Sometimes the event lives up to the hype and sometimes the hype falls short. For anyone following the promo leading up to our 100 Shows Celebration at The Curve Inn last Friday night, we can say in all certainty that the event most definitely lived up to the hype and then some. Joined on stage by former members and special guests, the 100th show was as memorable as they come.

Former Fun DMC bassist, Brian Armstrong joined the band early in the evening with a powerful vocal display during “Boys Of Summer” and “My Own Worst Enemy.” Having not been on stage with the band in over a year, Brian’s signature stage presence and energy was a welcome start to show 100.

Katey Kamerad, Fun DMC’s go-to sub for both Albert and Paige joined the band soon after, displaying her range on the Muse + Demi Lovato mashup, “Confident Uprising” and the Lyndyrd Skynyrd + Tupac composition “Sweet Home California.” Katey is always an energetic presence to share the stage with and on this evening, she brought her absolute best.

As the Curve Inn filled up, guests vocalists continued to arrive including Lick Creek’s Lance Stone, whose country vocal stylings more than delivered on our Robin Thicke + Billy Ray Cyrus mashup, “Achy Breaky Lines.” Then, in a CMT CrossRoads moment, Lance led the band in the signature Backstreet Boys song, “Larger Than Life.” Lance would later return to the stage to assist Albert in an unbelievable dance off during “Gangnam Busters.”

While assembling a list of guest artists for this event, the name Janet Morris came up. Anyone who knows the Springfield scene recognizes the importance of her contribution to live music, particularly among the pop and dance genre. As both an observer and a fan, I was honored not only to share the stage with Janet, but also to be a participant during her impassioned performance of “Purple Rain.”

During last year’s Christmas At The Curve concert, Fun DMC had the honor of sharing the stage with both Big Daddy Jasper as well as The Mix. As somewhat kindred musical spirits with the latter, it was only natural to invite Liz Christofilakos of The Mix to join us. Her confidence was inspiring and no one would have known otherwise that she had never sang with us before. It’s not an easy thing for a guest to drop in on a song that has it’s own signature arrangement that’s a bit outside of the box but Liz took our Iggy Azalea + INXS mashup, “Fancy Tonight” and absolutely crushed it.

Other than Albert, I don’t think most of us knew Scott Lecocq before he took the stage with Fun DMC. In fact, I think Talon was wondering who this guy was that wandered up on stage (drummers are always the last to know). However, we are always up for making new friends, even if it’s within a moment notice. Scott is a seasoned performer in both the live music scene and among the Springfield musical and theater scene. He joined us for “The Middle” at the tail end of our “Tricky/Shake It Off” medley.

Near the end of the night, Fun DMC was joined by long time friend and band supporter, Smashtag’s own Dance Vincent. Not only is Dance a phenomenal vocalist, he is also a magnetic presence on stage. Having dropped in occasionally with Fun DMC in the past, it was a very natural fit to have Mr. Vincent perform with us. We dusted off the Neon Trees tune, “Everybody Talks” which resulted in splendid performance form Dane.

So apparently everyone in the world loves the song, “Sweet Caroline” and it has recently become the Fun DMC closer. At the end of the night in what was not a planned moment but in retrospect, was the only way it could have happened, Fun DMC was joined once again by every guest on the roster (and some random guy who also walked on stage. Still not sure who he was). As we sang through the Neil Diamond classic it occurred to me what started two short years ago in Aaron Stanley’s basement had grown to a packed house at one of Springfield’s premier music venues surrounded by musicians who we have long looked up to.

And that’s the story of “Fun DMC: 100 Shows-100 Memories,” which will certainly come to be known as “Memory 101.”