THE GEEK ARMY NEWS
11/09/2008
a message from Rockberg...
Thank you to everyone that came out to The Oasis last night and for all the well wishes ,concern, and prayers. Your support means so much to me and I will do everything in my power to get back as soon as possible.
You are all such great friends and I am so fortunate and blessed to play in perhaps the BEST band EVVVVVVERRRR!!!
Grimes,Terry,Chunk, and Bill----I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate all that you do---I am forever grateful, inspired, and motivated to get healthy so I am able to return to what i love to do most.
I look forward to one day be able to once again skip around the room!!
I love you all my friends and will see you all hopefully sooner than later!!
My Forever and Infinite THANKS----
D. Rockberg
10/10/2008
Maybe it's the weather. The Geek Army has been breaking attendance records in Erie venues for a couple of years now, but now the band is breaking it's own attendance records at the same bars a year later ;) We're certainly hoping that this keeps up, we're having the times of our lives with all of you!
We've been able to work
Rockberg back in, and learn some new material at the same time, and we've been having a blast with it! Now, Rockberg has another, final, surgery scheduled for early November, and we'r going to be missing him again for awhile as he recovers from that and goes through more Chemotherapy. But he is back, and feeling very good, andhe knows that he was missed.
Bill The Cat will be there for us, like he has since the first day, and we love him for that.
If you haven't seen the band, or haven't seen the band in awhile, check the schedule above and come on out, see what we've been up to! We'll be pushing the bookings early this year to land a Block Party, Roar on the Shore, some Celebrate Erie work, and of course, the incredible Ohio Bike Week 2009 in Sandusky by Put-in-Bay. Hell, we'll even be bugging the organizers early for some Eight Great Tuesday work! We know who to bug for each event now, so we'll be working it hard for 2009! Stick around folks!
Last news of the day: The Geek Army will be doing private parties in 2009, including weddings and corporate events. Oh, no, it ain't cheap. Not by along shot. But the price is right in line with the going rates in the market. See you at a show soon!
10/03/2008
Well, we're still going strong. The Awards were a big boost. Things are going very well for us right now. Rockberg is feeling much better, is in good health, and awaits a final surgery before returning full time - but he is back with us! So nice to see, he inspires us every weekend. Bill the Cat is still going to be with us on and off for some time, so expect to see him hanging around! He's one of us.
Check the schedule. Come see the band and allow us to entertain you! For something entertaining right now, go to Wood's page and read the blog for the official Rock Erie Music award for Favorite Male Vocalist.
08/28/2008
Erie Gets Its Geek On
That was the headline in the Times News Local section after The Geek Army won
(4) awards this year at the
2008 Rock Erie Music Awards. The band took home the
Erie's Favorite Cover Band award, The
Erie's Favorite Overall Artist award, which was the award for the overall artist in
all music categories combined - quite an accomplishment, as well as the
Erie's Favorite Bassist award, and the
Erie's Favorite Male Vocalist award. All that in addition to last year's
Favorite Cover Band of 2007 award.
The four awards, much like Jake's Blues' last year, pretty much stole the show, and earned the Geek Army a front page write-up on the Local section of the Erie Time's News (estimated circulation of 75,000 btw).
Thank you to everyone who has supported the band this year, to everyone who voted for the band this year, and to everyone who put up with our "vote for us" bulletins and didn't delete us as friends. We love you all, and appreciate you all, and promise to do nothing but step things up even another notch in the coming year! Maybe even write some songs...
Oh, folks, there have been some haters. We've gotten some nasty messages. You're going to get that. We accept it, and we remember everyone who has fun with us, and we think about what really matters. So thank you, once again.
08/08/08
DENNIS UPDATE!!
The update is this... thank
YOU very much for your thoughts and prayers for Dennis. He still needs them as his recovery seems to be trying for him, but he is doing great. All of
your donations were presented to him this past weekend, and he was shocked, astounded, touched and several other genuine and heartfelt emotions at once. Aside from the gorgeous bass guitar that he's wanted for some time, the donations added up to a substantial amount, and so is the amount of medical bills he and Jennifer have because of this ordeal, so it was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Thank you once again for being generous and thoughtful.
I am fairly confident I can speak for Dennis to a small extent when I say that he appreciates it and it means more to him than we can understand. We love you Dennis, and we can't wait for you to get back with us.
07/31/2008
Last day of July 2008, sounds depressing, but what that really means is there is another month of great weather and good news all around!! The Rock Erie Music Awards ceremony is coming up on August 24th, go to www.rockeriemusicawards.com for ticket information. We'll see how well the Geeks did in voting that night. We're extremely grateful to those of you who voted for us this year, and we'd love a repeat win in 2008, but the competition is fierce! So let's wait and see!
Dennis is doing very well, misses everyone, and can't wait to get back into the fold! In the meantime, Bill the Giant is doing a great job helping us out on the bass guitar! Thanks to everyone who has been so generous, and everyone who has been out supporting the band and forgetting about your day to day life issues with us on the weekend!
We'll see you soon! Buy yourself a Geek Army T-shirt! And send us your pictures!!
07/08/2008
T-shirts are in folks. Men's t-shirts are $10 (M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL) and women's T-shirts with spaghetti straps are $15 (S,M,L,XL). Pick one up at a show.
Summer's going by very quickly but it has been a blast so far. Bill the Cat is doing great filling in for our Dennis Rockberg, and Dennis is slowly but surely becoming healthy again. Give him a prayer or two, he can still use them, but everyone's prayers must have helped because he's doing great. (Well, the prayers and the fact that he's an amazingly strong, dedicated, and focused person with a fantastic family and good friends). His first surgery was a success and he and his doctor are very upbeat.
Don't forget to
vote - voting ends July 25th!!!
06/16/2008
Official estimated crowd size at the Ohio Bike Week (Main Stage featuring The Geek Army) = 30,000 people.
Estimated Erie Block party crowd = 3,000 per week. (10) weeks = 30,000 people.
Number of Block parties featuring the Geek Army = (0)
Last Friday, debut performance for the Geek Army at the Sloppy Duck was going great through the first set, an absolute blast for us, and we were just gettiing warmed up. Then, the rains came. Sloppy Duck is a rain or shine venue, but this was lightning laden, monsoon type rain which ended the evening early for the band. But don't think we didn't hang out and party the whole night. We did, and it was still a great time. We'll be there again Friday the 27th from 8pm until midnight.
One last news item, T-shirts are about two weeks away, so set a few bucks aside.
05/13/2008
Just a quick news bulletin. The Geek Army is not only playing some incredible shows this summer, and preparing for perhaps the greatest rock and roll summer of all time, but the Army has also been nominated once again for Favorite Cover Band in the Rock Erie Music Awards 2008, the Award won by the Geek Army in 2007.
Vote here. Each Geek was also nominated for individual awards, Favorite Male Vocalist, Guitar Player, Bass player and Drummer, so look over those categories too. Check out the schedule for the summer gigs...
Most importantly, it is vital for us to tell each and every one of you that we appreciate all of you who come to the shows, vote for us, laugh with us, and just generally hang around and help us to have more fun than anyone legally should, with some of the biggest crowds in Erie music history.
Those who know us know that this has been a trying year for the band so far, and we appreciate the support of each and every one of you, even though we may not always have the time to say more than just "hello." Please, keep coming and we'll keep working harder than any band in the universe to keep you entertained week after week.
04/16/2008
Update time! First off, thanks again to everyone who's been coming out lately. All the rooms we've been playing have been packed lately, and we couldn't be happier about it. Keep spreading the word, and we'll keep plugging away. You can't have more fun than we've been having. Seriously. Check the schedule for some exciting shows we have this spring/summer!
And check out this link -
ohiobikeweek.com - The Geek Army isn't listed on the web site yet, but the Army is playing this major event on Saturday the 14th of June at 6:30pm. Out of over 50 bands and artists, the Geek Army was chosen for the 2nd best time slot for this week long event, just before the headliners the Earthquakers. Going to be a great, fun weekend, and we're going to be partying with our favorite Amish rockers.
A lot of you may have noticed that we've been using our friend
Bill "The cat" Smith on the bass guitar lately. Bill (formerly of
Hear no Evil) going to be with us through the summer, until
Dennis Rockberg is back to feeling himself again. Dennis has been dealing with some serious health issues, and he's one of the strongest, greatest people we know, and we pray for him every day. He is currently feeling well, and on that note, Dennis will likely be back with us for at least a few weeks, starting this weekend at Sherlock's!!
In a few weeks, everyone is going to be asking you to vote for them at RockErie.com for the 2008 Music Awards. Not only is our band in the running for favorite Cover Band once again, but this time, the members are up for individual awards. Keep us in mind when the time comes, and please tell a friend...
03/13/2008
Lots and lots of news today, so read up...
Despite last weekend's weather, the Geek Army had a couple of great crowds show up for shows at Scooter's and The Oasis. Thanks for everyone, and glad to see everyone get home safe and sound to prepare for more rocking.
Well, it has been a rough few weeks, Rockberg has been in less than perfect health, but he's got the best attitude of anyone we've ever seen, so that's great. Bill "The Cat" Smith has been, and will be, filling in for Rockberg whenever necessary until the Rock is back in good health. And our good friends Dan and Dan from Vitamin D (find their link on this page in our top friends) came out both nights and played some incredible acoustic songs to help us fill out the night. What a great group of people. Most importantly, thank you to everyone who has sent their well wishes to Dennis. I know that it means a lot to him. We love him too.
Add another club to our arrogant list of clubs where we have set attendance records. Our New York friends gathered together a couple of weeks ago and set an all time attendance record at Shawbuck's. Is there any band ever, in the history of the world, who is luckier than us - to have so many good friends who enjoy good drink, good music and good times? I think not.
Well, the Geek Army, after winning the 2007 Rock Erie Music Award for Favorite Cover band, is in the running already for the 2008 version. And this time, each individual member is up for nomination for their respective duties in the band. So, we'll post the necessary info right here when it becomes available, and we'll hope for your help in voting and nominating.
The show a few weeks ago (the record setting attendance show) at Doc Holliday's has been forever captured in High Def Video. I personally have seen most of the video, which was recorded, mixed and packaged by Video Chris. The main purpose of the video is for promotion (yknow, bars and events we're trying to gig at, so they can see what they're paying that exhoribitant fee for), but we intend to add some of it to this very MySpace page once it is properly formatted. So check in now and again, won't you?
Let's gear up for another great weekend, and of course, the big St. Patrick's Day show at Sherlock's from 6pm-10pm - better make room in your schedule that day for it!!!
02/23/2008
There's some new audio up if you haven't noticed. A few new live songs from a recent show in Ohio. Also, we're working with a videographer named Chris on some video tonight, and it should be ready for internet viewing some time soon.
02/21/2008
Well, while many people were excited about the summer gigs at Put In Bay, unfortunately the dates were cancelled before they were ever confirmed. Too bad because the Army was very excited about some good shows out that way, and several friends from PA and Ohio had planned to attend. On the positive end of things, the gigs just keep coming, and the Geek Army is working hard on securing some new venues in Ohio, and there are already some great 2008 gigs booked...
Hey, did you know that The Geek Army has set
attendance records at the following places? A few more than you might think.
South Erie Turner's
Doc Holliday's
The Oasis
Sideline's
Sherlock's Block Party (along with NWN)
Some of these indoor shows had upwards of 600 people at them, and the block party (although a distant second to the Vanilla Ice Block party a few years ago) had several thousand by anyone's estimate. Thanks to everyone who has come to see the band and have a good time with us. It's an honor.
We've got some new audio on the way to this page very soon, thanks to the Professor, as well as Doug at Ray JRs. We'll be using the audio for introducing ourselves to new clubs we're trying to get in to, and for your amusement. So stay tuned.
We've also hooked up with someone who we're going to work with who will provide some video. Actually, two different sources, so we're hoping to come up with a good compilation asap. We'll keep you updated on that as well.
01/07/2008
Some notes from Wood... Well, here we are in 2008 already. Where has the time gone? Right down the hatch apparently, that's where. 2007 was very good to the
Geek Army, and it was a pleasure to have been able to have entertained you. 2007 wasn't all good, there were a few setbacks and issues we all dealt with, but on the positive side, it was a fantastic year in general. I hope it was for you too. And I hope 2008 is the best year ever for every one of you. Like a giant 2008 good karma balloon busting on top of all your heads.
If our first show of 2008, at
Sherlock's, Erie's Home of Rock and Roll, is any indication, 2008 is going to be even better.
Brother Isaiah Work of the legendary
Earthquakers showed up and helped rock out the night, which is always a pleasure. (Wow, what a great performer, and that was even out of his element. ANY time you get a chance to see the Earthquakers, DO IT. I mean that.) And Sherlock's was packed and rockin' all night, which was extremely cool.
I'd like to thank every single one of you who were there Saturday, but I found out on stage that night that it just takes tooo long... We're going to make things even better in 2008...
"Now how can it get any better than 2007" you ask? "Why in order to top 2007 you'd have to win an award for
Erie's Favorite Cover Band, pack houses all over the tri-state area, and give some of the other bands entertaining ideas to immitate and call their own" (there I said it, you know they do).
Well, that's just what we plan to do. Maybe we won't win the same award two years in a row, but we will continue to do what we do best... which is keep learning new material as it becomes relevant (staying ahead of the curve, man), continue to have as much fun as any human being can possibly have with all of you every time we get on stage, and continue to practice every week. (What, you didn't know that? Sure we may have been playing together for a hundred and one years, but we still practice every week - just for you.)
And, on top of all that, although we have our challenges ahead of us this coming year, the future looks brighter than ever. New gigs are already booked in new venues for 2008, including Put-In-Bay and Mentor, Ohio - and we're working on some Pittsburgh area venues that are about to come around - on top of the fact that the Erie scene is booming like never before thanks to great local acts like Chrome, Hammerd, the Earthquakers, Paper Street, Freudian Slip, and Super No.7 that are out there plugging away every weekend entertaining us all.
So, our campaign pledge for 2008's rock election is this - We're going to stay on top of things, and stay the best around. We'll keep it fresh and keep the show in mind at all times. Give us a few hours of your time and we're going to have a blast with you! Tell your friends!
11/10/2007
Well, not much has been written here lately. Our October Deadline for using the attachment "formerly Nerds, Inc" has passed. So it's official. We're just plain old
Geek Army. For those of you still curious as to why we were forced to change our name, suffice it to say legal reasons. Copyright Infringement issues. Federal Trademark.
The Geek Army is booking deep in to 2008 now. Most of our regular clubs are done, and we're beginning to feel out some new places. So, rest assured, there will be plenty of nerdy rock comin' your way in 2008!
Teaser: There's going to be a really really
big Geek Army show coming either at the end of 2007 or in early 2008. Can't give you any details, because no one really has any details, but an idea has been hatched, and we're going to try to run with it. Stay tuned for info soon...
One last news-ish note: The
most awesome thing about this year so far has been this: Even
better than winning the Favorite Cover Band Award - the fact that we managed to change our name while we were at our most popular point since the band's inception, and everyone
got it. Nothing has changed for us. Everyone's still coming to shows, and things are getting even bigger and crazier. So now is a great time to thank everyone who helped us get the word out, and
especially everyone who chooses to come party and rock with us now and then.
Thanks!!
10/21/2007
Well, how about this past weekend?
Incredible. So many of our friends showed up at both gigs this weekend. What a blast it was for us! We hope everyone who attended had half as much fun as we did. Doc Holliday's was insane. That place was soo jam packed... and to think that we were concerned about it. Thanks everyone for coming out and partying with us. And hey, if you're up for
the Halloween Party at Oasis next Saturday, or the
Halloween Party at the Mound Grove on Friday, we'll have
even more new tunes. Should be another great weekend. But first, let's settle down and recover from this one, huh?
Some
new pics are up, just scrolling by on the slide show, but that's only a few. We have a ton more that will be up once we get them sized and uploaded. So come back soon. And tell a friend.
10/16/2007
Update 1 - New Material - New Website
The new songs we've learned have been working out pretty well. And we've still got three or four in the works (busting out at least a couple more this weekend). They don't call the Geek Army the
hardest working band around just because we play so many shows, oh no, it's also because we're working all week long to make sure things don't get stale when you come back to see the Geeks again. (pat, pat on our own back) Anyway, you're gonna love the new stuff. We promise. (Think Seether, Finger Eleven, Black Sabbath, Pearl Jam, GnR, Sum41)
Grimes has the new website under construction. Which is to say that Grimes is working on it after work, between running in the rain and learning several new songs, so little by little it's making it's way into the ether world. Eventually, we'll forward www.thegeekarmy.com to the official website with a link to the myspace, and also feature a link to the official web site on the myspace page. Plus, coming exclusively to MySpace page very soon - Geek Army live video footage.
Update 2 - Name Change Re-Dux
On the same day in August that Nerds, Inc, were honored with the Erie Music Award for Favorite Cover Band, we officially lost the name Nerds, Inc. That's no joke. For legal reasons, we are now officially the
Geek Army, formerly known as Nerds, Inc.
We received official word recently that we can in no way use the name "nerds" for what we are doing. "The Nerds" is a federally registered trademark, and it was brought to our attention that the owner of that trademark believes that we are infringing upon his product. Yes, we have a lawyer, yes, he strongly suggested that we needed to change the name.
Now listen up.
You can still call us nerds. Feel free. Do it often. do it like you're Ogre from the movie Revenge of the Nerds. We just can't call our band that.
10/01/2007
Geek Army News
A bunch of new material is in the works for upcoming shows. Not that the Geek army isn't constantly leearning new material, it just seems to be more abundant right at the moment. A few songs we're pretty excited about breaking out too.
Do us a favor, tell everyone you know to come on down to Sherlock's this Saturday night. It's going to be a helluva night. We're going to be there, and we expect the Geek Army to be in full effect. We'll b rocking the place, and we'll have a few surprises for you all...
Got the DVD of the Erie Music Awards this week, pretty cool. Nothin like watching yourself get an award and rewinding over and over and over and over Chunk's bit about th "children are the future.." You didn't think he would
ever live that down did you?
09/18/2007
Geek Army Highlights
Just a few from the past few weekends.
(1) How about Professor Grimes' Hall of Fame move - breaking a string and changing and tuning it inside of two minutes. That's a pro move. And Chunk and Rockberg pitching in and covering him with Rapper's Delight.
(2) Garbage bag covering the front monitors at the Sunflower Club - based on the recent Front-row Frenzies (no, not fights, just general craziness) which have made it dangerous for our electronic equipment to be left unprotected.
(3) Several different people relaying to us that they tried to go downstairs during the Sunflower Club show, and when they got to the top of the steps, there were several hungry people chomping at the bit, waiting for them to leave so they could get in -due to the fact that it was a capacity crowd - so they decided not to wander out of the room after all. Now THAT's what we wanna hear.
(4)Wood doesn't wear his Browns jersey, and Derrick Anderson ends up looking like Peyton Manning. A trend?
09/17/2007
This Past Weekend
Well,
Friday night, that sucked. Most sincere apologies to everyone who planned on partying at Speed-Ez, and of course to the staff of Speed-Ez. Wood wasn't well enough to play and, for the first time in a very, very long time, the Geek Army had to cancel a show. Certainly not something we ever like to do, but when one of your band members can't walk, you can't play.
Saturday night, feeling a little better, singer able to stand up straight, the
Geek Army brought it to the
Sunflower Club. What a fantastic night of rockin' that was. Capacity crowd, don't know the numbers, but there were hundreds of people, the room was rockin' all night. Thanks to everyone who came out, hope you had as good a time as we did.
Curious about the
name change? Scroll down to the 09/01/2007 post for the explanation!
09/10/2007
Things I've Learned This Past Weekend - by Wood
I learned that it is a terrible idea to wear a
Browns jersey under your nerd gear, then pretend you're really hot and take off the shirt and tie on stage, exposing the Browns jersey -
while you're playing at a bar in Pittsburgh. Yep. Bad idea. I figured it would be funny, and that people would have a sense of humor and enjoy some good natured ribbing at Wood's expense. Wrong. Some people got it, and they did enjoy some good natured ribbing at my expense. On the other hand, some others were seriously offended and seriously angry at me. Ugh. Lighten up. And please, don't bust the band's balls about the Browns, none of the other three are Browns fans. I'd feel bad to give them that kind of reputation. I was just funnin.' That's what we do.
I learned that no matter how bad you feel physically, specifically when your discs in your back are bulging from lifting shit you shouldn't have been lifting, and you feel like there's a knife jammed into your spine, once you get on the stage for a few minutes, the energy takes over and for a little while you feel pretty good. And that's Vicadin free!
I learned that this band has some pretty damn cool friends. Every week we do this thing, and every week people are so much fun to hang around with and to scream at. And every week, someone somewhere has something nice to say to us, or does something to help us out.
We're pretty lucky that way. So thanks.
One other thing, some people have commented about the new name, so I'll answer the questions here, on behalf of the four of us.
(1) No, we're not going to incorporate cammo, we're still nerds... plus we all agreed that we wouldn't do that, that's already being done around here. By some pretty rockin' dudes.
(2) So far, the general concensus about the new name has been mostly positive. For the most part, everyone understands that the situation was not under our control, and most people we've spoken to think it's a pretty good idea anyway. Not everyone has said "hey I like the new name," in fact we have had people say they dislike it, or offer us other suggestions. But, we've already decided and moved on, and again, most people are cool with it. We're pretty happy with it, so that'll do just fine. New contacts (out of town clubs, etc) have responded well, and most of them didn't even know who Nerds, Inc were in the first place, so, right on!
(3) We haven't gotten a new banner yet for myspace, although we have several things we can use, thanks in large part to Rick from Kasiah's Mind, so we'll get some up soon.
09/03/2007
On to the latest... Labor Day Weekend was one of the biggest weekends we've had.
The Oasis on Saturday night was sick. Sooo many people. Head count didn't happen, but it's safe to say there were hundreds of people through their doors. The west side still rocks! Back there again Halloween weekend...
Sunday night Labor Day party at
Sportsterz in Geneva, Ohio was just as sick. The place was packed, hundreds of people through the doors, and there had to be 30 people there who made the roadie in from Erie. What a party. Imagine how cool it was for us to be at an out-of-town gig, when it felt just like playing at home.
In case we don't say it enough, thanks to everyone who comes out and parties with us on the weekends.
Professor Grimes is working on the regular
website as we speak, and it should be back up soon. We had to change server addresses, so if you had us saved in your browser, you may have to save again - the adelphia.net server will not allow us to make any changes. We've redirected our web addresses, so nerdslive.com and thegeekarmy.com will both still work, they just redirect you to our new server. Got it? Good. Bitches.
09/01/2007
Name Change Explanation Revisited for those who missed it
On the same day that Nerds, Inc, were honored with the Erie Music Award for Favorite Cover Band, we officially lost the name Nerds, Inc. That's no joke. For legal reasons, we are now officially the
Geek Army, formerly known as Nerds, Inc.
We received official word recently that we can in no way use the name "nerds" for what we are doing. "The Nerds" is a federally registered trademark, and it was brought to our attention that the owner of that trademark believes that we are infringing upon his product. Yes, we have a lawyer, yes, he strongly suggested that we needed to change the name.
Now listen up.
You can still call us nerds. Feel free. Do it often. do it like you're Ogre from the movie Revenge of the Nerds. We just can't call our band that.
08/31/2007
Getting used to the Geek Army yet? We are already. Rich from Kasiah's Mind has helped get us some preliminary artwork, to help get the word out. That has been invaluable to us while Erie's Favorite Bass Player (Aaron) has been working on our Bud Light sponsorship posters / artwork.
Thanks for all the kind words. The comments and messages have been coming fast and often, and it's been great to get good and not-so-good feedback from everyone on the new name situation. The support makes it that much easier / less stressful to pull this off and get the Geek Army train rolling off to a good start.
And this weekend is a great one, we're anticipating - back to the Oasis on 8th and Kelso, and back to Sportsterz in Geneva, Ohio for our last summer weekend. Awesome. Anyone up for the roadie, send us a message and we'll guide you to the place. See you this weekend bitches!!
08/27/2007
First off, all four of us would like thank every single person who voted for us as Erie's Favorite Cover Band. What an honor that was.
And, well, here it is,
the big nerdy news...
On the same day that we, Nerds, Inc, were honored with the Erie Music Award for Favorite Cover Band, we officially
lost the name Nerds, Inc.
That's no joke. For legal reasons, we are now officially
Geek Army,
formerly known as Nerds, Inc. The complete story to follow, stay with us...
The Erie Music Awards were astonishing to say the least. It was done in such a professional, big-time way, that it was actually kind of breath-taking. Especially if you had to walk onstage and say a few words of thanks after winning an award. I (wood) personally felt the words I chose on the spot were pretty good, and Professor Grimes and I had a little more planned, but then Chunk attacked the mic with an inane rambling about the kids being the future, and threw us both off our game, leaving me only to smirk and say a last quick "thanks..." After nearly twenty years being friends and rocking with that guy, he still leaves me shaking my head sometimes. Idiot. That's why I love him.
We were seated at our table right alongside the Earthquakers, with Moneyshot right beside us as well. So, you know we had some fun. Upon our names being announced, I received the biggest hug from Marty of the Earthquakers, and then upon taking the stage promptly didn't thank him for his years of mentoring and advice. But hey, I was nervous, and Chunk apparently thought he was receiving some humanitarian award.
The video of this entire event will be available August 31st through this
website. My guess is that this video will most definitely be worth it.
And now, the final word on the new name. We received official word recently that we can in no way use the name "nerds" for what we are doing. "The Nerds" is a federally registered trademark, and it was brought to our attention that the owner of that trademark believes that we are infringing upon his product. Yes, we have a lawyer, yes, he strongly suggested that we needed to change the name.
Now listen up.
You can still call us nerds. Feel free. Do it often. do it like you're Ogre from the movie Revenge of the Nerds. We just can't call our band that. We certainly can describe ourselves as "nerdy." So, y'know what. We'll try this tag line... "Geek Army -the nerdy rock show" I kinda like it.
At first, we thought this whole name change thing was really bad, and kind of a big deal. But the more time and effort we put in to coming up with a new name and a marketing plan for it, the more we realized that we can turn this in to something positive. A new start. Granted, I don't know why you would need a "new start" when you have just won an award for Erie's Favorite Cover Band, but bear with us bitches, we're trying to put a positive spin on this...
The only thing that is really going to suck is having to explain the reason for this name-change to people at shows about 14,000 times over the next few months... Ugh.
08/24/2007
We'll wait until after the
Erie Music Awards to make our
Big Announcement. Whether or not we are voted Erie's Favorite Cover Band, we owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who supported this band with your votes. We understand that everyone had to endure two months of every band in town, including us, deluging your mailboxes with pleas for your vote, and we want you to know that simply being listed in the top 3 for this event is an honor to us.
So, after you come to the
Mound Grove tonight and rock and roll all night with us, then you get on I-86 and party like a rockstar in Bemus Point, NY with us at the
Village Casino on Saturday, then you lay around Sunday and recover, getting your game face ready for the new work week, then you go back to work Monday, then, after all that, we want you to come here. To this myspace page. Find out what the
Big Nerdy News is. Bitches.
08/13/2007
Not much to report. Except that Nerds, Inc is indeed playing Celebrate Erie after all. It's Friday, August 17th from 8:20-8:40. Then we're moving on to Scooter's to play from 9:30-1:30. Be there. Saturday and Sunday nights after Celebrate Erie closes down, we'll be at Sherlock's BOTH nights. Saturday night Razor Wire Shrine is opning the show.
Last chance to
vote for Nerds, Inc. This is the last week of balloting. Spread the word.
08/07/2007
We have some pics coming soon from the Sherlock's Block Party. So check back soon.
Miz is finished with the tedious work of resizing and uploading them, and has added them to her page. I've only had time to add one (our current profile pic) because I look like a dork, it shows some of the giant crowd early on, and it emphasizes the lack of stage lighting hedged by the rock star act that followed...
A much needed weekend off for Nerds, Inc coming up. It's a baseball weekend. One lucky Nerd is doing the three ballparks in three days thing instead of rocking.
But hey! We booked some new gigs recently, check out the schedule and plan accordingly would ya?
Nerds, Inc is
not playing Celebrate Erie. The gig was offered to Nerds, Inc for being one of the top three leading Cover Bands in votes received in the Erie Music Awards. It's unfortunate that we can't play the set, but it's our fault. We got offered a last minute paying gig the same night we were scheduled to play and time constraints didn't allow us enough time to do the 20 minute set and still make to our 9:30 show.
Kelly and the rest of the
Rock Erie crew busted their humps to schedule 33 bands, and in fairness, they couldn't accomodate our change.
if you still haven't
voted what the hell are you waiting for. Help some brothers out.
08/03/07
The Block Party was huge. You knew it was going to be. Nerds, Inc is an easy band to please. Give us a couple thousand people crammed in to a city block and some beer, and we're happy. We had a great time, and it was worth the hassle just to rock with all of you outside. What hassle, you say? Well, suffice it to say that
New Wave Nation expected Nerds, Inc to set up in front of them, until Wood made it clear that Nerds, Inc is not their opening band and that NWN would be moving their equipment aside or they would be playing first. So, we took our anger at the old
80s rock star treatment we received, and gave it 110% on stage and tried to make 'em think about the show they had to follow...
Sour grapes aside - how many opportunities does one get to play such a big show at home, outside, in the 80 degree heat? Wood got to dedicate a song to his momma, and dance on stage with his daughter. Chunk's mom and dad were hanging out in the wings, and all our friends were there. On top of it all, the guys from
Raven Sound did a fantastic job, and helped us out every step of the way. Thanks everyone. Awesome!
Don't forget to
vote. Time's running out!!
07/30/2007
A.B.A.T.E. Poker Run is over. Discover Presque Isle is over. Sherlock's Block Party is on the horizon. Schedule is:
Nerds, Inc 6pm-9pm, New Wave Nation 9:30pm-12am. Discover Presque Isle was awesome. We were the first of several bands, and we had a blast, got some sun, and enjoyed sets by Full Force and Hammersmith before heading home. Great job by everyone, including Z102.3 FM.
Poker Run was extra special super duper fun. We got to watch a ton of music by Freudian Slip, who played an awesome set, and had Chris and John from Hammerd do some AC/DC with them. Then we played and, thanks to an advance phone calljust before we went on, our good friend
Isaiah from the Earthquakers hung out with us for quite some time, and wow-ed the crowd by singing four or five songs with us. He's agreat entertainer and a beer drinkin' son of a bitch. We finished around 3am, and got out late, but what a party!!!
07/27/2007
The Erie Music Awards balloting continues until the end of August. Nerds, Inc have already been invited to play Celebrate Erie as one of the leaders in votes received in the Cover Band category at this point. That's
Friday, August 17th from 9:40-10:00pm on the State Street Stage. If you've voted for us, thank you for getting us the opportunity to play this showcase, your votes got us there. If you haven't
voted yet, there's still time!
It has been a crazy summer so far, our best yet. it seems lilke every show we've played this summer has been packed to the roof. Thanks to everyone for coming out, and be sure to tell some friends and bring them the next time!
And even after all the huge shows this summer, there's more - right now we're preparing for this weekend and the Discover Presque Isle show, the A.B.A.T.E. Poker Run, and the Sherlock's Block Party, all in within a week. Shortly after that is Celebrate Erie and then the huge Sportsterz (Geneva, Oh) blowout for the end of summer on the Sunday night of Labor Day weekend.
...check back often.
