Arizona

Yacht Rock played an awesome gig last night in Scottsdale (Phoenix) Arizona at a place called Different Pointe of View.  The venue was a restaurant on the top of a hill overlooking the city.  It was an incredible view, and a really fun gig.

Different Pointe of View

the view

We left Atlanta around 10 PM Monday night landed in Arizona at 2 AM (Atlanta time), tired and hungry.  No bags, no bags, no bags…baggage claim was a problem!--some sort of jam--that kept us standing there for forty-five minutes in the middle of the night.  From there, it was a twenty minute van ride to the Pointe Hilton where we stayed and performed.

Most of the band opted to go find food in the middle of the night, so the "overnight guy" offered to drive us in the hotel van to civilization.  We ended up ordering from a Del Taco at something like 4:30 AM Atlanta time.  Ouch.  Spicy chicken burrito was ok, though!  Our driver must have had a bet with the front desk lady that he could make one of us throw up because he drove like an idiot to and from Del Taco, and then up the hill to our rooms.  I think he almost got us killed, but I had my eyes closed.

my room

my room

The next day (Tuesday), I think we all slept and hung out.  The only other time I'd ever been to Arizona for a gig, I'd stayed at the same place, so I went down to the bar by the pool and drank a few cups of coffee.  The weather, I should mention, could not have been better:  a high of maybe 80 degrees.  Very comfortable.

We had a 1 PM soundcheck.  Pete was able to get the keyboards Bencuya and I use (Roland Fantoms and Nord Electros), and I put my CF card in the back and imported all my sounds and splits.  How sweet is that!  That right there made the gig for me.  If I'd had to program twenty songs or so from scratch, I would have been really fried before the gig ever got started.  Instead, it was business as usual.  Even the keyboard amps they gave us sounded good (Roland KC-500s--same amps we'd had in Orlando last year, but those sounded brittle and horrible!).

tight squeeze

Once soundcheck ended, I stayed around to familiarize myself with the Nord--we got Nord 3s (I usually use a Nord 2).  Just a little different getting around it, but also I wanted to get used to where I was on the keyboard, since these were 73 key instead of my usual 61.  I ended up staying there and practicing/playing the gig for an hour or two (for less suckage).

I walked down the hill to my room (we had individual rooms--very nice) and practiced saxes and flute for about an hour.  At 5:45, I walked back uphill (not so easy) and we feasted on a really good steak (and some sort of potatoes and tomatoes--all really good).  I should have taken a picture of it.  First food since Del Taco (fourteen hours earlier).  I wish there'd been more.  I could've done it.

The gig was great.  I mean, it was super loud (I was up against a glass wall under a low ceiling, and the band was tucked in a tiny corner) but we played great.  Mark Dannells was unable to join us for the gig, so we had Shannon Pengelly from the Schooner playing with us (in between cigarettes).  Great job!  Easily the best I've ever heard him play.  Dannells is one of a kind, but Shannon really proved himself last night.  I was impressed.

We went back down the hill after the gig, hung out for a minute, and then went our separate ways.  I packed and crashed.

Shannon, 5:30 AM

5:30 AM light

The lobby call was 5:30 AM.  It was already pretty light--weird.  We were back in Atlanta around 2 PM, and I was teaching at 5 PM.  Long day.

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