It's unusual for Arnie Newman's Country Club Band to play three nights in a row at Gilley's Las Vegas (Thu-Sat) but since it was a holiday weekend Arnie decided it would produce enough fun units. As I mentioned in another post, I and a couple million of my closest friends left the LA basin on Wednesday evening headed out of town for our 4th of July celebration.
I achieved an average of ten miles per hour going up the Cajon pass, with bursts up to twenty five miles per hour. On the downhill side traffic was able to move along at sixty to sixty five miles per hour. It wasn't until after Victorville proper that the traffic spread out enough to hit seventy. For the most part I was able to set Big Betsy's cruise control to seventy miles per hour and cruise along through the desert and let those in a hurry have their fun. At about ten thirty I was passing through Baker and took a lousy picture of the big thermometer in the middle of town. It was reading 86 degrees(F).
I arrived at Treasure Island a little ahead of my expectations. I'm old and save my gig money so I can tip the valet and bellman.
I'm on the tenth floor this time but on the wrong side of the hotel. The room is great.
I'm on the opposite side of the hotel wing from the strip. I have a great view of Dick's Sporting Goods and Macy's.
I don't much care because I can pick up a six pack of the Stone IPA that I like and listen to some tunes on the Flip4 that my lovely daughter gave me for Father's Day. It's great for woodshedding tunes.
Johnny Magic Fingers is just down the hall from me. He stopped by to share a Stone. The rest of the band will be here tomorrow before soundcheck. I like getting here the night before. That way I can sleep a little late before I just slide downstairs for sound check.
There's a bit of controversy happening right now. John and I were told that the hotel is booked solid and we have to check out Friday morning. That seems odd since we're playing all weekend and will not leave until Sunday morning. I'm going down to the VIP office in the morning to see what entertainment executive messed up. Wish me luck. I may be sleeping on the street come Friday night.
The next morning Cynthia in the VIP Services office was very helpful. When I explained the situation she called the entertainment department and got it straightened out. She said there are a couple of new people in that office and this has happened a couple of times recently. Now we are booked in our rooms until Sunday morning. I even got a special platinum room key.
As long as I was downstairs I stocked up on my ego medication (ROCKSTAR energy drinks) so I could make it through the weekend.
Now I'm running some new tunes in my room waiting for soundcheck this
afternoon. I brought my acoustic bass so we could all rehearse together.
Yes, we have work to do. It's not all fun and games. Okay! Here's what happened on my 4th of July in Las Vegas. I wanted to sleep late but, as you saw before, I had to get up earlier than I wanted so that I could go down to the VIP Services office and straighten out the band's room reservations. With that done I ran some tunes until it was time to head downstairs for soundcheck.
When I arrived at the honky tonk Arnie and Jason were there hauling in their gear so I helped. I came down to help John, who also needed help getting his gear hauled in and set up because he's still recovering from his surgery. It seems the more I downsize so that I have to work less at the gig, the more I'm expected to help everyone else. (Am I complaining? Sorry.) Here we are getting set up on stage.
After I plugged my bass into the DI box, played my one note soundcheck, and we ran few a few new songs during our soundcheck, I headed to the "Sad Cafe" for some supper. (Another musician we know who performs here refers to the employee cafeteria as the "Sad Cafe".) I guess if you ever visited here you'd know how fitting the name is.
Since I hadn't eaten all day and this is my only meal, I helped myself to some dry chicken, some dry salmon, some overcooked vegetables, cheap sausage links, some BBQ beans (with pork and bacon, the beans were great!), and a big plate of salad.
I also had some cherry cake and frozen vanilla custard for dessert. After dessert I stopped in the shop with autographed collectibles. It's fun to look at the stuff in there, instruments, posters, pictures, etc, of famous people with signatures. It seems they will take a $500 instrument, have it signed by someone famous, then sell it for $3000. They had instuments signed by all kinds of famous types. Here's a left hand Hofner bass signed by Paul McCartney for $3800.
Here are some guitars signed by George Strait, the Aerosmith crew, and Garth Brooks.
A little more bass content; a signed picture of Keith Urban playing a Precision. I used to do that song, "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" in which Keith played the bass part. Maybe I should pick it up again.
Then it was back to my room to run some more tunes and get ready for the show. I always like to shower just before I go downstairs. It helps to wake me up and revitalize me. I forgot to drink one of my ROCKSTAR energy drinks before the show and I could tell come the third set. Oh well. Now I have one for the drive home.
Being the 4th of July and all I like to dress up in my red Scully shirt and be patriotic. I wear this shirt pretty much once a year.
Here you can see the wireless rack we use and my huge bass setup.
Our emcee tonight is known as "The Urban Cowboy". He not only announces us but runs the bull riding contest on Thursday nights. He seems like a nice guy despite the sport jacket. I guess it was the most patriotic outerwear he had in his closet.
He said himself that he couldn't decide whether he looked like a peppermint stick or a barber pole. He's got a lot of personality and kept the crowd engaged on the breaks with the mechanical bull riding contest that had a $200 first prize.
Here's a picture of Johnny Magic Fingers in action.
Yes, this is during the intro to "Feel Like A Woman". This is my big moment on stage to take pictures of the band.
The sound crew let Jason play without a shield. They might regret that.
The crowd was pretty sparse early in the evening. On Thursdays the band plays 9:00pm-12:30am. For our last set the place got busy, after all the fireworks shows.
And now I'm back in my room, posting to my favorite forum, about to tell you that this beer is not a keeper. Bleh.
I really enjoyed the Saint Archer Hazy IPA that we tried at our Imperial Days Festival gig earlier this year. I figured their regular IPA would be just as good. I was wrong. It's just OK. It seems this beer can't decide if it wants to be refreshing or bitter. As it warms it starts to taste worse. Drink this beer very cold or not at all. I'll finish this sixer but I probably won't buy any more. Sorry. (#talkbeer)
And that was my 4th of July gig here on the strip in Vegas at Gilley's next to Treasure Island. Wow. We've got two more nights here. It's not often that I play three nights in a row at the same place. It's kind of cool. This is a a pretty cushy gig for me.
I didn't mention the big earthquake out here on the West Coast because I didn't feel it on the afternoon of the 4th. I was in the shower when it happened and missed it, couldn't feel the hotel shaking. Weird. It was a 6.4 magnitute quake centered near Ridgecrest CA, about 140 miles from here in a straight line. I really felt the earthquake the next day, a 7.1 centered in the same area. Wow! Back to my gig.
Today (7/5/19) I slept a little later than I should've. I had a date for lunch and had to let them know I was running behind. I hustled down to the valet to pick up Big Betsy. I noticed that she really sipped the gasoline on our cruise up here Wednesday night. For a four door full sized pickup she got great mileage. I think the tonneau cover helped with the aerodynamics. I'm sure I could make the round trip on a single tank.
Our lunch place was less than ten minutes away from the hotel. This is a chain Italian restaurant that I've never tried before, Buca di Beppo. There are several close to home, I've just never dined at one.
Our local celebrity? It's my friend Charles who invited me to have lunch with some of his friends from church. Food and fellowship is always a good time. There were a couple of other musicians at the table so we had plenty to talk about. I'd also met Brach and John at Charles' church when I've visited.
I had the chicken parm. It was pretty good fare and just a little more authentic than Olive Garden. I enjoyed it.
We said our goodbyes because Charles had official business to attend to and I just need to shed some tunes for an upcoming show next week. Charles and Tony said they'd try to stop by the honky tonk this weekend but everyone is pretty busy rehearsing or buying motorcycles in neighboring states. Even Andy is playing gigs this weekend. But it was good to touch base with all you guys while I'm in town. I'll be back two or three more times before the end of the year.
This is just a random photo of the neighborgood as I drive back to Treasure Island. I'm starting to drive around like the natives, avoiding the strip and all of its traffic. That's the Stratosphere you see directly in front.
Come rock and roll in Las Vegas with Arnie Newman's Country Club Band! Literally!
Friday evening started with a little show featuring the Gilley Girls. They do a couple of minutes of line dancing to get the crowd warmed up.
Kelsey was celebrating her 21st birthday in the honky tonk tonight. Her party seemed happy to meet this old country bass player and let me send out a song to the birthday girl.
Next to me is mu cousin, Jack, and his roommate, Tip. I call Jack every time I'm in town but this is the first time in a while that he's been able to stop by.
Just before we hit, let's do a Beauty and The Beast and The Bass Player selfie.
I apologize for the fuzzy picture of Johnny Magic Fingers. He certainly did not play fuzzy tonight. He was on fire!
It seems Bam Bam is always looking at his tech. I wish he would just play drums, tastefully.
Yes! We have line dancers in the house!
Amanda blew me away tonight. When we were doing our duet "Shallow" I almost lost it.
Here's Jason looking at his computer again.
I hope we start doing Amanda's original tunes soon. They are really good.
The crowd tonight was in a party mood. It wasn't the biggest crowd we've ever had at Gilley's but the energy was in the air.
Drat. Another fuzzy picture of John. Sometimes it's hard to sing and play and take pictures at the same time.
Hey look! Another local celebrity in the house! Tony is in the house and bought this old country bass player a beer. Cool! Let's have lunch tomorrow!
