Me and the ANB played a pretty big party on the eve of July 4th. The city of La Mirada has its Independence celebration on the 3rd. I didn't realize how huge this event would be. They've been doing it only a few years and it's grown exponentially every year. Parking was a nightmare but I just pulled up to the lot at the La Mirada Regional Park and said "I'm in the band!" so the event workers moved the barriers and I got to park with the rest of the vendors, but waaayyyy down at the end.
I decided to grab a spot first and just roll my gear up to the stage, about a city block away. I needed my workout today anyway. When we arrived there was a Doors tribute band on stage. They had just started their show when we arrivied at 4pm so we got to hear both sets. Here's a shot from the sound boot/tent.
Ross Creations had brought a pretty good sized sound system for today. I heard that last year the city planners were not expecting such a large crowd and the sound company was a little under-prepared. But this year they had the juice. Ross himself was here today and they've always done a great job every time I've worked with them.
This is The Soul Kitchen. In talking to Rick (Jim Morrison) I found out they haven't been together very long and are just now starting to get booked more consistently. I thought they really caught the vibe and feel of The Doors, complete with McRae (Ray Manzerick) playing the left hand bass. (Boo!)
These guys played all the hits and some deep covers and were done at 6pm. We are supposed to start our show at 6:30pm so everyone hustled to make the changeover. This is Tommy Tequila (Robby Kreiger) putting away his gear.
Two keyboard players exchange pleasantries as one sets up while the other tears down. These guys were great at getting off the stage quickly. You can tell they've been doing this for a while. They were all warm and friendly.
The stage crew, Brian and Brett, are checking the mics. I guess I caught them in an awkward moment. They worked well together, but usually not that closely. Brett has also worked events when I was with the KRB. Randy looks like he is getting his rig in order.
Randy, Arnie, and Jason put the finishing touches on their rigs. We'll be making some noise in a couple minutes.
Amanda is waiting her turn to shine. She did her part by procuring water for the band. It was a bit warm today.
In the bright sun John always has a little trouble with the displays on his keyboards. If they get too warm they will go out. He usually find something to cover them with.
It looks like we are just about ready to sound check. It was a quick one, more like a line check and a quick "What do you want in your monitor?"
Jason always uses IEMs. He's got tracks, click, vocals, instruments, etc, all in his head. At one point his electronics glitched and it was going to take a few minutes to reboot. Arnie said, "Just turn it off. We don't need tracks." (I was so glad to hear that.)
Amanda checks her mic while Arnie adjusts his stand. Randy is ready.
This was our view from the stage. Wow, I wish I had a pair of sunglasses.
The typical view from my mic. Later as the sun goes down the EZ-Ups will go away and you can see how many people are here. There was a fun volleyball game going for a while.
Here's my soundcheck selfie. Just seconds after this we started our show. Neither Randy nor I were able to put on our cowboy shirt for the first set. I felt so under-dressed.
Amanda is singing "I Feel Like A Woman". It has a long guitar solo that gives me time to take a few pictures.
Here's John. I wonder if he's keeping track of the volleyball game?
Here you see that silly bass player squinting into the sun in his black t-shirt. Maybe he'll learn a lesson from this one, but I doubt it. Arnie and Amanda are having fun!
Another shot from out front during the first show. I'm not a fan of these clamshell trailers. It's a good sized stage but all the hard surfaces can be acoustically problematic.
The show continues as the sun gets closer to the horizon.
Then it was break time. We'll take 15 minutes to get some liquid refreshment and hang out in the shade and "be right back". On the break we proceeded to Arnie's truck where Mrs. Arnie and I enjoy a couple of cold ones. Refreshing!
I was able to put on my patriotic cowboy shirt for the next set. Now I feel like I belong on stage! Jason, John, and Amanda hang out in the shade for a few minutes. Now it's time for us to finish the show.
As the EZ-UPs go down you can see how full the park is, 20,000 was the estimate.
Has anyone seen Arnie's guitar? (j/k)
And we've achieved line dancing!
Amanda smiles pretty in front of the large crowd.
As the sun sets the stage lights finally come on as well as the field lights.
At one point, during our performance of "God Bless The U.S.A." most of the power and lights went out on stage. There was only keyboards, drums, and Amanda's voice. Ross ran to the generator and got power restored just at the last chorus, which kind of made for a very dramatic ending, almost like it was planned that way.
As the sun set and the temperature cooled the crowd felt more like dancing in front of the stage. We had fun.
John had some pretty good lighting tonight. The bass player didn't.
One more! One more!
We ended the night with a crowd favorite where we got to "Turn it up!"
And then we had to make a hasty getaway from the stage. There was a little ceremony planned before the fireworks.
The local Boy Scouts led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, We sang the Nation Anthem, then the mayor said a few words.
And then it was time for an impressive fireworks display. Oooooohhhh! Aaaaahhhh!
I was hoping to make my getaway during the fireworks but I was unable to get loaded out in time. So I had to fight the mass of humanity and traffic away from the park.
The city had rerouted traffic such that it took me forty five minutes just to get back to the freeway. But I was in not hurry. I didn't have to work the next day and I had had plenty of fun so I just went with the flow.
Me and the ANB are at The Ranch this weekend. If you can't make it out feel free to watch the live feed through the interwebs.... Live Stream THE RANCH Saloon
Thanks for looking. You guys are the greatest.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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