Birthday Party, 3/4/17

Hey y'all,

Tonight we played for Antoinette's 50th Birthday Bash. Eric and Antoinette hired us a year and a half ago to play at their party. They were generous and excellent hosts.

I arrived a little early so I walked the grounds and took a couple of pictures. This is the McCoy Equestrian Center in Chino Hills. This building used to be a horse barn. It's been converted into an event venue.

I guess they used to raise Arabian horses here. There were a couple of arenas out back behind the barn.
 

I walk on in the front door and meet Lexy and Nicole, the venue staff. They told me I was in the right place.

I wheeled on into the main room and started to set up where they told me, on the right side of the room there in the mid-section.

It was a stone floor. I thought the acoustics would be terrible but everyone was pleasantly surprised. The ceiling was treated with some kind of dampening, plus all the bodies, so we didn't have any volume or feedback issues.

OK, I here. What do I do now?

The rest of the lads finally find the place and roll in their gear.

By the time Jack got there with the PA, with everyone setting up gear and decorating the place, it certainly seemed like a cluster.
 

But we got'r done! See, we're almost done here.

This is the the west side of the room, where the buffet was going to be set up.

It looks like the stage is set.

After soundcheck the band sits at our 'reserved' table to await downbeat time.

Did you notice that my old buddy, Rick, was on this gig? Mario had another engagement so Rick got to help us out again.
 

After the cocktail set we were able to cut in line at the buffet. They had some great beans and BBQ. We had chicken, brisket (or was it tenderloin?), pork'n'beans, green beans (which were really great), mashed potatoes, and a little fruit salad. It really it the spot.

The party's theme was "Denim and Diamonds". There was a tiara on our table. It made me feel pretty.

We played a couple of dance sets and after the crowd took advantage of the free booze, they really started having a good time.

Pardon the fuzzy cell phone picture. This one is a little cleaner.

Who says Hal can't smile? Here he is having too much fun while Jack runs the sound.

Here's an action shot of the band during one of the dance sets.

We were able to quit at 10:30 even though we were scheduled until 11. So everyone but me made a hasty getaway. I like to stick around and help Jack load PA gear.

Three sets and we were done. The band even got a pretty good tip, $25 each, so I guess everyone had a good time. Maybe we'll get asked to play Antoinette's 60th birthday party? I made it home right at midnight, kind of early for me, but I had to stay up late anyway doing laundry. Yes, even rock stars have to do their own laundry sometimes. Thanks for looking!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff