Such a night! The Thugz anniversary celebration was over the top. It was a huge tribute to Mike's generous spirit, immense talents and creativity. Over the years, he has played with so many musicians, but his 12 years with the Thugz have been a career high. Mike has shared his love of jazz, the Grateful Dead, etc. with all of us - musicians and fans alike. All the possible combinations of musicians and instruments that have made up the Thugz over the years were represented last night. Mike had a clear idea of who should play with whom and what songs to do, so things went smoothly as Thugz came and went. With each new configuration came surprise thrills and floods of memories. As a group, the Thugz have gone through so much - a tragic death (Theo was missed), nasty illnesses, injury, many moves, personal challenges - but we've also had babies born and a constant infusion of new talent and youthful energy. A lot can happen in 12 years! We began the night with the most recent quartet of Thugz then went back in time to the original group that started right there on the Jasper O'Farrell stage. Then came a group that played at the Blue Heron, then on to the "Pink" (Pink Elephant), the "Green" (Northwood), right up to the River Theater. We had 4 guitar players (Mike, Andre, Mark, and Dave), 3 drummers (Doug, Ian, and Shawn - it was his birthday!), 3 bass players (Chris, Ian, and Jean Paul - on "piccolo" bass), 2 keyboards (Sylvia and Russ), 1 fiddle (Terry Ann), "Jug" vocalists (Stephanie and Adam), at least 4 essential support folks (Drew, Maris, Craig, Jo) the entire lyrics department (Rick, Carol),the Monkey Tunes recording crew (Pete and Dawn), many, many wonderful long-time fans (John, Richard, Liz, Lisa, Kelly & Denny, to name a few), 2 ex-students I could identify (Lisa and Flip), visitors from Switzerland (Manuela and Sergei), and a rowdy bridal bachelorette party - and the list goes on. Mike did the lion's share of singing all night, armed with his slippery elm throat spray, but I got to go out front and enjoy the show when Russ took over. It sounded fabulous - plain and simple. All the love and respect we feel for each other came through so clearly. What a night - yes it was over the top. Congratulations Mike, our true "fearless leader" and "grand fromage," and many thanks to all the music-makers. As we ended, someone shouted "12 more years!" Oh my - wouldn't that be nice. Take care. Love, Sylvia