It was a pleasant evening for an outdoor event here on the outskirts of Shaky Town. Arnie and his Country Club Band played the big stage on the second day of the National Orange Show Fair in San Bernardino. I headed East on the 10 freeway along with a few thousand of my closest friends during the afternoon rush hour traffic.
I pulled into Gate 8 but I did not use the public entrance. I drive by and yell, "It's OK. I'm with the band!"
Lucky for me the stage is in the same spot again this year along with a YUGE generator. I think that oughtta get the job done.
I couldn't get in right away. This gate was locked. Today is a special day to honor Veterans and they are starting to stack up at this gate too. Oops.
So I call my dear friend and man-about-town, Chris, to help us out. He works the Orange Show too as well as running sound for both of my bands on occasion. He was able to get that gate unlocked in a quick jiffy.
I was way early so I tossed my gear on stage and did a little exploring. Here's a view of the park where the stage is located. It was a comfortable, breezy day. You could not have ordered more perfect weather.
This quonset hut was where the veteran's ball was being held. They had a ceremony, dinner, and a military choir. I asked one of the drivers if those mortars still worked. He said, "I'm supposed to tell you 'no'."
Here's a little closer shot of this large stage. That's Rigo at the FOH, a friendly and easy guy to work with. I think he was on the crew last year when we did this gig.
Here's the monitor board at stage left. Raul was running it and was also very easy to work with. He said, "I like you guys. You don't yell at me."
George and Kaleb get the stage wired. I think this was Kaleb's first day. George was teaching him the ropes, or the cables.
I'm not sure what they were going for with these stage decorations. I guess you could say they were stylized.
Hmmm, I see eats and I see beer. Which shall it be?
Beer! This is Kevin, our mixologist today. He was an affable sort who spotted me a beer even though he didn't even have his cash register yet. He said, "You look like an honorable guy. Pay me later." I guess I forgot to tell him I'm the bass player.
I did not enjoy that Wolf Pup IPA. It's too lemony for me. But I finished it. To let it go to waste would be alcohol abuse. Then the rest of the crew, held up by the traffic coming out of Orange County, started to arrive. Arnie got is guitar set up. I helped Jason haul his drums from the parking lot. Come to think of it, I helped Arnie and Johnny too. That's what you get for being the first to arrive.
Arnie and I are done with our setup dance. Jason and Johnny continue as a duet.
We all brought fairly small gear. You can barely see it on that huge stage.
Yay! Amanda is here. All is right with the world. Even though she's a bit under the weather she still put on the show.
We played two forty five minutes sets. The first half of the first set was a little inconvenient having to stare into the sunset. I'm glad I brought my dorky sunglasses.
And it's on with the show!
Jason keeps time. He was at ease on this big stage. He could hit hard and not hurt anybody because we were a lot more spread out.
John had brought his full rig. He likes having all the sounds and he's not afraid to use them. A little later in the evening we had a request for some Johnny Cash. I sang "Folsom Prison Blues" and called for a banjo solo. Johnny had it.
Amanda, even though she wasn't 100%, had fun dancing all around the stage and getting her moves on.
Here's a little gif I made.
Look out! I think Johnny is going for his banjo patch again! Or maybe it's his trombone patch. Doesn't matter, they both sound great.
It seems Jason was really keeping an eye on his metronome.
Uh oh. Look out! The guitar player is headed this way!
Don't point that thing at me unless you're going to use it!
Amanda and I sang "Shallow" together again tonight. We're having fun with that song. I'll be sad when it goes away.
Unfortunately, there was not a big crowd at the park today. Our first set had about twenty people in the crowd. Toward the end of the last set we had four die hard fans ignoring us.
We were done shortly after 9pm and started the strike dance. The band sounded great and had a ton of fun but there were very few witnesses. We got a few compliments from the sound crew. Good enough.
I was home by 10pm and in the office this morning by 9am. It's the dual life I lead. On Saturday morning Johnny and I will catch a plane to Sacramento so we can drive over with True Willie for a show at Feather Falls Casino and Lodge near Oroville. That's always a quick, fun trip. I'll try to remember to take a few pictures. Thanks for looking everyone. I appreciate you sharing in my fun.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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