Okay Samurai - News That Peter Jennings Would Die For

2001 Archives

12.10.01 Finals Shminals
If you haven't ordered your Okay Samurai boxer shorts or teddy bear to give to your loved ones this holiday season, shame on you. Makesure click here.
Unbeknownst (what a great word) to him, we put a photo of our own Don Simpson up on hotornot.com for three days...check out the results here.
For Dave's two computer music classes this semster, he was allowed to combine the classes into one final project. The result was Concrete World 1.0, an interactive music world created in VRML (virtual reality modeling language). It's a look into the future of computer music...or just a way for Dave to get out of taking one more final.
Have a great winter break!

12.6.01 The Perfect Holiday Gift
A makeshift version of our soon-to-be-awesome online store is up here at Cafepress. OKS teddy bears and boxer shorts are great stocking stuffers, much better than those chocolate gold coins or socks or firebombs. Cafepress tells me that all Christmas orders should be made before December 17th to ensure on-time delivery. Actually, they didn't tell me personally, I just checked out their website updates.
You want new pictures of OKS to use as wrapping paper? Head over to our collection of 62 photos in the visual section, which now include collages of the Maine Wedding Trip and Race For Relief benefit concert.
Over the winter break, we'll be recording a whole slew of unreleased songs...look for 'em in late January. Oh, and Andrew and Dave recently saw a guy wearing an authentic "83" shirt as seen worn by OKS at the Microbrew concert. All right, go buy your OKS boxer shorts.

11.3.01 Calzones Aren't The Only Thing They Burn
Last night's Gamma Phi Microbrew Show at the Mellow Mushroom was freak-knockin' awesome. OKS played two rockin' sets and encored with All Along the Watchtower mixed with Nelly's Ride Wit Me. Gamma Phi social chair Sarah Ward even joined the boys in singing Straight Up and Ready To Run. Thanks to everyone who came out, we loved the crowd. Answer to one of the night's questions: OKS was wearing similar shirts with "83" on the front for the first set because that's when the band was formed. Either that or they were $1.99 at the local Old Navy.
We're working on setting up out next show, which will probably be at JMU, so keep checking for updates. AND the Microbrew pictures should be up within the week. AND the Okay Samurai online store should be up within the next two weeks, so get your credit card ready because the OKS boxer shorts are going to be this holiday season's Tickle-Me-Elmo.

10.28.01 Red Oiseau Spots!
OKS is playing this Friday, November 2 from 10PM-2AM at the annual Gamma Phi Microbrew at UVA. This year it's at the Mellow Mushroom, a very cool place with 40 beers on tap right behind Dave's house. The only way to get the limited $5 tickets is through a Gamma Phi sister, so ask around...otherwise, don't worry; I'm sure we'll be playing there again in the near future.
The Race for Relief 5K benefit run was a huge success, raking in around $1300 for the disaster relief fund. OKS debuted several new songs including Disregard the Trip on That, Fake Tobey Maguire, 81 on 81 and El Oso. The Werner and Chin families were also in attendance. Thanks to Catherine White for setting up the event and having us!
Oh yeah, and a bird pooped red poop on Andrew's head post-concert.

10.14.01 Two Concerts, Two Campuses
Saturday, October 27: We'll be opening and closing the JMU "Race For Relief". It's a 3-mile run/walk benefitting the American Red Cross. Our actual performance time is not set in stone; it depends on when the runners start and finish (although we'll probably start around 9:30AM...yes, AM). If you want to help out, get some exercise, score a tee-shirt and watch a sleepy OKS rock out, visit the official website for details.
Friday, November 2: OKS will be playing at the Gamma Phi Microbrew from 10PM-2AM at the Mellow Mushroom at UVA. Ticket details and directions are on the way.
Don and Jeff's 1524G House Party was insane two nights ago, and all of Okay Samurai were in attendance (pictures on the way, of course). Although it got a little overcrowded later on, beer pong tournaments and appearances by just about every Robinson High School graduate ever made this quite the brouhaha.
After switching website hosts three times, we finally settled on Tripod...which means advertising at the top of every page. Oh well, it's free!

10.6.01 Rockin' The Suburbs
Can I tell you how much I hate computers? I've spent the last two hours trying to update this site and instead ended up erasing half of it because of a slow-as-heck dialup account. First, let's get the concerts outta the way:
*October 27: Race for Relief at JMU, 10AM: OKS at 10AM? It's for charity so s'all good. Check out the website here for details.
*November 2: Gamma Phi Microbrew at UVA (Orbit Billiards), time TBA: Just mark your calendars, details are coming soon.
Don and Dave went to Maine from September 20-23 to provide the musical entertainment for Don's sister's wedding. Taking place on Isle Au Haut, a small island with a population of about 70, samurai adventures included riding stolen bikes everywhere, lobster feasts, a rendition of "Sweet Home Isle Au Haut", an altar made of driftwood, BIKES, 10 people in the back of a pickup en route to a party, airplane tickets accidentally being thrown away, Dave playing an antique piano so hard that blood stained the keys, and BIKES.
Before OKS, there was Second Nature, and Grassblade Smoke was one of their songs. It's up as a classic 1997 track on our IUMA audio section. Every few weeks I'll be adding a new old-school song, including Uncle Charlie's Song, Third, F# and A Tribute To Mr. Punhong.
New picture here courtesy of Jasmine Yoon. Andrew got an electric drum kit. Dave and Russ will be playing at the Pav in a few weeks. Dave caught an impromtu Granian concert last night in the Maupin 140s suite. We switched our website host to Geocities. BIKES. More concert updates coming soon, prepare to have your pants rocked off.

7.28.01 Textbook Greedy-Dead!
DNR Acoustic Stylings: On Tuesday, July 17, Dave and Russ played a four hour acoustic show at Coupe's in Charlottesville, VA; thanks to everybody who came out. The long-awaited live debut of Forgot About Dre took place here. If all goes well, expect a few more shows like these through out the year.
OKS Gear Coming in September!: Soon you'll be able to buy OKS merchandise directly online, including tee shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, boxers, hats, coffee mugs, mousepads and totebags! I mean, freak-knockin' OKS boxers, how cool is that?
Recording Delayed / New Songs: We've been busy learning so many new songs that recording has been put on hold for the time being. Fake Toby Maguire and Disregard the Trip on That are sure to become live favorites along with three more currently untitled new songs.
New Website Host: Okaysamurai.com has moved to Freewebspace from RedRival, which means we've got nerdy advertising banners at the top of our pages...sorry for any inconveniences.

6.4.01 Poo Palace Sessions
Hey. No, we haven't died; I just can't update the site much since our home computer has a Slowy McSlowpants modem. OKS has been working on some new original songs mostly, including Jeff's first contribution to the band. Tentatively conceptualized as the Poo Palace Sessions, hopefully around four or five new free mp3s are coming your way. Definitely slated on schedule is the long-awaited studio version of Back To Blues (the harmonica song), hopefully featuring the best guitar player ever, Eric Espiritu, on...guitar. Working titles for some of the new songs are Not Yet (What's in the Guitar Case?) and Fake Toby Maguire. On the acoustic front, Dave and Russ have had a couple of three-hour-long jam sessions and should be following through with some Charlottesville appearances in late August, so check back for times and places. Finally, okaysamurai.com might be changing hosts soon since RedRival is turning into a pay service soon (and I sure as heck ain't paying no money for any nerdy internet site, unless I steal it). I'm sure you all really care about information like that.

4.22.01 Disregard the Trip on That
Dave (OKS Dave) was sitting in Section 124, Row XX, Seat 18 when he noticed a navy blue backwards baseball hat from a distance...and then a Don Simpson wearing it and a Jeff Chin following him (yes, Jeff came too.) They joined Kelsie Welch and watched DMB rock out with an incredible performance in Row K of Section 123. The highlight of the night, everyone seems to agree, was when Neil Young joined the band for an unforgettable version of All Along The Watchtower. Anyone who missed the show should check out Jimmy Scanlon's post (note: no longer available) in Mailbox, he's got a very detailed version of the setlist and links to recordings of the songs (shhh...)!
In addition, Dave (OKS Dave again) helped set up for the concert on Thursday evening with University Union's PK German (thanks Steph!) for about three hours. There was this one moment when it was starting to get dark and the crew was testing the audio/visual systems and he was standing in front of the stage. In what can only be defined as a surreal experience, Dave stared up through the wisps of fog machine smoke into a full display of purple lights while Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb blasted out of the speakers. And he cut his left hand moving around plywood for trucks to drive on, but hey, no complaints here.
Dave and Russ did some mad sick pre-DMB partying, first playing outside the Newcomb Hall Tent for roughly two hours and then playing another 45 minutes at Kim Pelikan's Party off of Ivy Road. Both now have carpal tunnel syndrome and are recovering slowly but surely.

