Yacht Rock ended 2013 and began 2014 in California. The weather was perfect--highs of 70, lows in the fifties. Much better than pretty much everywhere else in the country.
Here's what I remember:
December 30: we flew to LA on a huge plane (our sound man Hans drove our van and trailer full of gear out). Unfortunately, a young mom and screaming kid got sat down right in front of us. It was immediately obvious that the kid had a dirty diaper. Mom was oblivious; kid was apoplectic. She left him sitting in it all the way to California, a four hour flight. The band (a row of dads) was unaffected by the screaming, but the poopy diaper was not cool.
Rather than stay in a hotel for a week, we opted to rent a house in Marina del Ray, just blocks from Venice Beach. Totally awesome. Separate rooms and bathrooms for each of us.
We hit a Mexican restaurant around the corner from us before the night ended.
December 31: Most of our mornings were free time, so I went to the Venice Pier to check it out.
And then brunch.
Our New Year's Eve gig was in Long Beach. Easy gig--we played in a family-friendly event that ended at 10 PM. Two sets with a pause at 9 PM to acknowledge the east coast hitting midnight. We also facilitated a marriage proposal.
During load in, we found out that we'd run over a nail. Flat tire on the trailer.
During load out, a passing car threw their pineapple kush into our pile of gear.
Back at the house and in bed before midnight. Good thing--we were up super early to head to our next gig.
January 1: Rose Bowl gig! We left super crazy early (5:30 AM) so we could get through the Pasadena traffic jam to make it into the lot for the Rose Bowl party. Our gigs took place in a tailgating monster built from giant shipping containers. Three stories tall, carpeted, wired with electricity and lots of TV screens. On the other side of the fence…the grand daddy of them all!
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| state of the art sky writing |
This gig was pretty easy--we played a couple of sets before the game, and then they allowed us to pack up and split once the crowd had emptied out. Sweet! We watched the rest of the game from our house. Several times one of us said, "I'm glad we didn't have to play after the game! We'd still be sitting there!"
Our shipping container tailgating palace was in a big grassy lot with several other parties. One of the coolest had the Miles Mosley band playing. Great stuff.
January 2: Day off. We visited legendary drummer James Gadson's house in Inglewood. So awesome! James has played on Express Yourself (The Watts 103rd St Band), Use Me and Lean on Me (Bill Withers), Let's Get it On (Marvin Gaye), the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Herbie Hancock's Manchild, as well as stuff with Paul McCartney, Ray Charles, and Beck. He has over 300 gold records.
You can see his complete discography here.
He was gracious enough to let us hang out in his tiny recording studio in his backyard. It was an incredible afternoon. The Paul McCartney story will live with me forever.
That night, we went to see a band at the Whiskey A Go Go on Sunset Strip. They were recreating Led Zeppelin's first LA show, before their first record came out. At that point they were playing mostly covers…so we were a cover band watching a cover band recreate another band's covers. Right? It's a famous room going back to the 60s, but the band didn't do much for me. I was glad when we split.
January 3: Second day off. I went for a bike ride during the day.
That evening, we drove out to Ronn Moss' house (he of Player fame, as well as playing Ridge Forester on The Bold and the Beautiful). There we filmed a segment of Ron's Garage, performing and sitting for interviews. Ronn's a pretty cool guy and can get as weird as we can. Conversation subjects included helicopters, Jon Lovitz, and beastiality.
Ronn Moss keeps his gold records in his garage. It's a nice garage, though.
After that, we made the short trip to the Canyon Club to see Tower of Power. What a thrill! We were late so we only saw the last five songs of the gig, but the band (and the room) sounded great. Very cool! I haven't seen them since I was in high school.
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| with Emilio Castillo and Doc Kupka, founding members of Tower of Power |
January 4: House of Blues on Sunset Strip. This was a fantastic gig in a very full room.
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| on stage with Al Stewart |
We had the guys from Player (Ronn Moss and Peter Becket) sing This Time I'm in it for Love and Baby Come Back, Elliot Lurie sang a Dancing in the Moonlight and Brandy, and Al Stewart showed up and sang Year of the Cat. Al didn't even make soundcheck, so the only time we went through it with him was on the gig! It made for a pretty special performance, I think. Definitely the highlight of the night for me--I remember when this song was on the radio all the time. Hearing his voice through the monitor while we were playing was mind blowing.
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| still no cavities |
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| we entered from the rear |
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| in the grotto, where I bashed my head against a rock and almost knocked myself out |
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| front of the house |
Anyway, we loaded in and set up on a stage in front of the pool. A couple of girls came by--we are guessing maybe they were there testing for the magazine and not actually Playboy girls--why else would they be posing for selfies in front of the grotto?
We took pictures, they took pictures…
After soundcheck we wandered around. I checked out the animals before heading to the game house, where we hung out for a few hours.
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| the only patch of sky without a helicopter flying through it |
The game house has a couple of rooms with beds, naturally. In addition to the telephones, there are plenty of napkin/tissue products at the ready.
Our set was actually on forty-five minutes--kind of teaser for the next day's performance at the BCS game (back in the shipping container mansion at the Rose Bowl). The rest of the time was spent taking pictures and wandering the grounds. We were not allowed in the house--Hef was in there, but he wouldn't come out. If Hef had come out and and sang Year of the Cat with us, I think I would have dropped dead.
The party came with a few Playboy bunnies who were there for photo ops, and that was as close as we got to a massive orgy. Sorry to disappoint you, but the most part this was just a nice corporate party at swanky outdoor bar.
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| the grotto at night |
A once in a lifetime experience! Wow!
It was a very long day. I think we left around 8:15 AM and got back to the house after midnight. We set up, played two sets, watched the game (it was pretty cold once the sun went down), and then played a third set afterwards. What a game, by the way!
January 7: One last walk on the beach, and then a long (but poop free) flight home. The Southwest flight had no TVs and no WiFi--booooooooooo.
This week is quiet, but next week I have:
January 14: rehearsal
January 15: The David Freeman Quartet at Churchill Grounds 9 PM
January 16: rehearsal
January 17: Please Pleaserock Me at Smith's Olde Bar
January 18: private gig
Also, don't forget the big Dark Side of the Moon/Anchorman gig at Variety Playhouse January 24 and the Taste of Dunwoody January 25! Vacation is officially over!
