Disneyland Hotel 6/3/15

Hello my friends,

Yes, the KRB had an epic gig last night at the Disneyland Hotel. I'm not supposed to say who the client was but I will tell you that it rhymes with Smoogle.

I was first to arrive after taking off a little early from work. I found the secret entrance. You can tell from the glow around me.

The entrance to the large courtyard between the hotel buildings, where the event was being held, had this ominous sign prominently displayed.

To quote George Carlin, "Better living through chemicals", I suppose.

The crew was still setting up and decorating the tables and getting the buffet organized.

Here you see the FOH and the stage behind. Where the stage is now there used to be fountains.

It was a long, narrow stage but we had plenty of room.

The QSC monitors sounded great and could get VERY loud. We actually had the sound guy turn them down a bit. If you're a musician you know that RARELY ever happens.

For the mains, EAW gear was used. It was pumping!

I didn't get a picture of Thomas, our sound engineer. He worked hard to make us happy and I'd say he succeeded. Thanks Tom!

Daniel and Mario arrive and start setting up. You see Daniel talking to our stage manager, Maddy. She was great and took very good care of us.

Art arrives and everyone seems excited that the art department had shown up with the decorations.

Now that the band is pretty much positioned on stage, Maddy observes the art crew as they place the decorations.

Yes, that's right Mario. The moose is going right behind you and I. He was the hit of the party! Holly did a great job on the moose, we nicknamed him Mortimer the Party Moose, and the art crew did a bang up job with all the decorations.

These three are always cutting up. I told Mario I was jealous because he's always kissing on Art.

This is the FOH board, a Midas 32 channel, and you see Maddy taking care of business on her phone.

There was beer and wine right in front of the stage! But it wasn't for the band. (Sigh!)You also see the antennae for all of our wireless mics. The Mouse uses great gear.

Mortimer the Party Moose is keeping an eye on my rig.

Maddy took us back to our "green room" in the hotel so that we could change and relax before we start.

Since The Mouse doesn't feed us, we all brought snacks. You'll also notice my ego boost, um, energy boost drink there on the table.

We're about to start the show. I don't know what Jeff is worried about. Don't you think he looks a little worried? He's really not.

The rest of the band looks like they are up for a grand old time.

Mortimer the Party Moose and I are ready to have our fun!

The crowd starts to wander in just as we are getting started.

The buffet for the guests included steak, chicken, BBQ beans, rolls, and salad. But again, this was not for the band. (Sigh!)

And the desserts looked mighty tasty. Not for the band. (Drat!)

I think we're about to start our second set. The crowd is really starting to show up!

At the end of our second set, Tom, our sound engineer, takes a picture of the band.

Here is a panoramic shot from my cell phone. Hopefully you can see it all. (You might have to use the scroll bar at the bottom of your screen.)

For some reason I've gotten into the habit of taking a picture from the drum throne. This was Mario's view.

Hey! Guess what? Maddy has a surprise for us. Off we go.

Maddy takes us around the corner to the Tangaroa Terrace and treats us to supper. Wow! This is the first time The Mouse has fed us. Thanks Maddy!

I had an amazing Hawaiian Burger; 1/3 lb. with bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled pineapple, and teriyaki sauce. It was delish! And the sweet potato fries were scrumptious.

We got back on stage for our third set and the crowd looks like it is ready to party!

Art, Daniel, and Kelly look like they are ready to party!

Mario looks like he is ready to shoot Mortimer the Party Moose. I don't know why. Mortimer the Party Moose has been a complete gentleman all night.

Yes! Folks are starting to make their way to the dance area.

I think that makes Mario happy. It seems he and Mortimer the Party Moose have worked it out.

And YES! We have achieved line dance! Look out! There's no turning back now!

I think this is the last set. We are really rocking the joint now.

The line dancing gives way to the free-for-all as we start playing our dance and pop songs.

Kelly rocks the house!

Our show ended at 9:30pm. I'm packed up and ready to go but the DJ still has music going. It's still too crowded for me to load out.

Eventually the music stopped and the lights came up. The crowd got the message and we were able to make our getaway. I was home by 11:15pm, which is pretty good for playing a gig on a school night. A good time was had by all.

There were almost 2000 guests in attendance at this corporate event and they really partied! It was also epic because The Mouse bought us dinner tonight. The crew was terrific, everybody treated us like rock stars, and the band had a great time.

I'm off this weekend but we have another private party on Monday evening at The Ranch. Stay tuned. We'll see you next week with a brand new show!

Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the world of a weekend warrior musician, a bass player in a cover band. I have suffered for my music and now it's your turn too! (Ha!)


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Coronado Highlights 5/31/15

Hi!

I put together a little video with highlights of our concert at Spreckles Park on Coronado Island last weekend (5/31/15). It wasn't our best performance but the band had fun and the crowd had more. The audience even got a conga line going when I sang "Jump Right In", a Zac Brown Band song. This was a beautiful park with a very friendly crowd. I hope they invite us back again next summer.

Thanks again for looking.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Spreckles Park, Coronado Island 5/31/15

Hi,

We had a great time this evening playing at Spreckles Park on Coronado Island. We were the first country band they've ever had in the history of this concert series. It's a neat old park with a good sized gazebo in the middle. We played a "concert in the round". It was a long commute down to San Diego but there was no traffic. I like this part of the 163 freeway that goes through Balboa Park.

Not too much farther down the road I went over the Coronado Bridge from downtown.

When I pulled into the park to unload the sound company was still setting up. J and S Sound did a great job taking care of us.

After unloading and parking I found this sign letting the patrons know when they could start hanging out.

This was the view as I started plugging in all my gear. It was a nice day on the island.

We had six monitor mixes. Cool stuff. These were the arrays on either side of the stage. I think this is their new RCF gear.

A few QSC power amps. I think they had power to spare.

And your standard Yamaha LS9 32 channel board. Good stuff.

My traditional "amp selfie" during sound check.

Kelly and Jeff are ready for sound check.

Mario is almost ready for sound check.

Alan, one of the fine sound crew, is feeding Art his mic cable.

Daniel is really getting into his sound check.

This is Alan and Stan of J and S Sound. They were great to work with.

I wandered around the park a little before our show. People brought blankets, chairs, and tables with wine, cheese, crackers, and all kinds of goodies. It was a fun atmosphere.

We're all set up in the gazebo. It's almost time to put on our cowboy clothes.

A view of my rig and the crowd behind me. I played my LB76 for the whole show and had the Guild just for backup. It was just a single hour and a half set.

Looking the other way across the back line you see more of the crowd. There were 2500+ people in the park.

Here's a panoramic shot of about halfway around the gazebo.

OK, Jeff is ready to put on the show!

Mario and Kelly are ready!

Art and Daniel are ready for the show too. Did somebody blink?

Kelly and I snap a quick pic before we get started.

I think Kelly is letting the kids know that it's time to do The Chicken Dance!

It looks like Mario has already started The Chicken Dance.

Jeff is very excited to do The Chicken Dance.

Art and Daniel are more than happy to do The Chicken Dance.

Don't worry, the band is behaving itself and nobody got arrested for doing the chicken dance. The officer is there just to help give away some prizes.

Kelly does one more song for the crowd.

What's that? They want an encore? Of course they do!

So Jeff pounds out the intro to "Don't Stop Believing".

You don't have to ask Art to smile.

Kelly sings us off into the sunset.

Now it's time to get our "roadie" on.

We are just about out of here. It's a beautiful evening. 

Since they didn't feed us at this gig, I stopped by a California favorite burger joint. It's been a while since I've treated myself. 

And I had me a doube-double with fries and a chocolate shake, about 1000 calories of California goodness.

I was home by 11:00pm. I drove 4.5 hours to play a 1.5 hour gig. I must be a musician or something.


Up next is a corporate event we did at the Disneyland Hotel on June 3rd, playing a private party for Google. It was amazingly fun. I'll post that up soon. Thanks for looking!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff