Buckle and Boots, 1/20/19

Hi gang!

This past Saturday me and the ANB played at one of our semi-regular rooms, Buckle and Boots in Lancaster.

On a good day it's a ninety minute drive for me. Today there was traffic and road construction that made the drive a little over two hours. It was a nice day to drive up the pass and across the high desert.

The venue is located in the revamped downtown area of Lancaster Blvd. It's a nice area full of shops, eateries, a theater, offices, etc.

As I arrived I noticed a band playing the pavilion on the corner. I'll have to check this out.

I pulled around back to unload at the stage door and noticed a new mural since the last time we were here. Pretty cool.

I unloaded and rolled my gear in the back door up to the stage. I was really hoping to see a thick black curtain on the brick wall. Oh well.

I went back out front to check out the band. They played good rockabilly stuff. I'd heard it was a birthday celebration. I didn't stay and chat because I had to get back in to do my thing.

I had allowed plenty of time for my drive. I was the first to arrive, by a long shot. My gear looks a little lonely up there.

So I wandered up to the bar and let Brittany reacquaint me with an Old No. 38 Stout. Most of the rooms we play have a stout that I like. I thanked Brittany for her cheerful hospitality.

All of the country bars and honky tonks we play support our troops. We're a very patriotic bunch.

This looks like a good place to hang out while I sip my suds.

The rest of the band starts to arrive so I watch them do their setup dance. Arnie and I were having so much fun we took pictures of each other. Hmm, that seems a little weird.

I was glad to see Dave back at FOH. His nickname is Mighty Mouse, or just Mouse. We had a new guy the last time we were here and it was not sonicaly pretty. Dave gets Jason and his kit wired up.

Might Mouse's ever-faithful sidekick is Benjamin. Ben is always cheerful and helpful.

The doors are open when we are ready to sound check. But nobody minds. We play a few, adjust some monitors, you know.

Johnny Magic Fingers was having too much fun at sound check. He wouldn't hold still and got the fuzzy face picture.

Amanda gets centered as she places her mic and adjusts her IEMs. She chants, "Be the song, be the song."

After sound check we head downstairs to run some tunes and have some supper. There's a VIP room that's not exactly private but at least it's exclusive.

Downstairs is also Underground Bowling and a pretty large game room. It was busy down here tonight.

I've said this before, this band knows how to eat. This watering hole has some pretty good grub, steak salad, sliders, chicken club sandwich, etc.

The kitchen was out of salmon tonight so I had the Mac-n-cheese Waffles and Chicken Tenders, covered in country gravy. This ain't health food. That's right, those waffles are made of mac-n-cheese and it's all covered with gravy.

Amanda is such a good girl, eating her healthy salad.

After supper we ran through some tunes and then got in our gig clothes. Here's Amanda with our Emcee and dance instructor tonight, Codi, who announced us.

You see Codi on the dance floor as Amanda puts on the show.

The schedule tonight was a little different. We used to play one long two hour set from 10pm to midnight. Now the bands start at 9:30pm, play for an hour, take a thirty minute break, then play the second set from 11pm to midnight. We didn't mind at all. Amanda is probably singing one of her sassy girl songs.

Jason brought his small kit but that snare coming off the brick wall still hurts. I wore earplugs all night.

I don't know what's going on here. Did John spill his beer? I hope not.

On the break I wandered out front for some air and took a picture of the marquis.

The DJ kept everyone entertained. It was a good crowd tonight. Here's a picture from the edge of the sound/DJ booth.

Just before we start the second set the lovely Ms. Amanda Kate joins me in a selfie. We played more of her Carrie Underwood tunes tonight, putting the new show together.

Arnie steps up front to play the guitar intro while Amanda sings, "She was a fast machine, she keeps her motor clean..."

We ended the night with "Don't Stop Believing" and these good folks really had fun with us, singing along and jumping up and down.

Here's something I've never done before. One of our fans (I think it was Codi) posted a short video of our closing number on Instagram. Let's see if this link works:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs2VEZpAovC/?utm_source=ig_embed

And since I was playing in church the next morning I hustled out as quickly as I could. My trusty Astro van was loaded and on the road at 12:30am.

I managed to get three and a half hours sleep before playing in church on Sunday. I drank two ROCKSTAR energy drinks and a cup of coffee that morning. We made a joyful noise.

I'll be busy this week with a paid rehearsal at The Ranch on Tuesday, Fri-Sat nights at The Ranch, and then Sunday afternoon at Swallows Inn. The NAMM snow is in Anaheim this week so I'm hoping a few special guests might stop by.

Thanks for checking in on my little corner of the music world. I really appreciate your support and encouragement. You guys are fun!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff 

 

Old Crow Smokehouse, 1/12/19

Hey there err'body!

This past Saturday night me and the ANB played again at the Old Crow Smokehouse in Huntington Beach. This is one of our regular venues where we have a lot of fun eating BBQ, drinking beer, and playing loud. It was an uneventful commute down to the beach where I pulled into the underground parking structure below Pacific City where the Old Crow is located.

As luck would have it a space was open just across the isle from the elevator. This is the closest I've ever been able to park.

I took the elevator up to the second floor, wheeled my gear over to the BBQ joint and set it up on stage. The Rams were handling the Cowboys this evening. The game would be over by the time we started. I did a solo setup dance.

Shortly after, Andre arrived to start setting up the sound. We've worked with Andre a few times. He does a good job.

I secure a table for the band to have some supper just before John shows up to do his solo setup dance.

Then Randy shows up! I wasn't expecting him but it's a pleasant surprise. Randy is setting up his gear when our supper arrives. John digs right in.

Tonight I enjoyed the build-your-own sampler plate with a sausage, pulled pork, brisket, baked beans, and slaw. This meal is totally great. It pairs well with a Patsy, brewed not too far from here.

I visit the little bass player's room to freshen up. I have to brush my teeth before I sing. I found this poster on the wall and recognized a few friends playing here on other nights, some we've worked with in the past.

While I was taking care of my business a weird thing happened. These three guys all walked into a stall together and started talking in hushed tones. I just minded my own business and left them to their own "business".

Feeling refreshed, I made my way down to my dressing room, which tonight is my trusty Astro van, to put on my gig clothes. I haven't worn this shirt in a while.

Here I am in front of this fine establishment. It's really a fun place to play despite all the inconvenience.

Flipping the camera around, here's PCH with Huntington Beach and the Pacific Ocean just on the other side.

Well, looky who's here at my gig! It's my bass-playing buddy Grant. He stopped by to catch a set on his way to see another friend's band. It's always great when friends show up.

I found out it was Tiffany's birthday. That's Tiffany to my right. She requested a song and I told her we'd sing "Happy Birthday". Grant took this picture. Turns out there were about a half dozen birthdays in the house tonight. It was a party!

Our friend Drummer Dave from the TW Band was filling in for Jason tonight. Jason had tweaked his back and was not feeling up to it tonight.

Johnny is ready to sound check. We didn't get much of one. We really didn't need much since the board remembers all the settings from the last time. 

Arnie and Randy ensure they are able to make noise. Yep, they can make a lot of noise.

The place is jumping. It looks like it's going to be a good night.

Then the house lights go down, the stage lights go up. It's time to hit it!

Johnny Magic Fingers got to play his big boogie woogie number tonight. The crowd was boogie-ing. 

Arnie was having fun channeling SRV. We did "The House Is Rocking" tonight and it rocked the house. 

Tiffany and her friends were having a lot of fun celebrating her birthday tonight. 

I'm not sure who this lady was but she wanted us to know she was having fun too. 

The place was standing room only most of the night. 

We got our favorite server, Anastasia, up to sing a couple. She likes sitting in with the band. 

Anastasia has her posse to cheer her on. 

Just look at that smile. She likes singing with us old guys. We even got hugs at the end of the night. 

This was another birthday party out having fun tonight. I thanked them profusely for sharing their fun with us. 

We played two long sets from 9:30 to 12:30 with one break in between, twenty minutes or so. Then it was time to act like professional roadies.

John and I make our way to the elevator to load out. I grabbed a piece of his gear so he could take everything in one load. 

At this time of the evening it's usually a pretty quick commute home but there's trouble in River City. 

Trouble with a capital "T", that rhymes with "C", and that stands for "CRASH!" I was delayed a half hour due to what looked like an awful rear end collision. Let's be careful out there. Don't drink and drive. Speed safely.

I made it home safely, just a half hour later than normal. But I was still able to make it to church on time the next morning. I hope there were no serious injuries in this accident.

I've got no gigs until next Saturday when we play Buckle and Boots in Lancaster. That's almost a two hour drive. Plus I'm playing in church the next morning. I'll need lots of prayer and caffeine. Thanks for looking at my gigs. And thanks for sharing yours. Fun stuff!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff