Anchorman and Dark Side at the Variety Playhouse

Wow!  Great show.  We're really getting good at pulling something together at the last minute.  Yacht Rock played the Variety Playhouse last night (Saturday), performing the Anchorman soundtrack and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.  The Anchorman stuff came together in a couple of days--we decided on that album after a gig Tuesday, January 8, and then left on tour the next day.  I don't think anybody did any work on any of those songs until we got home the night of Monday, January 14.  We had rehearsals January 15 and 17, and played the thing Saturday, January 19.  That's called pulling it out of your ass.

with special guest Peter Stroud

I think we got everybody's best performance of this stuff at the gig.  On the Anchorman stuff, the only thing I really messed up was the string part to She's Gone (one which we play with some regularity).  The sax solo was pretty good, though.  In the Dark Side stuff, I missed an altissimo G# in the Money solo, and the butchered the rest of that phrase, but I got back on track.  Everything else was fine.

There are already some videos from the show posted on YouTube.

Here's She's Gone:



Here's Carry On Wayward Son:



Here's Grazin' in the Grass:



Here's Who's that Lady:



The encore was Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.  I think we nailed it.

Yacht Rock is headed to North Carolina for some shows this week!  We'll be at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh on Thursday and the Visualite Theatre in Charlotte on Friday.  We're also playing the Team Hidi Benefit at King Plow on Sunday night.  Come see us!

davidfreemanmusic.net

Back to Yacht Rock

The Full Tilt gig ended at 2 AM.  I was home around 3, and asleep by 4.  Unfortunately, I was up at 8:30 AM to get out the door to a recording session.  Bob Lewis and I laid down four horn parts (Bob on trumpet and trombone, me on alto and bari) for a new Dustin Cottrell song.  Pretty cool, with a nice horn arrangement by Fuji Fujimoto.

The end of the session left me just enough time to go home, eat lunch, and pick up my gear for the night's gig.

Yacht Rock played a private gig last night at the Dunwoody Ravinia, which now eclipses the Buckhead Ritz as the most foul smelling loading dock on the planet.  Thanks also for the numerous puddles of god-knows-what, especially the one at the bottom of the ramp.

This was a run of the mill corporate function…bad load in/out, bad PA, taped together non rectangular stage, tentative crowd, all in one very sterile hotel ballroom.  Ahh, the glamor!  Things got better as we went along, but the beginning was really tough.  The guys running the sound system had big problems with shrieking feedback and strange reverbs coming and going, and really horrible EQs on everything.  Wow…it sounded really, really bad in that first set.  Imagine what it sounds like when you turn the radio up in your car as loud as it will go, and then let a two year old mess with the treble and bass controls.  Later on, they got things kind of leveled out and it was tolerable.

The hotel had some sort of issue with their elevators.  It took us more than fifteen minutes to go from the third floor to the lobby.  There were no easily accessible stairs to get us there.  Time to bulldoze the Ravinia and start over.

In case you haven't heard, we have a huge show tonight at the Variety Playhouse, performing the Anchorman soundtrack and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.  The best part of tonight's gig was that it gave us one more pass through the Anchorman songs.  That, and we got paid, and we finished at 10:20 PM.  In bed by midnight.  A couple of more days, and things get back to normal.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Double Dip!

I played two gigs as part of the same function last night.  Big money!  It turned out to be lots of standing around, too.  Wayne Viar and Paul Poovey were on the gig, so it was a good hang.

The first hour and a half was a House Live gig across the hall from the main ballroom.  Easy stuff.  We then had a couple of hours of down time before the main show kicked off, so we got a chance to eat and hang out.

The second gig was a four hours of continuous music cover band gig with the band Full Tilt.  Not only did the band not take a break for four hours;  most of the time the drummer went right into the next tune!  Michael Magno's band acted as rhythm section subs so those guys could step off for a couple of songs.  It was kind of insane, but the crowd hung with it much more than I thought they would.

Paul and I played on eleven tunes in those four hours, so mostly we sat at a table off to the side of the stage and people watched.

At 2 AM, the gig ended.  The client had paid for us to valet--nice!  In all the time I've worked in Atlanta, I've never entered or left through the front door of the Ritz.  The loading dock I know far too well.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Trio Gig

My trio (with Kevin Smith on bass and Kenny Banks Jr on keyboard) played a four hour jazz gig.  Long gig!  We were pretty fried by the end.  This was definitely one of those gigs that should've ended an hour earlier than it did--a dozen guys standing around the bar held us all hostage while they talked about god knows what.

Great gig!  This was the second gig I've played with Kenny.  Really good stuff.  Check it out:



My hands didn't work well on this gig, and as the room got colder, I got worse.

davidfreemanmusic.net

January Tour

photo courtesy of Pete's magic phone

Yacht Rock returned earlier this week from a very successful January tour.  What's not to love about having a gig in January, when most musicians are trying to live off holiday gig pay until the world goes back to spending money on entertainment!

