zeppelin' you knuckleheads. In fact, I don't think Led Zeppelin is even a band anymore."
"Oh…", I say. "That explains a few things…" And with that, we all felt an immediate disappointment and sunk into a funk. And we felt kinda stupid because we told so many people in such a short time that we were opening for Led Zeppelin (dang social networks!). But then I Googled Lez Zeppelin and found out they were an all girl Led Zeppelin tribute band (duh!) that toured all over the world and had a gazzillion fans, and it also dawned on us that we were invited to play on the MAIN STAGE at the festival. Hmmmm. Pretty awesome news. So while we were "relatively" disappointed, we were also "relatively" pretty stoked about jumping up on the main stage at the REAL South Park, Colorado music festival with the awesome band Lez Zeppelin.
So, its time to gas up the Griswald and get ready for a road trip to Colorado!! Yee Haw!
MEZB
On August 18 (Saturday), we are on a plane from Colorado to Seattle for Seattle's Hempfest event. We are on the MAIN STAGE (yay!) and expect to be floating on clouds whether or not we want to...heh heh.
Here's a little Seattle Hempfest history from their website. Go to www.hempfest.com if you'd like to read the complete history.
Seattle Hempfest started out as a humble little gathering of stoners and has grown into one of the most sophisticated cannabis policy reform events in the world. Originally billed in 1991 as the "Washington Hemp Expo", the first Hempfest started in Volunteer Park where it would stay for three years. With a meager attendance of only 500 people, and a staff that consisted of 20 members of the Seattle Peace Heathens Community Action Group, there was no way to know that we were sowing the seeds that would someday make Pacific Northwest history.
The fallout from Jack Herer's groundbreaking publication, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes", was just beginning to build and the time was right for a new wave of marijuana activists to emerge on the political scene. In 1992 organizers placed two large budding sinsemilla plants on the small amphitheater in Volunteer Park. Hempfest's reputation as a politically flamboyant but professionally astute public assembly had begun to develop. We were amazed that 2,000 hempsters showed up for the second annual event. Seattle's grunge scene was starting to zenith and there was no shortage of bands chomping at the bit to support the cause. We were honored to have Jack Herer as our keynote speaker that special year.
Hempfest 1993 brought 5,000 supporters, featured a "Bong-A-Thon", and an even stickier and more beautiful example of nature's magical foliage. As the event got better, so did the music. 'The early Hempfests featured Seattle bands such as Stickerbush, Ganja Farmers, Dandylion Soup (pictured to the right, under the bus) and Bam Bam. By 1994 the hard drivin', hard rockin' reggae act, the Herbivores, established themselves as Seattle Hempfest's House Band, which still stands today...moreLooking forward to this AWESOME festival!!!!
MEZB
PAST SHOWS AND POSTS
On July 8 (Sundy), Midori and Ezra Boy will be playing at the Russian River Brewing Company in downtown Santa Rosa CA! Its the first time that Midori & EZB will have played this venue, and the band is really looking forward to the show.
Midori is also working on shows at Santa Rosa's Wednesday Night Market as well as a show with few other bands at the Last Day Saloon in Santa Rosa. And on July 21 (Saturday) MEZB is back at the Heritage Pub for their "Rootstock" live event. Don't miss this event...it will be a blast! We are hoping to get in as many shows locally as possible before hitting the road for the Colorado South Park "Summer Fest" and Seattle's Hempfest (see below for more info).
MEZB
On July 21 (Saturday Night), we will be playing at the Heritage Pub in Santa Rosa during the Vintners Square Rootstock Festival (Rootstock: The Great Gastronomic Wine, Street Food & Music Festival ).
Its going to be a great event as you can see from this write-up from the Creative Furnace:
(Santa Rosa, CA, May 23rd 2012) — Santa Rosa Vintners’ Square and executive producer Creative Furnace announced today the 2012 artisan street food line up for Rootstock: The Great Gastronomic Wine, Street Food & Music Festival. The Rootstock Festival takes place Saturday, July 21st from 2pm to 6pm and will bring together fine wine and craft brew tasting, gourmet street foods, a Best Bites Competition hosted by Heather Irwin of Bite Club Eats, and live music from the Hotel Cafe Tour. A portion of the day’s proceeds benefit Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) Shone Farm Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to manage, support and raise funds for the Shone Farm agricultural and educational facility. This includes the SRJC Shone Farm Winery, which makes and markets wine as an integral part of the instructional program at SRJC, and is now part of The Wineyard cooperative in Santa Rosa Vintners' Square. Tickets available at www.RootstockFestival.com and at Santa Rosa Vintners' Square merchants.
ABOUT THE HERITAGE PUB: Specialties
Heritage Public House is a craft beer bar specializing in brews from local, regional and California breweries. There's some deep roots in Santa Rosa and Sonoma County in the beer world and we celebrate the Heritage of those roots everyday. Also an intimate venue for live music, comedy and special events.
Come celebrate with us at the best little craft beer house in Sonoma County!
DRINK UP!
MEZB
On June 24 (SUNDAY), we will be playing the main stage at Pridefest in Seattle's, WA - America's LARGEST free pride festival! We go aere actually playing twice...first on the main seaker stage, and then on the main music stage later in th day. We plan to have a "first cut" edition of the "Summerlove" CD at the show!
From the Pridefest website (www.seattlepridefest.org):
"We're planning for the 6th Annual PrideFest celebration at the Seattle Center. In 2011, we saw record numbers of over 100,000 for the festival. 2012 will be even bigger (if that's possible!). Four stages, a full weekend of events, a family and kid's area, 100+ artists, men's and women's parties, and hundreds of vendors. IT'S THE BIGGEST LGBTQ PARTY IN THE NORTHWEST! The festival is Sunday, June 24 from noon-8pm, immediately following the Downtown Pride Parade. Join us at the Seattle Center for a memorable day!"
It's going to be an awesome time and we look forward to support free speech and equal rights for all. Mariah (Midori's sister) came home a few nights ago and brought the movie "Milk" for us to watch (about San Francisco's openly gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk, who was murdered by Dan White in the 70's), an it was a moving experience...it is a shame that it is taking so long for our country to understand the concept of equal rights. We look forward to supporting Pridefest and can't wait to see ou Seattle friends!
MEZB
On June 16 (Saturday), we will be playing at our hometown venue, the Heritage Public House at 1305 Cleveland Avenue in Santa Rosa CA. We go on at 8:00pm with a Special Guest appearance before we go on stage. Also, we should have some pre-release CD's to give away at the show!
As always, there is NO cover charge for the show, and you can partake in many of the boutique beers on tap...and yes it is a 21+ show.
We look forward to seeing you all there!!
MEZB
May 20, 2012
The band just played in Toronto at the Canadian Music Festival and then headed to the sunny south to play the Florida Music Festival in Orlando. Midori & EZB are also now going to start playing on a regular basis at their "home away from home" at the Heritage Public House in Santa Rosa, California. Many thanks to Dino D'Argenzio and his wonderful family to opening up his club to the band! We will be keeping everyone updated on the show dates (see the Upcoming Shows section above).
We are about to do our next video called "New Orleans"...it's a straight rock song that drives us straight to land of sweet beignets, tasty rum, and hot chicory coffee! EZB is heading down to New Orleans this week to scout some cool sets and locations for some video shoots...we wanna have a New Orlean's Jazz street band to do the opening and closing of rthe song. I know it sounds kinda crazy, but I think its gonna be cool.