January 2015 would be my final performance with the band that I had grown to love. We had a good three year run, playing once or twice a year. This time the venue was really cool – The National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. Below you can see us performing right in front of Lunar Module #2 or LM2.
According to the Air Space Museum, LM 2 was built for a second unmanned Earth-orbit test flight. Because the test flight of LM 1, named Apollo 5, was so successful, a second mission was deemed unnecessary. LM-2 was used for ground testing prior to the first successful moon-landing mission. In 1970 the ascent stage of LM-2 spent several months on display at the “Expo ’70” in Osaka, Japan. When it returned to the United States, it was reunited with its descent stage, modified to appear like the Apollo 11 Lunar Module “Eagle,” and transferred to the Smithsonian for display.
We shared the stage that night with a lot of friends. I came in at the end of the first set playing on “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield, follow by “Love Shack” by the B52s, and “Happy” by Pharrell. I will admit, that I’m not a big 80’s music fan, but the crowd loved the tunes. I sang one of my favorite songs that night – “Johnny Be Goode”, and I am not sure why I’m looking so serious in the picture…
Being from Alexandria VA, and growing up in the DC area, the gig at the National Air and Space Museum was a special performance to me. I only wish that my friends and family could have been there too. Maybe someday I will return to play there. It was cool to end a three year run with a great band close to home – at a place that I had visited many times as a kid, a youth, and as an adult.
— Mark Salyers