4.13.01 No, the Other Dave...
This has nothing to do with OKS, but Dave first got me interested in playing guitar, so I'm excited that on Saturday, April 21, The Dave Matthews Band will return home for their first Charlottesville concert since 1994. Held in the newly-renovated Scott Stadium with an opening act of Neil Young and "special guest" (one wild rumor is Santana...doubtful), this much-anticipated concert has all the makings of something spectacular. Don and Dave will be in attendance...along with over 60,000 of their closest friends. Stragglers can check out Ebay for extra tickets, but now that the Sunday show got cancelled, prices for Saturday tickets have skyrocketed.
If you've checked out the latest album, Everyday, you might know that it was made in 9 days after scrapping an entire other album with producer Steve Lillywhite (who did the previous three major-label albums). Well now the scrapped album has been leaked out through Napster and is being labeled as "The Lillywhite Sessions". Although none of the tracks are finished (you can still hear Carter counting time at the beginning of a few) and are for the most part depressing, it shows what Everyday could have been. The tracks are Busted Stuff, Grey Street, Diggin' a Ditch, Sweet Up and Down, JTR, Big Eyed Fish, Grace Is Gone (my favorite), Captain, Bartender, Monkey Man, Kit Kat Jam and Raven (You might notice the titles of some of these songs in subtle references on Everyday). There's another mp3 floating around of Dave singing I Did It in the style of the B52's...might want to check that one out too, as well as an acoustic version that a lot of people like better than the studio release.
All right, onto other stuff. Summer's coming up, and that means OKS is going back to the Basement of Doom to do some more recording. There also might be a home concert thrown in there somewhere too, who knows. Hey, if you're around Charlottesville tomorrow night, check out Jordan Brown's The Bureau at Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at 11 p.m. (4.14.01).

4.9.01 Melrose, the Sequel
Last Saturday's AKL Melrose Concert was again quite the sight to behold. OKS played an exclusive afternoon set for AKL alumni and then played one long set that night for party-goers. OKS premiered their latest cover, Bad Company's Feel Like Making Love, to much acclaim. Thanks to AKL for everything (especially controlling the stage and helping us move equipment afterwards), Allison for the new photos and makeshift duct tape OKS sign, Karen for confirming her status as an OKS groupie, Eric for getting his mack on with that girl on the balcony, and Nick for introducing us to Clarence Carter's Patches at 5:00 AM (worth a download on Napster, trust me).
The Mary Baldwin show was cancelled due to a last-minute change of plans, or at least that's what they're telling us. Rumor has it that the boys would have caused riots at the all-girls' college. Delusion, kids, is a wonderful thing.

3.28.01 Da Heck Is Going On?
If on any given weekend if you show up to Melrose at JMU, chances are there's a big party and Okay Samurai is headlining it. OKS, hereby known as THE Melrose Band, will be playing at AKL's Melrose on the night of Saturday, April 7. It's basically the same deal as the KA shindig: BYOB, \\$7, same place and time and bus system, but supposedly you can buy tickets at the door this time. If you're expecting the same ol' KA show rehashed, think again...there will plenty of new surprises thrown in the mix. And then it's a quick turn-around to the much-anticipated Mary Baldwin show on the night of Thursday, April 12. It's safe to say that a certain Nsync song will be included in the set here. More exact details about this show are coming soon, just giving a heads' up. We're really excited about the sudden eruption of concerts and hope to see you out there! If you've got questions about either show, lemme know at dave@okaysamurai.com and we'll work something out.
Hey, after you've finished listening to the five free Okay Samurai mp3s, check out what some friends of the band are doing: Eric Espiritu's Preppy and Jordan Brown's The Bureau. You won't be disappointed.

3.24.01 Melrose Aftermath
With over 400 tickets sold, KA's Melrose was the place to be at JMU on Friday night. Held in a two-story barn (pictures coming soon), it was the wildest OKS show to date. The stage was permanently filled to the edges with dancers, everyone and their immediate families sang with Dave, and the crowd was "festive" to say the least. As crazy as things got, amazingly none of our equipment was missing or damaged, including the infamous plastic swan. Thanks to everyone who came out; we had a great time and hope that you did too. And special thanks to the following:
Peter Komar- for singing Alcohol with Dave and helping control the "freestylers", as well as considering us for the event in the first place. Much 'preciated.
Jordan Brown- for coming down from UVA and playing lead guitar with us on Sweet Home Alabama and Back To Blues, as well as yelling "DUDE I LOVE THIS SONG!" when we played Mosquito.
Kelsie Welch- for going out of her way to come see us en route to Tech and getting water for us after the first set...thanks so much.
Eric Brandt- not only for always going crazy in the crowd, but also for helping with unloading and the sound check.
The Mary Baldwin Crowd- for coming down and especially Kate for punching a certain annoying audience member.
Chris Keller- for helping the tired band pack things up after the concert.
Matt Williams- for making the trip from the Naval Academy...that's dedication.
"Emily"- for the possible show in the near future.
And everyone else like Nick, Matt, Justin, Karen, Allison, MC...well I could go on forever but just know that we sincerely appreciated everyone coming out.
It's been a while since we recorded a new song, so a new acoustic version of Mosquito is up at okay.iuma.com. Make sure to also check out the new photo we posted in the visual section from last week's spontaneous apartment concert. Tentatively the next concert is at Mary Baldwin in April, details coming soon.

3.18.01 Felines, Canines, Rattlesnakes!
So much to say. So much.
10 incredible pictures from Dance Marathon 2001 have been posted in the visual section. I was watching the videotape of our performance over spring break and was overwhelmed how much the audience was getting into it...you'll hafta come over sometime and watch it. Anyway, the visual section is up to 48 photos now; that should satisfy your daily appetite for samurai.
OKS is playing this Friday night at James Madison for KA's Melrose; you can get tickets from any fraternity brother. If anyone from the UVA crowd wants to be a "roadie", let me know, we'll work something out. Believe it or not, this is Okay Samurai's first JMU concert ever...with three jmu'ers in the band, expect one of the most high-energy shows ever.
Yesterday was the most fun I think any of us have had musically. We were practicing at Don and Jeff's apartment at JMU and decided to go all-out with a drum set and loud-as-heck amps (previously we've practiced with bongos and turned everything down so as not to get any noise violations). Soon random people were showing up because they heard about "the band playing at the Commons". One guy even climbed up the deck to the second-story apartment; everyone was jumping around and singing along. Jeff got one of the random people to snap a few pictures with his camera, so hopefully some of those turn out. Two ten-minute-plus renditions of Sweet Home Alabama were probably the highlights, but All Along The Watchtower and Just What I Needed were crowd favorites too. I can't wait for Melrose...

2.27.01 Samurai Aural Decapitation...
'Sup. Thanks to everyone who came to the DM2001 show; we had a great time and hope that you did too! We'd also like to thank Lyman and The Bureau for putting on such quality performances as well, 'specially my mad-sniffable dawg Jordan Brown. Photos were plentiful as the phone numbers Andrew received after the show from several female audience members; expect those to be up soon (the numbers, not the photos...). The setlist that will hereby referred to as "The Feast" was as follows: Straight Up (Paula Abdul), Steal My Kisses (Ben Harper), Seppuku (OKS), Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffett), Sail Away (Enya), Makesure (OKS), It Wasn't Me (Shaggy), Mosquito (OKS), Hangin' Tough (New Kids On The Block), 718 (2 Skinnee J's), 8675309 Jenny (Tommy Tutone) and Bye Bye Bye (Nsync). The feast was delicious and all who came were satisfied. This performance has confirmed OKS members as quote-in-quote "rock gods" who expect nothing less than to be hand-fed grapes by beautiful women.
So what's next? SHOWS NOT AT UVA! Can this be possible? Apparently so. Mary Baldwin, JMU (finally), Richmond and more are in consideration for concerts during the remainder of the semester! As soon as we know more info, we'll post 'em up like a blindfolded paralyzed squirrel addicted to Tylenol! HADOKEN!
Editor's Note: The enthusiasm of the concert has not died down yet in some members, causing them to act temporarily insane. If you witness this in any of the members, please administer the "punch in the face" technique to put them back on track. Much obliged.

2.9.01 Infinite Puppy!
Okay Samurai will be performing at the Third Annual UVA Dance Marathon on Saturday, February 24 at 8:00 PM at Memorial Gymnasium (need directions? Try Mapquest). You must present a backstage pass (click here to get it) at the door. Just print that bad boy out (doesn't have to be in color) and you're set, but you'll still hafta pay the \\$5.00 entrance fee. But not to worry...your money is benefitting the Sarah Du Bose Fund, which helps premature babies at the UVA Hospital. This year our goal is $50,000 (definitely reachable). For more info on what DM is, click-a-rooni. The reason you need the backstage pass is because DM isn't open to the general public until 9:00 PM, so to make the concert more exclusive to friends of the band and the dedicated dancers (because exclusive concerts are a sure sign of coolness), OKS fans can get in an hour early. Make sure to listen to Makesure and Mosquito so you can sing along while you're crowd-surfing to them during DM. If you've got questions, need sleeping arrangements for the night, or are just lonely, e-mail Dave at dave@okaysamurai.com and he'll hook a brutha up.

1.18.01 All New Samurai...
Longtime friend of the band Jeff Chin has become the new bass player for Okay Samurai. Eugene has moved on to other aspirations, but we'll never forget the seven years of insanity and chaos we had with him. We'll miss you slacker and wish you the best in whatever you end up doing. Jeff was initiated into the band when the remaining three members got a burst of spontaneity and bought him a bass guitar on the very same day they asked him to join the band. While Jeff was sleeping that afternoon they snuck into his house and left the brand new instrument on his couch. Jeff will also provide his vocal talents to the band, singing alongside Dave and taking the lead for a cover of Undone by Weezer.
Because of all this hoopla, the rest of the Codes to the Zion Mainframe album has been put on hold; at least until the summer. Expect some older tracks to be dropped in favor of some brand new stuff.
Winter break for the Samurai included visitng Uncle Charlie's farm in Linden, where they got to play with Charlie's new Gretch White Falcon and Stephen Stills Signature Martin Guitar (in other words, really frickin' cool guitars). The highlight of the day was when Charlie called up Craig Honeycutt from Everything and the guys played "Hooch" for him. As they put it later, "We played Hooch for the guy who made Hooch!" Very exciting indeed. And Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a great movie but if we catch that idiot whose cell phone went off THREE TIMES during the film, we will most likely karate chop his head off (Don't laugh, I've seen Andrew do it before).
Dance Marathon is fast approaching (February 24-25), and the details remain sketch as usual. As of right now, OKS will probably play at 8:00 PM on Saturday, February 24. This will be the first concert since Jeff joined the band. Dave tells us "over 200 dancing girls" is more than enough reason to come check out this show. We will have exact times and directions to Memorial Gym in our next update. And expect some acoustic shows from Dave Werner and Russ Jenkins around the local bars in Charlottesville soon. They worked on a fantastic new playlist over Winter Break and it sounds really good.

1.1.01 okaysamurai.com version 2.0
You are now looking at okaysamurai.com version 2.0, undoubtedly the coolest website ever made, thanks to computer nerd help from Kiyama Designs. New features include a streamlined front page with more info, new pictures and graphics, dropping the "paths" section and turning "interactive" into "mailbox", as well as just an all-around faster and better looking site. Let us know if you run into any bugs in the system. Thanks so much for visiting!

Okay Samurai News Archives (2000)