I had another gig on a school night. Thursday I played at the Tavern Bay Beach Club at Lake Arrowhead CA, a private club that has a small summer music festival. Since it has been at least a couple of years my old band, The Runnin' Kind, has worked with Nancy Walker and her Patsy tribute we got together for a rehearsal last week to run down some tunes. We met at Bob's house. Bob is the guitar player. This is their place in North San Diego county.
This is the view from Bob's back porch.
We were pressed for time so we didn't get to play nine holes. But we all set up in Bob's living room and had some fun. This is Rick (drummer), Paul (steel), and Nancy.
Ian is telling Bob that we're in the key of three. That's Bob's wife, Suzy, enjoying the music.
I had made up a bunch of simple charts just so I could get through the tunes. Everyone wanted copies even though they are just bass player charts.
We had fun. It's been a while since The Runnin' Kind has done a gig together. Paul took the place of the other Rick who plays steel and midi guitar. Rick couldn't make it back to town because of his health. I'm sure he'll make a gig with us as soon as he's feeling better.
Suzy is always a terrific hostess. She put out a spread for us since we had to rehearse in the middle of the day. Three of the guys had gigs later.
The rehearsal was too short. So I was counting on the lads to do their homework before the gig.
I left my house the day of the gig and hit the freeway headed toward the San Bernardino mountains.
The highway heading up to the local mountain resorts is a pretty decent, but curvy, four lane road for about halfway up the hill.
The drive lends itself to some nice views of the valley.
Then the road narrows to two lanes.
As I get closer the road narrows even more but the trees are spectacular.
I arrive quite early to the Taven Bay Beach Club. I always allow for traffic, flat tire, getting lost, hurricane, etc, none of which happened.
Right across the street from the club is the UCLA convention center. It looks like a really nice facility.
I pull up to the stage and I'm struck by the beauty of Lake Arrowhead. It's been several years since I'd been up here.
We've got a nice sized stage and the sound system is all set up.
The mixing board is your standard Yamaha M7CL.
Here's the view from my mic as I set up. It certainly is a glorious day here by the lake.
Here's A.J. manning the controls. He's working for Studio 33 out of Colton CA. They provided the stage, sound, and lighting. A.J. and his stage crew, Frank, took very good care of us.
We had our own tent structure for our green room. We also had a cooler full of water.
We had a bit of a breeze while we loaded in, set up, and sound checked. That scrim behind the stage is almost horizontal. The wind did not die down much during our performance.
I brought my small rig today and my JBS as backup. I thought about playing it because of the material but didn't want to change horses in the middle of the stream.
Nancy's here and joins me in a selfie on stage.
Paul and Bob are set up and getting tuned.
Ian had to put up with the sun the longest until the shade from the trees reached him. Poor guy also lost a couple of sheets of music during the performance due to the wind but he soldiered through.
Rick says, "Hey! Do you want some kick drum?"
Here's A.J. out front with his tablet getting us dialed in. We had separate mixes for three monitors today. It was plenty.
We've completed our sound check and the stage is ready. Those powered mains and subs were FTB units. I'm not familiar with them but you can tell those components on the stage are meant to fly in a larger array. But this was not that big of a gig.
This is A.J. and Frank taking a breather before we start the show.
I walked to the clubhouse to use the little bass player's room and snapped a picture at the dock.
When I got back to the green room it was supper time. We were provided with subs and wraps from Quizno's along with some chips and cookies. It hit the spot.
Bass player. Cookie monster. Same thing.
I like to photobomb too!
Then it was time to take the stage. We started off with a pretty good crowd. They were enjoying their picnics and wine.
Paul and Bob do a final tuning check.
The shade has almost reached Ian. Ian's been working with a few big bands lately on a weekly basis.
Rick is happy to be playing with his pals. Rick fills in for Mario in the KRB sometimes. He's also had a house gig out in Palm Springs for several months now.
One last rhythm section selfie while announcements are being made.
Then it's on with the show. Nancy wore her classy black dress instead of putting on the whole Patsy costume.
Nancy does some Patsy songs that you don't normally hear, pretty cool stuff.
At the beginning of both sets us lads did two or three numbers as a little warm-up before Nancy came on. Here are action shots taken by A.J. with my phone.
Here are a few more action shots with Nancy Walker.
After the crowd enjoyed enough wine they started dancing and having a good time.
At the end of the night we posed for a band picture on stage.
Then it was time to do the roadie thing.
The drive home had some spectacular views.
It was a blast getting back together with my dear old friends whom I've
known and been working with off and on for over twenty five years.
Everybody tells me to book some more gigs so we can play some more.
Everyone is so busy with their other projects but I think I'll see what I
can do, just for fun.
My next scheduled gig is at the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach on Aug 5th. That's going to be a tough load-in. You'll see why when I report on it. Until then, thanks for looking! Break a leg!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
My next scheduled gig is at the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach on Aug 5th. That's going to be a tough load-in. You'll see why when I report on it. Until then, thanks for looking! Break a leg!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
