I'm a few gigs behind and it's time to get caught up again. Here we go!
I had a gig Saturday (5/7/16) where I spent more time driving to and from than I did actually playing. But it turned out to be a pretty cushy gig and the client loved us. We had a 9:30 AM load-in time at Sea World so I had to leave my house by 7:000 AM to get there on time, allowing for traffic and weather. I was pretty much on time, stocked with my energy/ego booster.
It rained on me most of the way down there. I thought there was a chance the gig would be cancelled but once I got within two miles of Sea World it stopped raining.
We were instructed to proceed to the East Security gate to check in. Unfortunately there was a little miscommunication. The security at East said we had to go to the West Security get to check in. The West Gate checked us in but we had to go back over the the East Gate to get our parking passes to allow us to park in special places inside the park.
To get from the West gate back to the East gate you have to leave the parking lot and get back on Sea World Drive. I thought I could take a short cut, made a left turn at a 'right turn only' exit, realized that this took me to the main entrance, so I flipped a u-turn right there and went back out traveling the wrong way on a one-way street until I made it safely to the two-way part of the street. I'm lucky it was early and there was no traffic. Then I found my way back around Sea World Drive and back to the East Gate where we got our parking permits then proceeded to the stage area.
We went past the main entrance. There were already customers waiting to get in.
This was our liaison, Julia. She had asked for a lift back from the West gate so she was part of my "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride", as were Art and Rick, who were following me. She took it all in stride.
We all parked inside the park very near our stage. Here's Kelly, "Peace out!"
Here's the schedule for today.
Sean and Daryl are our stage crew for today. They were busy putting the finishing touches on the backline and sound gear.
Sean used a wireless iPad to set our monitor mixes.
You can see that it's still pretty gloomy. But the weather held, eventually cleared, and got quite warm. My face got a little sunburned today. I forgot sunblock.
This was my rig today. It sounded good, a Hartke 350w 4x10 combo.
Art got a Twin and brought his sparkly guitar.
My buddy Rick filled in for Mario today. This was his backline gear, a sparkly DW kit.
The main arrays were on columns behind the band. It was a little odd but sounded OK.
This is Todd at the FOH. He and Sean were easy to work with and knew their stuff.
After our sound check we walked through the craft beer/wine/food area to get to our green room. I didn't get to sample any beer.
Here's Rick in our green room. We were sharing the space with other entertainment today. We each had our own private areas behind the curtains.
Here's Todd (FOH) and Sean (monitors) with Kelly before we start.
Kelly is our Singerbabe Ambassador.
Here's an amp-selfie in front of the passers by.
Julia took a picture of the band just before we started.
On our breaks we could hang out in the employee breakroom. There were drinks available but the coffee machine was broken. Drat.
Another amp-selfie before we start the next set. That's Heath announcing us.
Rick usually plays a DW kit so he looked right at home on Sea World's backline today.
Between our sets there was a single act entertaining the crowd. Tommy Mitchell used loops and effects to pretty much sound like a whole band. He was pretty hip. That's Heath and MJ announcing him and reminding the folks everything that's going on in the park today.
As you can see, the sky cleared and it turned out to be a bright, bright, sun shiny day. You can really tell when you see my red face. (No sunblock, remember?)
We were parked just on the other side of this gate, about 100 feet from the stage.
We played three half hour sets with forty five minute breaks, done at 3:00 PM. Since all we had to do was unplug and walk off stage we were ready to hit the road pretty quickly. There was another band following us, a trio.
And we say goodbye to Rick and Art.
I like Sea World, it's a great amusement park. We got great feedback so we're hoping we get asked back for future dates. I've got a few more gigs to post before I'm caught up. Thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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