One night before Prince performed one of his very last shows at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, the 28th of February 2016, I performed there with my Snap Judgment brethren. Backstage, Prince's dressing room was already cordoned off.
This period was a whirlwind. I finished my album, As Long We Breathe, shot a video with Director Anthony Lucero for "Helping Hand", performed a CD release party and did this show -- all right before leaving the US for a job in New Zealand. As you'll hear at the end of James Judd's story, the plan was to stay a year -- but that was before the US lost its collective mind, and put a histrionic reality TV personality with Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the White House. It's been a year and a half and I'm still here.
But that was all in the future at this point.
Don Reed told one of the very best stories in the history of Snap that night. It was emotionally tough but I'm really proud to have been a part of this story. Striking the right tone musically was a great challenge, but I feel good about how this turned out.
Zahra got a million heaven points and charmed the audience.
James Judd "The Closer" took us on a gay cruise to Egypt. Glynn gave me and the band a nice shout out at the end there. (Clarifying note: I went to work for WETA Digital on an Avatar ride.)
Gina Gold confronted a pimp, stripped at the Lusty Lady, and resisted with style.
Josh Healey told a great story about his friend an Iraq War vet doing yoga in the desert.
Dhaya told a touching story about her grandmother.
Jamie shared a tough poem about a friend who attempted suicide.
This was my final show with Snap Judgment before flying to New Zealand. I'm sure I'll perform with these guys again, but for me it was the end of an era.
