I had a weekend full of music that got started with a wedding reception with my friends, The Arnie Newman Band.
The reception was held in a big fancy gated community here in the So. Cal. called "The Country". We had to show our ID at the security gate. They were not impressed when I said "I'm with the band."
The hills of Diamond Bar were quite scenic behind the custom homes. This was a large community with large houses on large lots.
This was the residence where the wedding and reception were held. It was quite the place.
We set up next to the "back house", which was basically a large man cave built by the owner a few years ago. You can see the tables set up on the lawn on the left.
The guys are figuring out placement and power, the typical setup dance we do in a strange place.
We had our own band table behind the performance area. We had to share it with the photographers, wedding planner, and the rest of the hired help.
Arnie used his Little Walter again. I brought out my MB500 and Neo410.
Here you see Ms. Francelle, our singerbabe for this evening, setting up her mic stand while Randy and Paul talk shop. She's worked with Arnie before. He has a few female vocalists in the rotation since Kellye Huff left.
Randy gets his rig warmed up. He uses a pair of Peavey 112 amps, small, light, and sounds great.
It looks like we've just about got everything in place and plugged in. I think we're just about to sound check.
We had to arrive pretty early. I got there at 2pm so we could be all set up and sound checked by 3:30pm as per the bride's mother's request. Arnie had been there since noon.
Looking out from the stage area you see the back of the house and the catering tent. They were fixing up some pretty fine BBQ.
Chicken, ribs, tri-tip, now that's what I'm talking about!
The reception area was quite charming.
This is the gazebo behind the house were the ceremony took place. Arnie and I set up a couple of his powered monitors and a wireless mic for the preacher.
The witnesses sat by the pool and watched the ceremony.
As we gazed into each other eyes we realized that this was truly a Kodak moment.
After we got the ceremony gear set up we got our cowboy clothes on. Arnie looks like the owner of The Ponderosa.
The band had a lot of time to kill, we were not scheduled to play until 7:30, so we hung out in the man cave. That's where the bar was.
I enjoyed a few Lagunitas, as did the rest of the band.
I thought this was a cute touch. Since the guests would be dancing in the driveway, the hosts provided comfortable shoes for everyone to dance in.
We tried to hide all of our junk behind the garage. Bands can be so messy.
We're all ready to play, but there's still plenty of time to have a brew and take pictures. Here's Randy, Francelle, and Paul.
The official ceremony has ended, the happy couple is hitched, and the guests greet them as they come into the reception area.
And now it's supper time!
It didn't take long for a few hungry musicians to polish off a bunch of BBQ. At this point I've been here six hours and we haven't played a single note yet.
Finally! It's time to start rockin'! Francelle joins me in an amp-selfie.
Francelle and Arnie are howlin' at the moon.
Jason hydrates as he runs the computer and the drum pad thingy.
The guests stayed all night and partied hard. Since everything ran late we ended up playing until midnight but a good time was had by all.
Here's Arnie putting the last of his gear into his truck. It was a very long day but a fun, rewarding gig.
The gear is all loaded, the guests are all gone, and the happy couple is off on their honeymoon. It was a good night. Thanks for looking.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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