As Fall Ends

A few more shows as fall ends...

October 23, we played Chastain again. This show was originally to be at the Roxy, but we moved it. Quite a bit chillier than our night here in August. I am a big wimp about being cold, so as soon as this show changed to outdoors, I started watching the weather.

 

Other than a few random gear malfunctions, there was nothing really to talk about for this show. This used to be our Thriller/Purple Rain show, but now everybody does that, so other than one song off each album, this was mostly our usual stuff. Can Chastain be just another night on stage? I guess so. I did play some nice stuff in the dressing room before we went on, so there's that.

October 28, we played the Georgia Theatre in Athens. Yay for this one! I do love playing this room, and we had a great crowd, especially for a Thursday night.

Unfortunately, I had another issue with my gear--this time with my effects pedal that I use for saxophone stuff. I first noticed at Chastain that one of my settings had randomly changed, and by the time we started this show, ALL of my settings were randomly changing. Basically, the thing went insane. We got through the gig ok, though. The main one was the two delay settings I use for Maneater: the first was too quick (I heard that at Chastain), and the second, usually set to repeat every four beats, would now repeat every three beats. It didn't take long before I decided to pull Nick aside and veto that song.

October 30, we played the Moo and Brew Festival in Charlotte. I think this is our fourth time? Maybe it's the third. It's usually scheduled in the summer, but it landed at the end of October this year for some reason. High of 60. Low of 40. I had concerns. 

This is Duke. I am familiar with his breed!

Soundcheck was early and the gig was late, so we had a few hours to kill at the hotel (the green room situation here is pretty terrible--usually the model apartment in a nearby building with a significant walk to the stage). I went for a run and then ordered some Indian food. Excellent refueling. 

Check out this guy, whose Halloween costume was...LEGO DAVE! Outstanding!

So...my move for this gig was to bring a space heater, and it worked pretty well! I wouldn't say that I was ever warm (even with the heater, three shirts, a vest, and a suit jacket), but I wasn't miserable, and we had a good time. Plus, I could occasionally lean down and warm my hands up, and that made all the difference.

So, yeah! Fun gig for a bajillion people. Excellent. That's pretty much all I want out of this gig these days.

The following weekend, Yacht Rock had no gigs, but I picked up a musical, playing the Reed 2 book for Chicago at the Cobb County Performing Arts High School (Pebblebrook, though the shows took place at South Cobb High School). I wonder when this became a thing?--paying a band of professional musicians to come and accompany the students. 

Who cares? I really enjoyed the challenge of playing all the parts (my book had piccolo, clarinet, soprano saxophone, and tenor saxophone), and I wish more of these made their way to me, even if they aren't as lucrative as playing Baker Street. 

Plus, this show was indoors!