Arizona

Yacht Rock played an awesome gig last night in Scottsdale (Phoenix) Arizona at a place called Different Pointe of View.  The venue was a restaurant on the top of a hill overlooking the city.  It was an incredible view, and a really fun gig.

Different Pointe of View

the view

We left Atlanta around 10 PM Monday night landed in Arizona at 2 AM (Atlanta time), tired and hungry.  No bags, no bags, no bags…baggage claim was a problem!--some sort of jam--that kept us standing there for forty-five minutes in the middle of the night.  From there, it was a twenty minute van ride to the Pointe Hilton where we stayed and performed.

Most of the band opted to go find food in the middle of the night, so the "overnight guy" offered to drive us in the hotel van to civilization.  We ended up ordering from a Del Taco at something like 4:30 AM Atlanta time.  Ouch.  Spicy chicken burrito was ok, though!  Our driver must have had a bet with the front desk lady that he could make one of us throw up because he drove like an idiot to and from Del Taco, and then up the hill to our rooms.  I think he almost got us killed, but I had my eyes closed.

my room

my room

The next day (Tuesday), I think we all slept and hung out.  The only other time I'd ever been to Arizona for a gig, I'd stayed at the same place, so I went down to the bar by the pool and drank a few cups of coffee.  The weather, I should mention, could not have been better:  a high of maybe 80 degrees.  Very comfortable.

We had a 1 PM soundcheck.  Pete was able to get the keyboards Bencuya and I use (Roland Fantoms and Nord Electros), and I put my CF card in the back and imported all my sounds and splits.  How sweet is that!  That right there made the gig for me.  If I'd had to program twenty songs or so from scratch, I would have been really fried before the gig ever got started.  Instead, it was business as usual.  Even the keyboard amps they gave us sounded good (Roland KC-500s--same amps we'd had in Orlando last year, but those sounded brittle and horrible!).

tight squeeze

Once soundcheck ended, I stayed around to familiarize myself with the Nord--we got Nord 3s (I usually use a Nord 2).  Just a little different getting around it, but also I wanted to get used to where I was on the keyboard, since these were 73 key instead of my usual 61.  I ended up staying there and practicing/playing the gig for an hour or two (for less suckage).

I walked down the hill to my room (we had individual rooms--very nice) and practiced saxes and flute for about an hour.  At 5:45, I walked back uphill (not so easy) and we feasted on a really good steak (and some sort of potatoes and tomatoes--all really good).  I should have taken a picture of it.  First food since Del Taco (fourteen hours earlier).  I wish there'd been more.  I could've done it.

The gig was great.  I mean, it was super loud (I was up against a glass wall under a low ceiling, and the band was tucked in a tiny corner) but we played great.  Mark Dannells was unable to join us for the gig, so we had Shannon Pengelly from the Schooner playing with us (in between cigarettes).  Great job!  Easily the best I've ever heard him play.  Dannells is one of a kind, but Shannon really proved himself last night.  I was impressed.

We went back down the hill after the gig, hung out for a minute, and then went our separate ways.  I packed and crashed.

Shannon, 5:30 AM

5:30 AM light

The lobby call was 5:30 AM.  It was already pretty light--weird.  We were back in Atlanta around 2 PM, and I was teaching at 5 PM.  Long day.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Saturday Smith's, Sunday Shizz

Saturday night, Please PleaseRock Me had our monthly (really probably more like six weeks) show at Smith's Olde Bar.  Not much of a show for me;  most of my work comes in the week or so prior to the gig, writing charts and thinking about arrangement things that didn't work at the previous show.  Fortunately, we'd just played a Beatles show the week before, so there wasn't much prep work for this one.

I have to get this out of the way:  I hate the sound man.  OK, hate's not the right word, but Saturday night's FoH sound guy is a frikin' douchebag.  As soon as I walked in the backdoor of Smith's and saw him, I was crushed…I knew right then that there would be an entire night of him being a pain in the ass and solving my problems that didn't need solving and offering suggestions when I wasn't asking for one, and eventually NOT HAVING MY CLARINET BE AUDIBLE FOR ANY OF WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR.  I won't even bother with the other particulars that made me want to strangle him.  I will just say that he was far too interested in doing things that I don't need/want him to do, and not interested enough in making us sound good (a first step would be to STAY AWAY FROM ME AT ALL COSTS).  Get behind the FoH mixer and stay there and SHUT UP.

In spite of the FoH guy,  in spite of the fact that the monitor for the horn section was never on for the duration of the gig (about three quarters of the way through, the monitor guy finally checked it out, agreed that it was not working, and put us in the side fill), in spite of the load in,  and in spite of the FoH guy once again, the band was really good.  We had one major disaster (Everybody's Got Something to Hide) where Nick couldn't find a way in.  Sorry to enjoy someone else's mistake, but it was really funny (a couple of times!).  The whole gig was good, though.  I used my Thursday night tenor reed--still dead.  It played its final gig that night.  We had a great time, and the crowd was really into it.  We had a Kinks tribute band open for us, and they might have been better than we were.

Bencuya and a Kink

Paul Garret on trumpet

my favorite Monkey

Sunday was too much of this:

I  V/7, vi7  V, IV  IV/5, I  IV/5

I also got an update on the money situation at gig number one.  The band member seeking more money spoke to the band leader about said money, told him his wife lost her job (then told me "She's still working part time"), and the band leader told him that because of the situation, "he'd see what he could do."  Evidently, we're now being paid based on hardship?

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Party Time

Yacht Rock played a private party last night at Star Provisions (Howell Mill and 14th).  Super easy gig.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.

The load in sucked.  This one is like a "Hotel Intercontinental and Use the Freight Elevator" kind of sucks (different from a "Fox Theatre/Egyptian Ballroom Vertical Phonebooth for a Freight Elevator" kind of sucks).  You load in at the back corner of the building, go up the ramp, across the back of the building, in the back door, down one hall, then down another hall to the freight elevator.  The other option is to use the passenger elevators, but only one (the left) goes to the fourth floor;  the other only goes to three, so if you go up that one, you have to jump to the other elevator when it tops out.

The room itself is pretty cool.  Great view.  I've been there before on a House Live gig.

Catering for the event was by Taqueria del Sol.  Half the band tried to load in from there…on purpose, or bad directions?  I ate a ton of chips and spilled a gallon of salsa juice on the floor.

The uniform for guests:  ladies must wear skin tight white jeans (not my thing, but thank you for the effort).  For the guys, plaid button down shirt, khakis or jeans, brown loafers.  It looked like a UGA alumni meeting.  Bud Light drinkers.

The gig was really smooth.  No problems.  Everybody was in a good mood.  We played well.  I could hear myself really well.  I steered us into reggae for a verse of Escape (Pina Colada Song)--Allen Cook would be proud of me!  We played I Keep Forgetting.  Playing that song with Mark Cobb was as good as I thought it would be.  Made me very happy.

I packed up all my stuff in twenty minutes--a personal record.  Thank you, SKB.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Sundress Night at the 10 High

Many fine sundresses were in attendance last night at the 10 High, and I, being the number one fan of the sundress, say thank you, especially to the one in front of me for the first set.  I wanted to take pictures, but I think that'd be crossing the line.  And, I think she was there with her mom.

The gig was…two gigs in one.  The first set was really solid.  We had Greg singing for Nick and Dani (Dani's birthday!) playing bass for Greg, and we had no problems in that configuration.  Everybody played well;  I was particularly digging Mark Cobb's hi hats.  Is that a fair compliment?  I don't know.  It struck me that the hi hats sounded really good, though.  Worth mentioning.  Cobb was really playing well.

I played well, too, probably because I could hear myself.  I think I've got the stuff in my rack dialed in.  Turn it on and turn it up.

I played tenor only once the entire night--the sixteen measure solo in Too Hot.  That was probably good luck on my part because the tenor reed that I was using was DONE.  My alto felt great.  I took my flute, tenor, and alto to Lopes' house earlier in the day and had him fix them up.  Other than the ripped pads (he found another) on my flute, everything was in good shape.

Back to the show!

Dannells played a pretty ferociously awesome solo on How Long.  That's when I knew we were really on it.  Very little cursing on his part until the end of the set.

Notice how everyone's standing AROUND the lighted dance floor?  Thank you, 10 High.

The lights went out on the dance floor.

If the first set was a continuation of last week's Park Tavern gig, the second set was like a third set from last week's 10 High gig.  It was brutally bad.  An alcohol fueled mess.  I wondered if we'd make it to the end.  At one point, I think we were playing I Keep Forgetting instrumentally, reggae style.  At least, that's what I was doing.  And with a calliope sound.

I relearned the string part to Lowdown, but I ended up screwing it up again.  I only remembered about half of it.  It's really easy, which means I'm really stupid.

I Keep Forgetting was on the set list, but we ended up cutting it because Michael McDonald is a freak of nature.  The vocals are too high ("Every time you're near…").  I was really excited about playing it.  It kind of took the air out the gig for me when it was eliminated.  That said, I am not a vocalist, so I have no business criticizing some one else about those kinds of decisions.

Maybe tonight?  Ganesh is subbing for Nick…he may take a shot at it.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Emergency Pad Fix

The overwhelming majority of my blog posts are silly stories centered around my job.  How about something useful!

Monday night, I played flute for hours and hours…one of those nights where I was really feeling good.  When I tried to warm up on Tuesday, all my lowest notes were gone.  I thought, "Wow, I really overdid it!"  so I played long tones in the middle of the flute and worked my way down, but the notes on the foot joint were really difficult.  After about an hour of not being able to get it happening, I inspected my foot joint.  Aha!  My Eb pad had kind of disintegrated.

Until I can get to Bryan Lopes for repairs, I'm using saran wrap.  It works well in an emergency!  Wrap it over the key, twist in the back, and put a piece of scotch tape there to hold the twist in place.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Church Gig Stuff

I did my two regular church gigs this past Sunday.  It's been a while!  I've been in and out of town over the past few weeks.

Church gig number one was fine.  Everybody had been sending subs over the past month or so, but they were all overlapping.  I think that at least two of the regular guys were always there.  It worked out fine.  Nobody said anything.  Then again, maybe nobody missed us.

When we were loading out, one of the band members was talking money with me.  We're still not all paid equally (still a sore spot for we the underpaid!), and the last time any of us had brought up the subject with the band leader, we'd been told in so many words "not right now."  The guy I was talking with wants to open the discussion again;  his wife just lost her job, and so he's asking for more money because he needs to make up the difference in income (making $50 more a week?).  I'm not sure that's a solid argument.

I don't quite follow that part.  He also wants to go over the band leader's head and talk to the head of the church.  Yikes.  The band leader's trying not to blow his budget, and it's rumored that the head of the church will give you what you need if you make your case.  That sounds risky.

I don't know what I'd do in his shoes.  My wife does not work full time, and the money ebbs and flows.  If it stopped altogether, would I turn to all my contractors and ask them to pick up the slack?  Furthermore, I would think twice about going over the band leader's head--you might find yourself completely out of a gig!  Then what?  Tell your students the price of lessons has doubled, effective immediately?!

He and I batted ideas around for a while in the parking lot.  Maybe I'll get lucky, and he'll lean more on my argument that we should all be paid equally for playing the same gig.  That way, I might end up getting pulled up without having to say anything at all.

Church gig number two was ok.  I've been so slack on my personal practicing;  my playing is really sad right now.  I couldn't play in tune to save my life.  I need to right the ship.  Stop sucking!

davidfreemanmusic.net

The Pleaserock Olympics

Yesterday, we played two shows back to back.  The first show was a Beatles show (Please Pleaserock Me) headlining the Decatur Greenfest.  When it was finished, we played at 500 Songs for Kids.

The first part of the Olypmics was to get dressed in a black suit (with tie), grab equipment out of your car and navigate down a sidewalk full of people who don't care that you're wearing a suit and moving heavy equipment.  Total distance was a little over a hundred yards, but each of us made multiple trips, and then we each had to scramble to find parking somewhere in the vicinity.  We gathered back at the stage, threw our equipment up and played two sets of Beatles--a lot of three minutes songs in each one hour set!  The crowd was good--estimates were in the six hundred people range, and it was well received.  Tree Sound provided the PA, using their solar powered generator.  Very cool.  We were off the grid!

Things went pretty smoothly.  We were near the end of the gig (third to last song) and Mark Dannells started Revolution in Bb instead of B.  No big deal.  The whole band shifted with him (kudos to Mark Bencuya for transposing the Wurly solo on the fly!).  After the song ended, we informed him of the mistake (and if you know the way in which we would "discuss" something like that, you'd know how small he felt).  He thought he'd played the entire song in Bb and the rest of the band had played in B;  he was so upset that he threw his guitar down on the stage and left and missed an entire song having a mental shit fit somewhere.  It wasn't until after the gig that we were able to explain that we'd changed keys pretty much instantaneously to accommodate his error.  Dannells was suicidal with the thought that he'd gone tone deaf.

Dannells told us at the start of the gig "I do what I want."  I guess that includes keys.

Paul Poovey played a great version of the Penny Lane piccolo trumpet solo (definitely worth checking out the mp3s on his brass quintet's website) and Greg Lee sang the hell out of Maybe I'm Amazed.  Nick was awesome on everything else.  I was just along for the ride on this gig.

When the gig ended, we packed up everything, found our vehicles, parked illegally, and hoofed our gear back across the hundred yards (still in suits).  A couple of us ran by the office and dumped our gear before heading to Smith's Olde Bar for 500 Songs for Kids, a really cool benefit.  We've done it a couple of years in a row now.

The throwing of the Milanos:

Bencuya and I dragged a couple keyboards up the back stairs and into Smith's.  I think the first sign that I will never be a rock star:  my feet don't like Chuck Taylors.  I'm more of an Adidas guy.  Maybe I should have signed on with a Run DMC tribute?  I don't know.  Anyway, my feet hurt, which made the standing around and waiting for our turn seem like forever.  Maybe it was forever.  I was fading fast at that point.

We got the call and threw our gear up on stage to play Dancing on the Ceiling.  My arpeggiator was awesome, by the way.  About four bars into the first verse, Nick waved it off.  We went into With a Little Help from my Friends.  I don't if that's a legal move at 500 Songs, but I get the feeling we have enough clout to do whatever we want.  We did "our" song and the crowd went wild (it helps that Nick sings the absolute HOLY HELL out of it--if you need proof, listen to this version from the Variety Playhouse in January).  Whoa baby now.

My man Mark Dannells:  Back from the Brink

So…final events of the Olympics:  keyboards go back in the cases, I grab the keyboards, feet are hurting, down the two flights of rickety stairs, across Monroe, past the people having sex in a car (YES!--I was like--"this is awesome!  it's really happening!  I've got to stop looking!  I can't stop looking!"), gear in the truck, back to the office to get my other stuff, home, unpack the truck again, pack the truck again.

I went to bed and got up a few hours later for ye olde church gig.  Keep on keepin' on.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Braves Night at Park Tavern

Like addicts needing a bigger fix to get high, I think we just needed a bigger stage.  We followed Thursday night's drudgery with a terrific show Friday night at the Park Tavern.  The theme was "Braves Night," so Homer (the Braves mascot) and the Braves girls who throw t shirts at people were there.  T shirts were thrown.  It was a huge success.

I think the first set last night was the same as Thursday night's first set.  Overall, I played better, but I still had some rough spots.  I'm still not totally comfortable with Baby Come Back, and Moonlight Feels Right is still kind of tough because I'm moving all over the keyboard for different sounds, but I'm really happy to have those in the rotation--we've gotten in some really bad ruts with the setlist.

Mark Cobb was on fire last night, especially in the first set.  He was having a creative night without being stupid.  It can be a fine line for him, but he played well.

I think I have my stuff dialed in on my rack so I don't have to make many adjustments, other than turning the volume up and down.  Good thing, because having my rack on the ground makes it difficult to play and tweak at the same time.

I got off a pretty good solo on Biggest Part of Me.  It's so hard to hear if my microphone is even on at the Park Tavern.  There's nothing to bounce the sound off.  I just check it before the song starts and hope for the best (and remind myself once I'm in the solo not to overblow--let the mic do the work).  Cobb picks a nice tempo for that one that keeps it groovin' a little harder than the original.

I've had some sort of strange sinus problem all week, and by the end of the first set (Biggest Part of Me), I was hurting.  Forming the proper shape with my mouth and tongue was super uncomfortable.  I don't know what's going on in there--there's pain from one ear, up through the roof of my mouth into my sinuses, and out the other ear.  Playing saxophone with that going on is not fun.  I hope it cures itself soon.

The second set was pretty good.  We skipped around a bunch and avoided some songs we haven't played in a while (Takin' it to the Streets, Kiss You All Over), but everything was really solid, and we finished right on time with Rich Girl.  We had a good time;  the crowd had a good time.  We took a bunch of pictures.  I think we're off to a really good start for this series of shows.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Thursday Night

Yacht Rock was back at the 10 High last night…we hadn't been there in a few weeks, and it felt a little strange.  The people who manage the room changed some things up--added the lighted dance floor, stacked the subwoofers at the corners of the stage, and moved some of the monitors around a little.  Nothing major, but it felt a bit foreign.

The first set was really loud.  I'm not sure exactly why, but everything just felt like it was blasting, and even when I turned my volume up to balance it, things still felt out of whack.  I think that the mains were turned inward a little more and were up louder, and then the stacked subs kind of made a wall around me.  It just felt weird.  Dannells was louder than than usual and Cobb was loud, and…it just made it rough.

I had some really stupid moments in the first set--a few songs we haven't touched in a while felt really foreign, even though I'd practiced them at home.  I don't think I was unprepared, but I couldn't really get parts to fit into the band.  It was kind of like I was playing against the band.

We went on break and the Schooner guys showed up to hang out and play a few songs.  Eric Frampton played my keyboards.  I was hoping he'd impart some keyboard mojo on my stuff!  Maybe he did…I played much better in the second set.

Unfortunately, the band played a really bad second set.  I don't think we ever came back from the break, but we still had to keep playing.  We were really bad.

Last night was the debut of my new rack--I have been looking for a way to keep more of my stuff set up so that I don't take so long setting up and tearing down.  This new system has my laptop/EWI set up already hooked together, along with the mixer I run everything into, and my wireless receiver for my saxophones.  All the cables stay plugged into the mixer, so at the end of the night, I stuff them in the box, put the lid on it, and I'm done!  Way faster, especially on a night when I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Speaking of wireless, some guy wanted to know what I was taking pictures of with my saxophone.  He thought that transmitter on the bell was a camera.  Huh?

davidfreemanmusic.net