Chadfest Kansas City 2002 - 2004
For a long period spanning from the late 90's through early 2000's Eugene had a superb ongoing musical and social interaction with a variety of Kansas City's best musicians. This centered around the activities of a great band Malachy Papers mixed with Austin's Critters Buggin and more. Including at various times Mark Southerland on Sax, Handmade Horns, 8-Track Scratch & a variety of sound generation tools, Mike Dillon on Vibes & Percussion, Johnny Hammil on Bass, Arnie Young on Drums, Earl Harvin on Drums, Skerik on Sax, Brad Houser on Bass, Jeff Harshbarger on Bass, Bill McKemy on Bass, E.Clarke Wyatt on Keyboards and more people than I can possibly remember (sorry if I left you out!). This period included a number of performances in and around KC & Lawrence, Kansas as well as a wealth of recorded material that made it's way to release. Chadfest I took place in 2002 and was followed by a second in 2003 at Halloween time. Mardi Gras 2004 was the venue for the next one. After a wonderful street party on 18th Street we paraded down to Stretch's warehouse space for a grand afterparty with EC & Malachy playing for the crowd. This was unfortunately cut short by a "parade float bonfire" set by some overzealous attendees which quickly drew the attention of the fire department & police. In short order mace was in the air and all shut down by KC's Force. This period also included an amazing set one night in artist David Ford's loft as well as several GREAT sets at Kansas City's locus of artistic & nutritional power - YJ's Snack Bar!