The Surprise of the Century
Somewhere back in mid-April of 2007 I received this:
This both filled me with shock and glee. Shock because I couldn't believe my eyes. Glee because I knew what it meant. The last time Wayne and I saw each other was probably in 1983 or 84, three years after the breakup of Solaris. There had been hints in the ensuing years (and quite recently as well) of Solaris getting together in a reunion. Maybe not to go on tour, but just to play the stuff we all liked.
So, Wayne's wife, Cathy, and her sister Janine set out on a quest to bring the band members back together after over 25 years. As it happened, one of them was able to get a hold of James. I was in contact with Jim and I had been in contact with Elaine on infrequent occasion, but I still had a phone number for her. So, the virus was spread. James called me one night and we began to plot. Soon after we all were in cahoots via email. We started picking tunes to play and whittled the list to a few:
Alaska
Musical Box /
Comfortably Numb
Carpet Crawlers
Firth of Fifth
Anyway
Return of the Giant Hogweed
Lark's Tongues in Aspic
.... and, of course...
BIRTHDAY!
And a surprise section of Supper's Ready instigated by Wayne...
So, there were clues that Wayne spotted as the time drew near that caused him to suspect that Cathy was plotting some deviousness. When the day came he saw all the cars parked in the driveway and his suspicions were confirmed. I can just hear what was going through Cathy's head-- "Ha ha, you don't know anything yet...."
Well, the moment came. The front door opened. Everyone yelled SURPRISE and Solaris (sans Wayne for the first tune), for the first time in 28 years with members who were there, played Birthday. Wayne didn't know what hit him!
Now, not only was Solaris there, but so was The Panic, Wayne's current band. At the first Wayne probably thought it was his band playing Birthday. But, it wasn't long before he noticed that these guys didn't look like the band he knew! So, after the greetings and "I can't believe you guys are here" Wayne was promptly asked to "go get your gear". And so the evening was filled with sounds from long ago. Here are a few photos. In time there will be more. Enjoy! Craig
James
Craig
Jim
Elaine
Jim, Wayne, Craig
Dennis (Lights and
support)
Dave
(pre-Wayne)
Craig
Cathy
(left)
Janine
(right)
Solaris members from two eras
Elaine Julie MaryEllen Jim Carol Sue
