Irvine Global Village Festival, 10/12/19

Hello my friends,

Yes, last Saturday was a double for me. I got together with my old band, The Kelly Rae Band, to play a one hour show at the Irvine Global Village Festival. I figured this was a big to-do but I didn't realize how big. The performers had their own parking lot and the staff sent two carts, one for me and one for my gear, to take me to our stage. There were three stages on the grounds for this two day festival.

On this side of the festival there was a huge field with a stage on both ends. The entertainment was staggered. 

We rolled up to a huge covered stage. Unfortunately it is facing the sun. That's been the story of my life this summer. Since I'm the first to arrive at the stage I have my helpers toss my gear into one of the dressing tents. 

I know Kelly Rae is here because her daughters are also performing in the kids stage on the other side of the festival. I make my way over there in time to catch the last couple of songs. Kelly's daughters, 12 and 14, are quite talented singers and help their Dad write songs. They have two CDs out already. You might remember Kelly's husband, Jack, he's playing the bass and our friend Daniel on the fiddle. Everything else is tracked for this performance. 

 

After their performance I said "Hi" to everyone and helped Daniel roll his gear over to our stage for our performance. 

This will be our view for our show, right into the sun. This time I put on some sun screen and wore my sunglasses. 

We put our gear on stage and did a quick line check. There was no time for a real sound check so we just made sure we could hear everything, took a band picture, and hit the stage. 

From left to right you might remember Guitar Art (he's been with Kelly for probably ten years now. Jack, playing drums, is new to the band filling in for Mario or Rob because neither one of them could make this gig. That's Skip in the hat. He joined the band after Jeff's passing. Skip has also filled in with the ANB on occasion. The lovely Ms. Kelly Rae still knows how to put on a show and please the crowd. Then you see the old country bass player with Daniel on fiddle next to him.

About ten minutes before show time we get a quick monitor mix. The crew seemed a bit inexperienced but they made up for it with their eagerness. They were nice folks. 

Here's Jake on the backline kit. When we were placing our gear on stage Jake hit the kick drum pedal. It sounded like a tympani. Boing! For $350 you can pick up your own Rogue Drum Set from Guitar Center. Let me tell you, it's worth every penny. 

Jake was stealing table cloths off of the tables in the dressing rooms to stuff into the kick drum. Being a good drummer he always has a drum key with him so he was able to perform a quick surgery on the kick drum and tune the snare and toms enough to get through the set. Wow.

And away we go! It was a ton of fun playing and singing with my old friends. 

You can see the other stage on the other side of the grounds. There was a Latin jazz band setting up to play after we were done. 

My buddy Skip. His duo was also working at Knott's Berry Farm last summer when the ANB and I were there for the "Hot Summer Nights" gigs. 

Kelly works the stage while she sings. That girl can not stand still. Jake and I got along great. 

And she's off again. 

The one hour show went by very quickly. We did some tunes that I haven't done since I left the band January 2018. Sometimes I would walk up to the mic not knowing the next lyric or what harmony part I should be singing. But somehow I would just open my mouth and out it came. It was real seat-of-your-pants fun. Then it was time to roadie on out of there. 

There were hugs all around and promises to get together and do it again sometime. I'm glad I was available for this event. Art and I had a great time. I don't think I've ever met a happier guitar player. 

Then I fought the traffic back up the 5 freeway to The Ranch for even more musical merriment. There was already a line waiting to get in when the doors opened at 5:30. It turned out to be a good night. 

That was my afternoon. My evening has been posted an earlier entry.

The next time you hear from me will probably be from Jacksonville. Hopefully I'll get a chance to meet one or two fellow bass players while I'm there. Y'all behave while I'm gone now. Thanks for putting up with me.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff 

The Ranch, 10/11-12/19

Hey gang!

We had our Friday night at The Ranch and it was a thing. We had two subs in the band but I don't think anybody noticed. I had to leave work a little early so I could get to work.

My buddy Johnny Magic Fingers met me at the stage door. 

I was already set up from Wednesday night so there wasn't much for me to do in preparation for the evening. I'm ampless using IEMs and my basses were right there on the stands where I left them. So I went straight to the green room and ordered supper. I had a couple of my favs, the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Heirloom Beet Salad. 

Then we ran over a few tunes. Dave, from the True Willie Band, is on drums this weekend. Arnie is always playing a guitar, always. 

Then we hit the stage, and we hit it hard. 

Here you see John playing cowbell. Yes, cowbell. Don't worry, he had plenty of cowbell. 

Just before we start the second set Ms. Amanda humors this old country bass player. 

And we're off again! We played a few tunes from Amanda's CD and a bunch of classic country. 

Here's my tablet that I used to mix my IEMs. We're starting to get all the bugs worked out of Arnie's IEM system. 

Here are the set lists from the second and third sets. 

Jed sings a song and Dave puts on the show. 

John smiled when I pointed my phone at him. This must've been a long guitar intro. 

At the end of Friday night John and I both had to load out half of our gear because we are both pulling doubles on Saturday. John took two keyboards, two amps, a mixer, and a bunch of cables. I took one bass. Sometimes it's good to be king. 

John and I both have doubles on Saturday. John's playing four sets in the afternoon. I'm playing only one set. But it will still be a long day for me so I'd better shut this thing down as soon as I show you my nightcap. 

<the next evening, after my early gig...>

Here's the rest of the story at The Ranch this weekend. Earlier in the day I had played a set at the Irvine Global Village Festival with the Kelly Rae Band (separate gig report). Then I scooted on up back to The Ranch for some supper. I had the Steakburger and one of Bill's not-so-favorites, the Heirloom Beet Salad. 

I enjoyed the baseball game on the big screen in the green room. The NYY were on fire. 

Then we heard DJ Leo play the last line dance before we hit the stage so we took our places. 

It was a good crowd on Saturday night, a fun crowd. Jed steps up to the mic to sing one of his big hits. 

That's the key Johnny Magic Fingers uses to play his cowbell. He's got all the sounds. 

Drummer Dave had a really good night. He's played with us a few times before but this was his first time at The Ranch with us. He was driving the bus like a boss. 

While enjoying a refreshing beverage at the bar I take in the scenery. 

Then we are back on stage having tons of fun. We play pretty much the same set list both nights but the band was really enjoying themselves tonight. 

OK, now we get a little more serious and sing the right words. 

And then soon it was time to say goodbye to all our friends. 

This crew will be back at The Ranch on Oct. 23rd to play another CD release party for Kevin Click. We've done a couple of gigs with him and he's a great singer/songwriter. I'll be shedding his show this week while John and I are in Jacksonville playing the Reba/Willie show. I've had to learn four shows in two months. I guess it keeps me out of trouble. Thanks for spending the weekend at The Ranch with me. Let me post up a quick report from my afternoon show with Kelly Rae. It was a ton of fun getting back together with old friends.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff 

Amanda Kate CD Release, Ranch 10/9/19

Hey howdy hey!

Due to the nature of this performance I didn't take a lot of pictures but here is my little report for Amanda Kate's CD release party at The Ranch with Arnie Newman's Country Club Band.

Last night was pretty special although it didn't start out that way. Arnie asked if I could get to the club a little early to run some intros, outros, check our IEMs, and work out some logistics for the show. I didn't get to leave work quite as early as I'd hoped and traffic right out of the parking lot was a mess.

But I didn't panic. Hopefully the freeway will be clear. Nope. 

I eventually got to the club and we were able to run a couple of tunes just to make sure the show would get started on the right foot.

My IEM mix was not perfect but it was close enough. I found that if I moved so that Arnie's amp was between me and the wireless router it would fuzz out and drop signal. I had to be careful where I stood. The IEM rack is on the opposite side of the stage. Then it was supper time! I had the chicken tenders and Cesar salad. Someone else ordered the fish tacos and pecan tart. 

Soon it was time to hit the stage. Amanda had pretty much sold out the place. It was mostly a listening crowd with not a lot of dancers. But that's OK.

John makes sure the tunes are in order on his tablet. 

I made sure there was an old country bass player on stage to play the low notes. 

You see the owner, who rarely comes on a Wednesday night, in the white shirt. He'll be announcing us tonight. 

Arnie takes his place. It's a big band tonight with the regular rhythm section plus Paul on pedal steel, Daniel on fiddle, Crystal and Claire on backup vocals. Good stuff. 

Amanda took her time between songs and spoke to the audience about where each song came from. She and her Mom write a lot straight from the heart. 

In the middle of the show Amanda's Mom, Kathy, got up to play piano on a couple of songs they co-wrote together. It was a pretty magical moment that brought tears to my eyes. 

One number was just acoustic guitars and Amanda's voice, the title track "Time". 

We had many super-fans in the house. Here's Sonia and Jen taking advantage of the photo booth. 

 

And here is Amanda and her mom Kathy performing a couple of their songs. 

Everyone enjoyed the show but I know I could've played a little better. This was my first time doing the whole album and I was still reading charts. I got lost once or twice due to brain farts. I faked my way through and promised myself that I'll really get these under my fingers for the next show. They're not hard songs but I just have to keep the arrangements straight. I don't mean to make excuses but it's hard on this old bass player trying to learn four shows in two months. I think I just need more sleep.

Thanks for coming along. And thanks for putting up with me! 

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff