Double Shot

Yacht Rock did two gigs yesterday.  We had an early gig at the Apparel Mart and  then our usual 10 High thing.

Oddly enough, I have never in my fifteen years of wandering around Atlanta played the Apparel Mart.  Never been in there (though the ring on my finger came from there).  It looks like a giant hotel lobby full of stores--this is accentuated by the fact that it has the same interior architecture as the Marriott downtown (or is it Hyatt?).  Anyway, it looks pretty cool.

We were collectively a bit daunted by the acoustic possibilities.  Would it be an mess of washy echoes?  Surprisingly no.  It felt really dead on stage.  I guess because there was nothing for the sound to directly bounce off, it just kept going.  After a couple of songs, we had ourselves balanced out pretty well.

The gig began with me in a Benadryl haze (the pollen is wearing me out right now).  We played for an hour and a half (and it felt like it) to a curious crowd.  After playing two saxes, two keyboards, EWI, flute, tambourine, and bongos, the only thing anybody wanted to say to me was "Is that your real hair?" to which I replied "Is yours real?"  I think eventually I'll upgrade to "Are you pregnant?"  I mean, yeah, it's a wig.  What difference does it make?

We dragged through the next set (which only took about a half hour).  At some point in there, I bit the dust on My Life--my hands just couldn't find the right notes.  Lots of unappreciated laughter across the band stand.  Should I be grateful that I was at least audible across the stage?  Should I maybe shut up and just play it right?

When gig number one ended, we collectively hauled ass out of the Mart, down the elevators, loaded our cars, and boogied over to the 10 High, where we set up in a flash.  That gig went better, and I was much cleaner on My Life.  I played another really good solo on Lowdown.

For April Fool's, we came back from the break dressed in our street clothes, and opened with Pearl Jam's Even Flow.  I tried to film it, but for some reason, my phone wouldn't comply.  The rest of the set was regular Yacht Rock stuff, with us sounding really fried--I felt pretty good, personally, but we weren't really clicking.  The band closed with The Who's Shaking All Over.

Time to shift gears!  We're playing all Beatles tonight at Eddie's Attic.

davidfreemanmusic.net

80s in Athens

Yacht Rock played a private gig for software developers in Athens last night.  It was 80s themed, so we pulled all of our Reagan Rock stuff out for them.

We were on a super tiny stage.  From my spot, my back was against the wall (literally!) and the microphone clipped on the bell of my horn kept hitting my keyboard.  Mark Cobb's right side crash hung over the top of my other keyboard--I think that it was probably closer to me than him.  All of that being said, the volume wasn't too bad, though the bass was awfully loud.

The gig was really fun.  I don't know if the crowd was into it, but I enjoyed playing some different tunes.  We also hit some stuff beyond the realm of Reagan Rock--just stuff that the Y.O.U. guys used to play as covers.  I got off a really good alto solo on Talking In Your Sleep--wish I'd recorded that, but I wasn't thinking I was going to play anything on it at all!

davidfreemanmusic.net

Humane Society Benefit

Yacht Rock played a benefit for the Humane Society at Sweetwater Brewery last night.  I was worried--the weather was a little too chilly for me to have fun outside (and last time we were there we nearly froze to death).  It turned out to be a non-issue.  I mean, my horns were flat as hell, but everything continued to function, so I could deal with it.

By the end of the night, though, my hands were really not working well.  We played Lido Shuffle as an encore and my hands just couldn't do the triplet thing in the synth build up.

Mark Cobb had some strange experiments with gaff tape throughout the night.  Every set had stripes across the head of a different drum, it seemed.  That and a strange pair bell cymbals (I guess)--about four inches in diameter, that rode atop his hi hat for a while.  He's looking for some Steve Jordan/Chris Dave mojo.

So that was it.  No rain, and we were finished at 9 PM.  Not too bad.

We're off to Athens tonight.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Church Snippet

Not too much going on at the moment…I recorded (on my phone) a song we played at church gig number one a couple of days ago.  I went for a Lenny Pickett approach (on a crappy reed!).  Still, not bad for first thing in the morning.  I start playing about a minute and a half in.

 Mt. Bethel UMC-March 27, 2011 by David B Freeman

Church gig number two was pretty easy.  I played lots of low stuff on flute.  I'm dreaming of an alto flute.  Wish I could afford one!

davidfreemanmusic.net

Dixie Tavern

I played with the Yacht Rock Schooner last night at the Dixie Tavern last night.  Not bad for a bar gig!  The gig itself was good, but I nearly died waiting around--I was told to be there at 8.  Ready to go at 8:10, but the soundcheck began at 9:30 (which means they checked the sax line at about 10), and we didn't actually start the gig until 10:30.  Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to hang out.  Next time, I'm rolling in at 10.

Anyway, once we started playing, everything was cool.  The band was solid, and there was something for me to do on every song of the first set.

Someone from the crowd told the two singers that the difference between the Schooner and the Revue was that the Schooner's sax player is so much better.  Thanks?

davidfreemanmusic.net

10 High

We (Yacht Rock) used the 10 High as a preliminary rehearsal for the big 80s prom coming up in a few weeks at the Variety Playhouse.  New oldies included Careless Whisper, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, I Can Dream About You, and True.  All came off without a hitch (ok-I had a medium small disaster in I Can Dream, but nothing fatal).  We also added Hold the Line, which was alot of fun to play--I played power chords on the chorus and a synth part on the second and third verses.  Easy stuff for me, but I bet we won't do that one too much--the vocals are super high.

The second set was fast.  Mark Cobb played everything like he needed to go pee.  We flew through every song.  All of the sudden, the gig was over!

It was a pretty thin crowd.  I won't bother to speculate why.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Monday trio gig

I played a really good trio gig with Louis Heriveaux (keyboard) and Kevin Smith (bass) at the Sheraton downtown.  It was some kind of private gig…a networking thing.

Here are the audio files:



davidfreemanmusic.net