My gig this past Sunday turned out to be a nice civic event. The weather held long enough for us to do our thing even though we were hearing of rain and even hail all around us. It was a nice day for us. The KRB and I played for the city of Downey, their Ride and Stride event. They had blocked of something like 15 blocks around the city so folks could walk, bike, roller skate, scooter, all around to the different events, venues, and displays without having to worry about vehicular traffic. It was fun!
I certainly had no problem with traffic early on a Sunday morning. Our call time was 11am and I was there a little after 10am.
We got to park in one of the VIP sections but I still had to wheel my gear a good long block to the stage.
There happened to be a Space Museum on the way so I stopped to take a selfie in front of the Apollo boilerplate capsule. This mock-up was used to test the escape system on top of the Saturn V booster rockets.
This is Larry at the FOH and Eddie, his crew. Larry's company is LRS Audio and he did a fantastic job for us today. We had one of the quickest and easiest sound checks ever.
Our stage was one of those mobile show trailers. This one turned out not to be so bad because there was a nice thick drape along the back wall. That really cuts down on the issues with hard surfaces all around you.
The band you see is Rose City Rhythm. They play a selection of "Roots Rock, Rockabilly, Neo Soul, and Standards." I was digging their vibe. Here's another picture. Corrine is a terrific vocalist and sang everything from "Stray Cat Shuffle" to "Girl From Ipanema", and one of my favorites, "Stagger Lee". Here's a link to their website (Corrine says it's under construction).
Here's a shot down the street towards some of the vendors, food, etc.
This couple was quite fun to watch as they made their way around. This is Mango and Dango. That tall lady could dance!
Skip was playing keys for us today and it turns out that they are friends of his. I guess Mango and Dango do a lot of work at fairs and amusement parks in the area.
The rest of the band has arrived. We staged our gear behind the stage. After Rose City Rhythm finished their set there were ceremonial welcomes and speeches by a few local officials before we could set up.
Corrine was nice enough to take a picture with me. She was very charming and the guys in the band were friendly. We had a nice chat about the effects of gamma rays on man-in-the-moon marigolds.
The crowd gathers for the ceremonial stuff.
After that's done we take the stage to set up and sound check.
Daniel is in charge of the big clock. He has to set the right time so we all know how long to play. Otherwise we might not stop.
Larry is out front getting stuff set up for us.
Eddie is helping Skip get squared away. Skip needed a mic for his horn.
Kelly and Daniel synchronize clocks.
We played one long set, an hour and a half. I like long sets. I gave my point-n-shoot to Eddie to take a few pictures out front.
It seems every picture Eddie took I was looking at my fretboard. I didn't think I looked at it that much.
See? Here's another. It must've been one of our hard songs.
Skip can actually play his trumpet while playing keys. He fills out the horn section with his keyboard.
At least I'm smiling in this one, while I look at my fretboard.
Oh look, here's one where I was actually looking at the audience.
Here's one of my shots from the stage. You see Downey's Space Museum there across the street. It's a nice facility. I guess there used to be a lot of aerospace manufacturing in Downey.
Another stage shot. I didn't get any pictures of all the odd cycles that went by. Sorry.
Kelly is having a little fun with me.
After our set we took a glam shot.
Then it was time to pack it up and roll out. We had a blast for an hour and a half.
On the way home I ran into some wild weather, for Southern California. We had heavy rains, thunder storms, hail and sleet, enough to cause water to collect on the freeway. Everyone slowed down so as not to hydroplane. I didn't mind that at all.
But then, as quickly as it started, the storm passed and left a beautiful scene.
Since I hadn't eaten all day, I stopped at a California icon to sup. What you see here is a genuine 4x4 with onion from In-n-Out. It was fabulous!
Four beef patties, four cheese slices, lettuce, tomato, onion, it was heavenly.
And that was my Sunday afternoon gig. Thanks for looking! My next gig will be with the True Willie Band. We'll be working a tribute with members of Merle Haggard's band. It's gonna be a hootnanny!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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