A NIGHT TO REMEMBER!

ABILENE

WOW!!!

That seems to be the word most often used when those who were in
attendance describe the Spurs Grand Opening on Friday night, January 11, with Abilene and Special Guests. Abilene was fired up from the get-go, and when the Special Guests started hitting the stage the show just kept getting better and better.

RSO's GARY FLANAGAN was the first Special

Guest of the evening and he rocked the crowd

with TULSA TIME, GIMME THREE STEPS and

a beautiful rendition of AMIE sandwiched in

between that had everyone in the packed

house singing along. Then ED GRIGLOCK fired

up the audience with THE WEIGHT, DESPERADO

and a hot guitar solo on THE SOUTH'S GONNA

DO IT AGAIN, which also brought out PHIL CRUIKSHANK

of HillBilly D'Lux for a scorching harmonica solo.

Phil's last appearance with Abilene was some twenty-

odd years ago. But you wouldn't have known it from

the way he melded into the Abilene mix. And when

Phil and Joe Pacuska broke out the fiddles to play

THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA and THE ORANGE

BLOSSOM SPECIAL it brought the house down! Many

in the audience commented that the twin-fiddle version

of OBS was "worth the price of admission

alone"!

But the night was still young, and there were

more Special Guests and great performances

still to come!

The third and last set brought out local

singing legend MIKE SPERAZZA for three

dynamite numbers. Mike started out with a

powerful rendition of HEART OF GOLD that

brought the crowd to the edge of the stage.

But then he blew the roof off with what

turned out to be THE rocker of the show…..

a kick-ass version of CINNAMON GIRL that

left the crowd roaring. And if that wasn't

enough, he capped off his three-song set

with a driving performance of ALREADY GONE

that had the house rocking.

Mike's set was a hard act to follow. But

Special Featured Guest, JESSE WADE, was

up to the task. From the moment he stepped

on stage the room was electric. And when he

stomped on the accelerator with the first

words to GUITARS AND CADILLACS the

audience went nuts. After a rocking version

of LITTLE SISTER and then a jumping

rendition of the classic RING OF FIRE,

Abilene put down their instruments and

left the stage while Jesse mesmerized the audience with a powerful and
dramatic solo performance of Roy Orbison's CRYIN' that brought a huge
ovation from the appreciative crowd. With Abilene back on stage with
him, Jesse cranked through two fast-paced Lynyrd Skynyrd classics in I
KNOW A LITTLE and SWEET HOME ALABAMA that had the whole house
jumping. Then, to put the crowning moment on a fabulous night, Jesse
led Abilene through their paces with a driving version Hank Williams'
JAMBALAYA that left the crowd yelling for more.

It was a night to remember!

*********************

The pictures from the Spurs Grand Opening show are now on the Abilene
website in the Photos section. If you were there, you experienced it. If
you weren't there, no words could accurately describe it.

Los Abileenos would like to express their sincere thanks and deep
respect and admiration for all of their Special Guests at the Spurs Grand
Opening on Friday, January 11th.

THE GOOD TIMES ROLL ON!!!