Today was a travel day to Las Vegas. I packed up when I got home from work and waited for Randy to arrive. Since we had loaded up his gear in my truck after the gig the night before we just had to put his personal effects in Big Betsy and then hit the road. We made our traditional stop at Baker and saw this in the parking lot. Very cool.
This rocket car was on display. I guess Jim "Jet" Neilson will be making a run sometime soon to try and break his own land speed record.
This "car" is like a jet airplane without wings. It's just sitting in the parking lot of the ARCO.
Randy and I made great time to Vegas, even with the stop it was less than four hours. Here's Randy making a call to Mrs. Randy to let her know we've arrived safely and we're all checked in. Somehow Randy got a room on the 30th floor. I'm on the 10th. Somebody must've told the clerk I was the bass player.
It seems I was just here last week. My room looks pretty much the same.
I have a nice view of the Palazzo and the Venetian across the Strip.
Since I've had no supper and it now going on 1:30am I decided I was hungry and made my way to the "Sad Cafe" where it looks like they are getting geared up for breakfast.
I went for my usual protein and salad. There was also pizza. Pizza is my Kryptonite but showed great restraint having only one slice. Otherwise supper was sausage (link and patty), shredded beef, and a hunk of catfish.
The desserts looked really good this morning but I resisted the urge. Yay me!
I strolled by the honky tonk just to see what's going on. It was closed.
I walked next door to the CVS and picked up a sixer of one of my favs. I'm about to plop my Alka Seltzer in it so I can get some relief from my cold.
And that's about it until sound check Friday afternoon. I'm going to sleep late, take a bunch of vitamin C, and hope for the best. Thanks for coming along so far.
I felt pretty miserable today and so I slept most of it. A little after three in the afternoon we started sliding into the honky tonk to sound check. Randy's gear was in my truck so I went to the valet to bring my truck up, unload it, and then gave it right back to the valet. After we rolled Randy's gear in I noticed some familiar faces on this poster.
Inside it looks like the gang is well into their setup dance.
Since it takes me all of twenty seven seconds to set up I just wander around taking pictures. I see there is a Jack Daniels promotion going on this weekend. We even had a likeness of Mr. Daniels in the house.
Because the Professional Bull Riders world championship was in town at the T-Mobile arena, the dance floor was filled with tables and chairs so fans could watch on the big screen.
We had a quick but thorough sound check then I made my way to the Sad Cafe for a late lunch/early supper. I helped myself to the Polska Kielbasa and sour kraut. The clam chowder felt good on my throat. It's too bad they didn't have chicken soup today.
I had a nice nap before having to get ready for the gig. Here's my minimalist setup, just my LB76 on the stand next to Johnny's keyboards. I brought one bass this weekend, that's it. No backup bass, no guitar stand, nothing else, just one bass, a couple of cables, and a strap. Sometimes it's good to be the bass player.
The rodeo wasn't over until about 10:30. The staff quickly cleared the dance floor of tables and chairs, rolled up the big screen, and let the band go on at 10:45. Amanda and Jason are horking it up just before we start.
Johnny Magic Fingers gets to show off his boogie woogie prowess.
Amanda sings one of here sassy girl songs. "Let's go girls!"
Jason brought his snare but played the house kit. We are using no tracks this weekend. I like that.
I think the band is making a little something called "music".
It was a terrific crowd tonight.
We even got a request for "Amarillo By Morning". Imagine that.
We had a good Friday night. Now I'm going to sleep as late as I can and hopefully see my friend Andy play tomorrow before my gig.
OK! I slept all day today and am feeling a bit better, well rested anyway. I'm about to head down to the honky tonk to make some noise. I wanted to share this pictures right quick, Arnie has his name in lights on the strip here in Vegas. Pretty cool.
Now let me toss up a few pictures from today. Due to my cold I slept all night and all day up until 5pm. Whenever I would wake up I'd just take another shot of NyQuil and roll over for another nap. I'm feeling better but my throat is a bit hammered. I had no falsetto for my harmonies tonight. My full voice hung in there as long as I didn't try to sing at the top of my range. I got ready and hopped into Big Betsy to cruise the Strip down to New York New York where Andy was playing. It's supposed to take about eight minutes.
But traffic was absolutely nutz! There was construction, closed lanes, too many cars, etc. It took an hour to go two miles. I would have walked if I'd felt better. When I got there parking was all messed up so I just had to call it quits. Sorry Andy. I actually heard you guys as I was driving through the parking structure. Then all of a sudden I was back on Tropicana headed toward the freeway. Oh well.
I came back to Gilley's to watch the last of the rodeo on the big screen.
We started late again, after the bull riding. Here we are on stage as the screen goes up and the staff removes the tables and chairs. We'll start in a few.
Johnny looks over the capacity crowd.
Tonight Jed's wife, Claire, joined us on stage to sing some harmonies. It was a good thing. I could lay out a few songs.
It was a great looking crowd tonight.
Did somebody say "more Gilley Girls"? They put on a little show for us tonight.
And then because the rodeo ran so late we were obligated to perform until 2am. I don't think anybody minded much. We came to play!
Jason does his drummy thing.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to meet up with my Las Vegas bass playing friends for church, lunch, and maybe a concert on Freemont Street before my gig on Sunday night. Thanks for sharing the fun!
We've got one more night at Gilley's before driving home on Monday morning. I felt like getting out of the room today. I took this picture of the new Raiders stadium on the way to church this morning. I always like to visit Charles' church when I'm in town, Life Springs Christian Church.
After church Charles bought me lunch, again. I'm going to have to grab the cheque much sooner next time. Then we went to Freemont Street to see Andy play with Dez Hoston and The Longwood Band. If you've never been, Freemont Street is quite the experience. That canopy goes for blocks and it's all computer graphics. Pretty snazzy. You can zipline down the entire length.
I caught up with Andy on the 1st Street stage just as they were sound checking.
I went upstairs to the balcony where I met Charles and Mrs. andysvec to enjoy a drink, the music, and the sights.
Dez Hoston also plays a very good acoustic guitar but mostly he fronts the band and puts on the show. Andy is such a solid bass player. He really lays it down and makes me want to be a better bassist.
Andy took a picture of Charles and I from the stage. That's Andy's wife next to us.
I caught most of the first set. Now I've got to run up to Arnie's room so we can run some tunes for our show on Wednesday. This music business is getting to be more like work.
Well, you've just about seen it all here on the Strip in downtown Las Vegas, except for the Bikini Bull Riding Contest. It didn't happen tonight. I told the DJ that Johnny and I were willing to put on some bikinis and ride the bull. Shucks, the prize was $200!!! For eight seconds of shame I think it would've been worth it. But nobody wanted to look at that. So there was no contest tonight.
As you can tell, tonight's crowd was a little more subdued than Fri-Sat. But it actually picked up later in the evening.
Wow, that bass player looks a little tired. I know he had a nap today. Anyway, our friend Tony stopped in the honky tonk tonight and brought me a present. Can you believe it? Tony was cleaning out his inventory and decided to gift me this really cool Kala U-Bass. I was floored. I hugged him twice and thanked him profusely. I promise I will put it to good use.
It's a very nice instrument. I had to put it down so I could post some pictures. I can't wait to use it on a gig. Thank you Tony. I am deeply touched and very grateful.
I haven't taken a selfie with the lovely Ms. Amanda Kate all weekend. She indulged me tonight along with that photobomber.
Here's a quick action shot during a long guitar intro.
Tonight we played from 9pm til 12:30am so it was sort of an early night. At least there's no long commute home. I just have to slide upstairs to my room, crack open a beer, and veg out.
Despite being sick this weekend I had a pretty good time, when I wasn't sleeping. I'm glad we were here an extra day. By Sunday I was feeling well enough to hang with my friends in town. We'll be back in February for the NASCAR weekend, Thursday through Saturday, 20th-22nd.
On Monday morning I met Randy and John to help them load their gear. It seems the less I bring the more I carry.
We put Randy's gear in my truck since he was riding back with his wife, who came up with friends Saturday night. John and I sort of caravan'd back home and stopped at the Barstow outlets to enjoy a Habit burger. Those Tempura Green Beans are the best!
Earlier in the weekend I was able to take a picture of our DJ Shaddix with Amanda.
After a rehearsal last night at Arnie's studio (that's right, we drove back from Las Vegas that day and rehearsed that night), and yet another rehearsal at The Ranch tonight, we'll play our first triple-header show with Jed&Claire, Kevin Click, and Amanda Kate at Campus Jax on Wednesday (11/13/19). Then we'll have our regular monthly weekend at The Ranch. We have no gigs booked next week, and I'm very happy. Thanks for coming along with me to Las Vegas.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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