Right after my Arnie Newman's Country Club gig at the Ventura Boots and Brews Country Music Festival (see previous post) I had to quickly proceed to Johnny's car in order to make our flight at LAX to Houston in order to play our True Willie gig at Naskila Gaming.
Johnny and I drove by the beach as we were leaving but we didn't have time to stop.
John seemed a little anxious on the way to LAX. We were cutting it closer than we like to.
Yes, we made our way down the 101 to the 405.
We passed more peaceful farming land.
Things started looking sketchy as we schlogged over the hill.
Even when our commute got this "thick" I told myself it would be OK.
Hey! We made it! I took this picture just so I could remember where we parked.
Johnny and I hustled to our gate and actually got there early to stand in line.
Here's Johnny and I, along with Jeff (subbing for Drummer Dave), being cooped up in a plane with two hundred other passengers. Wow, do I look tired or what?
It was a pretty sunset as we took off.
We landed in Houston and arrived at our rooms pretty late on a Saturday night.
The rooms are pretty nice. There is too much space here for one person.
My room is on the top floor of this fine establishment. I can't show you my view because, well, the Texas weather is bent and since it's colder in my room than outside, and with high humidity, there is condensation on the outside of my window.
Here's a picture taken the next day. It's perfectly normal, lush, beautiful East Texas scenery. I'm not used to so many clouds and so much green.
On the way to our soundcheck late Sunday morning we stopped by the Texas famous place called Whataburger.
I didn't feel like a hamburger so I had a chicken sandwich and onion rings, breakfast of champions. It was really good!
We drove for fifteen minutes down a Texas highway to the local Indian reservation where the "gaming center" was located.
The small casino is all slot machines. They've been in business only two years. You see the gaming center there across the parking lot as we pull in
John and Jeff start unloading their gear. Jeff brought cymbals, John brought one keyboard and a sound module, the rest of us just brought our guitars.
There is a decent sized outdoor stage on the property. A pretty decent sound company was hired to provide support. I think this is going to be pretty fun.
This was the company that provided the PA and backline. The guys from Soundtechs.com did a good job for us.
The techs hung lights and got happy with the sub woofers at stage left.
This was my backline rig. I liked it.
While all the important people were getting set up I took a little walk around the facility. Here's our sign.
This place is not called a "casino" but rather a "gaming center". And they don't really have slot machines, they have "bingo" machines. There is legislation pending that should allow full Vegas-style gaming in the future. This is the main building.
I walked out front to take a picture of the main entrance and to show my friend Chris that I took along The Fab 8 on this trip. Chris is the bassist for the Fab 8, a great Beatles tribute band.
Inside it was really crowded. I saw people at every machine in the place. There are no table games here, just "bingo" machines.
They were advertising the event inside too.
And in my best Maxwell Smart voice, "This is the second largest slot machine I've ever seen!"
After my stroll I headed back toward the stage. It was situated among a nice little grove of pines beside the casino.
Here's the view from the stage. Later there will be tables, chairs, vendors, BBQ, etc.
Mark helps Johnny Magic Fingers with the keyboard setup.
Guitar Mike brought his blue Tele and plugs into his backline Fender Twin.
Zach is out front running the mains from his tablet.
Zack says "Gimme some kick drum" and Jeff is happy to oblige. Jeff got a nice Mapex kit for today. Jeff is also a Mapex endorsee.
The Yamaha digital mixer and a few power amps were in the back corner of the stage.
Mark was helping to run monitors from here.
OK, it looks like John is starting to find all of his sounds.
TW likes his monitors wet. I don't like to have reverb in my monitor mix. I like to hear how I really sound. Reverb can make me lazy.
Hmm, we're all done and Johnny is still trying to find all of his sounds.
After our sound check we drove back to the motel to nap, freshen up, drink, whatever. Do you know what's a little weird to me? It seems in Texas all the frontage roads are one-way. We had to go to the opposite side of the freeway, drive down to the next exit to turn around and get back on the other side to get to our motel.
We got ourselves in the mood to play our show and then loaded up the rental to head back to the venue. I don't know why it had New York plates on it.
I got my turn behind the wheel of this land yacht. I really enjoyed driving between all the green.
We used one of the administrative offices for our green room. It worked out nicely. The guy on the right is Nick, the main guy around the place. He made sure we had everything we needed.
They brought out some great hospitality for us, and tons of it.
We had pounds and pounds of vegetables and sandwich fixin's.
But for supper we all opted for the Texas BBQ, links, chicken, pulled pork, brisket, beans, YUM!
Then I fixed me a little snack for later.
As we were making our way to the stage the sky looked a little threatening. There had been spot showers in the area most of the day.
Tropical Mambo was finishing up their show so I snapped a few pictures. It was a big band and they sounded great. I don't know how they got that many people around all of our gear but they made it work. I think they were ten pieces.
There were also local vendors selling their wares, crafts, t-shirts, gifts, blankets, vacuum cleaners, etc.
Jeff and Mike are ready to put on the show.
Johnny is not quite ready and needs some last minute tweaks to his rig. It's a complex setup with all those keyboards, a module, a mixer, a couple of powered monitors, etc.
The crowd started off a bit light. But everyone kept going in and out. They'd listen for a while, then go drop some quarters, then come back out to listen some more.
Here I am in front of my rental rig with my new Scully shirt.
And it's on with the show. We always start with "Whisky River".
John is making all the sound over there. I think this is the intro to "Always On My Mind".
I think Jeff is having a great time. He geeks the camera.
I caught Mike in between songs. He played great tonight.
True Willie wowed them with his Willie-ness. It was kind of a subdued crowd. We weren't sure they were enjoying it until we were done and were showered with compliments.
The meet-and-greet occurred immediately after the show, right in front of the stage.
One fellow named Mike must've misread the flyer he saw. He said he was expecting the real Willie Nelson. But he stayed for the show. He told us he was not disappointed at all. I thought that was very nice.
Zach and Mark start striking the stage while the rest of us unplug and walk off. Sometimes I feel a little guilty because I don't have to carry an amp.
We made our way back to our motel and had a little afterparty by the pool. John stayed to gamble and to a Lyft back. Here's Mike with some of the SWAG we got. It's a pretty cool t-shirt.
Jeff enjoys his Smirnoff canned cocktail while the rest of us sampled some local suds.
Earlier we stopped by the H.E.B. down the road and picked up the Revolver and the Ziegenbock. I thought "When in Rome". I'm sorry to say I wan't impressed with either beer. Sure, I drank it all, but I won't buy it again. I apologize if you're a fan of these beers. Neither had much nose or flavor other than a bitter, clove and pepper finish. After I got home I found out that Shiner Bock is a favorite local brew among Texans. I'll try that the next time we're out that way.
The next morning we made our way back to Houston to fly out of Hobby Airport.
We drove right by MinuteMaid Stadium where the Astros play.
Here I am waiting for our bus.
Now we are "flaps down" on final into LAX. You see downtown LA.
We arrived just in time to catch the afternoon rush hour traffic on the way home, a two hour commute for John and I. I would've enjoyed it more being surrounded by lush green pines rather than a concrete jungle. But it's good to get back home. Me and TW will be driving to Phoenix in a couple weeks to play the Arizona State Fair. That should be an adventure.
Me and the ANB have Downtown Disney tomorrow and a San Diego are casino gig on Friday. I'll probably tell you all about it later.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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