Rockin' R Ranch Horse Rescue Benefit 10/10/20

 Howdy Buckaroos!

Saturday night the hairy legged pickers and I, along with Amanda Kate and Claire, performed at the Rockin' R Ranch Horse Rescue. It was a benefit to help out with the farm animal rescue here in the OC and in Texas. The owner, Cole, owns both ranches where he takes care of abandoned and neglected horses and other farm animals. It was a great evening and we got to play for friends we haven't seen in months.

It was a pretty normal gig with a mundane commute down to the OC on freeways without much traffic at all, even with the widening project going on near my part of town.

I turned into the ranch and pulled right up to the stage in front of the "livery". Cole has lots of facades sitting around here. They really added to the atmosphere.

These facades would be moved later to surround the spectator area. You also see a few of the residents here.

There were some nice tractors on display today. Pretty cool.

I'll bet you could really plow a field with this Ford tractor.

The stage was just big enough for our eight member band tonight. Jed was working sound for this gig and was not on stage. The setup dance is in full swing.

While the band is setting up, Kevin is driving the Bobcat and smoothing out the "dance dirt".

We maintained proper distance from the horses.

Just before soundcheck Amanda arrived with some refreshments. I like the Sam Adams Octoberfest. Thanks Amanda!

Johnny Magic Fingers and I wait our turn to sound check. It's running a bit late due to power problems but we'll be OK.

The food truck arrives while we sound check. Baby's BadAss Burgers would be excellent!


 
Jed is still running lines and trying to find good power. We had to find a couple of stable circuits.



OK, after a lot of hard work on Jed's part we finally we get to soundcheck. Jed steps out front to twiddle the faders.

Claire needs a little extra attention to get her IEMs working right. Amanda is in good form this evening. Paul joins us on pedal steel and Daniel handles the fiddle.

Jason puts on his mask for this picture, just in case his wife sees it.



Johnny is happy now that he has power, even though he's powering only two keyboards.

Hay! We must be in the country! I've got my cowboy clothes on. We are probably getting close to downbeat.



Old Glory was flying in front of the ranch above the Rockin R Ranch flag.



Here's the front gate to the barn where we usually play these benefits but protocols moved the gig outside.



We saw lots of friends tonight. Here are Beth, Gladys, and Jefte as we order our burgers.

I decided to dine on the Baby Blue with sweet potato fries, and I don't regret it.


 

Bill (my friend in Jersey who loves the food shots), will you look at that! It's a half pound of Angus ground beef, lettuce, tomato, sauteed onions, bacon, and ranch dressing. The sweet potato fries were perfect.



I had to dine quickly because downbeat was looming. I chased it down with another October Sam. Our crowd is just beginning to arrive.



Our friends wait patiently while we tune up. We'll start after the break music plays one more song.



We saw lots of friends and fans from The Ranch as they enjoyed the contents of their coolers and ordered from the burger truck.

While we wait for a real photographer to show up, Amanda and Arnie join me in a selfie.



It looks like Arnie's in tune, let's get going!



Amanda says "Howwwdeeeeee!" to the audience.



We had a few dancers but it was mostly a listening crowd. You have to be really dedicated to dance in the dirt.



Yeah, we could use better lighting. At least the crowd could see us.



Hey! Looky who's here! A bunch of ladies from The Ranch are visiting the dress shop, Kathy, Stephanie, Jen, Sonia.

 It was a nice evening for a benefit.

A rustic but functional stage. We took one break in between two 90 minute sets.

Here we are, back for the second set!

We have dancers! We had a few line dancers too.

Daniel steps up to the mic and does his big hit, "Devil Went Down To Georgia".

The Ranch ladies put on a line dance exhibition.

At the end of the night we played a couple of encores, "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Don't Stop Believing". Yes, folks still like those songs.

My set lists.

And a parting shot. I'm all loaded up and get to roll my cart across the dirt to the arena next door where we parked. It's easier than pulling my truck around.

And that's it. You've pretty much seen it all. There's talk of doing this event once a month for a while, as long as the weather holds, and as long as the Covid madness is managed. Cool! Thanks for sharing the fun with me.

Before I go, here's a little fan video from the gig. 

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff