Yes, it's NAMM weekend here in Southern California at the impressive Anaheim Convention Center. The ANB has played NAMM weekend at The Ranch for the last few years now.
The weekend started for me as I left the office with a couple of basses in the back of my trusty Astro van. The construction project across the street is starting to look like a stadium despite the delays caused by recent rains.
I enjoyed a not-too-difficult commute into the OC and parked near the stage door at The Ranch. I see they left to door ajar for me.
That door leads right onto the stage, very convenient. I dropped my basses on stage, took my stage clothes to the green room, then joined Arnie on stage to plug in. Arnie had set up an extra amp and brought an extra guitar for a couple of guest artists this evening.
Then we retired to the green room for some supper. Arnie likes putting on new strings pretty much every weekend, if not more often.
I enjoyed the steakburger and a beet salad. Sometimes we call this the "coma burger" because it's a half pound of ground steak with all the fixings on a potato bun.
I took a peak on stage to see Dev giving a line dance lesson. She's a popular teacher and travels all over the region to share her fun.
As we take the stage I see a great crowd in here tonight. To the left, in front of the "short bar" is the Celestion Speakers group. They reserve a huge chunk of the bar every year for their NAMM party. This is their fifth year in a row here. Our buddy and former bandmate, Rick Skillman, is here in the house with the company. Rick is the North American Sales Manager for Celestion.
Here's a view of the other side of the house and Amanda as she adjusts her IEM.
Arnie and Jason talk over some last minute strategies before downbeat. Daniel adjusts his pedal board. Randy is sitting down on the job.
Johnny Magic Fingers is ready to screw his Mama's wig on tight.
Randy gives us a salute and Daniel is all smiles just before the lights come up.
Actually, this little drum shield does a lot to keep the snare from getting too loud out front. It's a custom creation by our soundman here, Mark, who is excellent. Mark is very shy and doesn't like his picture taken.
The night started a little slow. I suppose there were lots of NAMM folks in the house and a lot of them don't dance. But our friends and regulars had their fun and the night got more rowdy as it progressed. After the boss left Mark was even able to bump us up to 90db. He is usually restricted to 85db but the night called for a little more energy. Here's some actions shots from the bass player's perspective.
We performed almost half of Amanda's Carrie Underwood repertoire in preparation for our first tribute show coming up on Feb. 13 right here at The Ranch.
Mark has to put Arnie's Little Walter behind a shield to help keep the stage volume down. Sometimes Arnie can get pretty loud. I like this gig because I wear IEMs and I don't have to listen to Jason playing too loudly either.
Another bass player perspective as the crowd line dances.
And one more parting shot of the lovely Ms. Amanda Kate.
That was all of my pictures from Friday night. We had a good time Saturday night. I didn't take a lot of pictures because you've seen sooooo many of my gig reports from this place.
To begin the evening I enjoyed a nice Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Heirloom Beet Salad while looking at all of the basses my friend Charles posted from the NAMM show.
Oh, I see that we're playing here tonight. That's Arnie on the big screen.
Amanda did a great job tonight. Randy and Daniel did too.
Bam! Bam!
Ms. Amanda Kate is kicking up her heels.
Johnny Magic Fingers was playing that honky tonk piano tonight.
Amanda shook us all night long.
It was kind of a light crowd for a Saturday night but we had our fun.
Amanda stole the show tonight. Well, she pretty much steals it every night.
Hey! Look who showed up tonight! Our friend and NAMM bass photographer, Charles, was in the house tonight! Charles lives in Las Vegas and usually stops by Gilley's when I'm playing there.
That's Josie giving us the peace sign photobomb. What a fun crowd tonight. I can't wait to see what pictures Charles took. He caught me using a pick and now has photographic evidence. I may never live this down. Oh, the horror. I'll never be able to show my face again. I even played above the 7th fret tonight. Please don't hate me. Thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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