The Final Curtain
By Tom Wilbur
And now the time has come, and I must face the final curtain….
From the song “My Way”
Here it is. I knew the day would arrive at some point, and this Saturday will be it. The Last Dance, of The Last National Band. A full-on gig, with all of the proceeds going to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Salina, and Hospice of Salina—some very worthy Salina non-profit organizations.
I have to tell you—it’s mostly my fault. I mean this closing down thing. Last Fall, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and while I’m told I’m cancer free right now—the fact that I’ve had it has made me pause to reflect on some things. And this New Years Eve, at the Bicentennial Center, I’m going to enjoy every moment.
The Last National Band started as an in-between party act at the 1980 First National Bank and Trust Christmas party. Vaughn Mignot (a vice-president at the bank at that time) and I were goofing around in my living room playing acoustic guitars one Sunday afternoon, and the thought occurred to us—if we could get some others at the bank to play along—we might be able to form a band. We could call it, “The Last National Band and Trust Nobody”. We could put on black hats and sunglasses, and we could play a few songs we grew up with from the 60’s at the upcoming Christmas event. It would be a hoot. My wife, Marlis worked at the bank, and played piano, so she became our keyboard player. Jim VanEmburgh, knew how to play drums, but we made him our lead dancer and cowbell smacker, because one of the tellers at the bank had a husband who had played drums professionally. We practiced a couple of times, and off we went to the party.
In those days, a party was a party. Most of the people at the bank would attend afternoon parties as pre-parties to the bank Christmas party, and by the time the dinner rolled around, everyone was, well…. very happy.
The regular band was a country rock band, and they agreed to allow us to use their amps and such at the first break to play the three songs we knew— Louie, Louie; Gloria; and Soul Man.
We marched toward the stage with our black hats on, our skinny black ties, and our shades . . . turned up the amps, and went after it. And people went nuts. The songs they had grown up with from the 60’s weren’t on radio anymore, and they were all into—literally going crazy. We finished our “set” and went back and sat down. On the next break, people started chanting “The Last National Band”, and so we went back up, and played the same three songs over again. Those were the only songs we knew.
And that was the start of the band. Over the years, we’ve played for about any kind of event you might imagine. We were the opening day band at Salina’s Target store—I’m not kidding. We’ve played all kinds of weddings. We played street dances, from the top of a flatbed trailer. (We have a second home on the streets of the city of Minneapolis, Kansas.)
We’ve done rodeos. Birthday parties. The annual Martin Halloween parties. Christmas parties. A whole bunch of New Year’s Eve dances…. probably 25 or so. Obviously, we have been one of the fixtures in Festival Jam for a long time (and we hope Steve Hanson lets us keep doing that). We’ve played State AA meetings, and ice cream socials. We’ve played collegiate events at Fort Hays, K-State, Kansas Wesleyan, and Brown Mackie. We toured National Guard armories for The Oldies Channel one summer, with go-go dancers. We played several times for the First Class Five run at 6 a.m. the morning of The River Festival. The VFW. The Moose Club. Area Elks clubs. Hospital events. Class reunions. Relay For Life. Teen dances. A Bill Graves For Governor event. A “Yes You Can Buy a Home in Salina” Realtor party.
We played a whole bunch of area bars and clubs. We once played at a bar that had a wooden fence around the stage, while people in cowboy hats listened to Frank Zappa music. That was more than a little bizarre. We performed a couple of times as “Milo and the Wagon Wheels”—we would simply remove our black hats and substitute them with cowboy hats, just for a few songs. Bars like Randy’s, the Slipper Slide, the Good Earth, the After Five Club and Bahama Mamas were regular stops for us.
We played that now infamous New Years Eve party 1982 on the All Night Live Show with Uncle Ed in Kansas City, which was a whole lot of fun. It was televised across the Midwest. Uncle Ed Muscare was the host of the show, and he’s a most unusual individual. He’d be right up there, among the weirdest TV hosts ever– which he backed up by time served in prison. My brother, Paul, came along as our manager that night, and left with one of the camera women. He’s way more responsible now (I think).
We played a few dances with our friends The Fabulous Flippers and The Blades. And we fronted for Molly Hatchett, Foghat, and Kansas—one night at the Bicentennial Center. We’ve played gigs where almost nobody showed up. And other gigs with thousands of people.
Outside of the folks who will be on stage for New Years Eve, we’ve had quite a number of people perform with us over the years. Some a gig or two—others a whole bunch of them. Steve and Taylor Hanson. Brett Maltbie. Jerry Brin was our first drummer for years, before Tom Pestinger took over. Larry Avery has been our keyboard player since Marlis had our second child. Child #2, Brooke, got married last summer, and is 23 now—so yeah, that’s been a while.
Tom Hudson played bass with us the longest, and he is coming from McAllen, Texas for this event—while Dan Stone has been playing with us most recently. Prior bass players Dan Reed and Donny Schwartz were great, too. Long term professional Salina musician Bill Jones played with us for a number of years, and we enjoyed our time with him. We’ve had some of our sons and daughters sing and dance with us, at different points and that was always fun.
From a couple of guys playing guitars in a living room, we’ve seen a lot of things over the past 31 years. One thing we have always shared with people is that we are from Salina, Kansas, and we’re proud to call Salina our home. We grew up here, and Salina is a part of us.
– To people of the area—thanks for the memories, and for your ongoing support.
– To my band members, present and former—I love you guys. Love you, too, Marlis.
– To those coming to the New Years dance—thank you for supporting these two worthy Salina non-profits, and for being with us—right up to the end.
Tickets for the show are available at the Bicentennial Center, or at BANK VI. Online, tickets may be purchased at www.bicentennial.org
As my friend Pat O’Brien and I always communicate with each other, “I said a na.”
If you love Sixties music, you’re already all over it.
Tom Wilbur is President/CEO of BANK VI, in Salina, Kansas. He regularly writes for newspapers, blogs, and magazines—and can be reached at tomw@banksix.com