House of Blues, Orlando

Yacht Rock played Monday night at the House of Blues in Orlando.  It was a very cool gig.  Playing a gig in a room like that makes feel like a legitimately pro musician in a way that playing in hotel ballrooms can never equal.  Even though it was a private event, the sound crew was very cool and very professional, and they know that they are there to help you kick ass.  They will try to give you what you want, be it your own monitor mix, help setting up your gear, whatever.  It's really cool--I mean, most of my gigs, we're treated like servers, so to have a almost a personal assistant was neat (and weird--I'm so used to doing stuff on my own, it's hard to remember to expect someone else to do the heavy lifting!).

Cobb, Bencuya, and Nick in the limo

Going back to Orlando itself was a flash flood of emotions, even though we were on the opposite side of town from where I grew up.  I lived in the northern suburbs of Longwood and Altamonte Springs from sixth grade til high school graduation (except for six months in Miami), and just walking out the front door of the airport brought it all back.  I never felt like a Central Floridian more than when I got there that morning.  It felt like home.

The gig itself was cool.  We flew out of Atlanta at 8 AM;  we were in Florida around 10 AM.  We ate and hung around "Downtown Disney."  Around 2:30 PM I took a cab to the venue and began the process setting up my real estate and finding sounds on the rental keyboard.  We soundchecked.  Everything was fine.  The only drag was that Bencuya and I were using rented amplifiers (Roland KC500), and they sounded really bad--thin and harsh.  I missed my Mackie stuff.  Why doesn't Mackie make keyboard amplifiers?  I wish we'd paid somebody to drive all our gear down the day before instead of renting it.  I hate rental gear.

Mark Dannells opened his bag to find that TSA had removed his guitar cables and guitar strap.  We can only assume they forgot to return them.

Playing the gig was really neat, like I said, because it's a real stage with a real sound crew.  The Flaming Lips had been there a few weeks earlier.  I believe The Who had played there at some point.  I was playing back at my station, keeping my volume kind of low because the amp sounded so bad.  Usually no one wants to hear me anywhere else on stage, and I've kind of given up getting mad about it (the monitor guy actually said something about it to me, and I replied "They kind of ignore me, and I kind of ignore them, and it's fine").  So, we got to Silly Love Songs and Nick was back at my spot playing piano and I was on the front line, and that's when I found out that my keyboards were REALLY loud in the side fills!  Oh crap!  That made me kind of tense...better watch what I was playing!

Here's a video Ganesh took of us from the dressing room, performing Coming Up.  That's me down the lower right hand corner playing EWI.  All those years of marching band, finally put to good use.

Other than that, it was usual Yacht Rock.  No big deal.  They loved us.  Afterwards, we went out for pictures and multiple women asked to pull on my mustache and verify its authenticity.  One lady asked if my hair was real (I put my hand on her head and said, "No--is yours?").  More than one woman jammed her hand in my shirt to feel my chest hair.  Weird weirdness.  A couple of women put their hands in the pockets of some of the other guys.

Bencuya had a woman talking to him mention she was from Columbus, Ohio.  He said, "I'm from Ann Arbor, Michigan," and she walked away.  Yes!

dressing room

I packed up my horns and computer and we all changed clothes.  Somebody stole Mark Cobb's iPod from the front of house desk, so we waited around to see what could be done about it (the House of Blues basically said too bad--I'm not sure how they can avoid responsibility for it.  If a light had fallen and crushed one of my saxophones, would they have said "You shouldn't have put it there"?).

my room

the shower

Mark Dannells!

almost home

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40 Watt!

Last night (Saturday), Yacht Rock played our first gig in Athens--at the 40 Watt!  Pretty cool way to start out!

The club is cool...really, Athens is just cool.  It was like being back in college, but without all the crushing stress of being in college.  Add Athens to my list of places I want to live after I retire.  Maybe it's just that I miss being able to walk around town.  No can do in the suburbs.

Kevin Spencer and Mark Dannells

soundcheck

dressing room graffiti

backstage

Mark Dannells

So...the gig went well.  The sound was great.  It seemed dimly lit, but who's to say--I had sunglasses on.  Despite this wonderful write up in the Flagpole, I didn't play much saxophone on the gig--maybe three songs, and two of those were "parts" songs instead of sax solos.  So it goes.

