A Wedding at Arroyo Trabucco Golf Club, 2/23/19

Hello friends,

This past Saturday me and the ANB took part in a happy occasion. We played for Carl and Shannon's wedding at the Arroyo Trabucco Golf Club. It's a rustic looking venue with a lot of charm and old west appeal. I liked it. I guess the bride and groom did too.

It was such a beautiful day here in the suburbs of Southern California. The clear skies, cool temperatures, snow-capped mountains made for a perfect day to take my trusty Astro van out for a picnic before we start working. Bob van Astro was quite hungry today because it'd been a week since his last feeding. At $3.069 per gallon this was a $59 picnic.

I had left a few minutes later than I had planned but still left a little wiggle room in the schedule. It's a good thing because the traffic was a little stickier than I had hoped. But I made it to the venue just a couple of minutes after call time.

The Arroyo Trabucco Golf Club is in South Orange County in Mission Viejo, a nice part of town.

I drove past the clubhouse and the golf shop looking for the event venue.

This must be it.

And here's your sign. This is definitely it. 

In the foyer was the guest book. Carl and Shannon have known the band a few years and have become good friends and fans. I guess that's why they hired us.

I enter the ballroom to find Jason and John engaged in the setup tango. I'm going to wait a bit before I cut in.

I take in the room. It has kind of a mountain lodge vibe with the high ceiling, rafters, dark wood, etc.

After I set up my gear we notice that Arnie has still not arrived. He's bringing the PA. It turns out that he forgot the sub and had to turn around. He was almost 45 minutes behind call time so we all rushed out to unload his truck and get the PA set up.

The wedding concierge consults with Arnie to make sure he knows the order of events.

The rest of us continue the setup dance, running cables, plugging in, turning on.

After a rushed sound check we have some time to kill. The grounds look nice. In a few weeks, after the hot weather gets here, the hills will all be brown again.

Carl and Shannon take their vows out on the lawn. It was a lovely ceremony.

Arnie set up an extra rig on the right side of the drum kit for Carl to use. He's going to sit in and sing a couple of songs for his new bride. That's Carl's "road worn" MIM Tele.

Here's a shot of the complete stage area. The guests are out on the patio for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres before supper.

Oh hey! I think I forgot the chick singer.

The band wanders out to the patio to have an adult beverage before we get started.

Here's a glam shot before the guests enter the ballroom. We are getting dangerously close to having some fun now.

Amanda and Arnie go over the itinerary and set list. Jason ponders the meaning of photobombing.

The tables were beautifully set. Everyone, including the band, was able to have supper before the party got started.

It's a festive room. The guests have taken their seats and are waiting for the wedding party to make their entrance.

Arnie, with his script, plays emcee and introduces the wedding party as they make their entrances. John is the D.J. playing a different fanfare for each couple.

Last to enter are the bride and groom, to a standing ovation.

Then we have supper, toasts, speeches, laughs, tears, and good wishes. This meal was top notch.

When it's time to cut the cake there will be plenty to go around.

Then it's time for the garter toss, the bouquet toss, father/daughter dance, etc, all of the traditional practices that make weddings fun.

We get the thumbs up and it's show time! Carl loves his old school country so we made sure to play plenty of that along with some other dance tunes.

The ladies just finished an electric slide.

We took only one short 5 minute break in the middle of our two hour dance set. We had played a quiet dinner set earlier.

The guests were having a great time celebrating this happy occasion. Carl sat in and played guitar. His friend Aaron sat in and sang a couple. A good time was had by all.

 Jason on drums and cymbals. He kept it pretty well under control tonight.

John had his hands full most of the evening, playing keyboards and running sound and being the D.J. Here you see him with one hand on the keyboard and the other on the mixer.

It was a really fun party and before you knew it, it was time to pack up. Even the dance floor left.

Carl and Shannon are planning to come see us at one of our regular spots, Stillwater Spirits and Sounds, this coming Wednesday night since they live close. Carl sure knows how to honeymoon, right? Then the band has a couple more private parties on the weekend. Thanks for looking in on my little gigs.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Downtown Disney, 2/20/19

Hey there Mouseketeers!

We play the outdoor stage at Downtown Disney District once a month or so. You've all see me report on this gig. It's a bit of a hassle getting in and out but it's good "exposure". It's an old fashioned kind of gig with amps on stage and wedges on the floor. I loaded up my usual rig before leaving home and it waited patiently for me all day right outside my office window.

It had sprinkled a bit at work today and rain was forecast. As I headed toward The Magic Kingdom it seemed the clouds were breaking up a bit, like magic.

I pulled into the Simba Lot (one of the employee lots) and saw actual patches of blue sky.

I loaded up my handy-dandy Rock-n-Roller cart and headed for the stage, stopping for a photo op a little over halfway there.

I tossed my gear on stage and then let Daniel finish his last bit of setup dancing.

You've met Sean of MxxMaster Sound. He and his company work with us a lot. His tech Gary has worked with us before but only once about a year ago. I had to apologize because I couldn't remember his name. Sometimes I'm such a bass player.

The lovely Ms. Amanda Kate could not be with us tonight due to a studio session in LA. So Ms. Crystal Cooper joined us on stage to sing the female lead.

I think Jason was a bit chilly, wearing his hat, gloves, and ear muffs.

Johnny Magic Fingers enjoys his hot tea while Arnie checks his phone.

Crystal is ready to have some fun. Johnny hurries back to his keyboards. Arnie is still checking his phone, maybe looking at the weather.

Daniel makes sure his phone is in tune.

Just before downbeat I ran to the little bass player's room and took this picture on the way back. It got dark all of a sudden.

Arnie sang his opening Merle song. I sang my Hal Ketchum song. Crystal got halfway though "Blue" and the rain started. The Mouse's people told us to take a break until 7pm to see if the shower would pass. We covered our gear and put instruments in cases.

The shower did not pass so we were told to strike the stage and wait around until 8pm. OK. Gary covers some speakers. I helped roll up some cables. Everyone got their gear off stage.

It was coming down pretty hard for a while. The staff brought towels for us to dry our gear. That helped.

Our handler led us into one of the cast member areas behind the closed theater. We parked our gear in the hall and waited for 8pm to get here, or the rain to leave.

I wiped down my gear and explored the theater a bit. I'd never been in here. It seems to have been decorated in a modern art deco. All the theaters were padlocked and nailed shut with 2x4s. Luckily the bathrooms were open.

At 8pm we got word that we were released. We had to stick around so that we could get paid under contract. Had we left early without "authorization" we would not have gotten paid. I waited with the gear while the sound company loaded out to their truck.

It wasn't raining when we left but the evening had been pretty much ruined for music. Everything was wet. By the time the Mouse's crew would have cleaned up the stage and the band got set up again, there would have been very little time for spontaneous synchronous otoacoustic emissions for attendees' tympanic membranes.

Well, we began at 6pm. We ended at 6:09 pm. It's too bad. I was looking forward to working with Crystal for the evening. She had studied the material and was ready to share the fun.

We don't get rained out very often at Disneyland. This is only the second time for me and I've been working steadily in this park for the last seven years. It's almost as if Mickey has a magic umbrella. Tonight was a rarity. This is also the first time that they've made us wait so long before releasing us. There must be some new managers on board. Our stage manager seemed a little frustrated and apologized for all of the inconvenience. She was very pleasant. We knew it wasn't her fault.

We've got a wedding reception coming up on Saturday evening but nothing on Friday. Thanks for looking!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff 

The Ranch, 2/15-16/2019

Hello ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, boys and girls, sisters and brothers, in-laws and outlaws,

Following our noteworthy debut of the Carrie Underwood tribute show, me and the ANB are having our regular weekend engagement at The Ranch Saloon. Friday night was pretty light, especially compared to our Wednesday night show. Heather told us that Saturday night was sold out. I said, "Great! It'll be like a Wednesday night in here!" It got a laugh.

Since I had the day off work I left my humble abode that evening in the midst of a little rainstorm to make my way back down to the venue.

When I arrived to the green room I found Arnie practicing for his solo guitar gigs he has coming up. He's great with the Chet Atkins picking stuff.

Tonight I decided to have some chicken tenders and a green salad. It was a tasty, light supper. I tend not to eat all my fries but Jason doesn't let them go to waste.

Our lovely Entertainment Manager, Heather, will be announcing us onstage tonight since the owner is away. Andrew will be back tonight to sing a few with us.

Here's Heather, Amanda, Randy, and Daniel just before downbeat.

Bam Bam counts us off and we're into the show.

On the break I wander up to the bar for a cold one. You can tell it's a light Friday night. We ended up getting off a half hour early. I'm not complaining.

Before we start the next set the lovely Ms. Amanda Kate and the old country bass player take a selfie.

We did a couple of the new Carrie Underwood songs tonight along with Amanda's song, "The Package", hence the acoustic guitar.

Saturday night at The Ranch was quite fun, a big crowd, lots of friends, and plenty of spontaneous synchronized otoacoustic emissions from the stage.

The weather had cleared and the traffic was fairly light for my freeway jaunt down to The Ranch.

I hadn't eaten today so I was hungry when I arrived. I helped myself to the steakburger and a salad. It hit the spot.

As we take the stage I notice the room is pretty full and the DJ had the dancers warmed up for us. Do I see someone special in the crowd?

Before we hit I took a few pictures of the band. Here's Magic Fingers Johnny and me at stage left.

Jason points his stick at his favorite bass player on stage tonight.

The lovely Ms. Amanda Kate puts up with her bass player in such a nice manner.

The guitar man himself, Arnie looks serious for a moment.

For our acoustic numbers, Arnie brought his little AER amp. He actually brings a couple of acoustics when we do the Carrie Underwood material. One is in drop-C tuning.

Yes! There is someone special in the audience tonight. Johnathan, who plays in a Journey tribute band, and his lovely wife are sitting right next to the sound booth. That's pretty much the best place in the room to hear the band. I'm glad you guys were able to join us Johnathan!

Toni and her crew, Sonia, Jen, and Amy were also in the house tonight. 



Our friend Monique was in town from Nashville and joined us on stage. Jason and Monique worked together for years back in the day.

This is Monique's friend, Gabby. We had a good time getting caught up. Monique had moved to the Bay area and then to Nashville. She's been gone for a few years.

Monique got up on stage and just slayed "Broken Wing" (Martina McBride). Monique has a very soulful voice.

We played our four sets. The crowd is starting to thin but they still want to line dance. DJ Leo plays all the requests.

While Johnny is packing up all his gear I put three basses into three cases and walk off the stage.

I did come back and help John with some of his gear. That's a lot of stuff for an old man to lug around. That's why I try not to lug around a lot of stuff. I'm an old man too.

Weekends at The Ranch are always fun. It's our home base, our showcase, our paid rehearsal, a place to stretch out and do a few non-country songs because the crowd there pretty much likes it all.

Thanks to you all who share your gigs too. Thanks for looking at mine. I'll be back in the next post with some social media pictures, just for fun.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff