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| one of the best gig posters we've ever had |
Yacht Rock played a show in Austin, TX for the Fourth of July. The gig was supposed to be an outdoors event in conjunction with a massive fireworks display, but the fireworks were cancelled and the event fell apart, so our party was moved to a club.
We flew out in the morning from Atlanta. As I was getting off the park and ride bus at the airport, I realized that I didn't have my driver's license with me--I'd left it at home. There was nothing to do but drive home and get it, meaning I would certainly miss my flight.
At the airport for the second time, I found out that there were no seats available on any flight for the rest of the day in my seat class (or something like that--I took it to mean that there were none left in the same price range that my original flight had been booked). Great...I had to get to Austin, so I bought a plane ticket on my phone (with my hands shaking so badly that I could barely input my information). Ever buy a plane ticket three hours before the flight? Not cheap! Just as I finished purchasing a new ticket, the counter agent let me know that buying that ticket negated my return trip to Atlanta, so I also had to purchase a return ticket (though they were able to get me on the same flight, in the SAME SEAT! that I was originally going to be in). And hey, it'll cost $25 for you to check your bag. Whatever...take my money. I HAVE TO GET TO AUSTIN.
A very expensive morning...I made it to Austin and got into the hotel lobby with about fifteen minutes before we left to go set up at the club.
The club we were in was new, and maybe not the ideal set up for a live band, particularly one as large and loud as us. It sure did look cool, though. The sound was ok; there were a few weird things like the room shape (we were in a rectangular room on one of the long walls), and the main PA was against the wall behind us (and therefore behind most of the microphones). People said it sounded good out front, so I guess I'll go with that, though I was also in front of a PA stack and I heard lots of drums and not much of me (particularly the saxophone solos, which felt like I was playing unmic'ed). I wish we could've brought Kip with us to run sound, though it was the kind of situation that would frustrate him to no end.
We had a small but mighty crowd. They loved it, though. Maybe we can come back?
Following the gig, we loaded out quickly while the DJ took over. Special thanks to the DJ and sound man for putting the DJ table directly on top of Monkey's pedalboard, which did nothing to expedite our exit. One other particularly strange moment occurred while I was scouring the dressing room for my street clothes--Peter was in there with the promoter (who was sitting in a chair writing us a check), and three guys were right next to him snorting drugs off the counter.
As we were waiting at the front door to leave, some crazy girl was telling us how much she liked the band. When she got to me, she was almost yelling--"You were doing everything! Keyboards, sax, singing, and I loved the piccolo! AND WHEN YOU PULLED OUT THAT FUCKING CLARINET THING (I'm guessing she's talking about the EWI?)! I felt it down here!" (and pointed to her lower abdomen). That pretty much sums it up. Keep it weird.
We exited the club into a street party, and walked a few blocks with our gear (still in our stage clothes) to a nearby Hilton, which was kind of enough to ferry us to our Hilton over by the airport.
After a couple of hours of sleep, we took the shuttle back to the airport, where the line for Delta was almost out the front door. I barely made it to my flight (speed walking from security directly onto the plane).
What a trip.
