OK, let's get this gig report started! Sorry I'm so late with this report, almost two weeks. I've been busy. Now that I've got another busy weekend playing I thought I should get caught up with my last gigs. I also apologize for the length of this blog post. I'm covering all three performances we had this weekend, August 28-29, 2015.
We played our usual weekend at The Ranch in Anaheim on Friday and Saturday. We also played at the annual Fiesta La Ballona in Culver City as our early gig on Saturday.
We'll start at the beginning. I always manage to arrange to leave work a couple hours early on Friday so I can get to sound check at a reasonable time. This is the ramp from the parking lot that gets us to the stage at The Ranch.
It's always a pleasure working here because of the excellent backline. I just walk on, plug in, and play. Mario also uses the house drums.
Mario says, "Hey, this gig is way too easy!" My thanks to Andrew and his staff for making it so easy.
Here's a shot of the stage from the FOH as the gang gets settled.
Jeff brought snacks tonight. Thanks Jeff! We were able to carb-load and get sugared up between sets.
Jeff also brought some delicious homemade salsa that he made himself.
After sound check we enjoy a meal from the excellent kitchen at The Ranch. This is the Buffalo Chicken sandwich and salad I enjoyed this weekend. This sandwich is huge and has just enough kick in it to clear your pipes. I sing better that way.
Jeff brought some DVDs this weekend so we enjoyed some classic Bugs Bunny cartoons in the green room before downbeat. Man, you can't beat those old cartoons for good adult entertainment. Hilarious!
It's time for my amp-selfie before we start the show on Friday night. Our DJ Leo has got the crowd in a good mood.
Mario seems a little put out with his pad tonight. He'll get it sorted soon.
Wow! Art and Daniel seem to be out of sorts, having a heated discussion about who has the better dentist.
Even Jeff seems a little overly concerned about how the evening is going to progress.
Ahhhh! Then our lovely Ms. Kelly takes the stage and all is right with the world.
The owner, Andrew, announces the band.
Then Jeff thrills us with his key-tar.
The crowd is having fun. This is one of the freestyle dances that we call throughout the evening. Even if you don't know how to "country dance" you can get out on the floor a few times every set and shake what you got.
I think Mario may be having trouble finding his sticks.
Friday night was a blast. The next morning, after about 5 hours sleep, I was on the road to Culver City. Here's a shot while I drive through downtown LA. The traffic was sticky only in certain places.
I arrive at Veterans Memorial Park and show off my parking pass and say "I'm with the band!" That gets me in every time.
There was only one little parking lot, reserved for the entertainment and other VIPs, and it put me pretty close to the entertainment tent.
Since we were backlined today I didn't bring anything but a couple of basses and stands. We'll see what the stage looks like when we get there.
As I walked up to the entertainment tent I could tell there was a mariachi band playing.
There were lots of booths and rides, a regular carnival atmosphere. Lots of folks were here taking in all the activities on this very warm day.
This was the FOH guy. He was busy so I didn't get his name. Hey, those mariachi guys are good, really good!
I didn't catch their name but they were doing some amazing covers of Elvis, Frank Sinatra, and other non-traditional tunes along with the popular traditional material.
When they were done I told these guys how impressed I was with their set. They were all excellent musicians and singers. The sound system was really good and run by folks who knew what they were doing.
The green room was a tent behind the stage. It was full of folks in the dance troupe going on just before us. So we grabbed a bottle of water and found a shady spot to relax a bit and wait our turn to take the stage. Mario was taking care of very important business.
When we take the stage I find my backline gear. It was a GK 800RB with a couple of Hartke cabs. It pushed a lot of air!
The curtain was drawn while the band set up. The dance troupe is now on the floor entertaining the crowd. Jeff joins me for an amp-selfie.
I'm a little worried about Art. Actually I'm worried about my ears. Art usually plays with 15w-20w amps because he has a tendency to play LOUD. His backline unit is a Twin Reverb. It's scary. But he kept a lid on it.
Mario tweaks the kit to his liking. They had a lot of nice gear in their backline. It made for easy transitions between bands.
Even Jeff could just walk on the stage and play. He's talking to the monitor guy, Timbo, about what he needs in his monitor. We all had our own mix. Nice!
Mario lets Timbo, the monitor guy, know just what he needs in his monitor. There was no actual sound check because the entertainment was continuous.
This is Yoshi, one of the stage techs. He took good care of us.
It looks like Art and Daniel are ready to get the show started. I wonder whose dentist is better?
Kelly joins me for an amp-selfie. I don't know how she stays so cool, calm, and collected. It was a hundred degrees under that tent with very little breeze.
I stuck my camera through a crack in the curtain to get a picture of the dancers and the crowd. The troupe was pretty amazing, varying in age from 10 to over 50. The costumes were beautiful and the dance routines were impressive. The crowd loved them.
Then the announcer introduced us, the curtain opened, and we began our set.
We had a one hour set that went by pretty quickly so I didn't get a shot of the crowd after this one. We had a lot of folks out on the dance floor having fun.
When our set was over, the next band took our place. They were a rhythm and blues horn band. I wanted to sick around and catch part of their set but I opted to hit the road just in case there was too much traffic between here and The Ranch.
Yes, I've still got more pictures! I tossed my basses in my trusty Astro van and headed for The Ranch.
As I left Veterans Memorial Park I snapped a picture of the Sony studios right across the street. Sony provided parking for the festival on their lot.
It's a good thing I left when I did. I didn't take the 405 because it's always a parking lot. (It's called the 405 because you go 4 o' 5 miles per hour.) But the 5 freeway was pokey because of all the construction. Still, I made it to The Ranch in plenty of time.
We are one tired band, but we pump ourselves up to put on the show.
Jeff is all geared up with his wireless mic and key-tar.
Daniel takes an amp-selfie with me just before we open set three with "Devil Went Down To Georgia".
These ladies are friends of the band. Carrie, Andrea, and their friends work at Knott's Berry Farm as can-can dancers in the Calico Saloon. Mario also works that show part-time.
OK, let's get the whole gang in here. Jeff's wife, Ryella, sings as Cameo Kate in the show and is the "stage mom" to all of the ladies. Here's the whole troupe. For about nine years Jeff used to play piano in that show. At the end of the Calico season, the cast gets together for a party and they all came out to The Ranch this year. I'm glad they did. They had a blast and we did too. Aaron didn't quite get in the picture. He also sings in the Calico show. Jared's not here either, he runs sound out there at Knott's.
Then, at the end of the night, this band is ready to go home and sleep late. I slept until about 11am the next morning. It was a long, but really fun weekend.
That's all the pictures I took. But here are some random pictures taken by The Ranch staff.
Kelly and Jeff perform a duet.
Art wails away on his sparkly Tele.
Some people have said this bass player needs a haircut.
Daniel, Mario, and Kelly. When he has only a singing part, I don't think Daniel knows quite what to do with his hands.
The crowd at The Ranch always has fun and really enjoys their line dancing.
It was a busy, fun weekend. We have another (busy and fun) this weekend playing at the L.A. County Fair on Friday and Saturday night along with a rare Thursday night gig playing at a singles outreach function at Mariners Church in Irvine. I guess we'll have to lay off a lot of our drinkin' and cheatin' songs. Maybe we should just play them all backwards. That way you get your dog back, your wife back, your house back, etc. (Oh gee, that's a really old joke. Sorry.)
Until next time, thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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