Elias Fund - Blog

Part one of our fall tour came to a close this past weekend in Burlington, VT and we had a blast wrapping it up. After playing a benefit show for STAND at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, we made the beautiful drive north through the Adirondacks and into northern Vermont. All of us in the van were mesmerized by the beautiful landscape and the fiery colored trees that made our rambling drive through the back roads of upstate New York and Vermont feel like we were driving through picturesque postcards and posters.

We spent three days and two nights in Burlington playing two shows at the Higher Ground. On Saturday we took part in our last service project of the tour organized by our very our University of Vermont Elias Club. We gathered donations and canned foods for a local refugee center as over 50 participants took part in a hunger banquet and short set by the Bongo guys. Andrew, Zach, Brendan and their crew of people did a fantastic job of pulling together a widely succesful event in a short time and it was a great way to wrap up our tour service projects.

Saturday nights show was sold out at the Higher Ground and we had some fun at our final gig with State Radio. State Radio’s Mad Dawg joined the Bongo boys on his drum kit and our friend Shells hoped up on the congas for Bongo’s final song as our good friend Matt Wilhelm and myself made a special guest appearance, dazzling the crowd with our dance moves and stand in percussion (see the video below). It was a fun night shared with many friends but bitter-sweet saying goodbye to the State Radio crew. Many thanks again to everyone in the State Radio camp for everything over the past month.

We are in the Boston area now taking some much needed time off before starting our Family of Friends second leg of the tour. We’ll post our Family of Friends tour dates in the next couple of days so check back soon and come see us if we’re coming to a town near you.

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported us during our part of the Take the Country Back tour. It was truly a fantastic journey and great to make new friends while catching up with old.

Peace and Love

Eric and the Bongo boys

Last song featuring Mad Dawg on the drums, Shells on the congas and Eric and Matt’s dazzling dance moves…