The Beat Goes On

January 15-22: Marietta, GA. It's show time! I spent this week playing the reed one book for the musical Assassins by Stephen Sondheim. All four reed books (twenty-one instruments between the four of us!) were played by wind players--a rarity for smaller theaters where at least two of these books end up being "faked" by a second keyboardist. It sounded soooo cool! 

The strangest thing in my book was a harmonica part (who plays piccolo, flute, clarinet, soprano sax, and...harmonica?). After a few discussions with the music director, I got the go ahead to play the part on melodica. Yay!

Here are some highlights from the dress rehearsal, beginning with one of my harmonica/melodica solos.

 Here's a nifty thing I did for this show: I made a peg extension for my piccolo to bring its height up even with the other instruments. It makes it much easier to pick up and put down without having to look down in the dark. 

It's just a fifteen inch piece of PVC with some bolts in the caps, spray painted black, but man, it worked like a charm!

Tuesday, January 24: Atlanta, GA. Yacht Rock played a corporate party in town. This one was pretty dull--most everybody stayed at their tables and watched with blank expressions. Those who got up and headed to the bar stations (located outside the ballroom) stood in the doorways and watched. Oh well--sometimes it's just a job.

Friday, January 27: Seattle, WA. We flew out to the Pacific Northwest the night before, so as to be at least slightly acclimated to the time change. However, Mark Bencuya missed the flight, had to wait three and a half hours in Atlanta for the next one, and finally made it to Seattle at 1:30 AM. Ouch!

Good times on this one--I'm a big fan of Seattle, these people, this room, the whole thing--it's fun! Plus, it sold out before we even got the gear in the room, so that was some extra energy. Leisl was there in the front row!

Peter Beckett, Voice of Player, now lives in the Seattle area, so he came and sat in on How Long and Baby Come Back. 

There are lots of YouTube videos from this show by a dedicated fan--here's a sample.

After the show, we caught up with friend of the band Zack Albetta, who is currently playing drums with the national tour of Ain't Too Proud. They are currently working in Seattle, so when he was finished and we were finished, he suggested that we meet up at a bar in between our two theaters to say hey and share a beer. He's doing great!

Saturday, January 28: Portland, OR. We vacated our hotel in the late morning and began the roadtrip to Portland. Today's lunch stop was in some random Oregon town. I don't remember what I ate for lunch, but here's what I had for dessert!

Revolution Hall is a very cool room--the entire venue used to be a school, and the hall is the auditorium in the middle.

A little warming up in the stairwell...

Another big ol' sold out crowd! Good stuff!

After the show in the green room...

And that was it! The next day (Sunday), we flew back to Atlanta.

Monday, January 30: Marietta, GA. Home recording time.

Wednesday, February 1: Manteca, CA. Back on the plane we go, this time to San Francisco. The vans picked us up there, and we continued onward to Manteca to spend the night.

 

crossing the Rockies 

We left the hotel at 11 AM in search of an early lunch before our gig. Our van landed in a shopping area with multiple restaurants, and most of us piled into a booth at the Black Bear Diner. 

In the midst of eating, the waiter came by to say that the restaurant was being evacuated because of a gas leak, and that we must leave immediately. Uhhh, ok! I wrapped my veggie burger in a napkin and made my way out the door.

Our first show of this trip was in Modesto at the Gallo Center for the Arts, a really nice room smack dab in the middle of town.

The crowd was small (less than 300), and it was a nice gig to get some momentum heading into the weekend, but was by no means an epic gig or anything. 

Afterwards, we drove to our hotel in Fresno. 

Friday, February 3: Anaheim, CA. The trip from Fresno to Anaheim was supposed to take five hours, but SoCal Friday traffic got us, and it took almost seven. Ouch!

Tonight's big show was at the Anaheim House of Blues. The last time we were here, the HoB was in a different location, and it was pretty crappy--a dirty old room with a grumpy local crew. This place--way better!

Portrait of the artist as an angry old man...

Saturday, February 4: San Diego, CA. We played The Observatory again. Cool room! 

This one sold out, and we certainly enjoyed the energy of a full room. Great gig. Even the security guards were dancing.

Elliot Lurie came and played with us tonight, sitting in on Dancing in the Moonlight, and of course, Brandy.

More from this weirdo...

Treats for the band! Nackers and I had big forkfuls of several. The chocolate mousse ball in the top corner was the best.

Sunday, February 5: San Diego, CA. We only had our hotel for one night, and we got stuck with having to be out by 11 AM, but the next hotel wouldn't let us in until 4 PM, so the vans dropped us off in the Little Italy section of San Diego for a leisurely brunch.

Kip and Zach's lunch spot was through a passageway in an Italian grocery store. Very old school.

After they'd wandered over to meet Peter in a doughnut shop, I left in search of my own meal. I have successfully eaten at Solunto before, so I tried it again. Bread/sauce? Excellent. Salad? Excellent.

I realized too late that I am not a fan of artichoke or squash. My fault. I still ate the whole thing, though. The crust was really good.

None of this did I eat, I promise.

We eventually reunited with Hans and rode in the van to our next hotel, the Coronado Island Marriott. It was much more of a resort looking place. Nice rooms, of course! I slept a lot here.

The TV is a nice place to let a week's worth of running clothes dry.

Monday, February 6: San Diego, CA. We played a private event for a company...their name escapes me. Crest, maybe? Anyway, the show was in The Music Box, a room we last played a few years ago. 

This one was ok. Maybe a little bit of a letdown after triumph of The Observatory gig. Ganesh sang for Nick (who's off in Nashville this week producing a record for somebody), and both Peter Beckett and Elliot Lurie sat in on the usual songs. Not bad for a Monday, and we were finished at 9:30 PM.

Tuesday, February 7. Homeward bound! I slept for about half the flight home.