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| Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life... |
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| Purple Rain |
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| Ghostbusters costume |
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| Thriller! |
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| Stay Puft Marshmellow Man! |
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Thriller/Purple Rain
Friday, October 19, 2012
The Final Countdown
Yacht Rock is in final preparations for the big event: Thriller/Purple Rain at the Variety Playhouse. It should be a really good gig--we're getting more comfortable with these special occasions (and having a week to focus solely on twenty songs helps).
We had a big rehearsal Wednesday night at Avatar--the band and the choir, all laid out the way we'll be on stage at the Variety. I was seated next to the great Mark Bencuya.
We were super loud. We took a break between albums, and I was shocked to hear (without earplugs) how cranked my amp was. At the end of Lady in my Life we inserted a sax solo, and when I went out front to play it, WOW! The loudest thing in midtown. It was awesome. I'm not sure how the choir handles the volume.
Last night (Thursday), we played a private event at one of the office buildings in Atlantic Station for Live Thrive, a company that helps companies become more environmentally friendly.
Office buildings don't handle lots of gear and catering coming through. Horrible, horrible load in. It would have been more efficient to hire a helicopter to drop our gear on the nearby terrace.
The office had some pretty amazing views.
This event was not well attended. At one point, I counted forty-two people in front of us. Thus, we didn't have much enthusiasm in our playing. Mentally, though, it was a nice break from the stuff we've been playing all week.
Come see us play at the Variety on Saturday!
davidfreemanmusic.net
We had a big rehearsal Wednesday night at Avatar--the band and the choir, all laid out the way we'll be on stage at the Variety. I was seated next to the great Mark Bencuya.
We were super loud. We took a break between albums, and I was shocked to hear (without earplugs) how cranked my amp was. At the end of Lady in my Life we inserted a sax solo, and when I went out front to play it, WOW! The loudest thing in midtown. It was awesome. I'm not sure how the choir handles the volume.
Last night (Thursday), we played a private event at one of the office buildings in Atlantic Station for Live Thrive, a company that helps companies become more environmentally friendly.
Office buildings don't handle lots of gear and catering coming through. Horrible, horrible load in. It would have been more efficient to hire a helicopter to drop our gear on the nearby terrace.
The office had some pretty amazing views.
This event was not well attended. At one point, I counted forty-two people in front of us. Thus, we didn't have much enthusiasm in our playing. Mentally, though, it was a nice break from the stuff we've been playing all week.
Come see us play at the Variety on Saturday!
davidfreemanmusic.net
Monday, October 15, 2012
AM/PM
Sundays are church gig days.
AM: Paul Poovey did a good job subbing on trumpet with us. Things were pretty solid--no train wrecks, and not much rushing by the horn section. Good playing all around, though I played a couple of gruesome wrong notes.
A couple of slots where we normally would have played were taken up by a guest--smooth jazz guitarist Roland Gresham. He did a couple of tunes with pre-recorded tracks. It put the whole band to sleep.
PM: The PM gig was ok. I had a good soprano sax reed and a bad flute face (that's what happens when you haven't picked up a flute in two weeks), so I leaned more on the former. I didn't play anything noteworthy, regardless of the instrument.
I must comment on the outfit of the lady in the second row. Fedora, olive t shirt, pleated high waist camouflage pants, half a forearm of bracelets on each arm, knee high black velour boots with four inch clear stiletto heels and gold metal toe caps. What the hell are you wearing? Did you just come from a Duran Duran fan club meeting? Hungry like the wolf?
davidfreemanmusic.net
AM: Paul Poovey did a good job subbing on trumpet with us. Things were pretty solid--no train wrecks, and not much rushing by the horn section. Good playing all around, though I played a couple of gruesome wrong notes.
A couple of slots where we normally would have played were taken up by a guest--smooth jazz guitarist Roland Gresham. He did a couple of tunes with pre-recorded tracks. It put the whole band to sleep.
PM: The PM gig was ok. I had a good soprano sax reed and a bad flute face (that's what happens when you haven't picked up a flute in two weeks), so I leaned more on the former. I didn't play anything noteworthy, regardless of the instrument.
I must comment on the outfit of the lady in the second row. Fedora, olive t shirt, pleated high waist camouflage pants, half a forearm of bracelets on each arm, knee high black velour boots with four inch clear stiletto heels and gold metal toe caps. What the hell are you wearing? Did you just come from a Duran Duran fan club meeting? Hungry like the wolf?
davidfreemanmusic.net
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Too Much Guitar
Yacht Rock played the Candler Park Fall Fest last night, doing our Dazed and Confused set list with special guests Derek St. Holmes and Rick Derringer. Lots of guitars on stage; lots of guitar amplifiers on stage; lots of stage volume.
My position was directly behind Mark Dannells' amp, which fortunately is a closed-back cabinet, so it didn't send much my way. It turned out to be a pretty good spot--I had almost nothing to play, so I mostly hung out and watched my friends rock. Nice work!
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| with Derek St. Holmes |
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| Rick Derringer |
davidfreemanmusic.net
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Derringer and Primrose
More stuff! Yacht Rock had a Friday morning (noon) rehearsal with Rick Derringer in final preparations for the Candler Park Fall Fest Saturday evening.
So…Rick Derringer. The man, the myth, the legend, the Sloopy. I have no opinion of his playing--I just can't tell which rock guys sound good. Maybe it's because I have no feeling for what it takes to play the instrument, but I also think that the tone of the rock guitar disguises lots of elementary technical stuff.
From rehearsal, we loaded into the Grand Hyatt for a private event for the Primrose School. Rumor has it they were going to try that "curtain falls/instant band" thing like we had Tuesday night, but it never materialized. Thankfully…
These people were a bit stiff--it felt very suburban and upper middle class. There was a great disparity between the talent and the, shall we say, well fed. They were generally polite, with the exception of the woman who poked me in the side repeatedly while I was playing to try and make a request that I could not hear.
Anyway, the party went fine. It looked like it was going to get rough when we had to follow a full dance floor doing Gangnam Style. How about a triple shot of Bee Gees? In the end, they loved us and we got away without becoming totally annoyed by the situation. Ahh, the corporate event.
davidfreemanmusic.net
So…Rick Derringer. The man, the myth, the legend, the Sloopy. I have no opinion of his playing--I just can't tell which rock guys sound good. Maybe it's because I have no feeling for what it takes to play the instrument, but I also think that the tone of the rock guitar disguises lots of elementary technical stuff.
From rehearsal, we loaded into the Grand Hyatt for a private event for the Primrose School. Rumor has it they were going to try that "curtain falls/instant band" thing like we had Tuesday night, but it never materialized. Thankfully…
These people were a bit stiff--it felt very suburban and upper middle class. There was a great disparity between the talent and the, shall we say, well fed. They were generally polite, with the exception of the woman who poked me in the side repeatedly while I was playing to try and make a request that I could not hear.
Anyway, the party went fine. It looked like it was going to get rough when we had to follow a full dance floor doing Gangnam Style. How about a triple shot of Bee Gees? In the end, they loved us and we got away without becoming totally annoyed by the situation. Ahh, the corporate event.
davidfreemanmusic.net
Friday, October 12, 2012
Scream on the Green
Yacht Rock zipped up to Nashville yesterday afternoon to play a forty-five minute set at Scream on the Green, the last installment of their downtown concert series Live on the Green. The opener was The Delta Saints, and Here Come the Mummies followed us as the headliner.
Any gig that begins with a crew loading our gear from the trailer to the stage is a good one. They also ferried it back after we finished. Very cool, though I have enough personal stuff (saxophones, EWI, computer) that I get nervous when the guys want to grab stuff and walk offstage with it.
We played for a bunch of people. 10,000? I'm not sure. A few weeks prior they'd had 15,000 for Alabama Shakes. It wasn't totally full like the crew had described, so I'll guess 10.
Great sound on stage and out front (at least it sounded great for The Delta Saints).
Once we finished, we packed up and headed back to Atlanta. Ouch!
davidfreemanmusic.net
Any gig that begins with a crew loading our gear from the trailer to the stage is a good one. They also ferried it back after we finished. Very cool, though I have enough personal stuff (saxophones, EWI, computer) that I get nervous when the guys want to grab stuff and walk offstage with it.
We played for a bunch of people. 10,000? I'm not sure. A few weeks prior they'd had 15,000 for Alabama Shakes. It wasn't totally full like the crew had described, so I'll guess 10.
Great sound on stage and out front (at least it sounded great for The Delta Saints).
Once we finished, we packed up and headed back to Atlanta. Ouch!
davidfreemanmusic.net
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