I've been here for almost two days now and I haven't shared a single picture. Shame on me. I drove out after work on Thursday night. You know there's not much to see when you drive at night across the desert but here's a shot of the big thermometer at Baker. Las Vegas is a little over an hour from here, if you drive fast.
It's really nuts when I pull into the valet parking at Treasure Island. This is the second (last) weekend of National Finals Rodeo.
The bellman recognized me from my frequent trips here. Frank took good care of my gear after helping me unload my trusty old Astro van.
I'm on the 21st floor this weekend. The view is pretty good from my room looking north on the Strip.
I made myself right at home. This room is pretty much the same as all the others I've had here, all the comforts of home except for a microwave and coffee pot.
Friday at about noon we roll down to the honky tonk to setup and sound check. Gilley's had a wall of posters with all of the bands playing there the last couple of weeks. I know half of the people in this picture are not in the band any more.
We do the regular setup dance. Same stage, same band, same sound crew. We're familiar with the steps.
Arnie and Jason look over the list of tunes we want to rehearse this weekend.
Randy is firing on all strings, ready to push pedals and bend notes.
The beauty and the beast.
We loaded in pretty early this time so we could run some material before soundcheck, a mini-rehearsal. We added a bunch of vintage tunes that fit right in with the traditional country crowd this weekend. Here's Beauty and the Beast and the Bass Player.
After our rehearsal we still had an hour before soundcheck so we hit the employee cafeteria. I was starving because I hadn't eaten for a day and a half. I've been too busy to eat.
I helped myself to a huge salad, chicken, fish, stir fry veggies and beef, chicken courdon blue, black beans, and roasted cauliflower. Arnie said to me, "Wow Cliff! You're eatin' BIG!" Sometimes I'm like a camel and eat only once a day.
Back at the honky tonk Daniel gets Johnny Magic Fingers all hooked up.
Daniel and Bob get our iPad mixers in place. There are tables on the dance floor right now because Gilley's shows the rodeo on the big screen for those who don't have tickets to the actual event.
It was a quick soundcheck. We use IEMs here and the board remembers everything, even our names. I get back to my room to go over a few more tunes and get ready. When I head back down to start the show there is a long line waiting to get in. Wow.
Quite a few of our friends from the Orange County Two-Steppers are here tonight. It was a great crows on a Friday night.
The room was full of real cowboys and real two-steppers.
I guess we're about to kick off the show. Here's my selfie with Amanda.
Here's Amanda with a sassy girl song, her favorite kind.
What did Jason want for Christmas? He wanted out of his cage. He's been a good boy.
Amanda puts on the show. Arnie puts on his guitar face.
DJ Caffeine introduces the band and gives away some prizes.
Here's Johnny Fingers in action.
Amanda really connected with the crowd this evening. It was a fun night.
We had everybody two-stepping all night with very few line dances.
Johnny rips on his boogie woogie piano number, "Mama Screw Your Wig On Tight".
This is a fun shot. Amanda dances and Arnie points at the bass player.
I was festive this evening. I put jingle bells on my headstock.
Another crowd shot. Fun night!
Something good is happening! Are we having fun yet?
Amanda has sassy girlfriends in the audience.
There was still a line waiting to get in this place. I'm sure it was at capacity all night long.
Even after we were done playing there are still lots of people waiting to get in. These cowboys want to party!
Saturday morning Arnie, Amanda, and I were slated to perform on a podcast for Jesus Calling, a Christian literature and devotional publisher. Their podcast has more than a million listeners. They were in Booth#909 at the Sands Exposition Center.
We Ubered over there early so we could look around. Amanda's husband and their friend joined us.
We pause for a photo op in front of the entrance to the Stetson Country Christmas. There are several of these conventions going on around town.
We found Booth#909 and tried our best to be informative and entertaining.
I sang my Mom's favorite old gospel song, one that I had sung for both of my parents' funerals, "Precious Lord Take My Hand, Lead Me Home".
Heather and Kathryn take a picture with the tio after we shoot the podcast. I'll have to see if I can find that online. We talked about ourselves and sang a few songs. Amanda was terrific. Hopefully I sounded smarter than your average bass player, but I doubt it.
After our podcast Arnie and I wandered around the convention center looking at stuff. We found Joe and Martina, they're a duo called Terra Bella, performing right across the isle from where we did our podcast. They were great and let us sit in with them and jam for a couple of tunes. It was a ton of fun.
Okay, believe it or not, we had another good time on Saturday night. There was a line waiting to get in the place all night but the staff there are starting to recognize the bass player so I didn't have to pay a cover charge to get in this time.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. After we got back from the Sands Exposition Center, where we did the podcast for Jesus Calling, I realized I was really hungry. It was going on 4pm and I hadn't eaten all day. So I made my way to the employee cafeteria. I have a meal card that lets me eat for free like all the other employees.
Since I usually eat only once a day when I'm in Vegas I helped my self to plenty of protein and vegetables again. Fish, sausages, Salisbury steak, black beans, a big salad, some steamed broccoli, and one stuffed pasta shell. I needed just a few carbs.
Later I got ready for the show and stopped by the convenience store in the casino to pick up my ROCKSTAR. Not only is it an energy boost, it's an ego boost as well.
I got to the honky tonk early. The rodeo was just ending on the big screen. There were lots of folks there just to watch the rodeo.
I met my friend Tony and he bought me a beer before we got started. Thanks my friend! Then we climbed on stage to let DJ Shaddix announce us.
Then we kick off the show! Go Amanda!
When Amanda sings her sassy girl songs she always gets a few sassy girls dancing right in front of us.
Randy does the slippin' and slidin' on the steel. Arnie makes the guitar face. Amanda makes us look good, and sound better.
Jason had a lot to do tonight. Because Johnny wasn't there tonight, he was also playing Johnny's parts (that we had recorded earlier) on that fancy Roland track player thingy that he uses.
Here's a few pictures of half of the band in motion. I'm sure there's no explanation needed.
It was a really fun crowd. We played only three or four line dances all night long. These folks loved their two steps and swing dances. The DJ was playing a line dance on our break in this picture. You can see the folks line dancing on the back of the dance floor and others doing a swing dance on the front of the floor.
Here are three hairy legged boys on a break.
Hey! Look who walked in the place. Our friend Tammi. You remember her from the Swallows Inn gig, right? Tammi wants a picture with Randy and I.
Then we were back on stage and the dancers were back on the floor. Dang, but this was a fun night.
This gig is pretty cushy. We start at 10pm and play a one hour set, take a half hour break, play a forty five minute set, take a half hour break, and play another forty five minute set to finish the night at 1:30. Here's the gang starting to pack up.
I unplugged my bass, put it in the case, and was outta there in about 5 minutes. I love being the bass player. I don't even bring an amp to this gig, just IEMs and a bass. I plug into the house's DI box and I'm ready to go. The sound guys love me because they never have to hassle with the bass thing. I do the one note sound check and I'm good to go.
Anyway, all that's left now is the drive home, which always takes longer than the drive out here. At least I'll get to look at the desert landscape on the way home. Thanks for looking! I'll have a couple of days off then we'll be playing back at Stillwater Spirits and Sounds in Dana Point. See you soon.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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