December 1st, 2005
Just a quick note to let everyone know that the members of RISE are alive and well. For those of you concerned or curious as to why we don't have any shows scheduled, I will have some news on that later.

As for our visitor forum... Well, some jackass hacked it earlier this week. This is unfortunately an all too common problem among website message boards and guestbooks. I will have it back up and running by this weekend. Our photo gallery has also experienced a technical glitch, but I'll get that fixed very soon as well.

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday. All for now.

October 26th, 2005

October 7th, 2005
First off, I apologize for having waited almost a month to update our home page. With that said... I encourage you to check back in the next few days, as I will definitely be bringing new reports to this very page. We had a couple of exciting weekends back in September, and the first part of this month, as well as a doozie of a weekend coming up. Tonight we will be playing in Santa Maria, tomorrow in Santa Ynez, and on Sunday, we open for .38 Special at the Pozo Saloon. It's like a "RISE mini tour".

If you're up for some fun tonight, head on out to Santa Maria to the Maverick Saloon and Grill. We will be firing up around 9pm.

Be sure to check out the all new RISE photo gallery. It features over 400 pictures from the past couple of years. Who knows... you just might be in there.

Lastly, if anyone has any shots of us from when we used to play at Longboard's, then please let us know. I'd really like to get them in our online scrapbook. VFC out!

Mid-State Rally 2005 at the Paso Robles Fairgrounds
We were scheduled to play until 8pm, but that plan went out the window real fast. As the sun went down, and we approched the final few songs of our last set, it was very clear that the crowd wasn't going to let us quit anytime soon. However, it was getting quite dark outside and we had no stage lighting. It was during this realization that a devoted and clever RISE fan suggested that we get some bikes out in front of the stage to shine their headlights on the band. Problem... Solution.

If you weren't at the Mid State Rally last night, then you truly missed out on a special event. In the past 2+ years that this band has been gigging, we've had some really great shows. Now, when I say "great shows", I mean the whole experience. Whether or not we played our absolute best is inconsequential. I consider us having had great show when we: played well, had a sizeable crowd, and the audience was singing along, dancing, and just going nuts. Last night we had our greatest show.

August 28th , 2005
It's been three weeks since the last update, so there's much to discuss, and many shout outs to give...

I've said this before, and I'll say it again... The crowd down at Harry's in Pismo Beach just becomes increasingly more fun to play for. Every time we have a gig there, the place just seems to become more and more live. Special thanks to those of you that help to make it so. That weekend at Harold's By The Sea got our August started off with a bang.

Next, we traveled to The Pit Stop in Paso Robles for a truly enjoyable afternoon of good food, good drink, good friends, and good music (well... at least when I had my ipod playing during our breaks...). All jokin' aside, I think we put on a pretty good show that day. If you were there, and you agree, then sound off on our message board. We like to hear about it when you guys have a good time. Thanks again to Mark and crew for putting on another great event.

I need to give a special shout out to Al and Sheril Silva for coming out to all of our North County gigs and supporting our band. Whenever we are anywhere near A-Town, you're always there. If I'm not mistaken, you guys have been seen at Harry's as well. In fact, if Al's not busy spinning discs down at Hoover's Live or at some private party, you'll probably catch him at a RISE gig. Hit him up if you're looking to hire a DJ.

Since we didn't get enough on Sunday, we headed back over the grade into Paso for another slammin' gig at The Pit Stop on Wednesday night. Of course, Wednesday night at The Pit Stop is "Bike Night". They are a lot of fun, but this particular night was totally off the hook. Never before have I seen so much love for RISE at a Bike Night. The crowd there was awesome. We had a blast as usual.

Lastly, we ended our grueling schedule of four gigs in seven days (hey, we all have day jobs too...) at the Old Cayucos Tavern in, (you guessed it...) Cayucos. It was a good time had by all. Friday night was especially cool due to the large number of lovely ladies out at The Tavern. The band likes to see that (especially Champ). Plus, we can open it up a little bit at The Tavern. They'll take all of the Danzig, Maiden, RATT, AC/DC, etc... that you can throw at them.

In conclusion, I'd like to send out a massive "Thank You" to all of you who've come out to see us play over the last 2+ years. Yes, it was two years ago this past July that we began playing out. Time flies when you're havin' fun.

Oh... and one more thing... Kudos to Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden for playing admirably through adverse conditions at last weekend's Ozzfest. Speaking for myself, I feel Maiden are truly a class act. If you were unaware (or care to know...) Sharon Osbourne sabotaged Iron Maiden's performance in front of over 40,000 eager fans. Regardless of what comments Bruce had made back stage, it was a truly classless act to try and publicly humiliate them, and moreover, cheat the fans out of a first-rate performance. Those tickets are pricey enough, let alone being ripped off by Sharon trying to ruin a good Maiden performance.

Alright... enough of my ranting... See you all soon...

August 6th, 2005
Harry's last night just plain rocked. Thanks again to those of you that came down to Pismo instead of heading up to the Mid-State Fair. We enjoyed seeing so many friends down there, and meeting some new ones as well. A special shout out to "Latin Connection" for coming out in force, and for making sure that Fresno was being properly represented.

I hope to see most of you again tonight.

July 29th, 2005
I just got through adding 200 more pics to our photo gallery. All of the photos are from our gigs at Harry's over the past two years. These images are a good example of a RISE show Pismo style. Check them out... you just might see yourself in a few shots. And if you don't... well then you missed out.

I changed the web poll over on the right side of this page. The results of the last one showed that site visitors overwhelmingly agreed that AC/DC was a lot more rockin' than Sabbath, Maiden, and even Judas Priest. Cast your vote in this one because we're curious to know what you think.

Remember to always check out our polls.

May 23rd, 2005
A lot has happened in the past two months, so let's get crackin'. First off, the April Fool's weekend at Harry's was arguably the most electric we've ever seen that place. The gigs there seem to just become more and more fun.

Much to our dismay, Mark did not advance past the district finals in the 2005 Guitarmageddon. His performance was first rate, but it's all a matter of opinion in those contests. Oh well... we still know who the true "Champ" is.

The April 24th show at the Maverick in Santa Ynez was great. That was by far the best gig we've had at that bar. A big thanks to those of you who came out there to party with us.

For those of you that missed it, we had a great time at the Old Cayucos Tavern earlier this month. Lots of celebratin' goin' on... Brittany's birthday, bachelorette parties, etc... Good times.

If ever you're looking for something to do on a Wednesday night, please consider going to "Bike Night" at the Pit Stop in Paso Robles. The food is terriffic, the folks there are great, and if we happen to be playing, the entertainment is fantastic (HaHa). Seriously though, it is a really great place to hang out with friends, look at some cool bikes, eat some great food, and hear some good bands. We played there last Wednesday night, and the place was live. Also, I swear they have the best tri-tip sandwich on the Central Coast. We'll be back there in July, so be sure to mark it on your calendars.

The All American Motorcycle Madness event at the Santa Maria Fairpark last weekend was awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and by the reaction of the audience, it seemed they did as well. Kudos to Horsepower Promotions for putting together such a great event.

Lastly, this Friday night we will be taking the stage at The Eagle's Nest in the Chumash Casino. Our start time has been bumped up to 6:00pm, and we're over at 10:00pm. Hope to see you there!