New Year’s Eve 2023 was a special one for the Floodisphere. That’s because the band turned 50, tracing our roots back to a party at Susie and Dave Peyton’s home on Dec. 31, 1973, at which Dave jammed with Charlie Bowen for the first time, and friends at Alchemy Theatre wanted to host a big “Flood at 50” Birthday Bash.
And what a birthday party it was! New and old friends made epic memories for us as we celebrated at Alchemy Theatre, where Nora Ankrom, Mike Murdock, Stephen Vance and the rest made us all feel so very welcome.
Obviously, a 20-minute video can’t do justice to almost five hours of near continuous live music, right up to the strike of midnight. However, working with the superb footage that Pamela Bowen shot from her ringside table, we can at least give a feel for the evening’s festivities.
More than a dozen musicians were in the house, all featured in the video, including Floodster Emeriti Paul Martin, Michelle Hoge and Dave (Bub) Ball.
Highlighting the night were performances by guest artists Karen and Steve Byington of Wiley Dew and Jim Rumbaugh and Karen Combs of 5$Red.
Especially fun was singer-songwriter Douglas Imbrogno’s set, when he performed tunes with a rocking pickup band of Floodsters, including Bub on bass, Michelle on vocal harmonies, Danny Cox on guitar and Sam St. Clair on harp.
Besides the music and visiting with old friends, it was wonderful spending time with all the Alchemy Theatre folks. How fortunate our town is to have this friendly, energetic, creative bunch!
And of course, we loved seeing smiling faces of so many Flood friends all around the room.
What better way could there be to start the new year? Thanks, friends, for a night we’ll never forget. And now we’re so ready for 2024.