We were followed by Krush Girls--which was a pair of guys who were a DJ.  Really, it was one guy who was a DJ (of the digital variety, I should point out, for the vinyl purists), and another guy who just made lots of hand gestures.  I guess they were good;  I really can't tell.  I mean, I don't quite understand the hoopla over a DJ--aren't you just the guy picking the next song?

I got home between after 3 AM, and after unloading my gear, I was asleep by 4 AM.  I was up at 6:45 AM to play my church gig.  I was back in bed by 11 AM, and slept until 4 PM (I think).  Got up, ate, bathed, went to my next church gig.  Came home, ate, watched the football game, and packed for the next gig!  And...I have to get up again in 3 and a half hours!

Off to Orlando.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Friday!

Gina and me

Last night Yacht Rock played a benefit at the Atlanta History Center.  We've played this gig before...not much to say about it.  Us, auctions, natural reverb.

After the gig, several of us attended Gina Niespodziani's birthday party.  It was like a college party--lots of people crammed into a tiny house, loud music, lots of alcohol.  I'm sure it's quite a mess in the daylight.  Happy birthday Gina!

The Mark Dannells!

Hans on sound!

Tonight, we are off to Athens to play at the 40 Watt.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Thursday at the 10 High

Yacht Rock had a really fun gig last night at the 10 High.  All the regular guys were there except Pete, who's on baby duty right now.

It looked like it would be another thin crowd, but people kept filtering in through the break in between sets.  I think it got MORE crowded during the break, instead of people bailing out.  

Mark Bencuya dedicated Saturday in the Park to Sparky Anderson.

We played Lovely Day early in the second set, and that song got a really good reaction from the crowd.  After Nick made a comment about people liking Bill Withers, we kind of fell into Use Me.  I picked up my alto and played all over it.  The groove was good, my volume was good, my reed was good...I got closer to sounding like David Sanborn than ever before.  It was AWESOME!  Highlight of the night for me.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Ketel One gig

Yacht Rock played a gig last night for Ketel One vodka.  It was a quick and easy two set gig at the Terminus building in Buckhead--the same place we played a few months ago.

Much of the same...it's still an unfinished office space, all concrete echo chamber.  Very loud.

In looking over the set list before the gig, I noticed that I needed alto on one song in the first set, and alto on one song in the second set, and the rest was keyboards and EWI.  I thought about leaving my tenor at home, but I brought it anyway.  Good thing!  Our encore was a tenor song.

my view

davidfreemanmusic.net

Ben Lovett at Smith's

Last night was the big Ben Lovett show at Smith's Olde Bar.  Ben is known in the music industry for his young and hip movie scores.  This show was a live production of his solo project, which is of course young and hip.

The show went pretty well, especially considering all of the technical difficulties involved in getting the thing together.  Say what you want about the lack of leadership at the rehearsals or the theatrics over the music, but the guy had a big vision and he went for it, and by and large I think he pulled it off.  In the end, he got a band of fantastic musicians to get on stage with him and play his music (without really knowing if it would work or how they would be compensated).  There's something to be said for that.

Pictures:

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Halloween in Buckhead

Last night Yacht Rock played "the place that used to be called Andrews Upstairs but is now called 8 Traxx Disco."  We did a set of Yacht Rock and then Michael Jackson's Thriller in its entirety.

I used to really like playing Andrews/8 Traxx when the stage was a bit larger.  Since they converted it to basically a carpeted sidewalk, it's really hard to have fun on stage.  Now we're all in a row, with me on the opposite side of the stage from where I normally set up.  It's a drag.

Sitting next to Bencuya feels like I'm taking a keyboard test.  Last night's grade was probably a B-.  I just couldn't get going and I was tired and made too many stupid mistakes.  I hope he doesn't think I play that poorly all the time!  I was pretty embarrassed about all of my screw ups.  On You're So Vain, he mercifully offered to double me ("to make it sound bigger") after I choked on it at soundcheck.  He makes it look (and sound) so easy.

Pete and Alyssa Olson had a baby yesterday morning, so Vanessa Oliverez subbed for him.  She did a fantastic job.  Here's her costume (pilot for the Mile High Club).

Here's Greg Lee as Captain America.

The Great Mark Bencuya as Captain Fantastic (Elton John).

Nick Niespodziani as Captain Stubing.

Mark Cobb as Captain Chuck Yeager(meister).

Myself as Captain Jean Luc Picard.

My man Mark Dannells as Captain D.

davidfreemanmusic.net