Tonight was quite special but a little embarrassing. It was soooo great to have Grant and Scott (bass player buddies of mine) in the house! I just wish I would've played better. You know how it is. Sometimes a song (or two) that you learned once, and you haven't played for months, somehow gets on the set list and you haven't had a chance to brush up on it ...and, well, you could tell. Anyway, let me get this gig started.
I have to leave work a little early to make it down to this place before the doors open. The traffic wasn't too bad today, for rush hour on a Friday, but the traffic at the off ramp was backed up way onto the freeway. Why are all these people on my exit?
I pulled into the parking lot of The Ranch and drove around to the parking spots reserved for the band. That's right. We have reserved parking spaces.
I don't bring much to this gig because I use the house's IEM and don't use an amp. I just tossed my stuff on the floor next to Johnny Magic Fingers and took a picture.
Here's the old country bass player just about ready to plug into the DI box that the soundman left for him.
Then we retire to the green room for our supper. Arnie, John, and I begin the feeding frenzy.
I had my favorite, the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and an heirloom beet salad, with ingredients from The Ranch's own gardens.
Dev was giving the dance instruction tonight. She is "Ms. Friday Night".
Then we begin the night with the owner, Andrew Edwards, sitting in with the band.
Andrew loves to introduce us as, "One of our most favorite bands, Arnie Newman's Country Club Band!" Then on the break I found these ne'er-do-wells hanging out near the bar.
You may recognize Grant on the left, yours truly on the right, and we have Scott, all the way from Minnesota, came over to greet us. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you Scott.
Then we were back to work. We had a fun night.
Arnie is such a poser. Well, so am I, but at least Arnie can play!
We had a lot of fun that night and Amanda always does a great job.
There was not a large crowd tonight but they had a bunch of fun. This is one of the bridal parties in the house tonight.
I took a picture of someone in the bridal party taking a picture of the bridal party.
Did I tell you that Daniel, my buddy from the KRB, is doing a few gigs with us? He is always the consummate professional.
Randy was playing one of his six strings on a few tunes tonight.
I think Jason was having fun tonight. He tears up the house kit.
Another shot of stage right. Randy brought a different guitar tonight. I'll have to take a close look at it tomorrow. (He had borrowed that guitar because his was in the shop.)
Another shot of the bridal party having their fun.
Yes, the ball game was on all night. The Dodgers finally won after 18 innings but they didn't spoil our fun. (They went on to lose the World Series to the Brewers.) At least we didn't have a big screen behind us.
The next night, Saturday, the band dressed up for Halloween.
Here we go with the festivities from Saturday night (10/27/18) at The Ranch with the ANB (a.k.a. Arnie Newman's Country Club Band).
I arrived a little later than usual to the club but I was still able to get in my order for supper. I enjoyed the Steakburger and Chopped Kale Salad.
Ms. Willie Wonka joined the old pizza delivery guy for a selfie in the green room.
Animal joins us on stage sitting in on the drums tonight.
We had Jack Skellington on the keys this evening (Johnny Bony Fingers).
I'm not sure if Arnie had a "Vendetta" but he looked a little creepy for the first few songs until the mask got too hot.
Our friend Toni joins Johnny and Officer Randy at the bar.
Part of the crew on stage, Officer Randy, Ms. Amanda Wonka, and Dr. Fiddle (Daniel).
It was a smaller crowd than we are used to on a Saturday night. We had a lot of competition with the ball game and Halloween weekend but the folks who were there came out to dance and party.
Johnny Bony Fingers tears up his boogie-woogie piano number.
Ms. Willie Amanda Wonka is magic on the stage.
Hey Arnie! Who's your favorite bass player in the band?
Jason let Animal sit in for the first three sets. He uses headset mic so was still able to sing underneath that giant head. I tell you, that Animal is a chick magnet.
Amanda is showing us her dance steps. She's got moves like Willie Wonka.
This is one of the intros that I don't play so I sneak a couple of photos.
Oh yeah, this is the first verse of "Shook Me All Night Long" where I don't play the whole first verse. Arnie strikes a pose.
Randy straps on his six string. Dr. Daniel Fiddle gets ready to operate.
Our friend Melanie joins us at the bar for a "Beauty and the Beast and the Bass Player" photo.
It's the end of the night and DJ Leo keeps the line dancers happy while the band starts unplugging their stuff.
The soundman, Mark, has to unplug his stuff too. Jason puts away his bits of drum hardware.
I've got a little cell phone video to share from the weekend. It's a new Carrie Underwood cover we just learned this weekend. It's a fun tune.
And the weekend's no over! We still have one more gig tomorrow, Sunday evening. I'll post that one up now. Thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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