I had another fantabulous engagement with The True Willie Band at the Laguna Woods Village Performing Arts Center.
It would normally take an hour to get there from my house but it's a good thing I allowed myself an hour and forty five minutes to get down there.
The traffic was sticky in a few places, more than I would like. It was similar to morning rush hour. I was a little concerned that I didn't leave in time but as I got closer I knew I would be there just before call time. Whew.
The Laguna Woods Village Performing Arts Center (formerly Clubhouse 3) is a very, very nice facility.
But of course we had to use the rear entrance with the rest of the hired help. (Musician joke!)
It was a pretty easy load-in with the ramp and my Rock-n-Roller cart and all. The stage is right there inside the door. As we walked in we were greeted by a nice room.
This is an 814 seat auditorium. I wandered to the back of the room to get a picture.
Then I turned around and took a picture of the control booth. I wish I would've asked to have a look inside.
The place was full of Renkus-Heinz speakers. The monitors sounded good.
As well as the flying subs and mains, there were also front fills. You can see one in the picture above next to the monitor.
Here's Mike warming up is Gibson ES5, a 1960 model. This is also called the "Switchmaster".
Here's a peek at his Mesa Boogie. We were not backlined for this gig so we had to schlep our own amps. But it was no biggie, an easy load-in.
John brings a ton of gear. He's got four keyboards, a sound module, a mixer, and two powered speakers.
But he uses all of it to hit the right sounds at the right time. I dig it.
Dave gives Hugh (the FOH guy) his parameters as to how to mix his monitor. Hugh did a great job putting up with all of us.
I brought my regular small rig with my JBS as a backup.
Here's my amp-selfie while someone else is making noise for the FOH guy (Hugh).
This is Dave's sound check picture. He was just a little under the weather tonight, but you couldn't tell it from the way he played and sang his songs.
Roger and Mike must be trading licks before the show.
As we sound checked, every once in a while this nozzle would light up and tons of fake smoke would come pouring out. Well, I guess it was real smoke, just not the kind that Willie Nelson would have.
As it turns out, I think it was Adam pulling mischievous little pranks on us. He's supposed to be the lighting guy. I guess he's the smoke guy too.
As we were finishing up sound check, Johnny checks out the wardrobe closet and finds something to channel Elton John.
After sound check I wandered out front and found a nice lobby area.
The True Willie Band had a poster on the wall in the lobby, along with Debby Boone, a Beach Boys tribute, a Carol King tribute, Four Seasons tribute, and Elton John/Billy Joel tribute.
Do you think they like their tributes? Theatrical productions are also held here. It's a nice facility.
We were invited to the rehearsal room for some pizza.
We were treated to pizza and soda. Some of the guys went out for supper. I had pizza because free pizza is the best.
Our green room was pretty nice too, right off the stage with mirrors, restroom, a place to hang your duds, most of the comforts of home.
We're about ready to hit the stage. Wish us luck. Or tell us to "break a leg".
I stuck my phone out from behind the curtain to take a picture of the crowd. It was a sellout.
There were a few empty seats but that's only because they hold back about 20 seats for VIPs. Every ticket available was sold. Pretty cool. This is Lori making a few announcements before we start the show.
Here's my amp-selfie just before we start the show.
I took a picture of Mike just before we got started. He looks a little lonely over there.
Here's John behind his fort of keyboards.
We kick off the first number and transition into True Willie's first tune as he walks out on stage.
We played for about fifty minutes and the took an intermission so the venue could sell some adult beverages. I took this picture just as we walked on stage for the second set.
Here's one of Mike with the crowd behind him. Sorry for the lighting.
Dave was feeling a little under the weather this evening, suffering from a head cold. But he played great and sang great. What a trooper.
At the end of the show, most folks in the "balcony" seats started for the exit. Everyone at the floor level gave us a standing "O". They were a great crowd.
John and I fist bump at the end of another successful show.
We went out front for a little meet-n-greet. My dear friend Reets came to the performance tonight. You might remember seeing her at a few of my Ranch gigs.
After our meet-n-greet I went back to the stage to pack up my gear and head for the house. The stage crew did a great job.
The crowd was very pleased with our performance. I was pretty pleased. There was one intro where Mike and Johnny were not ready. I hit a couple of brain fart clams. But we kept the momentum going. Every show has gotten better and tighter. If we could play three weekends in a row I'd have it all nailed. We'll have another rehearsal before the Hayfork Festival. It'll have to do. In the meantime I'll just practice on my own until I can play and sing these songs in my sleep.
Tomorrow I'll be playing Downtown Disney with the KRB. True Willie won't play again until our Hayfork Festival (near Redding CA) with The Strangers, in three weeks. That should be quite fun also.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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