Not only are The Sons Of Champlin the most awesome musicians on the planet, but they also have the most awesome fans as well. These fans are people whose hearts and souls have been touched by The Sons' music. They are devoted, loyal, and will do whatever it takes to get to a concert or promote the music they love in any way possible.

When local promoters wouldn't book The Sons Of Champlin in Portland, Oregon, a group of these fans got together and made it happen. Two of these wonderful fans, Dave Duncan and Tip Hanzlik, financed the concert in addition to promoting it. Kate Nay tirelessly helped organize, coordinate, and promote the event. All three of these amazing people put a lot of time and energy into the project, doing whatever was necessary to make it a success.

Other fans helped in any way they could, spreading the word, calling the radio stations, putting up posters and flyers, etc. Their hard work paid off in what has been deemed the best ever Sons Of Champlin concert. Tickets sold out two weeks beforehand, and the promoters took note. Another Portland concert is scheduled in June. Thanks Dave, Tip, Kate, and everyone else who helped to make this all possible. Of course, big thanks go to The Sons Of Champlin for being who they are, doing what they do; entertaining and inspiring us all with the very best music there is. Thank you Bill, Terry, Geoff, Dave, James, Tom, and Mic. We appreciate you all!
	The "Sold Out" Aladdin Marquee
	(Photo courtesy of Stephanie Duncan)

Part of the crowd at the Aladdin Theater

(Photo courtesy of Kate Nay)

Y'all might be interested to know that the banner in the picture above was made by Heidi Hanzlik's 2nd grade class at Menlo Park school. :-)

	Since I was unable to attend this concert, I'm listing some quotes from members of AOL and The Champlin Mailing List who did attend. "Oh, goodie, I get to be the first to say, 'YES, IT WAS A HELLUVA GOOD TIME!!!!!' Kate and crew, you did a bang-up job! Not a detail was overlooked! (Plus, you looked really cute on stage, shyly taking your well-deserved cudos!) :} What else can I say that y'all don't already know? The boys were cookin' tonight, the hall was rockin' and Portland will never be the same again!!! I'll let someone more articulate do the reviews... I'm so charged up!!! What a very cool group of guys, and an awesome and friendly bunch of fans!!! It was a night I'll never forget!!!" - Kathy
James Preston
(Photo courtesy of John Warne)

"WOW!!! What a show! Thanks to The Sons for surpassing all my high expectations and giving me the opportunity to be part of an incredible evening. The band is as nice off the stage as they are great on stage. Many people have told me it was the best concert they have ever attended - I agree. Also, the privilege of working with Dave Duncan and Kate Nay was worth the price of admission." - Tip
	Terry Haggerty, Bill Champlin, & Geoff Palmer
	(Photo courtesy of Kate Nay)

David Schallock, James Preston (in back), Bill Champlin, & Mic Gillette

(Photo courtesy of Kate Nay)

"Right off the top, I want to thank Kate for spearheading the whole thing, Dave for treating us like we counted or something, and Tip for having the guts to sign his name on the dotted line... Portland IS a Sons town, and those 3 already knew it. The band rose to the occassion, and played two of our best sets yet... Everybody was in rare form, and I even got called a "cheerleader". Not sure how to take that, but my enthusiam for this band can get away from me at times. It just feels so damned GOOD! Congratulations to all involved, and I believe we'll be back in June. We'll see." - Mic

Tom Saviano	Bill Champlin

"WOW is right, Tip! I think this show was even better than Santa Rosa...and I didn't think that was possible. We even got them out for a second encore ... very cool, Portland! The entire audience was on their feet and loving the music. We even got to hear 'Glory Of Love' as the very last song... awesome. They played the new tunes again and I liked them even better the second time around.

It was very personally gratifying for Tip, Dave, and me to see the audience on their feet dancing, despite the fact that the venue is an old movie theater and has seats which are bolted to the floor! But... we knew it would be that way when we first decided to do this!

It has been a pleasure to work with both Tip and Dave these past few months. Having partners in this venture who love the band as much as I do has made it that much more fun!

I'm still in a fog from the last few days, but these memories will stay with me forever. My deepest personal thanks to Bill, Tom, Geoff, Mic, Terry, Dave and James for making this a night I will never, ever forget..." - Kate

James Preston

(Photo courtesy of Kalena Preston)

"Even though I'm still a little numb...I figured I'd better say something ... before I wake up and the dream is over. Of course I'm a little biased... but this may have been one the best shows I've been to. The house was literally packed to the rafters... standing room only. The audience was incredible... so appreciative of everything the band played... the new stuff... the old stuff... the jazz instrumental stuff, they played one cut from Tom Savaino's cd... the house just rocked!... and the band just beamed. I don't know who had bigger smiles... the band or the audience. Even Charles 'Cal Ripken' Kelly was in attendence. Charlie had a busy night changing strings for both Bill and Terry... they played with reckless abandon all night. After Bill's first guitar solo he told the crowd he wasn't stopping again till he broke something... well, he was true to his word. Sometimes I forget what a good guitar player he can be. The entire band band rose to the occassion... and the warm demands of a more than enthusiastic crowd pushed them to their best.

Even though I spent way too much time in my 'official' capacity...I did take time to watch the crowd. I saw lots people with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. Once again, I was reminded of how deeply this music has touched people... and how pleased folks are to have it back in their lives. I did watch one guy, who for the longest time never moved a muscle... not a bob of his head or a clap of his hands... as I looked closer, his mouth was wide open and his jaw was on the floor... the sucker was literally awe struck... dumb founded... it was at that moment I knew the show was a success.

I do want to thank every one who was there. The guy's were genuinely overwhelemed with the response from the audience. In the van going over to the party and going back to the hotel... it was all they could talk about. Bill told me that in terms of great crowd to play to... this crowd was good as it gets. To say he was pleased is an understatement!

To those of you who bought golden circle tickets a special thanks... without you this couldn't have happened. I hope you felt you got your money's worth... I hope you know how important you were in bringing the Sons to Portland... and I hope you feel as good as I do about making something special happen for the Sons. As we stood in the hotel parking lot saying goodbye... Bill said that the get-together after the show was 'the best' and wanted everyone to know how much HE appreciated being there with everyone. For this fan it has been a dream come true!..." - Dave

"Incredible show, great people and lots of FUN FUN FUN! ... Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen, and of course, to my favorite band in the world! ... Let's do it again!" - Mel "IMO, last night was even better than New Year's... the crowd took a little while to get on their feet, but once we did... I've never seen the Aladdin rock like it did last night! - Renee
	Geoff Palmer, Terry Haggerty, & Bill Champlin
	(Photo courtesy of Kate Nay)

Go to More Aladdin Sons Concert page for more pictures and reviews.

Visit the official Sons Of Champlin web site for upcoming performance information and much more.

---

---

An associate . . . Copyright © 1998-2003 - Fair To Partly Cloudy Music