This is an annual event for the True Willie Band. We played the Laguna Festival of Arts just a couple weeks ago. We always play twice during the run of the festival. For that reason I'll just give you a quick rundown of the gig last night, always fun, always a good crowd.
There was a bad accident on the 57 headed through Orange County. I'm glad Johnny had called to let me know. I was able to take alternate routes and make it there just a few minutes after our scheduled call time. Johnny Magic Fingers and Guitar Mike were well into the setup samba when I rolled on stage.
This is a lovely venue. I didn't get a chance to wander around and look at the actual art. Maybe next time.
Drummer Dave arrives and joins the fray. You can see Mrs. Drummer Dave and Mrs. BassCliff chatting on the far side of the stage.
Our soundman, Sid, is trying something to let T-Willie hear himself better. We'll see how this works.
It turns out that since these monitors are not "phase compensated" he was not able to use four of them, only three. But TW could hear himself very, very well. Now Sid and his crew, Chris, are working on the drum mics.
Guitar Mike brought his Mesa amp tonight. I think it's much lighter than his vintage Fender.
We sang a single a cappella chorus for our sound check and we were done. Sid just pulled up our show settings from last time. The board remembers. It looks like the stage is set. We're headed off to the green room.
The crowd is starting to fill in.
Here's a look back at the stage from the far end of the seating.
Our green room is actually the large conference room for the facility. It's very nice, and cool.
They always put out a nice spread of snacks and drinks, pita, hummus, fruit, cheese, salami, granola bars, chips, pretzels, cookies, coffee, etc. But no beer.
We put on our cowboy clothes and take the stage. It's a good looking crowd this evening.
Drummer Dave was very tasty tonight, and he played well too. He was so quiet I don't think he even needed that shield.
Guitar Mike was on his vintage ES335.
Someone had asked about Mike's effects. This is it, just one Vox multi-effect pedal gets the job done. He said he uses only about a dozen effects in the library of about 80 effects in this pedal.
I think John really enjoys playing on that Yamaha Avant Grand. I'm glad he doesn't want to haul one around to the gig all the time. He's got quite enough gear already.
One of the event staff offered to take a picture of the band. I was kind of afraid it would turn out like this, with a mic stand blocking someone. Poor Johnny.
Then the man of the hour hits the stage. The band was on fire, smooth, dynamic, balanced, and having a ton of fun.
We played a ninety minute set plus a couple of encores and left them wanting more. I guess that's a good thing.
Then we had our usual meet-and-greet before loading out. The drive home was even worse than the drive down here. The 57 freeway was closed again due to an overturned tanker. We took and alternate route that also had an accident that slowed traffic to a crawl. But we finally made it.
Coming up next, I'll be at The Ranch with Arnie and his gang. You can always logon to the Live Stream and heckle us from the comfort of your own computer chair if you like. Thanks for looking! Break a leg!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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