I have a minute here at work to post up the last of my gigs from last week. Sunday evening we played a house party Christmas concert with a lot of the same material we used for the Ranch Christmas show last Wednesday. The only difference is that Amanda was too sick to perform. We missed her. It was just Jed and Claire, Kevin Click, and The Country Club Band doing a few numbers to open for the featured artists.
Our friend and sometimes soundman Rob likes to throw these get-togethers at his place. He's got the room for it. On the right you see his man-cave and on the left is his residence. I parked across the street and rolled my gear to the stage with my handy-dandy Rock-n-Roller cart.
You might remember last May we played a house concert here featuring Richard Smith. I rolled my gear in a sat off to the side to watch the others do their setup dance. It would take me only 1o minutes to set up and I didn't want to be in anyone's way. That's Rob at the FOH console. This room always has this stage and sound system set up. Jed works on the monitor system while Claire looks pretty.
The guitar slinger arrives. The stage is starting to fill up. It'll be a pretty big band.
At The Ranch last week Arnie broke my nice Delta Lab clip-on tuner. So he gave me his spare D'Addario tuner. It's small and works OK. You can't see it as well and doesn't seem to track the bass notes as well as the Delta Lab unit. I appreciated Arnie's quick fix.
I took a little stroll of Rob's place as everyone was getting set up. In the back yard he has a nice patio, gazebo, a large bar and cookout area, and plenty of room to entertain for an outdoor concert during the summer.
I guess this is what you'd call an outdoor kitchen. You also see a fireplace on the other side.
On the other side of the pool and gazebo is a large yard with a nice fountain.
Looking back from the lawn.
The rear of the residence.
OK, it looks like we are dangerously close to sound check time. We've got the ANB regulars, Arnie, Johnny Magic Fingers, Bam Bam, and the old country bass player, plus Jed and Claire, Paul on pedal steel, with Kevin Click singing and strumming acoustic too. But alas, no Amanda tonight.
This is the view from the stage. It's an intimate setting. We did our best to keep the volume down. We did OK.
Johnny had to set up in the little corner of the stage behind Arnie and me. It was tricky getting him in and out.
The whole ensemble runs a few tunes for sound check. I'm glad we were all using IEMs and saved the floor space instead of using monitor wedges.
Once everyone arrived we were treated to beef tri-tip and a lot of good fixin's. We all ate before the show.
The broccoli salad was terrific. I had seconds.
Then it was time to sing for our supper. The Hairy Legged Pickers played a few opening numbers, including some Christmas songs, then we got Jed and Claire up to do their set.
Then we took a little break before getting Kevin Click up for his set. It was a lot of fun playing quietly with intensity. Jason maintained fairly well, I'm happy to say. Hey, look. Here's that bass player singing something.
Jed and Claire wrote a really good Christmas song but my favorite one of Jed's is a country gospel number called "I Got That Hallelujah Feeling In My Soul". Tonight it brought a tear to my eye because I was feeling it.
This was Johnny's predicament. I had to help him up and down on that footstool because it was so tricky for him to get on and off the stage. We were tight.
Everyone enjoyed themselves, enjoyed the company, enjoyed the music, and had good food and drink. It was a very nice evening. Our hosts, Rob and his wife Susan, really love to entertain and do an outstanding job. Even though we sold tickets for $60/ea. (not bad for a dinner and a show) I know they aren't really making any money and do it just for the pleasure of entertaining. After the show the band sneaked out to take a glam shot. I wore my Christmastime red Scully shirt again.
We've got two more Christmas shows this week, Wednesday at the House of Blues in Anaheim which is a benefit for the Spark of Love toy drive like we did last year. Then Thursday evening we're doing the same show, same benefit, in the San Diego area at Moonshine Flats. The pay will not be great but it's for a good cause. We'll be backing 20+ local country artists as they put on a George Strait vs. Garth Brooks tribute show. All of the artists are doing either a George or Garth song. Fun stuff. There will be a few Christmas songs too. All it takes to get in to either of these shows is an unwrapped gift valued at $10 or more, toy, gift card, etc. The show last year was a blast.
I wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas with your family and friends. Be generous. Be kind. Be humble. Share the love and the joy of the season all year long. Thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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