The Koalas’ Gigs in 2001

For all gigs, click here.

Australia Day 2	Encinitas, January 27
Saint Patrick’s Day	Rancho Penasquitos, March 17
John, Andy, and Peggy’s House Party	La Jolla, April 21
Rock On The River	Blythe, May 26
The Boulevard	El Cajon, July 20
The Comstock Bar and Grill 1	Escondido, August 25
The Comstock Bar and Grill 2	Escondido, October 13
Chaparral High School	Temecula, October 25
Phil’s Second Halloween Party	La Jolla, October 27
The Comstock Bar and Grill 3	Escondido, November 17

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The Koalas celebrate their first anniversary with a return gig to where it all started -- A1’s Australia Day Party. Armed with more equipment, more songs, and hats that looked half Australian and half Duran Duran, the Koalas turned "1" in style. New songs included Walk Like An Egyptian and Radar Love. Ted introduced his new drum kit, Phil played with a Marshall amp, and people choked to the fog machine.

Drinking Guinness made us as Irish enough to play Geoff’s Saint Patty’s Day party. "Kiss Me" was our newest song, although the subdued crowd was more interested in the foozball tournament than the live entertainment. Still, there was always the Guinness.

Amaya’s belly-dancing troupe, an energetic and raucous crowd, and a flash from Jane propelled the Koalas to their best gig so far. Phil bought a new Marshall amp and the band debuted their latest dance hits: "Our Lips Are Sealed," "Ballroom Blitz" and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go."

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Our first road trip! The band and its entourage --13 people altogether -- drove 250 miles east to the Arizona border. We arrived at the Colorado River and Steve’s brother’s vacation home at Villa Shores, the Fallbrook of the desert. After an afternoon sunbathing and floating down the river, we played to a sold-out crowd of 50 golf carts. It was the first time we’ve ever been asked to "play louder"! See the invite.

Our first bar gig! A landmark event. It had been a major goal of ours to be good enough to play at a real bar. After tightening up the act we went public and partly-professional on El Cajon Boulevard. One small step for man, one giant leap for a Koala.

	bit	Our second bar gig! Brian and Tom displayed the first Koalas T-shirt and a fun crowd got us an invitation to return.

Our first repeat bar gig! Thanks to our wonderful free-spending, beer-guzzling Koala fans, we got a second booking at the Comstock. We were proud to play at what San Diego Insider.com calls "a typical poorly-lit bar and grill." This time it was a family affair: Lanaya brought sister Marissa from Redding; Phil brought dad Dave, mum Lorraine and sister Caroline from New Zealand; and Andy brought his mum Chris from England. Andy2, Nerliza, Andy1, Gray, Jane and Jennie round out the other photos.

Gathered for a varsity cheer, a large crowd of high-schoolers gave a rapturous response to the cheerleaders and footballers but were stunned into silence by the aged Koalas. We played four songs of our set before being asked to finish. Still, we got to see the cheerleaders.

A party so big, so wild, and so scary that it had to have its own page. Click here.

Our third gig at the Comstock. Andy introduced the new Koalas "Home Depot" light show and we played all our sets without long pauses between songs. Now we’re ready for our third year.