I got behind in my gigs again. Sorry. I'll start to get caught up with this weekend at the end of September, which was very busy for the KRB, very little sleep for me, lots of driving, and lots of music. We had a double on Saturday and a long daytime gig on Sunday. I'll put all three gigs in this post to save bandwidth.
I awoke at 5:30am on Saturday so that I could load gear, stock up on caffeine, and make it to the Orange County Fairgrounds before the traffic and crowds got too unmanageable. I arrived about 7:30 and was able to park close enough to the stage that I could just roll my gear instead of driving around the parade route for the car show.
Cruisin' For A Cure is the biggest single day car show in the nation. It's all about prostate cancer awareness. They even offered free examinations and PSA tests, of which most of the band took advantage.
I rolled on over to the stage to find Jack almost done setting up the PA. I placed my gear.
There were different displays in the courtyard this year. I was a little worried what this big truck would do to our sound but it didn't bother us at all.
This was our announcer, Dave McClelland. He's been retired from LA radio for a while now but still does an event now and then. He's got one of those voices that you know you've heard before.
Here's a view of the covered stage from the covered audience area.
Before we started playing we saw the most unusual vehicle drive by on the parade route. I had to go check it out. Here's the info.
I'm six feet tall without my boots. Have a look at this "VW Beetle".
I should have taken a picture of the V-8 Hemi under the front hood, not the back like the original Beetles. This car drew big crowds all day long.
The firetrucks arrived to take announcer Dave, who is the Grand Marshall today, for a ride in the parade.
But first, the acca-pella group "Shades of Music" led us in singing the Star Spangled Banner. These guys were here last year. They've kept the group together even after the founder, Augie, passed away a few months ago.
In between sets we wandered around looking at the interesting cars. There were a few "Back To the Future" cars.
Here's the KIT car.
This is Starsky and Hutch's Ford Torino.
Herbie and the A-Team van.
The same restoration shop was right behind the stage again this year. They had a nice woody this time.
Rick was filling in for Mario again. He and Kelly join me for an amp-selfie.
We received a coupon for a free lunch. I opted for the carved turkey sandwich. The turkey was great but there was nothing else on the sandwich. I love mustard anyway and there was plenty of it.
Here's a couple of action shots ripped from a Facebook newsfeed.
We played 10am until 2:30. Then we packed up our gear and headed out to our second gig, load-in time of 4:00pm.
Our second gig that Saturday was a fund raising event at the Discovery Cube Orange County. You can't miss it from the freeway. One end of the building is a cube sitting its corner. There's also a big rocket right by the freeway. This is the view as you exit the freeway.
The street level view from across the street.
We were told to use the loading dock but the caterers and production company were in the way. But we were shown an alternate that was actually easier.
It was a decent size stage in a large multi-purpose room with pro sound and lighting, big screen rear projectors, etc.
The room was done up nicely in a western theme. It was a Wild West at the Cube Gala tonight.
The rest of the band arrives and we continue to set up and sound check.
We had two subs in the band tonight. Rick played for Mario and our friend Hal played keys for Jeff. Here's a shot a little farther back showing all the big screens.
After we were done sound checking we were led through a cubicle farm to find a place to stow our gear.
We put our carts and cases in some unsuspecting person's office.
Then we went out to another hallway where there were conference rooms. The small one was our "green room".
Across the hallway a nice buffet was set up for us.
We played one short set as the guests arrived. Then we were down for two hours while all the ceremonial stuff was going on. We had supper during our two hour break. It was baked salmon, stir-fry vegetables, fried rice, and chopped salad.
This meal was great. I went back for seconds. And for dessert...
Here's the guys gathered around the conference table trying to keep each other awake for our dance set.
It looks like we are dressed so we must be about to go on for the dance set.
Being a fancy-schmancy corporate event (they raised over $1M tonight) I didn't take any photos from the stage. But here is an amp-selfie just before the doors opened. We played about a half hour of quieter music just to welcome the guests, let them get a drink, and take their seats.
Of course, all the ceremonial stuff ran long so we came back at 9:30 and played straight through until 11pm. It was a very fun crowd. Most of them were dressed up nicely in western attire. There was even a couple dressed as Woody and Jesse from the movie "Toy Story". Then it was time to pack it up, again.
By the time I packed my gear, rolled it down the hall, took the elevator to the street, drove my van from the parking lot across the street, loaded up, and drove home, it was almost 1am. I have to be up again at 5:45am for one last gig this weekend. Here we go...
Sunday's gig was for one of the large home builders in Orange County. We played for the grand opening of their new communities in "Rancho Mission Viejo", just east of San Juan Capistrano, off Ortega Highway. The 'Hilltop' homes, with an ocean view (5 miles away) go for about $1.2M. Others are between $500K and $900K. This sign greeted me as I got close.
Then I found another sign pointing me toward our performance area.
It was basically a parking lot gig. We had a small stage for the KRB Quartet and Jack was already hard at work setting up the PA.
I got to park so close I could just roll my gear to the stage. No need for the R-n-R cart. You see some model homes on the hill across the street.
We, and all the guests, were greeted with muffins, pastries, cake, and coffee. Perfect!
Those blueberry biscuit thingies caught my eye so I had a couple of those with a couple of cups of joe.
Here's the view from the stage facing the farmhouse patio, a small gathering/event building of sorts.
And here's the view of the stage from the farmhouse patio.
On stage right was an actual farm, more like a large garden. You see more new homes under construction on the hill behind.
From the community center you can see even more new houses being built.
The management had these placed all around. I wonder why.
Kelly's clock also has a thermometer. It was 94*F when we started our second set.
We were covered and there was a bit of a breeze. The sun gave Jeff trouble with the display on his keyboard. He was also playing drums (patches in his keyboard) in the KRB Quartet.
I didn't let the heat bother me. I just put on a pair of cheap sunglasses and pretended to be a cool rock star.
Kelly looks a little worried about me.
As the sun moved we all had to step toward the front of the stage to stay in the shade.
We got a box lunch on our next to last break. This croissant club sandwich was really good. We also got chips and a cookie. We love cookies. It seems we were eating cookies all weekend. Not that I mind.
It was a small but appreciative crowd. There were a lot of folks just passing through, having something from the food trucks, taking tours of the homes, etc.
Another action shot ripped from a Facebook newsfeed.
Here's a shot of the clock as we finished our last set. It was a warm one.
Then I made my way home, stopped for some barley pop, and had a nice quiet evening at home with the family. The KRB will be slowing down a bit now that our summer rush has come to an end. I'm hoping to fill the empty spaces in my calendar with some pick-up gigs from friends, like the Willie Nelson Tribue gig I picked up with "True Willie". That should be fun. But I've still got a few more KRB gigs to catch up on first so stay tuned. Thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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