Friday: We left for Tennessee a little earlier than usual because of an earlier start time at City Winery ( a new venue for us). The air conditioner in the van has problems (the vents shut down at higher RPMs), an issue that we had neglected in between this trip and the previous one. Oops. The mountains and the heavy trailer on the back made for a warm trip.
The City Winery in Nashville is a nice room, though it's not really set up for louder bands--more of a singer/songwriter situation. A huge glass wall across the back (so you can see the wine casks) made it acoustically unfriendly. Still, it's a cool place--easier than dragging all of our stuff up a flight of stairs, and the staff was cool.
Never is it a good feeling when your keyboard powers up and does this--a great big error message.
I was pretty worried until I figured out that it was only one sound that wouldn't load properly--everything else was still there. I didn't need that sound for these two shows anyway.
Walter Egan came through and sat in with us on Magnet and Steel, Hot Summer Nights, and Go Your Own Way. One of our better times with him--having in ear monitors helped us (not being overpowered by his stage volume) and him (not competing with our stage volume as much). We'll see him in a couple of weeks at the Yacht Rock Revival in Atlanta (August 22).
Other than that...nice gig! The tables (closest to the stage) sold out and the standing room tickets (in the back half of the room) were very full. People began creeping between the tables as the night went on. I wonder if they were table people who decided to stand, or standing people who decided to move forward. Things I think about during the show...
Post show, there was entertainment in the lobby of our hotel. I'll let your imagination write the appropriate lyrics to the song they're singing.
Saturday: more heat in the van on our way to central Indiana for a gig at Mallow Run Winery (somewhere south of Indianapolis). The Winery was a summer concert series in which we were invited to participate.
We were outdoors, but fortunately the stage was covered and we brought fans. Actually, by the time we started the show, the weather was pretty comfortable. We had a good crowd splayed across the hillside looking down on us.
My equipment worked just fine (no shock to see the Nord's error message today), but Mark Cobb's in ear monitors on one side (already?), and he spent the first four or five songs trying to sort it out and as he was playing the gig. Zach (our monitor guy) helped iron it out. The official diagnosis was a failure at the driver in one ear (not a cable issue). Cobb had an extra pair of headphones, so he made it through the gig just fine.
As the gig went on, people came closer and closer to the stage (some of them armed with beach balls) until they were climbing the steps by the time we finished. Good thing we had Zach on security to shoo them away. Other than that, it was a really nice crowd--a nice mix of fans and family.
After load out, I was driving the van away from the stage and ran over a stump hidden in tall grass. The stump struck the exhaust. Now the van sounds like '69 Camaro. Damn. We also nearly ran out of gas. Also the air conditioner still doesn't work. Our van is tired of this shit.
Post show, Zach lurking in a hotel room currently under renovation. Scary.
Sunday: we (sans Nick, who stayed with his parents, and san Pete, who stayed with his family) drove home from basically Columbus, Indiana in what's left of the van. I tried to sleep my way through it (pretty successfully).
Next few of Yacht Rock shows:
Sunday, August 9: Decatur Celebration (Decatur, IL)
Thursday, August 13: Eats and Beats (Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta)
Saturday, August 22: Yacht Rock Revival (Park Tavern/Piedmont Park, Atlanta)
Wednesday, August 26: Long Center (Austin, TX)
Friday, August 28: Turner Field--50th Anniversary of the Beatles in Atlanta (Atlanta)
