Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Oracle Halloween Party A Huge Success

What a wonderful crowd that came out to pack Whispers Restaurant & Lounge in Glen Burnie Maryland last Friday night for our annual Halloween Party.

Ghouls & zombies, witches & wizards, superheros, pirates & gladiators...heck...even the tooth fairy made an appearance!  It just goes to show that Halloween ain't just for kids anymore!

This is one of our favorite performances of the year, as we just never know what may happen, and who will show up.  The view from up on stage is really something to behold, and we hope that the photos and video presented here will help give some indication of what the evening was like.

Feel free to comment here, on Flickr, or on our FaceBook page if you'd like to comment on one or more individual photos, and of course we'd love to hear your thoughts on the evening if you were one of the many wonderful folks who made it out!



Click above for photo slideshow from evening



 Click above for video clip montage from evening

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

LA Singles Dance - Don't Miss Out - This Friday, October 12

It doesn't matter if you're single and looking or single with a significant other, all are welcome to the LA Singles Dance at The Cardinal Room at Boswell Hall in Bowie this coming Friday, October 12th, starting at 8:00.



We'll be bringing our mix of current Top 40, classic rock, line dances, Motown, country, and more to this very popular Friday night dance.  Folks from as far away as Northern Virginia travel out to attend these dances, as they draw such a diverse and enthusiastic crowd.

The dance floor at The Cardinal Room is positively HUGE.  At 1400 square feet, and taking up almost one third of the room, it can accommodate dancers of all styles, so those that are accomplished dancers can strut their stuff while those that just like to dance & get caught up in the music have plenty of room as well.

The Cardinal Room at Boswell Hall is very easy to get to.  Located right off the northbound lanes of Route 3 near the interchange with Route 50 in Bowie Maryland, one can be there in under 30 minutes from most points in Prince Georges, Anne Arundel, and Howard Counties.

Directions to Cardinal Room at Boswell Hall
6111 Columbian Way
Bowie, Maryland 20715
(888) 538-4488



538-4488 View Larger Map

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Perry's Photos Through The Years - New 2013 Dates Announced!

Good news for all our friends that remember the "good old days" at Perry's Restaurant in Odenton Maryland.  We're pleased to announce that we have now confirmed several dates for the band to perform at Perry's Restaurant for 2013.



Due to a number of scheduling conflicts we weren't able to perform at Perry's as much as we would have liked this past year, so we've jumped early at the chance to schedule our dates well in advance to avoid conflicts.

Our dates for 2013 are as follows:

Friday, January 18th
Friday, March 1st
Friday, May 3rd
Friday, July 19th
Friday, September 20th
Friday, November 15th

In addition to these new dates, we'll be having one final performance in 2012 on Friday, November 9th.
Perry's Restaurant was one of the earliest clubs Oracle ever performed in. A large part of our initial fan base received their first taste of Oracle at Perry's.  Even now, many years after our first performances there, we still have folks come up to us who remember us from those earliest performances.

We have so many wonderful memories from Perry's.  In anticipation of another year of memorable shows there, we thought we'd take a look back, hop into Mr. Peabody's "Way-Back" machine, (for those that understand the reference), and relive "those thrilling days of yesteryear, (yet another archaic reference to a long gone TV show).  We've put together a collection of photos that are sure to bring back memories for those that have visited Perry's before.

We've focused on our friends and the staff at Perry's spanning the years 2001 through 2005, and yes, there are photos of the band as well, beginning with the early days with Mike, Veronne, Steve, and Jeff Baxter.  Jeff was a member of the "starting lineup" of Oracle, one of the original trio.  We still run into him on occasion, (although not nearly often enough...hint hint)!

Jeff Baxter at Perry's Restaurant
 Then we jump forward to our year with Glenn Jones, who joined the group following Jeff's departure.  Glenn brought a crystal clear voice and impeccable skills as a bassist to the band, and during his tenure the band's popularity continued to grow.




When Glenn departed veteran performer Charlie Rundlett took over bass player duties, and brought a wealth of experience to the band for several years.  Charlie's southern drawl, coupled with a Boston accent that popped though every now and then, made him a fan favorite.



Somewhere along the line a little girl named Nikki started showing up at performances, claiming her parents were actually in the band!  It didn't matter back then though, she still had to leave after the first set because she was too young to be in a bar after hours.  Of course everyone knows that all good musicians were playing bars while still underage...it's one of the requirements for becoming a certified performer!



Perry's back then was a lot different than it is today.  The stage was situated on the opposite side of the room, the bar was just opposite the stage, and most of the seating was in the far back corner of the room where you couldn't even see the stage.  How times have changed!!!

In addition to the band members, we've focused the majority of the photos on the FANS of Oracle, many of whom continue to grace us with their appearance at our performances.  Some of our fans have moved away from the area, although we still hear from them every now and then, and once in a while one of them pops up out of the blue at a performance, much to our delight.  Others, sadly are no longer with us, yet we feel their presence each time we perform.

We hope that you enjoy this little photo retrospective back in time as much as we did.


Oracle's performance at Whispers - September 2012

Great food, great friends, great party.  Some things just never change at Whispers, where Oracle has been performing almost since the day they opened.  Heck, when we started there they hadn't even been given permission to install a dance floor!  (Did you know Anne Arundel County requires a license to have a dance floor?)

Whispers has become the de facto "Home Base" for Oracle, and our monthly performances there continue to generate more and more new fans for the band, as each performance is standing room only at 9:00, and the dance floor rocks right up to quitting time at 1:00 am.

We hope you enjoy these photos from September's performance.  We'll be returning to Whispers on Friday, October 26th for the annual Oracle Band Halloween Party.  Make your reservations TODAY...this one's gonna be a sellout!

Enjoy the pics...

A wonderful Time at Erin & Andrew's wedding

On Saturday, September 22nd 2012 Oracle was privileged to perform at Erin and Andres wedding reception at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester Virginia.

Nestled in the heart of this sleepy little town so steeped in history, the Museum grounds encompass the home of one Col James Wood, who called his home "Glen Burnie".  It actually remained in the Wood family for generations, until it was donated to the people of Winchester as their legacy.



OK, enough history.  What about the wedding you ask?  Well, this was one of the most enthusiastic crowds it has ever been our pleasure to perform for.  Heck, these folks were going crazy during the dinner set!

Photo by Aaron Riddle Photography


In addition to the spirited dancing and enthusiasm, during one of our breaks we were treated to nothing short of a full fledged floor show, as our bride and a bunch of her friends entertained US with a rollicking bit from Mary Poppins!!!  Yeah...you just never know what may happen at a wedding!!!

Photo by Aaron Riddle Photography

We could have kept the party rolling well into the wee hours, but noise restrictions on outdoor events, (we were in a tent), precluded us from going any later.

Our photo gallery contains snapshots we took as well as some beautiful photographs from photographer Aaron Riddle, who graciously enough permitted us to use some of his photos.  Aaron's photos were really spectacular, as the one above demonstrates.  We would highly recommend Aaron Riddle Photography to anyone seeing a professional photographer for weddings, senior photos, family portraits, or any other event you'd like to document photographically.

We hope you enjoy the photos