Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Let’s kick this week’s column off right where it needs kicking: it’s been a fantastic week!
After the previous reporting period delivered more than its share of challenges in the aftermath of Hurricane Lidia – which some of our neighbors in this sunny city by the sea are still dealing with, please keep that in mind as you engage with the local economy this event season – I was fortunate enough to make up for lost time through this week’s endeavors.
Of course, tipping the scales back the other way was through no small effort on my part, but hey, this is the life I chose… what else am I gonna do, get a real job?
You wouldn’t want that for yourself, why would you wish that on me?
Tuesday 10/17: With plenty of promo to push in advance of The Pleasant Uprising’s first big gigs (yes, multiple!) of next month, the first order of business in negating the previous week’s scheduling setbacks was a long-overdue conference with Quest and Ash, the tip of the pyramid over at BLKSUN.
There, I set up my finally forthcoming Tie-Dye Masterclass, a 2-hour course wherein students will both engage in an in-depth group examination of the aesthetic concept in human handcraft and experience the practical application of these ideas.
Lookit, I like to look cool and have never really been able to afford doing it off the rack, so I’ve developed considerable skill with DIY styling projects… if you want a new favorite shirt to wear to the full slate of events this season, come on out November 7.
Thursday 10/19: …but as for this week, one of the co-main events was a community building exercise in the form of a monthly meet up, which I had cleverly planned to take place during the 1st anniversary party at Awaysis. Always good to have an attraction, eh?
As usual, the bar was packed to the shoulder with regulars… and on this occasion, fans of local favorite Bobbi and the Others. Undeterred by a shortage of seating – totally not their fault, enough seats for everyone who came to celebrate the bar and the band that evening would have filled a mid-size concert hall – I eventually set up my own satellite party on the streets outside the venue… everybody knows the cool kids party outside anyway.
Awaysis was gracious enough to roll with it, serving beers from the bar to sip on the sidewalk as the meet up swelled through the evening. During a set break, I got a few words in with Bobbi, specifically about her take on Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” …far superior to the rendition turned out by another local outfit I happened upon recently.
What, I can’t talk a little trash among friends?
Speaking of which, there were plenty to be made at the meet up. Among plenty of familiar faces were some new friendly faces in Ray, whose sweet hairstyle isn’t even his best trait, and Jay, who came all the way from Guadalajara (and I’m going to pretend it was just for the event because no one can prove differently).
I love it when a plan comes together.
Friday 10/20: …and plans come together due to careful planning and judicious practice, which is what band rehearsal is for. This week the Uprising was in particularly phenomenal form, turning out a groovy interpretation of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” (which you can check out on our social media @thepleasantuprising) and smartly leveraging lead singer Aria Stark’s exceptional talents on “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.”
Takes some real vocal chops to even attempt paying homage to Whitney Houston, and ya know what…we got ’em on the team. People are just gonna have to deal with that.
Hell, we’re actually fairly loaded with talent for such a new lineup… drummer Lolo hasn’t missed a beat since joining the Uprising, lead guitarist Kimbo can shred solos on the spot (even when they weren’t planned at the start of the song!), and our freshly drafted bassist Sr. GrooveMan delivers the… well, it’s right there in the name, people.
As for what I do for this gifted collective… well, you’re reading a bit of it.
Saturday 10/21-After last week’s total washout, it was a real boost to get a message from Jessy over at Vallarta’s Asphalt on Radiante 98.3 earlier this week about going on air!
…and let me just say, the Uprising was ready.
I’ve probably exhausted my allowance of adjectives for this week’s edition of “Vibrant Vices,” so I won’t spend much of this space talking about how amazing we sounded or how cool we all looked in the studio. Instead, I invite you again to check it out on our social media pages @thepleasantuprising …if a picture’s worth a thousand, I don’t have space in this article for enough words to out describe a video of our performance.
TL;DR- I’m trippin’ out, workin’ on a revolution.
Well, that seems like a good place to wrap it up for the week, but if you’ve been reading this for a bit you know there’s a lot more where that came from. Even today will be filled with face paint and fripperies, but there will be probably be pictures of all that so I’m gonna stop typing soon. Point is, this ride’s hitting the road, and who knows what city streets it’ll take me down in the coming weeks?
Probably see ya around.
AJ Freeman has enjoyed Vallarta’s warm welcome for over 5 years and hopes he has done some good during his time here. Passionate about self-expression and human potential, he combines these interests in weekly wrap-up “Vibrant Vices.” AJ also shares a body with Warflower Jones, ringleader of The Pleasant Uprising… which is totally just a local party band and not a political organization of any kind as that would be against various jurisdictional laws.
