Me and the ANB had a summer park concert on the grass in front of Chino City Hall yesterday. It was a pretty short drive for me compared to where most of our gigs are situated. Here I am going over the hill to drive past the large educational institution next to where I work. You get a little view of the Pomona Valley.
I used the smart phone connectivity features of Big Betsy to contact Johnny Magic Fingers so we could coordinate arrival times. He still needs help with his gear while he's recovering from surgery. I arrive shortly after he did and filled up both of our handy-dandy Rock-n-Roller carts with his gear. He brings three times as much gear as anyone.
I was glad to see that the stage area was already in the shade. By downbeat most of the lawn will be in the shade of City Hall too. I helped John get set up before I unloaded and sat up my gear.
The other hairy legged boys arrive and join the setup dance. We didn't have to dance too closely. It was a good sized stage area and the sound was provided by Ecplise. More on that later.
You see two regulars right up front. It seems that is their spot. People end up dancing behind them. Here's the view from the Midas board. We'll meet the sound crew in a bit.
Here we are continuing our setup samba. That's Tiffany to the left. She owns the sound company and fronts her own band, named "Ecplise". She has several sound systems and runs sound with whatever rig her band isn't using. She's quite the enterprising lady.
Jason says, "Mic check, one, two, three!"
Arnie says, "Ridin' twenty miles on a midnight train, just to go fishin' in the pourin' rain..."
We all rest easy when the talent arrives. Amanda has been working hard organizing the benefit last night. You could tell she was a little tired tonight. But she's a trooper and did great.
Meet our happy, helpful sound crew. This is Tiffany, lead singer in the band Ecplise, and Richard, who is Tiffany's sound engineer. They both worked hard and were easy to work with.
Here's a look back at the stage area as the crowd arrives to take a cool spot in the shade.
We used the city council chambers as our green room. We just couldn't eat in there.
We all got burgers and dogs from the Kiwanis booth for supper. They were actually pretty dang good. That's the mayor making a few announcements.
The lovely Ms. Amanda Kate and I take a traditional selfie just before we start.
The lawn is filling in nicely. It will get a bit more crowded after we start.
John is ready to make some magic happen with his fingers.
Here's my usual rig. You don't see my Carvin LB76 because I'm wearing it.
You see the set list and our JBL monitors. JBL lived up to it's name tonight.
We usually start the show with Arnie singing "Love Bug" but tonight he started with "Mama Tried". The second song is usually "Past The Point Of Rescue" sung by the bass player. Then Amanda hits them with one of her sassy girl songs, usually "I Feel Like A Woman" which has a long intro giving me time to take a few pictures.
Jason allowed me to take my ear plugs out at first. But then later he made me wish I hadn't.
"WHAT! You're playing without ear plugs?"
Arnie plays and sings an intro to one of his songs later in the show.
For our second set the crew put up some lighting. I asked Tiffany to make me look good but I understand she doesn't have much to work with.
We played two hours and an encore. Then I helped John pack up and load his gear. I came back to get mine after everyone was gone, said my goodbyes and thanked the sound crew.
When I got home I enjoyed a light snack of cold cuts and cheese, perfect with this Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Ale. This is just good beer. I hadn't had it for a while and this bottle reminded me of how much I like it. It's hoppy all right but still an ale and not an IPA, pretty balanced, just a little sweet, a little thick on the tongue, and not bitter even at 8%.
And here are a couple of pictures from the audience perspective. I got these from a friend's Facebook page.
The following two nights we are back at The Ranch, one of our usual rooms. Busy, busy week! Thanks for coming along.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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