Gilley's Las Vegas, 3/30-31/18

Hello friends and neighbors,

This is actually a continuation of my gigging weekend which started in my previous blog post. But since this is a different gig/venue, I thought I'd separate them. I hope you don't mind. As you know, I left the Palm Springs area (OK, it was Indio) a little after 10am so that I could make the 3:30pm call time for Gilliey's on the strip in Las Vegas next to Treasure Island. I'm meeting the ANB there to play Friday and Saturday nights.

After leaving the Palm Springs area I made my way through San Bernardino and up over Cajon Pass. It seems a lot of folks were getting out of town for the Easter weekend/spring break. Traffic was thick in several places along my route to Las Vegas.

My trusty Astro van made it over the summit and traversed through the Mojave desert. I enjoy driving through the desert. Around every curve or over every rise there is a new, beautiful vista to appreciate.

So, how would you pronounce this? There is a bit of folklore about this place. CLICK.

More scenery as I set my cruise control on my trusty Astro van.

This is the Ivanpah solar power facility. We're almost out of California now.

See? I told you. Here we are coming up on Primm, just over the state line where you'll find a couple of large casinos and other attractions.

We are approaching south Las Vegas. You can just see the tall hotels off in the distance.

Ahhhh, finally! I get to pull off the freeway and get to my new hotel room for the rest of the weekend. Treasure Island is a pretty good place to stay.

Wow. There sure is a lot of driving for my gigs this weekend. That's OK. It's a tax deduction. Here I am pulling into the valet for Treasure Island. I'll let the valet park my trusty Astro van and leave it there until I leave.

My bellman noticed my instruments and asked if I'd like to have them delivered to Gilley's. I told him "no, thanks" so I can be seen carrying my basses through the casino later when I go to the honky tonk. (Unfortunately, no one pays attention. They must know I'm the bass player.)

 Since I am an "invited guest" of the hotel I get to go through the VIP line to check in.

I get a room on the 15th floor, which is really the 14th floor since there is no 13th floor.

It's not a bad view out my window. I can see across the strip to the Palazzo and the Venetian. A little more to the left is the Wynn.

After the bellman brings up all my stuff to the room (7 items) I grab my basses and go down to the honky tonk to set up and sound check.

John is dressed for the desert. He stays cool as he sets up.

Now all the guys are taking part in the setup dance. Not me. I just brought two basses and plugged into the DI box. This is an IEM gig, for most of us anyway. You also see Daniel (FOH) and Bob (crew) wiring up the stage.

While everyone else does their thing, I wander out front of the joint to take a couple of pictures. I don't often do this during the daytime.

My room is somewhere about halfway up.

When I walk back inside to sound check I meet a real one-armed bandit. Somebody told me it looks a lot like Arnie.

We are sound checking now. I don't know why these guys don't have the stage wired before we get here. After all, Arnie sends them a stage plot. At least the sound system remembers my name. We each get an iPad for our own monitor mixes.

I don't have much gear on stage. You see my two basses on the left.

Daniel and Bob (I helped) put the big drum shield up on the drum riser. I like being able to dial down that snare drum that Jason likes to hit so hard.

After sound check I head to the employee cafeteria for my supper. We get cards that allow us to eat here for free.
 

I decided to have the Chicken Santa Fe and the pork chops and onions. It was good but a little dry. I also had a big salad with beets.

Arnie and I take a selfie before the gig on Friday night.

The crowd is described to me as "light but lively". I guess that's fitting. The place is not crowded but everyone here is having a blast.

John is ready to have some fun. He got good news from his tax man.

Here's a set list. This turned out to be the wrong one. But what's a few tunes among friends?

Jason is having fun there in his cage.

I'm pretty sure Arnie is having fun too.

I never got a picture of Randy tonight, but here's his gear.

This lady with the big blond hair and little black dress was having fun.

 

John plays his big number.

I'm not sure if Arnie wants to be Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash. Either one works.

Jason is behaving himself in his cage.

The two-steppers take the floor.

On a break, Arnie and Daniel discuss sound stuff at the FOH console.

Here's one more crowd shot before we call it a night.

And that was it for Friday night. We'll continue with the Saturday night honky tonk happenings.

Me and the ANB had another fun evening here at Gilley's on the strip in Las Vegas, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

It was a lazy day for me. I slept right through my nap time. So I had to take another nap to make up for it. I didn't even leave my room until about 4:30 in the afternoon so I could get me some supper in the employee cafeteria. I stayed on my "proteins and salad" diet. I had the cheesy-bacony chicken, blackened catfish, steamed broccoli, and a big salad with beets. I also had some bacon just because it was there.

I went back to my room and ran through a couple of tunes I needed to brush up on. When I got to the honky tonk I told Randy that I didn't get a single picture of him on Friday night so I'm going to get one right now.

Again the crowd was light but very lively. I think the people who come there to dance like it when there aren't so many tourists in town.

Here's my selfie in front of the line dancers.

This is Liz, our favorite elixir vixen. She's very sweet and takes good care of us.

John was in good form tonight. I guess he had his mix set just right. Somehow he gets a monitor feed into his keyboard mixer and pumps it through his speakers. He doesn't like IEMs at all.

Jason is a trouper. He's been playing hurt ever since his knee surgery. Now he's dealing with complications, but still playing.

Randy says, "What? Another picture?"

I think these two guys like picking together.

This young lady, Corinn, was very interested in my six string bass. She plays ukulele and guitar. He father owns a shop called Guitar 48 in Ventura. Some of you guys in the LA area might be familiar with it. Corinn says there are a lot of cool old instruments in the inventory. I'll have to check it out.

It's the last set but the line dancers are still having their fun.

As soon as we're done, Bob and Daniel are on the stage, taking down the plexiglass, packing up mics, and rolling up cables. These guys don't mess around.

I'm already loaded out. I don't know why these guys bring so much gear to this gig. They make it harder on themselves than they have to.

I put my two basses in the cases and I'm already back in my room posting up pictures for you guys.

Now all I have to do is get a few hours sleep and drive home tomorrow after attending Easter services with my friend, Charles, at his church here in Las Vegas. It's been a good weekend. We'll be back here again in June.

I've got the next week off, no gigs. But since I'm running behind posting my gigs, you'll see a couple more from the week following until I get caught up. Sorry for the delay.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 

Fantasy Springs Casino, 3/29/18

Hey gang!

Thursday was actually the start of a long gigging weekend. Me and the ANB played the LIT Lounge at Fantasy Springs Casino. It was a special night because the local country music radio station, 106 point something, was giving away Stagecoach tickets to the winners of a dance contest. Then this Friday and Saturday night we'll be playing at Gilley's in Las Vegas. (Should I make two threads?)

It started as soon as I loaded up my trusty Astro van with all the necessary gear and luggage.

Hey! Look who I (figuratively) ran into on my way to the Palm Springs area. It's Bob van Astro's brother.

It looked exactly the same as mine except that it's missing the sideboards and all the peeling clearcoat.

Hey! Look at that! I'm playing at the same place as Earth, Wind, And Fire and Tom Jones. Should I put that on my resume?

I pulled into the parking lot at Fantasy Springs and snapped a picture of the marquis.

I parked on the bowling alley side. I didn't know where the LIT Lounge was so I went on an adventure. They've got some pretty nice lanes here.

That Fantasy Lounge is just a little bar off the bowling alley, no entertainment. As I wander through the casino I discover new sights. Hey! Look at that. We're on the posters.

I finally asked directions to the place and it turned out that I walked right past it. So I turned around and found a nice lounge, it's a good looking room.

The stage is plenty big for our four piece ensemble tonight.

I was told to pull to gate 28 to unload. It just so happens that's where the big garbage cans are too. Yuck.

I wheel my stuff in and try to decide which side to set up on. I decided to set up opposite the high hat for a couple of reasons.

That's "Big John" as the DJ tonight and running the dance contest. You also see the flying air pusher.

Right back stage are a couple of nice dressing rooms for us with private restrooms and showers.

Arnie and I are all set up. I've got my regular small rig and Arnie brought his little Little Walter.

It looks like we're just about done with the setup dance. We'll have a quick soundcheck before we have supper.

The FOH gear is upstairs overlooking the dance floor and stage. David was our soundguy, he did a great job, but is really camera shy. He likes to be behind the scenes.

The buffet at Fantasy Springs Casino is really terrific! Everything was delicious. I had the pork chop dish, the chicken dish, and a bunch of salad. Everything looked great and there was a huge variety.

 When we returned the dance contest was just finishing up.

We had a few minutes before downbeat so Johnny and I hung out in the green room and ran over some tunes.

I think the DJ is just about done. We're going to start in a couple minutes.

John makes sure all of his instruments are functioning nominally.

Jason looks like he's about ready to do some of that drummer stuff.

Arnie is ready to do some pickin'.

That's Big Bob on the dance floor. He's ready to do some line dancing.

And away they go!

On a a break I go upstairs to take in the view.

I stepped outside the lounge into the comparative quiet of the casino so I could call Mrs. BassCliff. While we talked the band came up on the marquis.

There was a birthday in the house tonight. This is Mary and her friends.

This is Randy, a DJ from the radio station, and Big John, the club DJ tonight, giving away the last round of prizes. They gave away a couple more Stagecoach tickets, concert tickets for Little Big Town, movie tickets, dinners at fine restaurants, and other goodies.

Then we were back for one more set. Here's Johnny Fingers making Chopin turn over in his grave.

I gave Big John my phone so he could take a couple pictures out front.

We played three sets and were done at midnight. We had to load out all of our gear even though we were staying in the hotel. It was just too inconvenient for the staff there for us to come back in the morning to get our gear.

So we loaded out and I drove around to the hotel. It's pretty nice.

I got a room on the third floor. The staff was nice, the room was clean.

This was my view from the window, not particularly impressive but we are in the desert.

John and I grab some cold ones and a couple of cigars and enjoy them in a quiet area of the grounds.

We were next to an outdoor venue where the resort will host tribute bands. It looks pretty cool except for the fact that the stage area is surrounded by water.

In the morning I discover the view from my room is the trailer park. The mountains look nice.

Now it's time to hit the road for Las Vegas. It's a beautiful day for a drive.

The snow-capped peak you see is Mt. San Jacinto. You also see one of the windmill farms in the area. Now is the best time of year to ride the Palm Springs Arial Tramway up to the top. It's about 90 degrees on the desert floor but you can still play in the snow up there at 8500 feet.

About five hours later I was at Treasure Island in Las Vegas loading in to play at Gilley's. I'll start another blog post to talk about that gig. Thanks for looking at this one! You guys are too good to me.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff