A Word from Josh: I tell you, it's really great to have a lot of very talented friends. For a third straight show, John was unable to perform because he is still recovering from a significant injury to his ribs. Last week we played with our buddy Charles Thomas filling in on lead vocals. He did a great job but was not available to reprise that role this week. Enter the equally-qualified Eric Barbieri, another long-time friend who filled in for John once before back on 3/5/11. Eric plays in a band called Shag and plays a lot of solo acoustic shows. He has enjoyed a long, illustrious career which has included long stints as the front man for Decameron, The Toys and The Barbeez but his most awesome gig ever was playing at my wedding reception in 2012. Aside from having a fill-in singer, there were other unique aspects of tonight's show. This was a private event for a company party and not open to the general public. We were unaware of this fact until about four weeks ago which resulted in some disappointed Pie fans who were making plans to attend. This was only the third time we've ever played in Iowa and it was the first time at this particular venue. The Mississippi Moon Bar is a beautiful room located inside the Diamond Jo Casino. It has a great stage and top-of-the-line sound & lights much in the style of the Northern Lights Theater at Potawatomi in Milwaukee. The staff and stage crew were very helpful and polite and they run a very tight ship. We had to deal with very strict security precautions all day. We were able to set up early and do an extended soundcheck which was our only opportunity to do any rehearsing with Eric. This went very well and we were able to go into the show with a good amount of confidence. The audience was made up of about 300 employees of the IWI Motor Parts company. As you might expect from a corporate event, it wasn't a typical crazy Cherry Pie crowd, but they did seem to enjoy the band and applauded loudly after every song. Eric sang great and almost nobody in the room had any idea that we were operating without our normal personnel. Aside from the show we all had a great time enjoying the food, gambling, other live music and the overall fun casino vibe. While off-duty Frankie even added to his pay with a successful stint at a blackjack table. The casino has already expressed an interest is having us come back to play again in the Fall. Next time will be open to the public. We look forward to that.    -Josh VOICES FROM THE CROWD: Were you at this show? Would you like to comment on it? Bruce: "Awesome show!!" Jill: "You guys were awsome!!! I had a great time" Kris: "Had a awesome time! You guys Rock!" Stan: "Awesome show! You guys rock!"

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