Well, here it is. My first gig report of the New Year and it was pretty fun. I picked up Johhny a little before 6:30am so we could drive down to the John Wayne Airport and fly up to Sacramento for our True Willie gig. Since John was with me I could take the carpool lane and save some time but there wasn't that much traffic that early in the morning.
John and I were the first to arrive at the airport even though we lived the farthest away. Here I am waiting for our bus.
John is on the phone dealing with car repairs, bank errors, a sick wife. I think he'll be glad to get out of town overnight.
The rest of the crew arrives, we board the plane (I don't like the "cattle call" of Southwest), and once we land in Sacramento we get to exit the rear of the plane and walk on the tarmac. Drummer Dave is accompanied by Mrs. Drummer.
Then we have to catch the tram to the baggage claim, followed by a shuttle to the rental car. Here's Mike (git) and John keeping careful watch on a couple of major awards.
The venue spots us a Tajoe. Dave and Mrs. Drummer rent a mini-van so we can haul everyone and their gear.
The Feather Falls Casino is a bit more than an hour away from the airport. We must be on the right road.
Yep, this must be the place.
Here's the casino. The Lodge, where we'll be staying, is on up the hill behind the casino and showroom.
This entrance goes to the showroom. We pull around back to unload backstage.
We've got the same excellent crew from last year. Joe and Cory know their gear, know the room, and are very helpful.
I'd heard tonight was sold out. All the tables and the entire balcony (no meals in the balcony). Hey! Look what I get to use! It's way more amp than I need but it looked impressive.
I just love these d&b monitors.
Dave brought his snare and his cymbals on this trip. This backline kit was pretty beat up so he was happy that he brought extra gear. Cory ran the monitor board on stage right.
Here's a view from the stage looking at the bar with the brewery behind it.
I wandered around the room to give you a view of the stage from the audience perspective.
Roger joins me for an amp-selfie just before we start our sound check. It took a while to get going because the crew set up the guitar and keyboards on the wrong side of the stage. I guess they read the stage plot backwards.
John is back on stage left, everything is plugged in, and he's ready to Willie.
Mike brought one of his Strats for this trip. I think he got a Deluxe for his backline piece. Behind Mike you see Cory at the monitor board and Alex helping out.
Dave is as ready as he can be. He had a noisy kick drum pedal, constant clicking, and the rack tom hardware wouldn't tighten up so it kept slipping and banging on the kick drum. Poor guy.
We played through a couple of songs and a few bits of others just to make sure everyone was happy. We had a couple of hours to kill before the show so we went to our rooms to rest and freshen up.
On the way to the Lodge I ran into my old girlfriend backstage. She's pretty cute and very quiet. But her personality is a little two-dimensional.
We left the casino and took the escalator up to the Lodge. It's not huge but it's a nice facility.
Angel helped me get checked in and gave me my All-Access Pass. I still had my pass from last year. I forgot to give it back. Oops.
Dave and Mrs. Drummer check in too. The lobby of the Lodge is filled with modern southwest-themed art.
My accomodations had all the comforts of a hotel room. Plus I had a nice view of the parking lot.
I took a quick nap, a quick shower, and made my way to the showroom via the indoor/outdoor pool.
On the way I noticed this guy on one of the poster boards.
As I walked in I thought to myself, "What are all these people doing in my room?" (Actually, that's a line Frank Sinatra used to use.) You also see the FOH board where Joe will be working.
Mike and Dave join me in a green room selfie. Where's Johnny?
HEEEEEeeeeerrrreee's JOHNNY!
John made his way to the stage to warm up all his keyboards. Just before the rest of us walk on stage we have a quick vocal warm-up. I think my girlfriend was impressed.
It's a full house! I snap pictures of everyone just before we start making noise. Here's John.
Here's Dave and his rickety kit.
Mike is ready to do some guitar slinging.
And True Willie is On The Road Again to that Whiskey River.
I gave one of my cameras to Cory to take a few pictures from the monitor board in his spare time.
I don't have video from this gig, but I do have a new clip from our Orange County Fair concert last summer. Here ya go.
The band did really well, especially since we haven't played together for over a month. The crowd had fun and so did I. I guess that's all that counts. After the show True Willie gets to sign CDs and take pictures with his adoring fans.
Now it's time to get into the "meat and potatoes" of the gig. The show ended at 8:30. (I know!) I went back to my room to change my shirt and boots. Then we met in the restaurant for supper. T-Willie is giving Raymundo his order.
How's this for an appetizer? This is a local brew, the Naughty Native "American Indian Pale Ale". It's really good, not citrus-y like a lot of IPAs. We had Cazadores for a chaser. But just one!
I enjoyed a 14 oz. New York strip with all the trimmings. This was one of the best steaks I've ever had.
Mike had ribs, T-Willie had a big salmon sushi steak, Mrs. Drummer ordered a bunch of sushi.
I was able to snag a couple of pieces. This is good stuff.
John is really enjoying his 20 oz. Rib-eye. Dave was most sensible with his salad and steak medallions.
For dessert I couldn't resist a fried banana split. It goes great with the local IPA.
Then a few of us retired to the bar for a nightcap and a little video blackjack.This is a different bar from the showroom. This bar has a stage behind it with live music on Saturdays. Oh boy, another band-behind-the-bar gig.
I was in bed before midnight since we had to fly out in the morning. We met at 7am in the breakfast buffet.
I helped myself to some cheesy scrambled eggs with sausage gravy, a couple of breakfast meats, and a splash of breakfast potatoes. This gig has great food.
We were rolling at 7:45 and made it to the airport in plenty of time to catch our flight back. All of our instruments made it back without damage too. After dropping off John in my trusty Astro van I was home before 1:30 in the afternoon, editing pictures to share with you. Thanks for coming along this trip. Tomorrow I'm driving down to north county to play with the KRB at Valley View Casino, then a corporate party at Disneyland on Saturday. Next week I'll start picking up dates with Arnie. He gave me 10 dates in January. I guess my vacation is over. Thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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