Downtown Disney, 3/21/18

Hey everybody!

Last Wednesday me and the ANB defied the odds and played an outdoor engagement at Downtown Disney. When I say "defied the odds" I meant in terms of the weather. The forecast had been for scattered rain beginning that afternoon continuing through the next day with increasing severity. This is an outdoor stage.

It was raining when I left my office to drive down to the Happiest Place On Earth. But as I got closer, the skies actually began to clear.

When I arrived it was down right balmy. In all my years working at Disney I have noticed that more often than not, there is a magic umbrella over the Magic Kingdom.

After a long, rolling schlep with my gear from the parking lot, through security (the guy wanted to look in all of my cases again. guh!), I rolled up to the stage to find half the band and the sound company well on their way to completing the setup dance.

Now it looks like the gang's all here and we are about to sound check. That's Isaiah on stage with the tablet dialing in the monitors. He works for Sean, who owns MxxMaster Sound, a great outfit. We work with Sean often.

Speaking of Sean, here are Sean and Isaiah making sure we sound better than we deserve.

Amanda takes a selfie with me as we get stared with sound check.

Jason is tinkering with his drums as Johnny noodles on his keys.

Since I have time, how about a nice picture of Austin and Amanda? Wow, such beautiful people make me feel so old.

Jason is still tinkering with his little Breakbeats kit. You also see Arnie's rig, a Little Walter combo.

You've seen my rig a bunch of times. Austin uses Arnie's DeVille.

It looks like Johnny is all set, ready to make some noise.

Here's Arnie pontificating to Amanda about the virtues of thumb picks and their effect on man-in-the-moon marigolds.

Amanda asks Arnie, "Is your thumb pick a gamma ray generator?"
 

Like I mentioned earlier, it was raining all around us but Mikey's magic umbrella kept us dry. We've started the show, the sun is going down, and I think somebody said something funny. Amanda looks amused.

Austin played mostly acoustic tonight. I really like the sound of an acoustic guitar in a country band. Austin is a really good player and vocalist. He'll be going on tour with Kiefer Sutherland at the end of the month, a domestic and European jaunt starting at The Opry.

Amanda gives the crowd a classic country song while Arnie contemplates his pedal board.

I'm still figuring out where I can take pictures during the show. There aren't too many long intros without bass. But here's a couple of action shots from the bass player perspective.

On a break I take a couple of pictures of the stage all lit up.

On another break we take the time for a band photo.

What's the old wives' tale? "Every time you take a band photo the band breaks up." Well, I guess Austin is leaving at the end of the month. Arnie and I have been talking about hiring our friend Candy, a fiddle player with whom we both have worked. She's pretty great.

Here's Austin wailing away on his Les Paul.

Jason kicks off a song by laying down a groovy kind of groove.

Arnie croons a country classic.

What's a night at Mickey's place without fireworks? Ooohhh! Aahhhh! Unfortunately that means our performance is over.

So we magically turn into roadies and get down to business. "Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work we go!"

It was a magic evening. Not one drop of rain all night. But we're getting lots today. Sean, the sound guy, posted some video to the social medias. It's not great quality but I'll post it up here just to give you an idea of how much fun was had.

Coming up for the weekend, we're all back at The Ranch with Randy back on steel guitar. It should be a fun engagement. Thanks for looking!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff 

Montage, 3/20/18

Greetings friends and neighbors,

Recently me and the ANB played a corporate event in Laguna Beach at the Montage Hotel for First Financial Resources.

I got into work early so that I could leave early and drive down to the beach. As I drove down Laguna Canyon I was wondering what that driver in front of me was up to.

As I was cruising down PCH I found a neat little spot. I'm going to have to come back and check it out. 

I pulled into the Montage and drove right up to the front door. Those Escalades, Mercedes, Audis, and BMWs didn't intimidate my trusty Astro van at all. 

I was politely told to drive around back to the loading dock. It figures. But the view was terrific back here. 

I rolled my gear up the ramp past security and through the kitchen to get to the ballroom. 

Inside the ballroom the PA was set up and the light show was a bit impressive. 

Then I went back to the loading dock and helped Arnie with his gear. He had to bring his powered monitors for this gig. Don't ask me why the sound/production company didn't have any. 

Then I went back to the loading dock and helped Johnny with his keyboards, Jason with his drums, and Randy with his steel. I'm a helpful guy.

That's our stage plot on the mixing console. We had a pretty good sound crew today. They were all quite young but very helpful and competent. 

Here's a shot of the room as I put my gear on stage and the banquet staff get the tables ready. That's Sierra in the sound booth setting up the lights.

While the rest of the guys place their gear onstage I wander around the facility. This is the lobby just outside the ballroom, all set for happy hour. 

This is the event we're playing for. I guess the company had a good year. 

This is the view from the venue. It was kind of an overcast evening but very pleasant. 

As I wander back into the ballroom I see the lads still doing the setup dance. I think we need to work on our choreography. 

While Arnie and John plug stuff in, on the right you see Sierra, who had been setting up the lights, and Kevin talking about wiring up the stage. 

Here's Sierra working hard. That's Jarren and Kevin under the big screen plugging stuff in.  
 

You've seen my rig several times, I'm sure.  
 

We used Salon #2 as our green room and gear storage. It wasn't far from the stage.  
 

There was some liquid refreshment provided. That looks like pretty fancy water.  
 

OK, it's time to sound check. It went quickly. The sound crew was very responsive. I wish I would've picked up a card from Jarren (FOH).  

We got to order supper from the room service menu, compliments of the client. But before John could eat he had to play a cocktail set out front in the lobby/breezeway while the guests enjoyed the open bars.  
 

This is just part of the crowd that was enjoying Johnny and his Magic Fingers. 

Just as John finished his cocktail set, Javier was here to serve us our supper in the green room.

I enjoyed my Chicken Parmesan with a cloth napkin and everything! 

As soon as supper was done we had to hurry back to the stage to get the music started just as the doors opened. That's Jarren in the corner running the FOH. 

Let's get a couple of pictures of the talent before we get started. Randy isn't paying attention. 

Here's a nice one of Arnie and Amanda. Sure, now Randy pays attention. We all love photobombs. 

This was our announcer. He was one of the VPs and gave away a couple of recognition awards then announced the band. 

This fellow is holding a Tiffany vase, one of two that were given away for outstanding achievements. 

Then it was onward and upward with mirth and merriment!  

Mr. Johnny Fingers wowed them with a rousing rendition of "Mama Screw Your Wig On Tight", a huge boogie-woogie piano number. 

We played three sets from 7pm-10pm and then the party was over. We had to pack up our gear and leave this lovely place. 

Oh drat! I forgot my selfie. The only picture of me at this shindig, so far, is one that Arnie posted to his social media. This was just before we soundchecked. 

It was a very good gig, a stunning venue, a lively crowd, and they've already booked us back for this party next year. This crowd really enjoyed the old school country. We got requests for songs by Jerry Lee Lewis and Willie Nelson. I guess you can't beat that.

We're supposed to play Downtown Disney next but the rain might have different plans for us. We're going to head down there like we're supposed to and hope for the best. Hey, thanks for looking!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff