Local band dies onstage when futuristic minivan crashes through club roof

OK, that didn't really happen, but the photo was screaming for that headline. I didn't even notice the weird optical illusion with the billboard when I took the photo.

Anyway, we did enjoy an explosive set last night. Actually, the most fun I've had onstage with the Strange Effects. Maybe it was the venue - Dante's is a real rock club, with a real PA and a real soundman, and that really makes for a fun show.

But, I was really in the zone last night - I had a perfect rock moment. What are the ingredients of the perfect rock moment? Well, I'll tell you:

- Good, professional venue
- Playing really well and tight
- Playing very loud - but not too loud
- Having just the right level of drunkeness (for me, that's 3 Shirtlesses*)
- Audience menbers visibly getting into it - like, you know, dancing

And the secret ingredient... warm stage lights.

I don't know what it is, but there's something about rocking out, playing really loud, getting loose and boozy, and then being warmed by the lights - it just makes you feel all cozy and loved, like laying out in the sun on a beautiful fall day. Anyway, that is it - when you got all that going on, you're in the zone....

* A Shirtless is vodka, soda and lime, named coined by yours truly in the summer of 2001.