Me and the ANB had another country night at Stillwater Spirits and Sounds in Dana Point, where our friend @TrentB played recently (thank you for that gig report). Again I headed down through the concrete jungle that is OC to find that at rush hour there are many more metal beasts prowling around. Here's a view from the same spot as yesterday.
The concrete jungle gave way to sandy beaches as I turned onto Pacific Coast Highway.
The load-in is not too bad here. It's almost not worth loading up my handy Rock-n-Roller cart but I do. I have to roll it right inside the door and carry it to the stage because of a few stairs up and down.
Paul is back as our sound guy. He's playing hurt today. He had eye surgery but both of his ears are still working just fine. He's a bass player too, in a Grateful Dead tribute band, so you know he's a good guy.
Arnie says, "What? We have to set up?" Or is he saying, "Where's my roadie?"
Arnie and I make our way to the bar to order some supper and other refreshments. We have to pay half price for our meal but we get a case of beer for free.
Here's my rig, with the liquid refreshments in a handy spot.
Arnie brought his Little Walter combo and Randy only brought one amp. They still got too loud for the room later in the night.
I'm not sure if Jason likes the cage but he doesn't complain. The venue has been cited a couple of times so they are really trying to keep the noise level down. There is a lot of residential housing fairly close by.
Randy arrives and sets up. Johnny sits on the sub while they discuss the gross national products of our fellow NATO allies.
This is a three set gig. Here are the first two sets. They really like traditional country here. It's a big two-stepping crowd.
They like Johnny's big boogie-woogie number.
Jason keeps time behind his protective shield. Is he being protected or are we?
It was a nice crowd this evening, lots of compliments, tips, and a round of drinks for the band.
Arnie is probably singing a Merle song. Tonight was Merle-tastic.
The crowd loves the traditional country. We each made $10 in tips tonight.
OK, now everybody point at the bass player!
Toward the end of the night I think Randy and Arnie's ears got tired. It got stupid loud. So I just stepped behind the stage door and played for a while. It was a lot quieter back there.
Arnie sings a slow and painful love ballad for the couples.
Then at the end of the night we earn our money. I think Arnie's pedal board is heavier than my whole rig.
And that was Stillwater, a cute little watering hole in Dana Point near the beach. Later me and the ANB are at Downtown Disney. Then Friday evening we are at Victoria Gardens (shopping center) for a KFRG concert series. It's a busy week for me. Thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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