Hey boys and girls!
Here it is Wednesday already and I haven't bored you to tears with a
slide show about "How I Spent My Weekend Gigging". We played a special
event called "Brews and Views" at an event venue called Heritage Hill.
It's a place for weddings and such but the owners will just throw a
party once in a while. Three hundred tickets were sold for this event. I
think they heard Amanda was going to be there.
Heritage Hill is located in the Murietta Valley
near the wine country of Temecula. I got to drive by an old employer of
mine, March Air Force Base near Riverside. I was stationed there in the
late 70s. There's an air museum on the base.
The traffic on the SoCal freeways is approaching pre-pandemic levels but
I won't bore you with that. When I reached the back service entrance to
the venue I had to call and ask someone to buzz me in. (Going in the
back door with the rest of the hired help.)
I drove up to the top of the hill through this gate. It looked a little creepy, like something out of a Dracula movie.
And then there was this narrow dirt road on the side of the hill on the
way to the loading area. I'd hate to drive this at night. Oh wait, I
guess I will later.
It turned out to be a lovely venue and our stage area and dance floor
was a really good size. Here I'm helping everyone to set up by taking a
selfie.
Jed is here to get us set up and sound checked. He'll go to Knott's Berry Farm later to play that gig for us.
Johnny Magic Fingers set up in the shade on that side of the stage. He has to keep his fingers cool.
I think Arnie is working too hard. I hope he changes his hat before downbeat.
In addition to his Teles, Arnie brought his nice Les Paul and a PRS.
Here's the view from my mic just before sound check. Back beyond the
little amphitheater was a taco truck and you see the old VW bus being
used as a photo booth. Cute.
Here she is! We've missed this young lady. I know it's only been a week
since our last gig but before that it had been a while. She'll be with
us for a set on Thursday night this week too.
Jed is taking a good listen as we soundcheck. He's got to get outta here soon to make his gig at Knott's.
Amanda, Arnie, and Paul do the soundcheck thing.
This is a duo known as Wildflower. Sophie and Ryan sang to tracks as one
of the opening acts. The young lady with the guitars is Gina, another opener who played/sang solo.
Gina soundchecks. This young lady writes a lot of original material and
really shreds on that acoustic guitar, like Appalachian Metal.
This is Kaitlin. She sang a couple songs solo also. This was her first
time singing and playing solo in front of an audience. She did great.
Here we are looking down the hill at the stage/dance floor area. It was
pretty warm today so the EZ-Up was moved onto the stage to give shade to
the ladies while they were performing.
Here's the taco truck. I didn't get any. Dang.
I was on my way to our green room to put on my stage clothes. It is a nice view from up here.
As it turns out, our green room was a green house. And there was air conditioning!
Inside our green house was a selection of Jersey Mike's subs, chips,
cookies, veggies, fruit, etc. Plus a cooler full of drinks and suds.
I did not wear a Scully shirt today. It was too hot! It looks like folks are enjoying the shade while they sip their brews.
Here's Gina shredding up a storm and flinging her hair.
While Kaitlin, Gina, and Wildflower did their thing, the owners wanted
their photographer to get some pics of the band. We went to the tippy
top of the hill.
Everyone point at your favorite bass player in the band!
Jerry, the photographer, also had a really cool drone to take pictures
with. Hopefully the pics and video will be made available.
After our photography session we made our way back to the stage. Wildflower was finishing up their set.
Then Gina got back up to sing a few more before we provided the dance music.
I think Arnie is ready to play some Merle. He's not wearing his Scully either.
It was a fun crowd tonight, a pleasant evening.
Drummer Dave brought his cowbell but was caught off guard. He threw it on the floor tom and wailed on it.
This was my standard rig tonight with JBS as backup. What's that on my amp?
It's a blonde! From one of my favorite breweries. But I didn't drink it.
I brought it home to enjoy later. It's still in my fridge. Maybe
tonight.
It was fun playing Amanda's songs again, both originals and covers. The kids just loved her, like a cowgirl princess.
As the sun went down and the evening cooled our friends in the crowd relaxed.
I tried to grab a picture of the birthday girl in the cabana but it was
getting too dark. The birthday party was having a great time.
We got a rousing standing ovation at the end of the night. Of course we played one more. We're like that.
Then I went back up to the green house to change my close for our load out. Nice view.
The rest of the band took off so I helped Arnie pack up. I must've
wrapped fifty mic cables. Then we loaded subs, speakers, racks, bins,
lights, etc, into his production company van. It took only an hour. It's
what bass players do, right?
When I finally arrive home I enjoyed another Maximus Colossal and put the blonde in the fridge for later.
And that was how I spent my Saturday gigging. Thanks for coming along. Take care.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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