We played this gig last year, (I see the pictures are working in that year-old post) a fundraiser for the Tommy's Angels Foundation. The foundation benefits scholarships, pediatric cancer, and other worthwhile causes. Tommy Day was killed at the Route 91 country music festival. This was the second annual fundraiser in his honor. CLICK HERE for an ABC7 news report about the event last year. The reporter, Leticia Juarez, was one of the emcees again this year. She has a strong connection to the Day family. When Leticia's sister was diagnosed with cancer, the Day family was a very generous sponsor for a cancer fundraiser in which Leticia was involved.
The event was held at the Day Family Classic Car Museum, a pretty amazing place. First I'll tell you about the gig itself and then in a follow-up post I'll share a bunch of pictures of their impressive collection.
This was the flyer for the event.
I'm glad they did not enforce a black tie dress code.
But, just in case, you could get one of these at the door for a $10 donation.
We saw lots of people wearing these t-shirts. It was a fun night. But getting there on a Saturday was a bit more of a challenge than I thought. You just have to plan on traffic all the time. Back in the day, the weekends had no traffic on the freeway. Now there's traffic all the time.
What do you think? Doesn't Big Betsy look pretty classy? Hunh?
Arnie and Jed had arrived just before me with the PA. We are running our own sound today. They are parked at the top of the ramp. The party is on the second floor of the museum. I hustled up the ramp to help unload, then I pulled up to schlep my gear.
I couldn't help but gaze at the cars as I strolled by with my handy-dandy Rock-n-Roller cart. Just the first row of cars is pretty impressive.
I also had to walk past the newest additions to the Day collection, a Hellcat and a Demon.
Our stage again was the set of a 50s diner purchased from the TV show The Voice. There were lots of music and sports collectable adorning it.
This was our refreshment station. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Pacifico beer. They're not open yet, but I'll enjoy it when they do.
Today the setup dance involves Arnie's new PA system. He's upgraded to some QSC components. He still has his EV gear but is acquiring more gear to support his production company expansion.
Tommy Day was a huge Angels fan. A corner of the museum is devoted to Angels collectibles and memorabilia. One of the auction items was a package of four diamond tickets, limo ride, waiter service, etc, first class experience at an Angels game.
Even though we are using IEMs I set up my amp close to me so I could feel it a little bit. It wasn't very loud. Jed was running sound and I can trust him to do the heavy lifting.
John and Jed are working on that sound stuff. Jed didn't play today. He just ran sound. He says he loves doing it and would rather not be on the stage.
Amanda looked at John and said, "Hey! Do you feel OK?" John was a bit puzzled. Amanda asked, "What have you done with our John? This one has only two keyboards!" It was pretty funny.
We begin dialing in our IEMs and ran bits of a few songs.
John says, "Hunh?"
Jed is out front mixing with his tablet and computer. He's really a great engineer. You can see 'Cudas, Dusters, and Chargers behind him.
We're all set up and dialed in. There was one light on the stage that was making my rig buzz like the dickens. One of the employees here was able to disconnect it. It wasn't the neon this time.
Downstairs was a blues band playing for cocktail hour. They are called The Mercy Brothers. They had a pretty cushy gig, only playing for an hour and using minimal gear. They were pretty cool but I didn't get a chance to talk to any of them. That guy in the suit behind the car is not part of the band.
I saw a few of these t-shirts around. I wonder if has anything to do with what's for supper?
Ahh yes! And the boss said the band could get in line first so that we would be ready to play on time. That's awful nice of them.
I asked the nice young lady if I could have one of each, chicken, beef, al pastor, and something else. They were great! Some of the best I've ever had. You see my Pacifico in the coosie.
I was stuffed. It's a good thing we've got almost two hours before we have to play. I'll need to find a cup of coffee. Johnny needed to feed his Magic Fingers and went back for four more! Wow! I just had a little dessert, an oatmeal raisin cookie and a mini-cinnamon roll.
The festivities are about to start. We had announcements, thank-yous, a live auction, and a comedian on before us.
Leticia is on stage now telling us about her sister and the generosity of the Day family. Then Darren Carter, the party starter, got up and did his set.
Then Arnie Newman's Country Club Band hits the stage and does some country-rockin'.
We played one long set since these things usually run late. We just played right up til closing time. We had lots of dancers but this is the only picture I got during our fast-paced, Las Vegas style show.
Jason is always looking at his gear. I wonder why.
As I take a picture of John he decided to tweak his monitor mix. Oh well.
Amanda sings "You Shook Me All Night Long". It has a long guitar intro that gives me time to snap a few.
Arnie rocks out with his b-bender Tele.
Jason lifts his head at just the right moment.
After the show there are bacon-wrapped hotdogs in the parking lot. They were great with lots of onions, peppers, and mustard. These folks know how to put on a party!
After we all have a dog and a beer for the road we get to the stage strike shuffle. There are just five major components to the PA but there are lots of cables.
After everyone split I helped Jed and Arnie load the PA. Arnie says he's buying a van very soon to haul this stuff more easily. Lifting it into his lifted truck is kind of a pain.
I took next weekend off because I'm playing in church. I can't come home on a Saturday night at 4am and play in church at 7am. But I'll be at Gilley's Las Vegas the weekend after with a little bar gig just before that.
Let me share also some social media photos that were posted. Here's Jed getting the PA wired up.
Look at those bass player moves!
Amanda and Arnie rock out.
Randy is all set and ready to slip and slide.
I think Jed enjoys running sound.
The band with Darren Carter.
Mr. and Mrs. Day pose with Amanda.
Thanks for looking!
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
