Man, what a crazy weekend!
Friday: huge show in Athens at the Georgia Theatre. Going into it, I wondered how were going to make out at the Theatre. Our previous best gig in Athens was at the 40 Watt, where I think there were something like 400 people in attendance. The Georgia Theatre is roughly equivalent to the Variety Playhouse here in Athens, and I thought if we had 400 people at the Variety, it would look really thin.
No problem: we sold out the Georgia Theatre. What an awesome venue! Check it out:
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| green room |
The only problem was that I didn't play very well. I guess the sound was kind of bugging me--I couldn't get comfortable. It certainly didn't help that the guitar was over my right shoulder, but the bigger issue to me was that the stage sound was loud and washy, but I couldn't pinpoint what the particular sounds were--just a big wave is something that I had to play against. Sometimes my amp was too loud; sometimes it was too quiet. I couldn't find a balance against everything else on stage. On top of all that, I just had a bunch of brain farts--like I'd play the same part on every chorus of a song, but the third time through the chorus, I couldn't remember thing I'd played on the previous to choruses. Why?
The entire gig was recorded to a 24 track Pro Tools rig (greeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaat), so I'll hear myself screw up with great frequency at some point down the road.
Mark Bencuya took an AWESOME solo on I Want to be Your Lover, and Mark Dannells ripped a really great solo on Easy Lover.
The crowd was awesome. We played two encores.
We drove back after the show. By the time I'd gotten home and emptied my equipment from my truck, packed for Saturday, and gotten into bed it was 5 AM.
Saturday afternoon: I played a gig with a group in Stockbridge. Going into it, I was pretty excited because it was a jazz gig with a different group of guys playing cool tunes--stuff like Snakes (Marcus Miller) and Hang Up Your Hang Ups (Herbie Hancock). Monday night we slogged through a three hour rehearsal--only the drummer and myself were really prepared to play. The guitarist was two and a half hours late to the rehearsal, and then didn't know the stuff at all. Not impressive!
The gig was for a festival in Stockbridge--one of those portable stages in a park. We were playing from 12:40-1:20 PM. Most of the band got there around noon.
A word about the sound man: INCOMPETENT.
When we were setting up, I showed the sound man my wired clip on mic (a Shure Beta 98 H/C, if you're wondering). It plugs into an XLR cable. It needs phantom power. I told the sound man "I brought my mic. It needs phantom power." He said, "OK."
From his front of house mixing position, he had me play so he could set the level. The gain kept coming up ("I'm not getting it" he said). So then he opened up the monitor in front of me all the way ("Are you getting it?" he said). Then he said, "Oh yeah! The phantom power!" and he hit the phantom power button. It sounded like a nuclear explosion and two trains colliding all at once. Like, 180 decibels of ice picks into my ears, and it lasted a solid four or five seconds. Wow. That was really dumb.
The sound on stage was really bad (even after that, amazingly enough). Everything coming out of the monitors sounded like a cell phone video of a rock concert. Loud, brittle, distorted--you get the idea.
Aside from that…um. Remember how I was saying that our set was from 12:40-1:20? The guitarist finally showed up at 1:10 PM, walking to the stage like he was going into a convenience store. So guess what we did from 12:40-1:10? We stood on stage and waited. And waited. And waited. Thankfully there was no crowd, which limited the embarrassment.
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| waiting for the guitarist |
The rest of the gig followed in much the same fashion. I probably wouldn't have been annoyed if we hadn't spent all that time at rehearsal working out the forms of the tunes. It was kind of a free-for-all jam situation.
The following bands were stacked up next to stage because we went so late (the guitarist for the next band arrived before the guitarist for our band--ouch!). Some guy jumped up and began playing an acoustic set before I'd even gotten my horns off the stage.
I had enough time to drive back to home, grab my gear, eat lunch, and head out the door to my next gig.
Saturday night: I played with the Yacht Rock Schooner (along with Mark Bencuya and Greg Lee). We played the Vinings Jubilee--basically in the center of a shopping center/restaurant complex, there's a spot where the set up bands to play for weekend entertainment.
It was cold. The wind was bad all day, but once the sun went down, it was even worse. My hands hurt and my horns were ice cold. Thankfully, I was wearing a suit. One of the guys just had a short sleeve shirt on.
The sound man complained to me that my electronics were noisy. Kind of confusing, since the same signal was going through my amp, and I wasn't hearing any of that. He seemed pretty insistent that it wasn't HIS equipment with the problem.
The gig went well, though. We were loved. The 10:30 curfew was welcomed!
Sunday morning: one day later, I got UP at 5 AM, this time to play the Brookhaven half-marathon with the Yacht Rock Revue. Same cold, same wind. It was tough.
We sang the National Anthem. I think I messed up my part a little.
The announcer called us "the Yacht Club Revue." Twice. Even though it was on his script as "the Yacht Rock Revue." Here's to stupidity!
The gig went well. The sound on stage was really good. My hands hurt and my horns were ice cold. The synth buildup in Lido? Couldn't do it. My hands couldn't play that fast.
I went home and went straight to bed (around noon). I got up at 2 PM, ate, and left for my next gig.
Sunday night: Yacht Rock played a wedding reception at The Garden at Great Oaks in Roswell. Pretty nice place, though not really set up well for loading in equipment and food (and guests). How about paving the driveway?
Right off the bat we confronted by the manager of the facility, an evil old woman named Joi. She was not interested in helping us in any way--it seemed like we were in for a long night of hell with her.
Here's a review somebody found on Yelp (posted two weeks ago!):
Having worked in the Hospitality Industry for 15 years I tend to look the other way and keep my mouth shut. However, in this instance I cannot do so. Party Planners, Brides, Grooms, Guests BEWARE! While on the surface the Gardens At Great Oaks appears to be a beautiful place to host your event there is an evil and dark presence at this facility that will undoubtedly bring a dark cloud to your day. The presence goes by the name of Joi and she is the "manager" of the event facility. In my 15 years in the industry I have never encountered an individual with so much hate and ill will towards people in general. It was if just the thought of individuals having a good time was enough to throw this woman off the deep end. Aside from the fact that she looks like she has been sewn together with missing parts and her wardrobe is akin to an afghan throw she really is just a miserable human being. I witnessed this woman yell at guests, slap a young woman, and throw a case of wine at someone who worked for her. Her ability to "manage" an event does not exist. Every request that we had from when and where things were to be served, to when the bar would open was not met. On top of that, at the end of the evening the "facility" was to provide a limo for our guests back to the hotel and when the limo had not arrived for some 45 minutes Joi explained that we could "just take a cab". Really just take a cab? You are going to say that to a bride and groom? Top that with the fact that Joi would not allow us to keep the food in the fridge overnight, in fact her response to that was you can pick it up on Wednesday afternoon. Mind you this was a Saturday? Do not take any recommendations from this woman with respect to her caterer or any other recommendations for that matter. At the end of the evening we were to have a bunch of left over food which had all been pilfered by Joi, the caterer and the helpers. When we arrived in the kitchen to retrieve our food (since we did not want to leave it there till Wednesday) we were told that it was for the "crew". The nightmare that this woman brings to this place is enough for anyone to stay clear. I have received a warmer welcome at the DMV then this woman could provide. Shame on you Joi! Shame on you for what you did and what you do to people. You make celebrations "Joi-less"!
Wow!
Something changed between us and Joi, though. She went from the wicked witch to our best buddy. We'll know what triggered it, but all of the sudden she was there to hook us up with anything we needed.
The wedding reception was outdoors for us. Very cold, though not as windy. Usual stuff for me: hands hurt, horns cold. I played ok.
I got home just before midnight. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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