Arnie Newman's Country Club Band and I kicked off our summer season at Knott's Berry Farm last night. This Wednesday was actually a corporate event, a buyout of the whole park by the U.S. Travel Association's event known as IPW (International Pow Wow) held in Anaheim this year. They started at Disneyland and ended up at Knott's. Next year the event will be held in Las Vegas. We'll be playing about ten Saturday nights during the rest of the summer. I'll miss a couple due to previous commitments. Let's get started.
As usual I have to leave work a little early to get to the gig on time. The 57 freeway got sticky right as I hit the Orange county line and stayed that way until I got off the freeway.
I really like this park. It's so homey and cute. I'm just pulling around the corner to get to the employee parking on the west side.
I drive past the security shack and yell, "I'm with the band!" and get waved on through. Then I haul my gear across the street to the employee entrance.
I was hoping to be on the big stage. But alas, it was not to be. We're on the Calico stage in front of the saloon. I guess that's fitting.
We're on the other side of the tracks.
I've played this stage many times before. It's taken several forms over the years. I like what they've done to the place.
I'm here way early. The stage crew is just getting organized so I hop on stage to take a few pictures. First we'll look left toward the saloon, then center, then to the right.
The FOH PA system is cleverly hidden in those colorful crates you see in front of the stage. The park seems to have been refreshed a bit and looks great. I heard that there were some new folks in the upper echelons of management who were making some good changes. I made my way to our green room. We will be sharing this with the bandits and the bluegrass band but they're all nice folks.
It's so homey in here that the employees put up their coloring on their lockers. I love it. I wanted to color too but didn't get a 'Wanted' poster tonight. Maybe another night.
I just needed to check my makeup and my guns.
It looks like the stage crew has arrived in force. They are wiring the stage, dialing in the PA, and putting the backline in place. I love backlined gigs. All I have to do is walk on stage with my bass and plug in. Oh, and set the EQ on the amp.
The rack is behind the stage. Les ran FOH with a tablet out front. Once we started the performance, one of his crew would make adjustments to the monitors back here.
While the stage was being readied we took a walk to the employee cafeteria. I didn't eat but I needed coffee. We walked by the Fireman's BBQ stage where I worked with the Kelly Rae Trio (Kelly, Jeff, and I) during the Knott's Merry Farm season a few years ago. The bluegrass band will be on this stage during the summer.
Through this unlabeled, nondescript door is part of the backstage inner workings of Knott's. You must never let anyone know that you've seen this.
Here is the Cornerstone Cafe where the employees get decent grill for a decent price. They give away ice tea and coffee.
I didn't eat this evening but the salad bar looked pretty good. Maybe next time.
Since this is a corporate buyout this evening, the park will be closing to the public at 5:30pm. Then we will sound check. The park opens again at 7pm for the event.
It looks like the stage is set. We'll be sound checking as soon as the park is cleared.
Here's a look at my backline rig, pretty standard. I like it, it sounded good. We don't have to be very loud.
This was Arnie's backline. That's a lot of amp. Arnie kept a muzzle on it pretty well.
This is Les, the FOH guy, helping Amanda get dialed in. Les does a really good job. The agent who booked us here, Stan Frees (who retired from Disney a couple years ago), said it sounded really good out front.
Amanda and Arnie get their sound the way they like it. We were staring into the sun during soundcheck. By the time we started our first set the sun had set. Whew!
Johnny Magic Fingers was using only two keyboards, one he brought and the other was backlined. John brought no amps, went direct, and used only his single QSC monitor. That's only half the gear he usually works with but he sounded great. Jason's backlined Yamaha kit sounded pretty good once he stopped hitting it so hard. Someone must've mentioned something to him because about halfway through the first set he started playing at a reasonable volume with some dynamics. Then again, maybe Bam Bam is growing up.
Here's a happy, smiling keyboard player.
After our soundcheck we went over to the big stage to say "Hi" to Haitus. That's our friend Stephanie singing with them this evening, maybe for the whole run. Haitus is also known as the Mad Tea Party band when they work at Disney. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.
It getting close to showtime. I met this cute little train robber named Birdie. She's very sweet, for a train robber.
The corporate types have started filling the park. Pretty much everything is free for them, food, beer, rides, etc. It was a party. So let's get the party started! We were trading sets with Haitus. They hit at 7, then we hit at 7:30.
John was on fire this evening. When there's no fiddle or steel he gets more solos. I'm amazed that he can play so much and not repeat himself. The solo he took during "Stuck In The Middle With You" was epic. I wish I had a recording.
Here's Beauty and the Beast just before downbeat.
Here's a shot of the whole crew with the man himself, Stanford Freese and his lovely wife. Stan was the talent booking directory at Disney for decades until her retired. Now I think he does it part time at Knott's just for fun.
On a break we wandered over to see Haitus. They play mostly pop-rock, 80s, and classic tunes that we all love. I got a hug from Stephanie, she's so stinkin' cute.
Then we made our way back to our stage, on the other side of the tracks, in front of the saloon, where we belong.
Our dressing room was here in the Land Office.
While we played we had a good crowd. There was some line dancing. The cast showed up and partied with us a bit.
We had lots of people taking our picture, or maybe Amanda's picture. So I took a picture of somebody taking a picture.
We played only two sets tonight. The normal run on Saturdays will be three sets. I put my basses in their cases and let the stage crew handle the rest. Sometimes it's good to be a small time rock star.
Here's the company logo projected on the mine ride mountain.
Here is the Knott's Summer Nights logo. These are projected all over the place. I took this as I was pulling my handy-dandy Rock-n-Roller cart out to my truck.
On the way home I stopped for gas. I've got three more gigs this week. Ouch! At least Big Betsy has been averaging 24+ miles per gallon, much better than my old friend Bob van Astro. The price of gas here in Krazyfornia has actually gone down about 30 cents in the last few weeks. Crazy. But the tax on gas is going up another 5 cents in July.
I'll update this blog from time to time as we play our season of Saturdays here at Knott's. Coming up, we are back at Stillwater Spirits and Sounds to play our Big City Merle Haggard Tribute show. Then Friday and Saturday is our regular weekend at The Ranch. It's going to be a pretty busy summer for me, Arnie, and the True Willie band. Thanks for hanging with me.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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