It's getting late on a Friday night but the dance floor is still pretty dang busy. Fun night!
And now I'm back in my room, posting my pictures and drinking beer.
I haven't yet found a beer I didn't like from the Lagunitas brewery. This Little Sumpin' Ale is a bit hoppy but has enough wheat in it to keep me interested. It's light but packs a punch at 7.5%. It's not bitter at all and, being an ale, it's a bit "thicker" than a pilsner, not quite a bock, but it's close enough. I enjoy this one.
We have one more night of fun here on the strip in Las Vegas, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.
Today was a pretty lazy day. I was up too late last night and might've had one or two beers too many. I actually got hungry after posting pictures to my cloud last night and decided to visit the "Sad Cafe" again. The employee cafeteria, called "retreat" is behind a secret door.
It is a pretty sad cafe at 3am. I've never enjoyed working the graveyard shift.
I found the perfect food to cure my beer belly, pizza, bacon, sausage and sour kraut, meatballs with meat sauce. Oh my goodness. What was I thinking?
The next morning I slept as late as I could and then made plans to meet Tony for lunch at Casa Don Juan. I ate here last time with Charles. This is a great Mexican place. There are a few locations. We like the one by the airport. It's festive inside.
I felt like taking Jane and Dave out to lunch today. (Their band is called 'Redhead'.)
After that early morning pig-out I wanted something lighter. I enjoyed the chile rellenos.
Tony had his favorite chorizo and eggs.
We had a great time chatting about ex-wives, motorcycles, music, beer, and all the other things two old dudes like to talk about. Then I had to get back to my room for a nap. I'm hitting the ROCKSTAR hard tonight so I can power through three more sets. It seems I never sleep enough when I make this trip. I gotta change my ways.
It was a totally fun Saturday night! It was not an epic crowd but it was epic fun thanks to several friends who dropped in. Here I am ready to head down to the honky tonk. I guess I don't look too bad for an old country bass player.
Hey! I know that guy!
The Gilly Girls start us off with a line dance demonstration to get the crowd in the dancing spirit.
Arnie and Amanda both got new hats today.
Amanda adjusts her IEM as she sings "Man, I feel Like A Woman".
Johnny Magic Fingers hits the horn lines on one of his many keyboards.
Arnie and Amanda rock out.
Jason was not looking at his tech so he geeks the camera.
Arnie rocks. Amanda wails.
Here's a view from Johnny's keyboard castle before we start the second set.
Like I mentioned, it was not a capacity crowd but they were having a ton of fun.
The old country bass player takes a selfie before we start a set.
I think Arnie is doing his Hank Jr. song, "Born To Boogie". It's got a bit of a guitar intro that gives me time to take his picture.
Or maybe two pictures.
During the last set our friends Daniel and Coral dropped in the house. We got Daniel up to sing with the band. They and the friends they brought out were cheering for an encore. But they don't do that kind of thing here.
Right after we were done I helped Johnny load out his gear. I ran back up to my room to change into another band t-shirt, Whiskey Karma, that I got from my friend Jordy. Hey Jordy! I haven't seen much from you lately. What's up?
Just to make sure this t-shirt also gets some cred.
OK, that's it. I gotta take a nap before I drive home in the morning. There's going to be a TON of traffic going back to SoCal because of the holiday weekend. Hopefully everyone is leaving early to beat the traffic so if I leave a little later they will all be gone.
To end the weekend a couple million of my closest friends and I hit the road toward home. I filled Big Betsy's tank at my usual station and headed south.
The Raiders Stadium project seems to be coming along nicely.
It was a five hour, forty five minute commute for me to get back home. It was the worst traffic I've ever experienced for this trip. Thankfully there were only a couple of crazy drivers on the road and no accidents. Everyone seemed patient and relaxed.
Here's a shot of the solar plant at Ivanpah. I'm not sure if this thing is worth the money or the effect on the environment.
For grins and giggles, I did stop at the Shell Station at exit 272 (Cima Road) because I HAD TO after drinking a ROCKSTAR. The fountain in the mens room was spectacular but I didn't take a picture of it. As you can tell this stop was pretty busy and it would've been too weird. I did enjoy a date shake.
I found a picture online to share. It's a lovely place for a rest stop.
Then I got back on the interstate with a couple million of my closest friends to trek through the desert. At least my horse has a name.
The big thermometer at Baker was reading 102 degrees (F), a pleasant day. Big Betsy's A/C kept me cool and comfortable.
I made it home to a house full of family, my brother, his wife, and a couple of kids. We'll be hanging out for a couple of days before they enjoy Disneyland for a few days. The ANB has a busy week coming up. Thanks for coming along. All the best!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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