On a Thursday night the hairy legged pickers and I played at our favorite dive bar in San Juan Capistrano, the Swallows Inn. We've played this honky tonk a bunch so I'll make this report short and sweet.
As with most of my mid-week gigs, I have to put in for a couple hours vacation time so I can take off early and fight the traffic into the OC. It was normal rush hour traffic. Luckily I was heading the opposite direction most of the time. Here I am driving by Angel Stadium just north of the Orange Crush, headed into south Orange County.
I arrived in plenty of time and got one of my favorite parking spaces at the end of the building. From here I just have to roll around the corner to the stage door. All my gear fits right at the end of my truck bed, easy to load and unload.
I roll around the corner, just two doors down, and toss my gear on stage just as Johnny Magic Fingers pulls up in his little black SUV. That was fortuitous timing on our part. I'm still helping John schlep his gear until his doctor clears him to lift more than ten pounds.
Here's all of my gear on stage.
I carried all of Johnny's gear on stage too. He also brought the sub-woofer for the PA.
After John and I got set up I went next door to check out a boutique shop that my friend Jefferson told me about. Here's the back patio of Swallows Inn.
Here's our friend Jefferson doing his single act at the grand opening of the western wear boutique. He started at 6pm, we start at 7pm.
It is a very nice shop. I bought Mrs. BassCliff a little something which she really liked. Score! They also had whiskey tasting, which I did. Then I had to get back to my gig. The San Juan Capistrano Equestrian Coalition was having an event here tonight with raffles and a silent auction. That's what you see on the shuffleboard, where people usually sit.
Arnie arrived so I helped him schlep and set up his PA. Dave was the last to arrive. I think that may be why Arnie told him to sit in the corner.
John does double-duty as the soundguy when we run our own sound. There was absolutely no feedback tonight. Pretty good!
This is a crowd that likes their classic/vintage country, two-steps and swing dances. They love it when Johnny does his big boogie-woogie number.
Because John has missed quite a few gigs since his surgery, tonight we dedicated the tip jar to him. The folks here at Swallows were very generous in contribution to John's medical recovery fund.
On a break John has a sit on the bench out front. It was a quite pleasant evening.
Our friend Shayna was in the house tonight. She loves to line dance at The Ranch but doesn't mind coming out here to two-step.
Terri and Christi really enjoyed the band tonight. They danced in front of us the whole last set.
Arnie was on fire tonight. He pulled out a song that none of us had ever done before, but we'd all heard it and were familiar with it, and we nailed it. It was pretty dang fun playing, by request, "Cold Shot" by SRV.
Dave was a blast to play with this evening. He was groovin' and swingin' and just having his way with those cool beats. He let the band really click.
Yay band! We played until 11pm and had to call it a night. The place was still packed. Everyone stayed all evening and showed their appreciation.
Look at that tip jar! I don't know the final total but I'm sure Johnny made over $200 in tips that night, maybe close to $300. Then I helped Arnie pack up and load out the PA. Then I helped John pack up and load his gear. Then, last to leave, I rolled my gear out to Big Betsy.
Sorry there was no food shot at the gig. But the next day John took me out to lunch at Chili's. I had the Boss Burger. You're looking at a half pound patty, cheese, brisket, rib meat, bacon, and sausage on that burger, 1600 calories! Oh man! It was great! I don't think I'll have to eat for a couple of days.
Tomorrow we will be at Knott's Berry Farm for our regular Saturday summer gig there. Dave will also be joining us on drums. I'm looking forward to that. In a way it's a good thing that our gig in Santa Fe got cancelled. John, Dave, and I would have gotten no sleep this weekend if we'd had to work with TW on Friday night. We were scheduled to work late Thursday night, fly out early Friday morning to soundcheck in the afternoon, and play Friday night. Then get up early Saturday morning to fly back just in time to get to Knott's to play Saturday night. Whew!
Thanks for hanging out with me at my favorite dive bar. I'll see you guys again at Knott's.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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