Magic Fingers Johnny and I, along with the True Willie Band are playing at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel in lovely Eagle Pass, Texas this weekend. It's rare that we play two nights in a row on these fly dates but it's a special promotion for a gaming company's new Willie Nelson slot machines. I'm hoping this could turn into several gigs around the country promoting these machines.
I picked up John in my new (to me) pickup. We had to load our gear in the back seat to keep it out of the rain.
I have a set route that I like to dive to LAX. John swears by the WAYZ app because it supposedly takes you via the quickest route, factoring in traffic congestion, accidents, etc. But I really don't like driving all the way into downtown LA just to get to the airport.
That dang app took us on surface streets through Crenshaw and Inglewood and places I've never been. It might've been twenty minutes quicker but it sure was a hassle. We finally made it to our favorite long term parking facility, Wally Park.
We like this place. The valets are helpful, the facility is clean, and there are thick curtain type dividers between the parking stalls to make sure nobody puts a door ding in Big Betsy. John and I grab a cup of strong coffee and hop aboard the shuttle to the Southwest terminal at LAX.
Here is where John and I part company for a bit. My ticket is TSA Pre so I get to go in the short line and I don't have to take off my shoes. I got lucky this time.
Of course, poor John caught a little extra attention when he brought his sound module on board as a carry-on item. The TSA agent was also a keyboard player and recognized it as soon as he opened the case. The TSA agent said, "Wow, this is an old one." John said, "Yeah, but the analog stuff has the best sounds."
We made it to our gate in plenty of time. Our plane was delayed a few minutes but it was no big deal.
We were at the end of the A group so there were plenty of seats to choose from when we boarded the plane. John, Dave, and I sat together.
When Misty saw my ukulele she asked, "Are you going to play for us?" I said, "Of course!" She asked, "Do you sing too?" I said, "Well, some people call it that."
I played and sang a few of my big ukulele hits while everyone boarded the plane. Misty played soundguy and held the ship's handset so that I could entertain the passengers and crew. For my trouble Misty made sure to slip me a couple of cold ones, and some Plane Crackers.
It was a rather late flight. We arrived in San Antonio close to midnight. We had to take a couple of taxis, for us and our gear, and stayed at the closest no-tell motel Holiday Inn.
Luckily, there was an Applebee's within walking distance. Dave, John, and I made it there just before last call.
We stayed the night in San Antonio with plans for the casino shuttle to pick us up in the morning. We had very adequate rooms.
I had the room all to myself even though it was a double room. I can't say much for my view of the parking lot.
The next morning (Friday) we met downstairs for the complimentary breakfast before the shuttle arrived at 9am. Guitar Mike and I enjoyed a hearty breakfast.
I filled up with oatmeal with raisins, sausage, omlette, and biscuit with sausage gravy followed by plenty of coffee.
Just as I finished up with breakfast our shuttle arrived to take us to the casino, about two and a half hours away toward the southwest.
I just enjoyed the Texas countryside on the way to the little town of Eagle Pass where the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel is located.
I noticed that gasoline was between $2.25 and $2.45 per gallon. That's quite a difference to the near $4 we are currently paying here in the "Sunshine State".
Just lovely.
We saw miles and miles of Texas on the way to the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel. It's actually quite a destination.
Hey! I think we're getting close. The venue is only three miles off the highway.
As we drove through the parking lot of the Casino we noticed how close we were to the Rio Grand. It's just on the other side of that fence, just this side of the ridge.
We are so close to Mexico that my phone is pinging cell towers across the border. I had to sign up for a travel plan to be sure my phone worked this weekend. We made it to the lobby. This is a nice place. I think Dave and John are glad to be here after a two and a half hour drive. Where's the restroom?
I entertained the masses while we get checked into our rooms and figure out what's going on.
First we took our gear over to the stage. The security staff sent a trolley for us.
Here's the front of the hotel going through a minor facelift. It's a pretty nice place, much bigger than expected.
While we were in the security office getting our passes I thought I try to improve my I.Q.
Then our trolley driver took us over to the back door of the stage. We had to wait a bit. T-Willie called our security guy to let him know that we've been waiting out here so long that our clothes were going out of style.
I was impressed with this lounge. It's a pretty nice room and nice stage.
Dave gets to stay in a cage. He didn't mind. He got a value model Gretsch kit for his backline.
Here's a shot of the casino floor looking out of the lounge.
Since the crew wasn't quite ready for us to sound check, T-Willie and I went in search of the Willie Nelson slot machine. We found it.
As soon as T-Wille walked up to this couple playing this slot machine, it hit for $450. This gentleman was quite surprised and pleased.
Here's a picture of the entrance to the Que Pasa? lounge.
I had to run up to my room and I noticed there were promotional posters in the elevator. I know that guy.
The rooms here are very nice.
Out my window is a nice view of the parking structure and surrounding area.
Ivan and Johnathan were our sound crew today. Ivan is at the board right now. He helped with sound and ran the lights.
Johnny was quite pleased with the keyboards in his backline. He brought just the one keyboard he uses mostly for the harmonica sound.
My backline was pretty cool. I had this wedge Ampeg 210 next to my vocal monitor. These soundguys had everything sounding great. I could hear everything.
Guitar Mike was really impressed with his boutique backline amp.
Here's a shot from the FOH board, a Midas.
I just thought the ceiling was interesting with the decoration, lighting, flying speakers, etc.
Here Johnny is getting his guitar tech on, tuning up T-Willie's Cordova before he seriously sound checks.
Ivan helps T-Willie with his monitor mix. Everyone was really impressed with the stage mix.
See? I told you Drummer Dave doesn't mind being behind the shield. He seems happy.
OK, soundcheck is done the stage is set and lit.
We all ran back to our rooms to freshen up and meet back in the greenroom backstage. Here we are just about to take the stage.
Actually, we started the evening with a meet-and-greet. I was surprised at how many people thought the real Willie was here.
There were a ton of folks who wanted their picture with T-Willie.
The picture line extended way into the casino floor.
T-Willie yelled at me, "Hey Cliff! Get your camera ready!" I figured out why. This is Antisa.
Oh boy! There's a smoke machine on stage.
I thought the crew did a great job making the stage look all professional and stuff.
We take the stage! Here's Guitar Mike. Kick'er off there, Wichita.
Oops. Sorry John. Bad lighting.
Here's a shot of the room from my mic just seconds before we kick off the show. It's a pretty full room.
I caught a couple of cool shots of T-Willie when I had a second right in the middle of our fast-paced Las Vegas style show.
During the show T-Willie mentioned something about drinking so this nice young lady brought up a shot. After the show she bought the whole band a round. We love the liquid applause.
This lovely lady is Nikki Online, the Social Media Director here at the Kickapoo. She interviewed us and posted some stuff on the Facebook after the show. Nikki brings joy to the room when she walks in. It was great working with her.
After the show we visited Azul, an upscale Mexican eatery in the casino. Nikki joined us to chat and conduct her interview.
Yes, I enjoyed the Shiner Bock tonight. When in Rome....
I also enjoyed this chili dish stuffed with meat and cheese and other goodness, Chile en Nogada.
Then we went to our rooms to either retire for the night or get out of our stage clothes in order to come back down and party some more. Look who we ran into.
I met Dave and John at the Red Sky and enjoyed my first ever martini. It tasted like Kool-Aid. After that we switched to shots and beer, manly drinks.
On the way back to our rooms, John and I were hungry again. We stopped by the taco stand for some tacos and one more Coors Lite.
These tacos were pretty terrific, five tacos for five bucks. You can't hardly beat that.
Of course my Saturday began with me sleeping late. I woke up so late that I realized that I had slept right through my nap time. Oh well. After a tough morning and early afternoon of surfing Talkbass I decided to go for a long walk. I needed to stretch my legs and get the juices flowing with a good hard power walk. I went to the elevator lobby to check out the weather through the big window. I'm staying on the top floor, the sixth. It looked warm an humid.
When I got outside I realized that I was not too far off. At least it was breezy. I like to take a thirty minute power walk so I walked up the main road back into town for about fifteen minutes, until I started hearing banjos. Then I thought it best to turn around.
When I got outside I realized that I was not too far off. At least it was breezy. I like to take a thirty minute power walk so I walked up the main road back into town for about fifteen minutes, until I started hearing banjos. Then I thought it best to turn around.
As I was briskly walking back I got a text from Johnny Magic Fingers. He said that the guys were getting together at 3:30pm for a quick sound check just to tweak a couple of things. I called him to let him know that I would be there, possibly a few minutes late. When I arrived Dave and John were on stage tweaking away but Johnathan wasn't here yet.
Johnathan was really busy today but made it to the lounge in time for us to run half of a couple of tunes. We quickly tweaked what was necessary and then scampered back to our rooms to get ready. While we were sound checking there was a temporary power outage that caused some issues in the casino and hotel. The fire alarms went off and the staff had to let everyone know it was a false alarm. Unfortunately, the power glitch knocked out not only the guest elevators but also most of the air conditioning on one side of the facility. I was able to get a ride up to the top floor on the service elevator which was located on the side of the building not affected. Then T-Willie and I had to take the stairs down to the lounge when it was time.
Here's T-Willie on stage with T-Willie on the big screens. We were down early for the 5pm meet-and-greet.
I see Johnathan, not only a talented soundman but a dashingly handsome young man, had stocked the green room with snacks and drinks. Cool.
Monster is not my favorite energy drink but I was grateful to have it. They are taking really good care of us here.
Before doors opened I took a second to take my own picture with True Willie.
Then it was doors. The meet-and-greet line was three times as long tonight as it was last night. The first in line was Amanda and her dad Gilbert. They were here last night too. Amanda was thrilled that we remembered her.
This guy was just too cool for school, with his Willie Nelson t-shirt and all.
And so it went, a thirty minute feeding frenzy of "take my picture" and "sign my shoe", or purse, or t-shirt, or whatever they had to sign.
We managed to get everyone's picture taken, autographs signed, etc, in the allotted thirty minute time. Then we went back stage to gather our thoughts, have a cool beverage, and hit the stage.
As we take the stage to cheers I took three pictures to get all of the room. It was packed and got more crowded once we started playing.
We kicked off the show and it was magical. Everyone was pretty much en pointe.
Dave laid it down and sang his Waylon so convincingly that "Good Hearted Woman" brought cheers from the crowd as soon as they recognized the voice.
Magic Fingers Johnny played his boogie-woogie number the boogiest and woogiest I've ever heard. The soundman told Johnny, "You're the best keyboard player that's ever been on this stage," saying nothing about being the only keyboard player ever on this stage. (Just kidding!)
T-Willie really put on a good show tonight despite the distractions.
As the room got more crowded, people just walked right up to the stage and stuck their cell phone in our faces. It was a little bit weird, and a bit distracting. T-Willie looks at me like, "What the **** is going on here?"
It just got more strange as the veteran in the wheel chair rolled up to T-Willie in the middle of a song and started to have a conversation and wanted to shake his hand. People are strange.
Despite the distractions, the band was hot and the show went great. After the show we went in search of the Willie Nelson slot machines so we could take a few shots to show the client that we were hawking their wares.
This is Stephanie, our server and assistant manager, taking good care of us as we put some groceries down our necks.
John loves his ribs.
I had a craving for a burger so I ordered the Jalapeno Cheeseburger. It was really great.
After supper we went back to our rooms to go incognito so we could come back down and party a little more. This is the nighttime view from the top floor elevator lobby. There's not much out here.
The lights you see off in the distance is the city of Eagle Pass. There's not much between here and there beside scrub brush. After I got into my stealth clothes I met John and Dave at the Red Sky bar where I had my first real martini, good vodka, a whisper of vermouth, and a skewer of olives. I didn't know whether to drink it with my pinkie out, or with my elbow out, so I did both. I had two and that was plenty!
After a couple of nightcaps we made our way back to our rooms. I poked my head into the Que Pasa? lounge to check out the action. The DJ had three couples on the dance floor.
But it was till early and business was picking up. I called it a night because we have to load out at 9am in the morning which is about eight hours from now. All that's left is the travel home, a long shuttle drive to the airport, a long flight, then a shuttle ride to the parking garage, then a long drive home. Such is the life of a small time rock star.
Now let me put a ribbon on this trip right quick. We loaded out on Sunday morning to make an early afternoon flight out of San Antonio back to LAX. We had our gear stashed backstage and met there with our luggage about 9am. Here's Guitar Mike and Drummer Dave just about ready to vamoose.
The head of security checked our gear going in and going out. We couldn't take any cocktail waitresses home with us.
On the drive back to the freeway we passed through a friendly Border Patrol checkpoint. We didn't tell them we were musicians.
Look at that gas price, $2.499 a gallon, and that wasn't even the cheapest I saw.
I suppose with those low gas prices we could've stayed on Interstate 10 and driven all the way back home.
Johnny Magic Fingers thought he was going to stay in San Antonio to visit some friends and changed his flight plans. Then his visit fell through so he changed his flight plans back. That's why he didn't get the TSA Pre like the rest of us. John will catch up to us later at the gate. He has to go in the looooong line.
As I passed through the TSA check the agent said, "Who's baby guitar is this?" I guess you can't open-carry a ukulele in Texas. He just wanted to check a couple of questionable items in my pack. He was nice enough so I asked, "Would you like me to play you a tune. He said emphatically, "No sir!"
Here we are again, in the back row, enjoying our flight.
Lindsey was kind enough to let me entertain the passengers once we arrived at LAX while everyone was deplaning. Then at baggage claim several passengers thanked me for the entertainment. Awww, shucks.
I'm not sure if they mean my bass case or my head. We picked up our luggage at the carousel and got our instruments at the oversize baggage claim.
The LAX terminal wasn't the busiest I've ever seen it, but it was pretty busy.
John and I made the most of our shuttle ride back to Wally Park. I guess were having too much fun for some people.
The valet brought Big Betsy down from her temporary home so that she could bring us to our home sweet home.
The next morning I was able to put on her hard folding tonneau cover. I think she looks very nice.
Thanks for coming along on this trip with me, True Willie, and the boys. Arnie and I have a couple of gigs coming up on the weekend. Saturday we are at Buckle and Boots in Lancaster. Sunday we have a wedding in Malibu. I wish the rain would let up for a while. I haven't had a chance to give Big Betsy a bath.
OK, that's it. We'll see you next week with a brand new show!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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