7 Degrees, Laguna Beach 8/16/17

Howdy cowpokes,

This is the first of five gigs in a row. Me and the KRB played at the 7 Degrees event venue for a corporate event. I'm not sure who the client was but I heard mention that they were mostly lawyers. The event was 6pm-10pm but actually got started a little late because all of the attendees had to be bused from their hotel which was down PCH a ways.

I had a nice drive down to Laguna Beach. It seems I've been here a lot lately, and I'll be here again next week with True Willie.

Parking is atrocious in Laguna Beach. We had to unload from the single space loading zone on the one-way street in front and then wheel our gear down the driveway to the basement/garage.

It's an interesting event venue that also serves as a museum and art gallery.

Just to the right of the picture above were these stairs going to another display/event room.

The basement/garage floor was also the serving/wait staff's staging area.

Hal and I make our way up to the third floor on the elevator.


Yay! We made it to the top!

I left my cart at the stage so I could run back down and park. We had to back up on the one-way street so that we could pull into the valet parking which, thankfully, was comp'd. I told the valet not to let anyone touch my Astro Van because they would get dirty.

Then I headed back to the venue and up the elevator to set up my gear. We went super small for the quiet, intimate setting.

Hal brought a small PA and no monitors. We just put his floor wedges on sticks and set them behind the band so we could hear ourselves sing. The top floor was a nice spot for eating, drinking, and playing music.

Mario and Daniel arrive and join us in the setup dance.

Kelly arrives and checks her messages before we sound check.

The staff puts the finishing touches on their setup.

Off to stage right there was an interesting fountain and above it were terraces. It was a lovely spot for an event.

Like I said, we went super small with our gear today.

After sound check we went down to the basement to hang out in our green room, curtains on pipes.

There were three of these "rooms", one for each of the "musical" acts performing tonight. The others were a violinist playing to tracks and a DJ. I didn't get any pictures of the others.

We were directed to another room near the front where we would have our supper.

This is Katy. She is one of the event coordinators and made sure we had everything we needed.

For supper we were served salad, chicken, and vegetables. It was quite tasty.

We had a nice time dining together. Kelly and Hal practice their best table manners.

After supper we got our cowboy clothes on and headed back to the roof. We were literally right next door to the Sawdust Festival. You can see the grounds on the other side of the fence.

Kelly joins me in an amp-selfie while we wait for the buses to get here.

Daniel and Mario also wait patiently for the buses to arrive. They were about 20 minutes late.

Once the guests arrive we start the show!

It's a party!

Folks liked the terraces. I should have gone up there to take in the view.

Here's Kelly and Mario's mini kit.

Mario and I photobomb Kelly's selfie just before we start a set.

We had a good crowd all evening. We even had dancers but I didn't want to take a lot of pictures in order not to tick off the clientele.

We had requests for a lot of vintage country, "Folsum Prison Blues", "You Don't Have To Call Me Darlin' (The perfect country/western song)", and others. It was a fun crowd. Then at 10pm the buses came to take everyone back to their hotel and we got to load out.

I like playing quietly. Not only can you hear everything but you are able to put more energy into your performance, rather than just more volume. It's cool.

Thanks for looking! I'll be back soon with more gigs. This was a busy week.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

The Runnin' Kind at The Inn at Fawnskin, 8/13/17

Hello friends and neighbors,

On a recent Sunday I played a nice backyard type engagement on the north shore of Big Bear Lake. We played at The Inn at Fawnskin for a local fund-raiser. This was an especially pleasant gig because I got to play with my old bandmates in The Runnin' Kind, friends I've known for over twenty years. We're all involved in different projects these days but we manage to get back together once in a while.

Since (I thought) we had a 6pm downbeat I was planning to arrive at 3pm because I was bringing my PA and wanted to give myself plenty of time to setup and sound check. I left my house a little after 1pm and headed up the mountain on Hwy 18.

Please forgive all the driving pictures. It's just so scenic up here.

I pulled into a turnout to snap this picture of the valley.

This is the west end of Big Bear Lake. Right under this intersection is the dam holding back all the water.

There were lots of folks enjoying the lake today. It's a good sized lake.

On the way up I had passed a sign that read 7,112 feet. The little town of Fawnskin is just below that.

This is The Inn at Fawnskin. It's a log cabin Bed and Breakfast that is just as charming as it can be. Nancy Walker and her husband Bill own and run this establishment.

Yes, that's a face-in-the-hole you see out front. I love those, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture. This is the front door of the place but it was locked. We had to go around back to set up on the back porch. It was a tight fit with five of us.

I arrived right at 3pm thinking I had plenty of time. It surprised me that I was the last one there. Then I found out that our downbeat was 4pm. I had to hustle all my gear and get it set up in a hurry. Drat.

But we managed to get situated in time and started right at 4pm.

The inside of the inn was just as charming as it could be, rustic and classy. This is the gift shop and the parlor. You can see our gear on the back porch.

This is the stairway up to the guest rooms.

This is our hostess and friend, Nancy, with Ian, our keyboard player. You might remember Nancy because we've done several gigs with her Patsy Cline and Women Of Country Music tribute shows.

Here's Paul tuning up. He also played fiddle today. He can also play banjo and guitar and, I think, mandolin.

This is Paul and Bob's gear.

More gear, mine and Ian's.

Paul and Bob (guitar).

Rick on the skins. He'll be working with the KRB for a couple of upcoming gigs.

Another Runnin' Kind alumni, Ian, on the keyboards.

A quick selfie before we start.

Most of the crowd came decked out in their western duds since the event was called "Buckaroo Bonanza" and was raising money for the local spiritual center with a silent auction and a noisy band.

There were tables full of auction items.

These larger items were auctioned live. One of those guitars was signed by James Taylor. I don't know who signed the other.

The crowd is attentive while Nancy auctions stuff and give away raffle prizes.

We didn't really get to play a whole lot. We were contracted from 4pm to 8pm but played only a couple of sets worth of music. We took a lot of long breaks for the auctions. So we helped ourselves to the BBQ pork sliders and excellent slaw with cranberries and walnuts.

That is Rick's wife on the left. She sang a couple tunes with us tonight. She's also one of the founding members of The Runnin' Kind.

This little guy wanted to sit in, but we didn't know any of his tunes.

Nancy also sang a few with us. Here she is giving away some raffle prizes.

One of the volunteers brought us a plate of desserts and set it on my PA column. They didn't last very long.

We were having a ton of fun and too quickly the night came to an end. I got lots of help loading out since I was blocking everyone's car.

And then I had a long, slow, curvy drive back down the mountain. You can't see much but this is the little dam that's holding back the lake.

When I got to my garage, this was waiting for me to unload. Where are my roadies?

Here's a little cell phone video I took. It's not really going to show you how well we played (I kind of stunk up the joint) but hopefully it will show you how much fun we were having. You'll see Carrie Lynn, Rick's wife, on stage for the second number. I think she was looking for a cowbell to play.

 

I was home just before 10:30pm and was able to make it to work on time Monday morning. Sometimes life is good! And the rest of the time it's not too bad. Thanks for looking!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff