Me and the ANB had a "Thanksgiving Eve" gig on the books at the Happiest Place On Earth. It had been raining all day. All. Day. Long. And I had actually been hoping that we'd get the call that the event had been rained out. That way we still get paid but don't have to show up. Pretty cool. I had thought ahead and loaded my gear in my truck the night before, while it wasn't raining, so I wouldn't have to load gear in the rain. Then about 3pm the skies started to clear and you could see some blue sky. We never got the call so the gig was still on, wet and cold as it was.
The skies were still pretty threatening as I made my way to the freeway.
I had no rain fall on me during the commute but there was a lot of traffic around the park. Here I'm waiting to get into the employee parking.
I was able to park fairly close and roll my gear on my handy-dandy
Rock-n-Roller cart. At the west gate there were lines of people waiting
to get in. I guess they wanted to see the sights after the rain stopped.
I flashed my Mickey Mouse Club Card and the security let me in without even checking my gear. I was amazed. Usually I have to unload my cart and open everything for them. They want to make sure I'm not smuggling any contraband cheese.
Since I leave from work I'm always the last to arrive for this gig. The setup samba is pretty much done so I just toss my gear on stage.
The stage is decorated for Christmas.
Jed and Seth were our sound crew this evening. Jed like running sound just as much as he likes performing on stage. I brought my standard small rig. Randy's rig is compact too, for a pedal steel player.
Randy boots up his tablet and checks his IEM mix. The system is starting to work really well. I had to make only a couple of minor adjustments from last time.
We had a quick sound check and then made our way to the "green room" to change. The theater is still closed so we use on of the restrooms. They keep this open for the employees.
We are about to take the stage. We were able to play the entire evening without rain. There's usually a magic umbrella over the park, part of that Disney magic.
The crowd came and went as we played. There were just a few dancers.
Johnny brought his lite rig, only two keyboards. Arnie was pretty casual without boots and a ball cap.
Dave was playing drums tonight. We are working some new Merle tunes for Arnie's show with True Willie.
We came, we played, we shivered, and then we were done. But we didn't get wet. Jed and Seth start taking down the PA.
We know the gig is done when the fireworks start, tonight it was 9:30. Not bad for a school night.
I helped get some big PA stuff off the stage then loaded up my handy-dandy Rock-n-Roller cart to make my way home. It turned out to be a pretty fun evening with just us hairy legged pickers.
I had one more day in the office the next morning. Now I'm in the middle of my four day weekend enjoying turkey and Prosecco. I hope you all have a blessed and enjoyable Thanksgiving celebration.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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