Thursday, December 21, 2017

A Birthday Party with The Cliff Notes 11/18/17

Hi guys,

Sorry it's been so long. I've had kind of a slow winter as far as my musical life but it's starting to pick up. First let me tell you about a backyard birthday party I played recently.

On a Saturday in November I played a fun casual with a real pickup band. I haven't played a pickup band gig in many years. My friend Craig celebrated his 70th birthday party. A drummer buddy of mine, Tom, with whom I worked in the early 80's, is also a very good friend of Craig's. When he found out Craig was going to use a DJ, Tom said, "Oh no! I can get you a live band...and I'll play drums!" Craig agrees so Tom, knowing that I worked with Craig, called me up and I told him it sounded like fun. So Tom asked, "Hey, can you find us a guitar player? And a keyboard player? Do you have a PA system? Oh, and can you rent me a drum set?" (Tom was flying in from Wyoming.) So I put it all together and we played for Craig's backyard birthday party. I was told there would be about 150 guests but I think there were over 200. It was quite a party. But the cops never showed up. I guess they were invited too. Craig's house and yard are all decked out in a Southwest motif, complete with facades for a general store and a mine, some cigar store Indians, swinging doors, succulents, rocks, trails, etc. It's a pretty amazing place for a party.

This all started when I loaded up most of my gear in my trusty Astro van. I brought my full PA system and my small bass rig.


Thankfully it was a short commute to the party, just past one of my favorite interchanges here in the So. Cal. Driving west at sunset can be brutal.


Traffic was made worse during my relatively short commute by the freeway widening project. If you know where to look you can see the tall buildings of downtown LA.


Like I said, the freeway is a mess around here. But the party was still only a little less then a half hour away from home.


I hauled all my gear in with some help from my buddy Tom. It's kind of a weird setup. The kit is on the raised patio next to the jacuzzi. The rest of us would be in front on the ground. I put my rig on the same level as the drums. Mike's guitar amp would go on the steps. Gary's keyboards would go direct to the PA. It was a little odd having the drums so far away. I liked not having the volume but I felt a little disconnected. We mic'd the kick drum and made it work.


This is a view of the upper level of the back yard looking out from the stage. It looked like the set of a spaghetti western. I was hoping to see Clint Eastwood. He never showed but I heard that Dick Van Dyke's son was one of the guests.


This is our lovely hostess, Jannine, wife of the birthday boy, in front of the back porch which had two bars.


This was my view out over the pool. The peak you see in the distance is Mt. San Antonio, a.k.a. Mt. Baldy.


On the lower level you see Craig's ham tin camper, a vintage unit that he restored. They are called "ham tin" because they are kind of shaped like the canned ham containers.


I'm all set up just as the sun sets. I did bring my 5-string Guild as a backup but left it in the gig bag. There was not an abundance of room and the footing was a little tricky.


Our keyboard player, you might recognize Gary from a previous gig, and guitar player Mike, whom you might recognize from the True Willie Band, are here now and just about set up.


Here's a shot of the back yard just before downbeat. It's already a bit crowded.


On a break I took a few photos of the back yard. This sculpture was made entirely of deadwood from the desert. It is a life sized horse.


Gary took this photo of the General Store facade on one of the lower levels of the yard. There is also a facade for a mine entrance that Tom built.


I found a new friend. I think she's kind of sweet on me.


The tacos were excellent this evening. We were able to sneak in front of the very long line to get some supper. It's amazing what happens when you say the magic words, "I'm with the band."


I enjoyed a couple of chicken tacos and a couple of pork tacos along with my Modelo Negra.


There were vats of several beers to choose from, plus wine and mixed drinks at the bars. Craig and Jannine really know how to throw a party.


Mike also enjoyed a couple of tacos.


Gary was too polite to cut in line so one of the assistant hostesses brought him some tacos right to the stage.


The gentleman in the suit is an official from the city of West Covina, here to give Craig some special recognition. That's Craig next to his wife Jannine.


Let it be known that today has been declared "Craig Day" in the city of West Covina.


Our lovely hostess makes a short speech.


Mike and Gary are ready to rock and roll some more.


Tom is ready to pound the tubs. He had a little trouble with the rental kit. It has not been treated kindly. You may notice the floor tom setting on scrap wood since the stand was stripped. The snare stand didn't hold too well either. But Tom made it work. He's been doing this a long time.


Gary nabbed a picture of me while I decide what to sing. Before certain songs we would have a little huddle. "OK, the verse is one, four, five and the bridge is four, five, six minor, four with an extra measure" kind of thing.


This is another of Gary's pictures of Mike with is beautiful tobacco burst ES335.


Here's a couple of guys just having fun.


Another shot of the guests and the horse sculpture.


Yes, we had dancers. Here's the birthday boy and his friend Rey. She's an actor.


Yes, we got the place jumping!


We had a few guests sit in. Robert did "Roadhouse Blues" and Kevin did "Stormy Monday", both with harps. After the harp intro we all looked at each other wondering, "Who's singing this song?" I didn't know enough of the words but I was going to fake it. Just then Gary got on the mic and nailed "Stormy Monday". Gary also did Tom Petty's "Breakdown" which was a lot of fun. We also had Deedee sit in with her banjo and play "Wagonwheel" with us. I wish I'd taken a picture.

The load-out was a bit of a nightmare because Craig and a lot of his friends are into campers and they were all parked in the driveway. We had to carry or roll everything out to the street. We were scheduled to play until 10pm but got paid extra to play until 11pm. I got home way after midnight but I was well fed and well hydrated, if you know what I mean.

It was a pretty cool party. Thanks for having a look.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff 

Monday, December 4, 2017

True Willie Concert Footage

Hello friends,

My schedule has been kind of slow lately. I did have a nice backyard birthday party that I played with friends in a "pick-up" band. I'll post that one up soon. But I wanted to share some promotional video I've been editing for The True Willie Band from our Orange County Fair concert last summer. We always open with "Whisky River", just like Willie opens his concerts. I like this tune.



And here's a clip from our True Willie/Reba McEntire tribute show in Jacksonville FL this past September. This is Corrie Sachs as Reba.



I'll be back in a day or two to tell you about the birthday party. It was pretty fun.

Thanks for looking!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Citadel Outlet Mall, 11/12/17

Hello gang!

We played this gig last year.

This year the Citadel Outlet Mall seemed to want to make their shopping season kick-off a bigger production. You'll see what I mean a little later on.

I left directly after church to drive to my "help the masses overindulge in excessive disproportionate materialism" celebration. It was a pretty easy drive early on a Sunday afternoon, about an hour.


The outlet mall was well decorated.


The traffic is quite inconvenient getting in and out of such a popular place of capitalist overindulgence.


I navigated to the world's tallest natural Christmas tree and found a huge stage with truss lighting and everything. This is quite a different setup from last year when we were set up on an 8x12" riser.


This is a really nice stage, not cheap.


There was a "school of rock" kind of band on before us. They did a few original songs and some "mom and dad" songs too (Stairway To Heaven, Don't Stop Believing).


These kids sounded good and did a nice job of getting their stuff off the stage quickly. I was impressed. There was supposed to be only a half hour turnaround between the bands. We made it just in time. What floored me about this gig this year is that the mall spent all that money on the huge stage and truss lighting, but did not hire a sound company. The band before us brought their own sound system. The mall told us that they had a system available and we could bring gear to supplement. So that's what Jack did. We ended up using two of his powered Mackie monitor speakers as mains to supplement the mall's version of mains. We got by with only two monitors on stage. It wasn't great but we made it work. I'm glad I brought my "large" rig. I knew we'd be outside without a full sound system. Here's the view from the stage as we got started.


Here's the BassCliff monolith case parked in front of the world's tallest Christmas tree.


And Kelly kicks off the show!


