The first gig was in Dallas with Yacht Rock. We flew out first thing Saturday morning--landed at DFW at before noon. Unfortunately, we didn't load into the venue until 6:30 PM, so we killed off those hours with a big meal at a Mexican restaurant and a walk to Dealey Plaza. Everybody should eat too much, walk around in 105 degree heat, and look at a bunch of pictures of JFK's blown out skull. The Dallas experience.
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| it appears to be perfectly safe |
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| Greg points out a spot where a bullet chipped the curb |
I managed to get a nap in there while watching hurricane coverage.
The reception was at the House of Blues in Dallas--not in the main concert room, but in the restaurant part. What a pathetic excuse for a music venue! The stage was small (no big deal there), but the PA was pathetic (two mismatched monitors, sixteen channel board, and two Mackie SRM-450s hung from the ceiling for mains), and the guy overseeing the production spent more time looking at his phone than us. I don't think he ever actually walked out in front of the band to hear what it sounded like. Every sax solo felt like I was playing without a microphone. It was very uninspiring.
The only things in the PA were vocals and saxophone, so who knows if it ever balanced with the stage sound. I tend to doubt that my EWI/keyboards made it out into the room--I couldn't turn up too loud or I wouldn't be able to hear the rest of the band (plus the sax was prone to feedback). The amp I was using was sitting in the corner and pumped out a ton of bass (plus I was in the corner--more bass!), and the stage had some low end resonance around C or D that was really irritating. I left out some left hand stuff on the keyboard because of it.
What else can I bitch about…I ended up with a Nord 2 instead of a Nord 3. I can definitely tell the difference now. Yuck! That amp wasn't as bad as the one I used at the House of Blues in Orlando, but it really didn't sound very good. I missed my gear. I had shitty reeds on both horns, I think, but everything about playing saxophone in there felt bad.
So…a pretty miserable gig, and I played like I was miserable. It's a drag, too, because we were playing for a friend of the band who really loves us. It could have been a lot more fun.
We saw a spectacular car crash (an Audi TT vs a Ford Expedition) in downtown Dallas on the way back to our hotel.
Lobby call was 6:30 AM. I got about four hours of sleep. A guy with a Super Bowl ring got on the plane, and then I fell asleep.
We were back in Atlanta around noon. I went home, ate, and crashed for about four more hours on the couch. An hour later I was on the way to a wedding reception in Acworth.
I played with most of the Yacht Rock guys in a cover band called Constantly Awesome. It could have been called Six Feet Tall--Matt Reed played guitar--they made Bencuya and me look short and bald.
I was added onto the gig late last week to provide the Hora (why me?). It was an easy gig. I spent most of the gig playing tambourine and watching Bencuya. Piece of cake. Nice venue, too--Waterstone Restuarant on Main Street in Acworth.
Easy week this week.
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