Also Known As 100 Monkeys.

On Friday, I hopped in my car and headed down to Hermosa Beach, California for a night of music and fun with 100 Monkeys at Sainte Rock. Or as it turns out "the band with no name". In early March the band released a statement saying that both Jackson Rathbone and Jerad Anderson were leaving the band as active members, but that their upcoming April tour would still prevail. So, when the tour dates were announced, I bought tickets for their April 13th show and waited for the day to arrive.

When the band hit the stage, it quickly became apparent that things were in motion and that 100 Monkeys, as we know them, were turning into something new before my very eyes. Ben Graupner, Ben Johnson and Lawrence Abrams (Uncle Larry), all original band members where joined by new members Mat Black and Rob Coonrod on stage. The band jumped into their first song and then the magic started to happen. The magic that you can only stumble upon at a 100 Monkeys concert.

The set list was a mix of classic 100 Monkeys favorites, mostly ones that Ben G, Ben J or Uncle Larry sang originally. Though they did include, respectively, reworked versions of songs like "Orson Brawl" and "Junkie", which used to be sung by Jackson Rathbone. The "band without a name" also debuted a few new tunes, including "Shooting Star". Which was the perfect sneak peak of what is soon to come, a great song pick to share with the audience.

The musicianship was on fire that night, as always. Mat Black and Rob Coonrod proved to fans that they have fantastic musicianship and vocal chops, as well as fantastic performance skills. And they fell right into step in the whole Monkeys switchero0 scenario. Welcome to the family guys! If you don't know, 100 Monkeys are famous for the fact that they all switch instruments and vocals throughout the night. So, you get to hear everyone play and sing a little bit of everything! Yes, it's as awesome as it sounds. They also pride themselves on making up a song on the spot, and Friday nights song was titled "Psycho Gorilla Love". And the tune was awesome!

Near the end of the night as Uncle Larry was getting ready to belt out his ballad "Invisible Monsters", he made an announcement to the crowd that that was the last time he would be singing the tune with the band. It was an honor to be at Mr. Lawrence Abrams' last show with the band! In a way, that was when it hit that 100 Monkeys was really over. Though I would be lying to your face if I said the official end to the amazing band 100 Monkeys didn't leave me a little broken hearted, I'm extremely excited to see where "the band" goes from here. It's different, it's new but it's the best different and new that I've seen in a long time.

Ben Graupner, Ben Johnson, Mat Black and Rob Coonrod will be around kickin ass and taking names for quite some time. It's just unknown at this point which name they'll be taking!

HERE is a video of the show from that night, thanks to Daily Scene News. Who was there filming that night. So, if you have an hour and a half, go watch it, pretend we were there together, sing along at the top of your lungs and don't worry, I won't tell anyone you did.

If you wanna catch "The Band Formerly Known As 100 Monkeys" live for yourself, there are two dates to catch later this month. Go HERE to see if they are near you!

Thanks for a wonderful show gents! It's always an awesome time!

Picture credit: Taken by my pal Kaela.
Left to right:
William Schmidt (music video guy), Ben Graupner, Mat Black, Rob Coonrod, Me and Ben Johnson.