Thursday we played a show at the "Fight With Grace" fundraiser to benefit the Orange Coast Memorial Breast Cancer Center. The Vince Ferragamo Foundation was also a benefactor helping to sponsor the benefit. We played this event last year and it was great to be back.
The venue was, again, The Promenade Event Center and Gardens by Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa. We had to load in at 9:30am for an 11:30am downbeat. I hit the road a little after 7:30am because I was hitting all the morning commute traffic into Orange County.
I had to drive right through the heart of the OC, called "the Orange crush", where the 57, the 5, and the 22 freeways all intersect. It's where you'll find The Honda Center, formerly "The Pond", (sometimes it's called 'the Ponda Center') where the Ducks play hockey, and Angel Stadium, where the, um, Angels play baseball.
Traffic was sticky in all the usual places but there were no wrecks. I got a little worried when I got to the 55 freeway.
But since I had allowed plenty of commute time I arrived at 9:15am.
It was raining during the drive down but when I arrived the clouds broke for a while and it was a beautiful day. I pulled into the parking lot and found the closest spot to unload and schlep my gear to the other end of the venue.
I was the first to arrive except for Jack, who already had most of the PA set up. Jack, Kelly's husband, is a really great guy to work with. He's also a bass player. What's not to like?
I brought my small rig, Carvin 210 cab and Randall RB2000 amp. I went direct too so it was plenty for that small room full of ladies. The rest of the guys start arriving shortly after I did. Mario and Jeff get set up. Daniel has his rig in place.
We start pulling our mic cables and instrument feeds to Jack so he can get everything sorted.
Art's in a good mood, showing off a little as he runs his cables over to Jack
Kelly is going over the script with a couple of the organizers. These things tend to drag on forever unless you keep a tight schedule.
Since there's no room inside, we stash our cases and stuff outside where the patrons can't see our mess.
We're all set up and sound checked. Now I'm just killing time with my camera before it's time to play. He's a nice photo of Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Rae. I mean Jack and Kelly.
A candid pose from Art and Jeff.
I didn't stop to wonder about what the guests might think if they saw our silliness. Oh well. Everybody had a good time.
We make our way to the stage area at the appropriate time and I take a few snapshots just before downbeat. Everybody was in a very cheerful mood today. Art and Daniel are having fun amusing each other.
Two thumbs up from Jeff means he's really ready to put on the show.
Perhaps Mario was feeling a little shy this morning.
So Kelly and I try to get serious for a moment.
As soon as we turn around, Mario takes this picture. (My good side?) "Is that what the back of my hair looks like?"
We get about halfway through our first set, in between all the little interruptions for announcements and speeches. Kelly takes a little break to go make out with the sound guy.
Then we take a break for lunch. They served us some really nice turkey/avocado and chicken/bacon/avocado sandwiches and fruit cups.
Yes, it was a pleasant lunch on the patio.
The major speakers are talking while we eat. But now it's time to get back to work.
This is Jodi Ferragamo, Vince's wife, doing a lot of the emcee duties today. She's a very hard-working and gracious lady.
This is Vince Ferragamo auctioning off a few items before his big show. You might remember Vince from his football days with the LA Rams.
As part of the "big show", Vince and about a half dozen other participants help raise money by having a pie eating contest. Here's Vince scoping out the field.
After bidding on who they think the winner will be, the entire crowd looks on with anticipation.
Yes, this was a full-on "hands behind your back" pie eating contest.
And we have a winner! (It wasn't Vince.)
Mario seems surprised that Vince didn't win.
I think Art and Daniel are hoping there's some pie left over.
Anyway, it's back to work with us. We play one song and then call up our special artist, Deana Martin. She is the daughter of the late Dean Martin.
Deana sings a song, "My Rifle, My Pony, And Me" from one of her Dad's movies. And this year she also sang "Ace In The Hole" by George Strait. She even emailed the charts to us.
Deana threw in a couple of extra tags and we followed right along and had fun with it. It was a great chart. Even the little bass "solo" was written out.
Deana and her husband John came out from Branson. She had another show out here but always comes to this event to lend her support. I think she lost a sibling to cancer so she is quite adamant about helping cancer research and treatment at Orange Coast Memorial.
After we close the show with Daniel's fiery rendition of "Devil Went Down To Georgia", Kelly and I chase down Vince to get a photo with him. He's a very nice guy. He even remembered my name from last year. Who'da thunk it?
Oh yeah. Somebody's got to pack up all this junk and load it up. I guess that's me.
By the time I leave it's 3:00pm, just in time to catch the commuting traffic going home. At least it's not raining yet. It held off until after dark.
And that was my work day. I was able to use my floating holidays from work so I could play this gig. I have Friday off too because we were supposed to be driving to Vegas for the weekend but our gig got cancelled due to a double booking. We'll probably take another weekend later in the season. Next weekend is going to be nuts. We've got four gigs in three days. On Saturday we'll drive from El Cajon to Anaheim for our double. Wish me luck. I'm getting the oil changed in the Astro van tomorrow, checking all the fluids, etc. Fun stuff. Thanks for looking. All the best to you.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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