Me and the ANB had a bit of an adventure this past Saturday traveling to and playing for the Imperial Market Days and Sweet Onion Festival. It's an annual street fair that features vendor and food booths and an exciting onion eating contest. Imperial and the other towns north of El Centro are basically farming communities and have that great small-town feel to them. The whole event was laid back, no pressure, no hurry, have fun, relax. Pretty cool.
We had a 4pm load-in time with a 5pm downbeat. I thought that might be cutting it close so I planned to be there by 3pm just in case. I was at Johnny's house a little past 11:30am to load his gear along with mine into the trusty Astro van.
I brought my "large" rig and John brought his full rig so we had Bob van Astro loaded up pretty good.
We even had stuff in the back seat.
We got on the road just about noon expecting to drive for three hours to make the 175 mile journey. We drove past Palm Springs, past Indio, and then headed south beside the Salton Sea.
It's a huge inland sea that is below sea level almost as much as Death Valley. There's wildlife, recreation, beaches, and a little resort of sorts at Salton City and Salton Sea Beach.
After we drove past that huge body of water (about 350 square miles) it got really desolate.
It was quite windy today. We could see the sand "walking" across the road until we got back to some civilization. We took some side roads through some farmland, around the towns of Westmorland and Brawley, that gave us a more direct route to the gig.
John and I made great time. We arrived at downtown Imperial a little past 2:30 and parked right behind our stage. We used the Circle K restroom for our green room. As long as we made a purchase they didn't mind.
We were the first to arrive. The sound company wasn't even here yet. Last year the band had to start two hours late because of the sound company. So John and I decided to go next door to the local brewery, Humble Farmer, where there would be a big cornhole contest later.
Corry introduced us to a nice stout, a carrot ale, and let us sample a few others.
After our refreshment John and I went back to the stage and found the rest of the band. Arnie, Jason, and Amanda had all ridden in Arnie's truck.
It looks like the sound company is here. That's good. We might start on time. The street vendors and city workers are getting the place ready for our party tonight, setting up tents and stringing lights.
Behind Jason setting up his drums you see Noah, the one-man stage crew, and Steve, our sound man, getting things wired up.
There was an issue with the sub-woofer. The sound company owner, Keiko, is going to bring another. Let's hope it gets here on time. Steve will be using a good old analog A&H board. I don't mind analog at all.
This is the view looking north on Imperial Ave. from the intersection at Barioni where the stage is located. The atmosphere is anticipatory excitement like everyone is having fun setting up and getting ready to have fun. You can hear it in the conversations and revelry.
I'm glad I brought my larger rig (GK410Neo) because Arnie ended up bringing two amps "since we were playing outside".
I think next time I'll bring two amps also. You see that the city has decorated the stage with hay bales and onions. I think it looks perfect.
The sound crew had some trouble getting their PA sorted. The sub eventually got there. There were issues with the monitors. Arnie and Amanda ended up sharing a mix. The sub eventually went out but they got it sort-of working again. We started an hour late. But nobody seemed to mind. Everyone was enjoying themselves. Here's Amanda hoping to hear something from her monitor. Steve worked hard and got it going.
John and Jason get their monitor mixes dialed in.
There's our girl! Now she's happy that she can hear herself sing. It's going to be a good night.
After a quick sound check we put on our cowboy clothes and got started.
It was a warm, windy day. We were uncovered and facing west, looking right into the sun.
But we just put on our hats and glasses and had a great time.
When Amanda does "I Feel Like A Woman" I have a few seconds to snap a photo during the intro.
Here's the view from my mic. I wish I would've remembered to bring my hat. At least I had sunglasses.
Johnny plays his big piano number. We all watch Amanda dance and play "air piano".
Go Amanda! Go!
This gal is just too cute! She has fun with us.
Jason seems to be having a good time despite looking into the sun.
Arnie and I do a little dancing too.
On the break Arnie goes to the Circle K and treats us to a cold one.
Then we're back for the next set. Ahhhh. The sun is almost set.
On our last break our hostess takes us back to the Humble Farmer for some supper.
Arnie enjoys the red ale. They've got some pretty good brews here.
We all enjoyed our roast beef hoagie and onion rings. Arnie almost got his finger bitten.
Then before we started our last set I took a selfie in front of the banner.
A nighttime shot of our stage. Good down-home fun.
The line dancers come out at night.
We are having a great time during the last set.
We played a bit past 9pm because we were having such a good time. Then we wasted no time clearing the stage. Here's Arnie doing one more idiot check.
Then we hit the road for home. I dropped off John and his gear (he lives close) and made it home at about 1am. It was a long day but quite enjoyable. Thanks for coming along with me.
Next week we're going to be a bit busy with three events. Wednesday evening will be at Downtown Disney, Thursday at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino, then Saturday is a private event at a fancy golf club in south Orange county. I'd better take a nap every chance I get.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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