Jellied Moose Nose: Red White Big Batta Boom

Even though the vast majority of Army installations cancelled their 4th of July celebrations due to sequester and furloughing of GS employees, our Garrison Commander decided being remote and isolated that we should go forward and provide families with a reminder of what it all means. So on one hot and windy 4th of July we held our 3rd annual Red White and Boom. The template was the same as last year, kids events, beer, food, music and kick ass fireworks. We changed up the musical lineup this year. Last year we hired cover bands and they did a great show. This year, I decided we needed some original music. I received band suggestions from every corner of the installation, some very inexpensive, some ridiculously costly reaching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Garrison Commander seemed to be teetering in which way to go. He of course WANTED a huge name act to help make up for our Luda loss, but that financially appropriate devil on his shoulder won out and we went with more local options.

Starting off the music was Matt Shockley returning again, he was at our Winterfest back before Christmas and is a wonderfully talented guitarist. I felt bad for him, since he had the opening spot, the sun was up and the air hot and the field nearly empty. He still rocked it out like the professional champ that he is. Next up was a country rock group out of Vegas, Against the Grain. They did a rocking little set, albeit a little short. Our headliner for the event was White Buffalo. These guys are on the verge of going big. they've had music featured in surfing videos, Sons of Anarchy and recently on Deadliest Catch and now on the new Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp. I think being somewhere in the middle of folk, classic rock and country in terms of genre, it is hard for people to figure out which shelf they belong on or which time spot on the radio. Either way, my friend Moonglow, turned me on to them and I love their music. So I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Garden State Fireworks came back for a return engagement and this year's show was even better than last. We were afraid we'd have to cancel due to the wind, but the Fire Department, brought out the big guns and made sure that they went off safely. We were just across the street again and the fireworks were literally in our laps again. Beautiful. And the finale was a 5 minute continuous volley of amazing. All in all, a great celebration for the founding of our country. If only the Founding Fathers had known how hot it would be at our events, maybe they would have declared independence in October. We hit 113 for the day. Ick.