Thursday, July 2, 2015

Carlsbad Concert 6/26/15

I hope you don't mind. I drive a long way for some of my gigs, almost 100 miles for this one, so I like to show an interesting sight or two along the way. This is a real rocket booster on the side of the freeway next to the Discovery Science Foundation in Orange County, sometimes called "The Cube".



Sorry for my dirty window. I'm doing my part to save water during the drought by not washing my Astro van.

You've seen the nuclear reactor at San Onofre on my previous trips to the San Diego area.



Stagecoach Community Park in Carlsbad is a really nice park with lots of amenities, picnic areas, sports fields with lights, etc.



Since we play on a softball field they cover the infield so we can roll up and unload right on the stage. This is the empty field after I've put my gear on stage. In a later picture you might notice a difference.



Most of the guys were already here. I was held up in traffic and Jeff was even later than I. But we all got there in time to sound check.



This is Mitch. He was our monitor guy when we played here last year too.



Here's the view from the FOH.



The FOH guy, Kevin, talks with the promoter, Rob, as they hammer out details for the festivities.



I used my old Randall RB2000 head with my GK Neo410 today. It sounded great. You may notice that the sound crew not only took my bass direct but mic'd my amp too. I really dig that.



Arthur is ready to sound check.



Daniel is ready to sound check.



I think Mario is a little afraid to sound check. Look at the size of his monitor!



Jeff, even though he arrived a little late, got settled and is ready to sound check.






I'm not sure what this guy is ready to do. Maybe an "amp-selfie"?



Our lovely Kelly is ready to sound check.



It was really hot today. Last year we had some cloud cover to cool it down a bit but not today. We relax a while in the rec center's utility room that was provided for our green room.



Rob brought us supper from the local Greek restaurant, Daphne's. We had Greek ka-bobs, felafel, and baklava.



The band enjoys a nice repast together while we go over a few new tunes.



It's time to take the stage. When we walk out of the rec center, this site greets us. I wonder why all these people are here?




Here's the bass player geeking the camera before we start.



Jeff is ready to WOW this crowd!



Art and Daniel are ready to put on the show.



The mayor of Carlsbad, Matt Hall, introduces us.



Here's a panorama of the crowd. I was told there were about 5000 people in the park today. The audience goes all the way around behind us too.



Kelly starts getting the crowd into it with an electric slide.



Daniel really gets them hopping with his rousing rendition of "Devil Went Down To Georgia".



Then this guy starts heckling and hassling the band. Just kidding! This is my friend Mike, who came out to see us since he was in the neighborhood. Mike is also a bass player who works with a couple of bands in the San Diego Area, The Lemon Squeezers and The Jupiter3.



These next couple of shots were taken by Mike. Thank you! I didn't get any pictures of the band out front today.





Kelly was really on her game today, which was a good thing because I wasn't. She let the crowd have fun.




Jeff must be doing the intro to "Don't Stop Believing". That's about the only time I can take a picture of him while he's playing.



And Kelly belts it out better than Steve Perry.



Hey! We all get in on an amp-selfie! We're really having fun now!



This crowd shot is from Kelly's iPhone.



Oh, what the heck? Here's another crowd shot from my little point-n-shoot.


Here is a bit of video. It features Kelly's daughters singing one of their big hits from their CD, Songs About Dogs. Half of the CD sales go to benefit animal shelters.




We came. We played. We had fun. Now it's time to do the roadie thing.



I had to schlep my gear all the way out to the parking lot since we couldn't pull back onto the infield. I really must get me one of those Rock-n-Roller carts.

The band and the crowd had a great time. My thanks to my friend Mike for coming out and bringing his wife. They are good people.

I've got another gig report coming from Saturday night (6/27/15) with Rodeo Revival at Swallow's Inn in San Juan Capistrano. It's a real five star dive bar honky-tonk. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff






 

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