The toughest part of this trip was the fierce cold that we all traded (and incubated daily in the van).  Greg had it at the show Tuesday night at the Tabernacle.  Nick picked it up a day or two later, Mark Cobb a day or so after that, and I could feel it by the end of the ride.  Pete, Monkey, and Bencuya were sniffling along with us.  This tour is sponsored by DayQuil!

Wednesday:  travel day.  We left in the afternoon and drove to Greensboro, NC to spend the night.  Dinner at Hooters.

Thursday:  our first gig was the beautiful Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville, VA.  Wow--nice room!  I also dig it when the load out goes off the stage and straight into the trailer.  You can't beat that (well, maybe you can at The Orange Peel).  The crew was really cool and helpful.

Anyway, it's a beautiful place.  We had a hundred and something people turn up for our first try at Charlottesville.  Success!

Friday:  we boogied over to Washington, DC for a private party.  Last year they had a solo cellist…this year, they got Yacht Rock!  Quite an upgrade.  Our buddy Ronnie who ran sound for us in Baltimore on a previous trip manned the PA.  In spite of the acoustics (glass wall, glass ceiling, hard floor), we had a good show and good sound.  The crowd was thin.  Maybe they were intimidated by us?

Saturday:  our next show was nearby, so the band was afforded a little sightseeing.  First, we ate brunch at some hipster restaurant.  Next, we swung by Chocolate City Beer for a free tasting (good stuff).

Bencuya poses:

We still had some time, so we found a couple of parking spaces in front of the Department of Education and walked over to the National Air and Space Museum.  So cool!

Our evening gig was at the Maryland Live! Casino.  It's not sad enough to see a bunch of people wasting money on gambling…let's put the casino in a suburban shopping center!  The stage was in the middle of the casino, so we had to drag all of our gear through slot machines--no back hallway or underground passage.  Talk about a pain in the ass!

We set up, but soundcheck was delayed until the end of the Ravens/Broncos game.

This gig was the toughest one of the week for us.  The drums were behind one of those plexiglass shields, and though it kept the drums out of the vocal microphones, we weren't used to not being able to hear them directly.

Other than that (and the load in/out and the casino food), it was a pretty easy gig--one set.  We had a pretty good crowd, too--it filled up the concert area, so probably a couple of hundred.

Nice lights!

Sunday:  we were up WAAAAAAAAAY early to drive all damn day to get to The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC.  It's worth mentioning again how awesome it is when you pull up to the venue and the crew takes all your gear from the trailer to the stage.  Ahhhhhh…

This room is super cool.  The sound is kind of boomy and loud, but it has a great vibe.  We had a good show for around two hundred people--better than last time, and not bad for a Sunday night!  If we could figure out a way to get here more often, I'd love it.

photo by moovyphreak

After the show, I had a chance to hang out for a minute with Ben Lovett.  I played on his record a couple of years ago (Highway Collection).  He's been busy scoring movies.  So cool!  Here's one of his best (Karl Liberatore, Wes Funderburk, and myself are the horn section on the record):



Monday:  before we headed back to Atlanta, we made a pilgrimage to the Moog factory in Asheville.  I wish I had a need for one.  Super neat.

Upcoming dates!

January 19, Variety Playhouse (Atlanta, GA)
January 24, Lincoln Theatre (Raleigh, NC)
January 25, Visualite Theatre (Charlotte, NC)
January 27, Hidinger Benefit at King Plow (Atlanta, GA)
February 1, 40 Watt (Athens, GA)
February 15, Taste of Dunwoody (Dunwoody, GA)
February 16, Cannery Ballroom (Nashville, TN)
February 24-March 1, Rock Boat XIII (the ocean)
March 2, Park Tavern (Atlanta, GA)
March 14, Wonder Bar (Asbury Park, NJ)
March 15, Theatre of the Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA)
March 16, Gramercy Theatre (New York, NY)
March 17, The Hamilton (Washington, DC)
July 11, Mohegan Sun (Montville, CT)
July 20 (Atlanta, GA)
October 19 (Atlanta, GA)

davidfreemanmusic.net

Tabernacle

Yacht Rock played a private event at the Tabernacle last night.  I've done a few private/corporate gigs  there, and I guess it's just where I'm at that this show wasn't nearly as big a deal as the previous ones.  I remember that the first couple of times, the room was huge and the stage was huge--it was like Madison Square Garden to me.  Now, it feels about right for us.  A neat place to play a show, for sure.

We played a good gig, though it took me almost an hour to finally get comfortable with the stage sound.  The room is pretty boomy and loud, and I kept messing with my stage volume until I found the right spot.  Once I got there, everything was cool.

We're headed out TODAY!  Upcoming gigs:

January 10, Jefferson Theatre (Charlottesville, VA)
January 12, Maryland Live! Casino (Hanover, MD)
January 13, Orange Peel (Asheville, NC)
January 19, Variety Playhouse (Atlanta, GA)
January 24, Lincoln Theatre (Raleigh, NC)
January 25, Visualite Theatre (Charlotte, NC)
January 27, Hidinger Benefit at King Plow (Atlanta, GA)
February 1, 40 Watt (Athens, GA)
February 15, Taste of Dunwoody (Dunwoody, GA)
February 24-March 1, Rock Boat XIII
March 2, Park Tavern (Atlanta, GA)
March 14, Wonder Bar (Asbury Park, NJ)
March 15, Theatre of the Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA)
March 16, Gramercy Theatre (New York, NY)
March 17, The Hamilton (Washington, DC)
July 11, Mohegan Sun (Montville, CT)
July 20 (Atlanta, GA)
October 19 (Atlanta, GA)

In other news, I finished editing my videos from the other night's trio gigs.  You can watch them here:



davidfreemanmusic.net

Sunday Church Gigs

Sunday was the usual AM/PM church gig day.

The AM service was pretty thrown together, though we did play a very cool tune that had Stevie Wonder kind of changes…Ab, Db/Ab, AbMaj7/C, Db, Gb13, Fm7, Bbm7, Db/Eb for the verse.  Very hip!

The PM service was decent.  My mix was pretty good and my tuning was pretty good.  I didn't play anything memorable, though I my attention was divided between the gig and monitoring the football game on my phone.

Yacht Rock is headed out this week, with upcoming gigs in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.  Plus, we're sort of gearing up for another big show at the Variety Playhouse.  Here we are doing the beginning of Dark Side of the Moon.



Upcoming shows!

January 10, Jefferson Theatre (Charlottesville, VA)

January 12, Maryland Live! Casino (Hanover, MD)

January 13, Orange Peel (Asheville, NC)

January 19, Variety Playhouse (Atlanta, GA)

January 24, Lincoln Theatre (Raleigh, NC)

January 25, Visualite Theatre (Charlotte, NC)

January 27, Hidinger Benefit at King Plow (Atlanta, GA)

February 1, 40 Watt (Athens, GA)

February 15, Taste of Dunwoody (Dunwoody, GA)

February 24-March 1, Rock Boat XIII

March 2, Park Tavern (Atlanta, GA)

March 14, Wonder Bar (Asbury Park, NJ)

March 15, Theatre of the Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA)

March 16, Gramercy Theatre (New York, NY)

March 17, The Hamilton (Washington, DC)

July 11, Mohegan Sun (Montville, CT)

July 20 (Atlanta, GA)

October 19 (Atlanta, GA)

davidfreemanmusic.net

Trio Gig

My trio (with Kenny Banks Jr on keyboard and Kevin Smith on bass) played a corporate reception Saturday night at the Aquarium.  The usual stuff…background music.  With the exception of the first tune, we played my originals.

I'd never played with Kenny  before.  Very cool!  I played at a jam session with his dad years ago when he first moved to town from Ohio.  Faced with the difficult task of sight-reading all night, he fared well.  We had a great time.  You can also hear him on Darryl Reeves' newest CD, titled Mercury.

Here's the audio from our gig:

davidfreemanmusic.net

New Year's Eve

Yacht Rock closed out 2012 with one last near-riot of a gig at the Park Tavern.  Everything you'd expect from 1,804 drunk people.  It's always amusing for a minute:  girls crying, guys trying live up to being the biggest douchebags ever.  Then they're just people in the way while I'm trying to load out.  The Park Tavern is a great place to play and the fans are pretty incredible, but I think it's time to invest in some security people to keep everything cool.

The gig itself was pretty great--we had a good time and everybody played well.  I had (I think) the best solos I've ever played on Reminiscing, LA Lindsay, and Good Thing.  I was feelin' it!

We finished at 12:15 AM.  Yay!  I was home an hour and a half later.  Not too bad.

2013 looks good…here are upcoming public shows with Yacht Rock:

January 10, Jefferson Theatre (Charlottesville, VA)

January 12, Maryland Live! Casino (Hanover, MD)

January 13, Orange Peel (Asheville, NC)

January 19, Variety Playhouse (Atlanta, GA)

January 24, Lincoln Theatre (Raleigh, NC)

January 25, Visualite Theatre (Charlotte, NC)

January 27, Hidinger Benefit at King Plow (Atlanta, GA)

February 1, 40 Watt (Athens, GA)

February 15, Taste of Dunwoody (Dunwoody, GA)

February 24-March 1, Rock Boat XIII

March 2, Park Tavern (Atlanta, GA)

March 14, Wonder Bar (Asbury Park, NJ)

March 15, Theatre of the Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA)

March 16, Gramercy Theatre (New York, NY)

March 17, The Hamilton (Washington, DC)

July 11, Mohegan Sun (Montville, CT)

July 20 (Atlanta, GA)

October 19 (Atlanta, GA)

Lots of holds and private stuff, too…I'll do my best to keep it up to date.

Happy new year, and thanks for reading!

davidfreemanmusic.net