The song ends. There’s a pause… and in a rare moment, I don’t have a damn word to say. I just stand there nodding my head like an idiot. We had just played three songs, but to me, it was time travel.

For this year’s Rock and Roll Halloween, the guys and I wanted to do something special to honor our decade as a band, so we decided to dust off some old Rivals tunes. We chose our regular set opener from 2002-2005, one that we haven’t played in six years, and another that was lost when Dave, our first bass player left the band.

While playing the last song of the three, I could have sworn it was 2002. Back then, the band was only a year old. We were on this exciting new adventure, learning how work together as artists, and were literally bleeding on stage every single weekend as we clawed to the top of our small scene. Those were good times. Personally, 2002 represented a time when I still had my innocence… I had not yet lost a parent, two dear friends (who loved and supported Rivals), and didn’t have to balance the needs of Rivals and “growing up.” All of this came rushing back to me when those first few notes came out of Tom’s bass.

And then I wondered what these songs, would possibly mean to you. Were you with us the last time these songs filled a room full of people? Was it at the Cactus Club in San Jose? A garage in Salinas (we played many)? or would any of these songs be YOUR soundtrack to that old relationship, high school, the dot-com bust, or that summer lounging around…?

On October 29th, we will get to share these songs with you again. And for some of us, it will be just like old times.