Mario brought his little kit because he thought we'd be in the same dinky stage we were last year.


Kelly entertains the masses.


Here's Daniel performing his big hit with Art providing the devil horns, or are those rabbit ears?


This was all we had for hospitality, a few leftover sodas from the other bands earlier in the day.


Here are a couple of pictures lifted from the social medias, a montage. Hmm, the bass player seems to get the bad lighting.


Here's one from out front.


We were the last band of the day so there was no hurry to get off the stage. I hung around to help Jack with his gear.


As soon as we ended our last number at 5pm the stage crew started tearing down the stage and lights. We kind of had to not waste any time so as to get out of their way. I guess they wanted to get home early too.


And that was my Sunday afternoon gig. Me and the KRB will be at Downtown Disney this Wednesday evening (11/15/17). I'll get to sing "Please Come Home For Christmas" again. I get to sing that song only three or four times a year, and I really like that song. Here's a little clip of that song at Knott's Merry Farm a couple of years ago.




Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 

Valley View Casino, 11/4/17

Hello friends,

Me and the KRB have played this lounge quite a few times now, but since I'm in the habit I thought I'd share a few pictures any way.

It was a pleasant drive down to San Diego County on a Saturday evening. No major traffic issues.


A good half hour off the freeway in Valley Center is the casino there on the top of the hill, the large building on the left.
 

This is the view of the valley (hence the name) from near the loading dock. I imagine the view is even better from the hotel rooms.


We check in at the security desk, trading our drivers license for a security badge. The staff is helpful and friendly. 


Then we make our way around to the back of the lounge to load in. Here is Art getting his gear inspected. 


The management here just doesn't want anything going in or out that's not supposed to. I guess you can't blame them these days.

Here is our hard-working sound crew. You might remember Craig. The new guy in the green shirt is John. 


Here's the audio gear. It's a pretty nice setup. We all get our own wireless IEM pack and an iPhone to adjust our own mix.


It looks just like a little mixer. One page has vocals, another page has instruments, a third has drums. There is a fourth page but we don't use it. I guess larger bands with more instruments would.



It takes about ten minutes to sound check now that we're all dialed in. It's a pretty cushy gig.


Rick is subbing for Mario on this gig and we are going without keyboards. Skip had another gig tonight. 


I brought my Carvin LB76 and the Guild Pilot 5 as a backup. This is pretty much a plug-n-play gig. I love not schlepping gear.


I'm playing a little hurt tonight. My tooth is bothering me. You might be able to see my swollen jaw. It's actually gone down a bit. Yesterday it looked like I had a tennis ball in my cheek. 


We are all wired up and the curtain is about to open. It's time to entertain the gamblers. 


Kelly puts on the show. I managed to sneak a few pictures on stage.


The crowd was a typical behind-the-bar casino lounge crowd. They came, they had fun, they went.


Daniel did "Devil" twice tonight. The crowd always loves that one.


On our break we visited the employee cafeteria. Tonight was fried chicken, gyros, pizza, sandwiches, etc.


I opted for lots of vegetables and protein, grilled chicken, thin sliced beef, salad, steamed veggies, and brussel sprouts.


I had to be good so that I could have some dessert.


The cafeteria is a pleasant room and the staff is friendly. After a cup of coffee it was back to the show.


Rick opted to bring headphones instead of earbuds. That V-Drum kit was not his favorite. You have to hit very precisely to get good sounds out of the triggers.


We had a pretty good crowd for the last set.


Here's a shot from out front taken by Craig, our FOH guy. He would sit out front with his iPad and mix on the fly.


At the end of the night we load out through here. There are stairs too but we usually just toss our stuff off the loading dock.


We were the early band this Saturday (5-9pm). Another band plays from 10pm to 1am. I like the early shift better. I was home about 11pm. Even thought this is a pretty cushy gig it's still a nine hour day for me when you include the driving. But I'm not complaining. That's the life of a small-time rock star. Thanks for looking!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff