La Quinta Resort, 1/16/18

Hi folks!

I got to play hooky from work today so that I could play an afternoon event with the Arnie Newman Band at La Quinta Resort. I loaded up my gear in my trusty Astro van and picked up John and his keyboards at 9am.

It was a pleasant morning to drive out to the desert, not hot, manageable traffic, and we made good time.

I just love the desert landscape. This is the view as we turned off the freeway. The resort is nestled up against those foothills.

Here's the entrance to the resort. It's one of the nicer ones and has been around for a while.

The event was under a big tent in the parking lot. We were playing for an afternoon meal which followed a day of presentations and activities for the convention in town.

 

We were able to pull right up to the back of the stage and set up. It was very convenient, no long carry. But then I had to park down the street around the corner. Oh well.

It was a Mexican theme, decorations and food. The client had also asked us to make half our first set a Latin theme. We obliged.

This is Cesar and Flash finishing up the PA as we start getting set up. This is another MxxMaster Sound crew. They did a great job. I've worked with this company in several bands now.

Arnie and Cesar talk about sound, how it sounds, what it sounds like, what makes sounds, and other sound-y stuff like that.

Flash helps Jason get his kit mic'd and his electronics wired up.

This was their mixer board. But most of the hard work was done with the wireless tablet using a mixing console app.

We left quite a mess behind the stage as we set up. We're not even all here yet. Most of that is John's junk.

Randy (steel) and Daniel (you remember him?) arrive and join the setup dance. We were seven pieces today. The client wanted the full experience.

I brought my small rig. Next to it is Arnie's amp and Francelle's amp. Randy always uses two amps and Daniel brought his stage monitor for his fiddle.

Here's Flash right after saying "Gimme some kick drum!"

As I went into the main hall to use the little bass player's room I noticed that we are playing for some kind of dental convention. There were vendors and products everywhere.

While I was there I stepped into the grand ballroom where this guitar player was entertaining the large room.

Hey! That's Tommy Emmanuel! I didn't know he'd be opening for us today! Man, that guy can pick!

We would get started as soon as Tommy was done. The serving staff was hanging out in front of the main hall ready to ply the guests with liquid refreshments.

I made my way back to the stage. We'll start in just a few minutes, I think. These events always run late. Arnie surveys the accommodations.

OK! That's it! We're really going to start now. I can tell because I'm taking a selfie.

The client wanted some Latin music. We picked a few Selena songs. "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" was a fun little ditty. "Dreaming Of You" is a beautiful song that I didn't have time to memorize so I wrote myself a cheat sheet.

The other Latin influenced tunes we played were "La Bamba", "Oye Como Va", "Smooth", and another Selena song, "Como La Flor". Here's an action shot.

We tried to keep it down so the audience could too.

Flash was kind enough to take a few pictures with my phone.

After the first set we retired to our green room to await a meal. We didn't eat with the other guests. They had some terrific Mexican food. We got to order off the restaurant menu.

Unfortunately our meals did not arrive on time. We had to play the next set. But we were able to enjoy a cold one while on the break.

We had a comical line dance instructor, part cowboy, part Borat.

I see Francelle was having fun.

Oh my! I guess she's really having a lot of fun!

Here's Johnny Fingers on the keys and Jason pounding the tubs.

We're winding down the event but Francelle still gives it her all.

Can you tell what Daniel is singing? I know you can.

The band plays a few more. Since these folks have been up since 6am they didn't stick around until the scheduled ending. We got off a half hour early.

Who is that dashing bass player?

Our food had finally arrived at the green room so we got to eat after our show. Our hosts apologized profusely. Heck, I'm just glad to get food at the gig.

I had a really great grilled chicken and avocado sandwich and salad along with another barley pop.

After we ate we had to tear down. Here's all my stuff packed up and ready to be loaded.

As I walked down the block to get my trusty Astro van I thought I'd take a picture of the sunset over the resort.

John and I loaded up and drove the 90 miles, or so, home. After dropping off John I was home in time to watch Wheel Of Fortune (7:30). It was a good gig. These types of gigs are typical for running late, ending early, getting good food, and being well paid. This was no exception. Now I've got the weekend off. Next week will be busy for me, four dates between two bands. So I'm going to have a family night this Friday, just so they don't forget what I look like. I guess maybe I could just send my family a link to my gig blog? Hey, thanks for looking! 

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Skyloft, 1/14/18

Hello friends,

It was the third adventure this week with the Arnie Newman Band playing a new club (for me) on Pacific Coast Highway. This time is was Skyloft in Laguna Beach. John said he would drive today so I got my stuff ready. I didn't need to bring much because this place has full sound and is backlined. I brought a couple of basses and a couple of bags.

And here's a couple of old guys cruising down to the beach on a Sunday afternoon.

We hit Laguna Canyon right on time. There wasn't much traffic today.

This is the corner building with Skyloft. The parking is atrocious around here. That van was blocking where we needed to unload.

The van moved after a few minutes, thankfully, and we were able to pull in and unload John's new car by the back door. I had just brought a couple of basses. John brought all of his gear, four keyboards, two powered speakers, mixer, and other miscellaneous paraphernalia.

It was a lot of junk to haul up these stairs. By the time Johnny had found a parking space I had all of his gear and mine upstairs by the stage. Talk about a workout.

It is a pretty good sized stage here. But the two keyboards on stage take up a lot of room. John moved that Fender Rhodes out of the way so he can set up his keyboards.

On the other side of the stage is a B3 and a Leslie. That stayed where it was. Nobody was going to move that!

I had a nice little Ampeg 4x10 and my choice of tubes or solid state. I chose the tubes.

Here's a shot of the small dance floor and the bar from the stage.

There's a large dining room off to the left and I think I saw dining downstairs too. It looks like Arnie is ready to sound check.

John is letting our soundman, Anthony, exactly what he expects to hear.

Francelle is definitely ready to soundcheck.

Now that I have my selfie out of the way, I'm ready to soundcheck too.

The backline drum kit is not in the best of shape but Jason pounded the heck out of it tonight. You see Francelle's Fishmen, Tele, and mando next to my rig.

Anthony sits out front to get us dialed in. Those three ladies at the table requested "Chicken Fried" but I didn't have the lyrics with me. I do now!

Some friends show up and we have a terrific first set.

Then we retire to the employee dining area for our supper. I had a really tasty grilled turkey and bacon sandwich with a side salad.

Here's a shot of our setup. You see the Rhodes was moved to the side of the stage to make room for all of John's gear. We could not set the Rhodes off the stage. The PA subwoofer was on that side of the stage too, behind John. He says it kicks his butt all night.

The sound booth is behind John. Here's Anthony hanging out between sets. They have full-on recording capability here with ProTools and everything.

That's Sharon, the lady who seems really glad to see me. She was surprised to see me here tonight with Arnie because she knows I usually work with Kelly.

On a break I wander downstairs to the front of the venue.

This is Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach on a Sunday night.

Then we're back at it, playing that country music, and other stuff, for the dancers.

Arnie was tearing it up tonight. He does a great job with his B-bender Tele.

Jason was wailing tonight. In fact, the whole band was too loud for me tonight. I had to put in my earplugs.

Yeah, yeah. The bass player is such a big show-off.

Francelle sang her little tuchus off tonight.

John has all the sounds and knows all the chords.

Toward the end of the night I noticed that there are a few house instruments here, a Taylor acoustic, a Tele, and a J-bass. I didn't try it.

We were done at 10:30pm after starting at 6pm. We played four sets. Then loading out was just as tough as loading in.

John and I packed all of our stuff into the back of his new Rav4 and made our way home.

It was a long day but I've got tomorrow off. I'll need it to rest up for our big private event on Tuesday out in La Quinta. I'll drive for that one. If I bring an amp John can't fit all of our gear in his Rav4. Trusty Astro van to the rescue! Hey, thanks for looking. See you again soon.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff