On a recent school night I played with the True Willie Band at the Laguna Festival of Arts. This venue is really a treat to play. Sid, the sound guy is top notch and the staff treats us like we're somebody.
This gig started with yet another drive down to Laguna Beach. It seems me and my friend Gary, bass player in another band, have been down here a lot lately. This is a picture driving into Laguna Canyon before the traffic gets all backed up when the road narrows at the two lane highway.
The sky is pretty clear here but at the venue you can tell that the coastal eddy never cleared. It happens sometimes.
I rolled my Astro Van on up to the rear entrance of the stage and met Sophie, the security attendant on duty. She was a sweetheart and ran down the documents and cash I needed to park across the street at the pay lot.
As soon as I rolled my gear on stage I had to visit the little bass player's room. I took this picture because it reminded me of a comedy skit I saw on TV once.
Anyway, I headed for the stage to get set up. Here's Sid helping Mr. Johnny Fingers with keyboard stuff.
John seems really happy now. The Yamaha grand, which was loaned for free by Yamaha for the season, stayed in tune for this evening.
Mike is getting set up. I hope he's not planning to wear that for the performance.
Dave sets up drums with Mike's supervision.
It didn't take me long to set up. I brought my small rig this time. My
GK Neo 410 was too much woof for this stage. My Carvin RL210 was
perfect.
Look at all these people here, just to watch us set up.
I guess they came to watch Sid set up the drum mics.
Now we are almost ready to sound check and there are even more people here.
Look who I found in the audience, my friends Grant and Patti. Grant is another bass playing friend of mine.
And you might know this toothy grin from the KRB. Art and Lori also came out to see us play.
Here's Mike doing his sound check in shorts and sandals. Well, it is California after all.
True Willie strums a few chords for sound check.
Then we retired to our green room for a little refreshment and to get into our performance attire. Here was the hospitality for us. We enjoyed the snacks, cheese, crackers, strawberries, cookies, drinks, etc.
The lovely Kathy is our hostess. We talked about who's making announcements and introductions.
Then we make our way to the stage. Here's Dave making some last minute tweaks.
John does the same.
It looks like Mike and Dave are ready to put on the show!
John is ready too.
And here's True Willie kicking off the set with "Whisky River". It's kind of a funky old country song, funky in a good way. I used to play it back in the early 80s.
I gave Art my camera so he could take a few pictures from out front.
I don't know why he was taking pictures of the bass player.
True Willie had the crowd on fire this night. He got a fabulous response
except from this table you see right in the middle of the frame, just
in front of the pillars.
Here's a nice shot of the band that Art took with my camera.
Unfortunately he couldn't take a lot because my batteries were dying,
kind of like my bass solo during our encore.
I am always impressed with John's playing. The guy is such a monster.
You can't see John in this picture but I'm looking at him all impressed
and everything.
I snapped this one on stage just as we finished the first set. We had to
take a little break so the event staff could make announcements and
give away something.
After a short break we were back into the show. Here's some bass face for you.
I'm not sure what's going on here. But I must really be paying attention.
"To all the girls who cared for me, and filled my nights with....ecstacy..."
"I fly a starship, across the universe divide. And when I reach the other side...."
We played two full sets and the crowd yelled for an encore. True Willie
came back and we did an encore, "Rolling In My Sweet Baby's Arms" in
which I played the worst bass solo you ever heard. I guess I'm going to
have to write something out so I can play something that sounds like
something. Bleh. Then it was time to pack up, but not leave.
Actually, before we loaded out we had some "meet and greet" duties. We
schmoozed, we took pictures, we shook hands, etc, and generally acted
like we were glad to be here, which we were. Then we joined True Willie
and his little after party. Here is Mrs. True Willie with Mike and I.
Mr. and Mrs. True Willie had brought a case of wine and a bunch of pie
for the after party. I took advantage of it along with some snacks from
the green room. I hadn't eaten all day.
The afterparty rages on, so to speak.
After the meet-and-greet it was time to leave. Here's a last look at the stage.
Someone had put rugs on the stage. It made standing on that concrete so
much easier.
I decided to roll my gear across the street rather than try to pull my
Astro Van from across the street. It was the path of least resistance.
Then I was on my way home at 9:30. After working my way through all the construction and lane closures on the 57 freeway I was
home before 11pm. Not too bad for a school night. Thanks for looking! You guys are great.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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