40 Watt Hype w/ Ozomatli

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Originally uploaded by awall.

What a great night for 40 Watt Hype. Opening for Ozomatli at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Ca. This was a strange gig but a very special at the same time. While eating at Castillo's in Fresno I get a call on my cell from Bill Graham Presents asking if we can open for Ozomatli in 2 days. I paused, acted like I was checking a calendar or making arrangements or doing something important then got back on the phone and gave the go ahead. We take the drive to Saratoga, which is about 20 mi north of Santa Cruz, which is an adventure in itself. On the way to the venue you will cruise through residential streets, then enter the winery gates and take a small one lane road up the winding hillside wondering if this for real. Then suddenly you turn a corner and see a huge parking lot on top of the mountain and there you are. From that vantage point you can see everything from SanJose in the distance to vineyards to mountain ranges. Absolutely beautiful. We arrived to the venue to the sounds of Ozomatli sound checking. These guys are really cool cats who can chop it up with anybody. After they finished we set up and did our sound check and got our set list together. Everybody ate dinner together backstage and talked about everything from the NBA playoffs to their last time in Fresno. The venue alone made us all want to go Sideways and start swishing and smelling goblets of wine. The Mountain Winery has a restaurant, wine tasting and other activities, so we took the tour. We rocked the opening set and got the crowd warm for Ozo. This picture was taken during our first song, so the crowd is still filing in. I think they said the event was sold out at 1800. After our set we signed autographs and met with people at our booth. Everybody was really nice, we got some priceless reactions when people would find out that we're from Fresno. Everything from utter confusion to laughter. Ozomatli came on a killed it. They debuted some new material that will be on the new album that they are recording as we speak. These guys put on an amazing and inspiring live show. From start to finish, con ganas. It was definitely a show for the books. People are always asking "when are you gonna play with Ozomatli?" so there you have it pal.