Newport Beach Civic Center Concert On The Green 8/23/15

Hi!

Before I start playing this weekend's round of gigs I'd better get caught up with last weekend's gigs.

Last Sunday's gig was at the Newport Beach Civic Center, a "Concert on the Green".

I hope Kelly wasn't too upset that her name was spelled wrong. It's supposed to be "Kelly Rae".


This is the Newport Beach Civic Center, a very Star Trek looking complex of court house, library, and various other city offices.

I pulled into the parking structure, unloaded, and wheeled my gear to the stage area in front of the library. I was impressed with the stage and sound setup.

This courtyard is a lovely place for a concert. But all the glass from the buildings and the narrow area give the sound guy something interesting to work with.

Here's another picture from the stage. That's the FOH guy, Kennedy (Ken), helping Jeff get hooked up.

Here's Ken at the console. He's a funny guy who knows his stuff and is very easy to work with, as was his whole crew.

My rig looks like a baby compared to one of the main stacks.

Art and Daniel talk about setting up. They'll get around to it sooner or later.

The guys in the black t-shirts are the stage techs, Scott and Mike. They were very helpful and took great care of us.

Here Ken is looking at the direct out on my old Randall RB2000. I guess he liked what he saw.

I don't know how many watts they were pushing but here are a couple of racks of Crest Pro 9200 power amps. I think the top arrays were self-powered so all those amps were probably for monitors and the subs.

EDIT: Kennedy told me those Crest Pro 9200 amps put out 2200 watts into 4 ohms. That sounds like plenty to me!

I think Art and Daniel really enjoy setting up next to each other.

Ken and Scott make sure Mario is squared away.

There were professional videographers and photographers at this gig. I heard that this whole shindig will be online in a week or two. I'll let you know.

It looks like we are all plugged in and ready to go. What a great setup.

Here's a view from the back of the green. It's still early.

Here's a little closer view of the stage and FOH booth.

Mario sound checks. That's the videographer behind him setting up remote cameras around the stage. It's a multi-camera recording. But Ken told me that they only take a mono feed off the board so I'm a little worried about the mix. We'll see.

Kelly poses in front of the crowd. It's starting to fill up.

I take a quick amp-selfie just before we play a song for sound check. Where's my hairbrush?

Say hello to my little friend. We have fans of all sizes.

I went to change my shirt and as I walked back to the stage I took this picture. There's quite a crowd here today.

Let's see if this panorama will do the place justice.

Here's the drummer's vantage point.

I usually put my set list under one leg of the mic stand so it doesn't blow away. We had just one 90 minute set today.

It looks like I found my brush, but it didn't help much.

Art and Daniel are ready to have their fun!

We even had folks on the top floor of the parking structure enjoying the show. They brought their umbrellas, picnic baskets and coolers, and had a good time.

Our announcer introduces the band.

I think Mario has his earphones pushed in a little too far.

Is this how you do a fist bump?

Kelly invites the line dancers on the floor.

The crowd does a 10-step. I'd like to give a big shout out to The Kelly Boys and their ladies for coming out and sharing their fun and teaching the crowd a couple of dances. We had a blast.

Daniel kills them with "Devil Went Down To Georgia".

These two ladies were especially good on the dance floor, the Kelly Boys' better halves. 

It's near the end of the night. I think Mario is getting hungry. That may be why there are holes in that cymbal.

Here's a photo I nabbed from a friend's Facebook page. Sorry for the quality.

A good time was had by all. I'm really glad I didn't have to tear down that monstrously beautiful PA system.

We haul our gear out to the parking structure and say our good nights. We're at The Ranch next and we always look forward to that.

And that was last weekend's fun. Thanks for looking. This weekend (8/28-29/15) we are at The Ranch in Anaheim. It's always a kick in the pants to play there. We've also got an early gig on Saturday (8/29/15) playing the Fiesta La Ballona in Culver City. That will be a long, fun day. 

So until next time, love, hope, peace, and joy to you and yours.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Nellie Gail Ranch/Laguna Hills 8/21/15

Hi everyone!

Sorry I'm so late getting last weekend's gigs posted up. It's the first week of school and we're kind of busy plus I've got family visiting so I'm spread kind of thin. Anyway...

Here's my gig with the Kelly Rae Band from last Friday. We played a park concert for a private community in the Laguna Hills area, Gallup Park in the Nellie Gail Ranch community. When we arrived at the venue we had to park on the horse trail, unload, and wheel our gear down the sidewalk.

 Behind my trusty Astro van you see the Mark Wood Entertainment equipment truck. We've worked with this production company several times. They are good people to work with.

I wasn't afraid of the long carry with my new Rock-n-Roller cart. I don't know why I didn't get one of these ten years ago. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. 

That little console back there by the fence is where we got all the power. Behind the fence you see one of the smaller homes in the neighborhood.

Mario and Daniel schlep their gear over to the stage. It was a good sized stage and very stable. You know some of these portable stages can be a little like performing on the desk of a ship in a storm.

Thomas and Brian put the tops on sticks and tilt up the subs on the main assemblies. 

Brian was our FOH, Thomas was the tech. Here's the FOH console. You see the antennae for the wireless mics.

Art sets up with two of his curvy beauties. 

Daniel will be glad when the sun goes down.

The crew helps Mario get his kit squared away. 

Alex, the LD, gets the light trees set up. We'll be playing our second set in the dark since we start later, 7-9pm.

 It looks like the stage is coming together nicely. There's also a nice, big dance floor.

Our dear Kelly arrives for sound check.

For refreshment this evening there is a Cut Burger truck (not pictured), the Tri-Tip Man, and Scooter's Italian Ice.

We're getting fairly close to downbeat and the park is filling up.

The bass player takes an amp-selfie before we start.

It looks like Mario has started without us.

Art and Daniel are ready to make some music!

This is Brittany, our hostess and emcee, and Kelly. Brittany is about to announce the band.

A few quick announcements and we'll crank up the music.

And the crowd goes wild with anticipation!

It was a really fun crowd as young and old alike took advantage of the dance floor.

Our second set was in the dark. Art, Daniel, and Kelly are just about ready to get started.

Jeff is really serious about the second set.

Mario get very intense for the second set.

And me? I've got hair! Brittany gives away some raffle prizes then we'll get started.

Kelly entertains the crowd.

Art entertains himself while Daniel does "Devil Went Down To Georgia".

Then they both have a good laugh.

Jeff is starting to lighten up. Or is my flash too bright?

Mario is twirling his sticks so fast they are just a blur.

Yay band! The crowd was very good to us.

So Kelly gives them an encore.

 Then it's time to pack it in.

On the way home a truck towing a yacht overturned on the 5 freeway. I was stuck behind it for an hour. It took me longer to get home than it did to play the gig. So I wanted to relax for the rest of the evening. I made a stop on the way home and enjoyed a couple of Sams when I got home.

Yes, that's an etched stein that my daughter got me for my birthday (or was it Christmas?) one year. I put it to good use quite often.

That was my Friday gig. I'll be back with my Sunday gig. We enjoyed that one even more. Thanks for looking!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff