Yacht Rock was in Sea Island Monday evening for a corporate gig of some kind. Not the greatest circumstances, but still a pretty good gig!
One of the toughest things about this particular event was that we didn't spend the night, so it was drive five and a half hours, set up and play the gig, tear down, and drive five and a half hours back. Fortunately, Hans (our sound guy for the event) was willing to drive both ways and run sound.
The other complication at this show was the weather. We were outside on the edge of a marsh, on a stage with no covering (thankfully, no rain!). Upon arrival, we had to deal with sand gnats, which we were told were all wings and teeth! After the sun went down, the gnats went away, but we then had to deal with cool temperatures and high humidity, which meant that all of our gear was dripping with condensation. Not the best situation for electronics!
Bencuya was out for this gig, so we had Eric Frampton subbing for him. Cool! Because of sub, there were a couple of songs where I played Bencuya's parts (and Frampton played mine)--Reminiscing, Hey Nineteen, Somebody's Baby, and Doctor, My Eyes. I came through in good shape, except for the last one, where I came out of the guitar solo too early and train wrecked it. Agh!
No gig Saturday night made Sunday morning a little less painful!
My AM gig was pretty solid. We played two traditional hymns (flute) and two contemporary songs (tenor). Easy stuff--the worst of it was the twelve or so page turns in one of the latter. After the break, we played the closing song (clarinet) and that was it. No problems. I'm lovin' it.
My PM gig was also fine. Several of the regular songs become spoken responses during Advent, so this was a shorter gig, playing-wise. I panned the guitar away from the piano, and I think that helped with the sound--when they are right on top of each other, it can be difficult to tell them apart (right hand of the piano vs. the guitar). I think spacing them out helped the mix.
Yacht Rock played the corporate event for whom we had rerecorded the Gilligan's Island Theme (with their lyrics). Easy gig--we played one two hour set to close out their program. Early in the evening, we played the theme for them, and they couldn't have cared less. Uhhhhh…I don't get it.
The event was at the Evergreen Marriott in Stone Mountain Park. A half hour into setting up, we had to evacuate the building for a fire alarm. Not a good start!
I'd never seen a lighting/sound rig with a birdcage of trusses, especially for a corporate event in a hotel ballroom.
We set up and then waited for two hours while they ran their program. Eventually, we made it to hiding behind a curtain.
Finally, they introduced us and we could play. We had Ganesh Giri Jaya subbing on drums--great job!
I played great. Damnit! Why couldn't I have been terrible tonight and good on Turkey Eve at Smith's, or some average for both?
My AM church gig is running out of money, and thus the horn section was disbanded (at least through the end of the year). I'm back to improvising parts and filling in the gaps, which is kind of nice. I liked the parts aspect of playing within the section, but there wasn't any freedom. I played a lot of soprano this morning, which was a nice change pace.
Another cool thing about this morning was that I was positioned right smack in the middle of the band (piano across the front of us, drums behind me, bass to the left, acoustic guitar to the right), which meant that I could hear everything well. Matt was even generous enough to provide a monitor for me.
I think I played pretty well. Both my soprano and my tenor might have some leaks that need to be corrected. Maybe it's a mental issue, or a reed issue, or some combination of both.
After lunch, I took some time to investigate my new travel sax case, made by Battle Cases. The idea is that I would rather have a good case that I can put all my horns in and check (on a fly date) rather than try and carry three or four horns plus my laptop onto the plane. It's also a little more durable and roadworthy than the hardshell cases that come with new saxophones. Even on a road trip in the van/trailer, I think it's wise to have a good sturdy case. Pretty much any time someone other than you might be moving your gear.
I bought this case--it's a massive Pelican case with a custom foam interior. It holds alto, tenor, EWI, flute, a couple of sax stands, and accessories. The case has wheels. It's looks pretty huge, but I can still pick it up when it's fully loaded.
I have spoken to Delta on TWO different occasions, and they assure me that because it is an instrument, the size/weight restrictions are higher, and I will be able to check this just like it's another piece of luggage (no penalties). We shall see! I want to find something reassuring to print out and carry with me.
Anyway…
My PM church gig was OK. They seemed kind of surprised to see me. It felt like my soprano tuning was all over the place. Once again, is it the horn, the reed, or my head?
I had a House Live gig last night as part of a wedding reception at the Ritz (Buckhead). Wayne, Jeremy, and myself were on this one, with a Studio 54 disco theme (I wore some of my Yacht Rock clothes).
Across the hall from us was Steve Tyrell (also part of the same reception). The band was all New York guys, and the two horn players happened to be Lew Soloff and Lou Marini! Wow! Quite a thrill to meet both of them.
with Lew Soloff
with Lou Marini!
Our gig was an easy two hours, most of which was played to an empty room. I played really well--I played like at any moment, Blue Lou might walk in and check me out!
Agh! I was terrible! I should have thrown myself down the back stairs as punishment. The worst show I've played in quite a while. I deserved that load out.
Wednesday: we flew nonstop Atlanta to LAX. I slept for all but about twenty minutes of the flight--asleep by the end of the safety video, awake to buy a sandwich somewhere over Oklahoma, and then woke up as we made the initial approach.
First stop: In and Out Burger. Having now eaten one, I'm not sure what the big deal is.
LA Weekly was advertising our show, but unfortunately misspelled our name.
Next up, we hit the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, which is stacked full of celebrities, and they're all jammed in this little lot behind a couple of office buildings. You may read a list of the dead people here. If you don't care to, just know that this is the cemetery where Marilyn Monroe is buried.
Wednesday night, several of us went to the Dresden Lounge, which is a legendary dive bar. Marty and Elayne have been the house band for the past thirty years. Check it out.
I should mention that before that, we ate at Il Capriccio. My dinner was excellent, but Dannells wished that they had beaten his chicken flat and not cooked it until it was so dry. Foodie.
Thursday: we were up early to play Good Day LA…fortunately, our bodies were still on Atlanta time, so the 6 AM lobby call felt like 9. It was easy--we played two minutes of You Make My Dreams.
Here's the video (do yourself a favor and skip ahead to the four minute mark--don't sit through the bullshit).
Once again, trouble with the name: the blurb on Good Day LA accompanying this video mentions us (sometimes) as the Yacht Club Revue.
Nice cameo of the van in there at the beginning.
After that, a couple of us made a quick pilgrimage to Sunset Blvd.
That afternoon, we jumped in the van and took a field trip to Gary Wright's house. How cool is that? A couple of nice looking Rhodes suitcase pianos, pictures with George Harrison, a cool studio with Moogs, and awesome stories. Did we really just do that?
We got back to the hotel, regrouped, and made the eight mile, hour and forty-five minute journey to The Satellite where we were playing that night.
Great gig! We had Elliot Lurie from Looking Glass sing Brandy and Dancing in the Moonlight, and Bo Wagner rocked the mallet solos on Starbuck's Moonlight Feels Right and I Got to Know. James Gadson stopped by to watch us. Mark Dannells played some great stuff on My Old School, and Mark Bencuya's organ solo at the end of Biggest Part of Me was fantastic. Around 150 people showed up to see us. Very cool for our first time out to California.
with Elliot Lurie
with Bo Wagner
Friday: everybody slept late--we went to bed at five-something, Atlanta time. Just before noon, we got a message about going to Eric Gardner's horse farm out in Thousand Oaks (out in the desert). Cool! I didn't know who the guy was either…read his resume here. Wow! We walked through his office, which had seventy-something gold and platinum records on the walls, and out onto his back porch, where we ate lunch with Elliot Lurie and Peter Beckett and Ron Moss of Player. Eric has casual pictures with each of the Beatles.
On the way home, we stopped in Venice Beach to score some weed. No luck. It was ok, though, because we were already high.
High there
Friday night, we went to see Jon Brion play at Largo. Can you say self indulgent? Thanks for the $25 nap. The five of us who went walked out in the middle of the show.
From there, we met up with Nick and Pete (who attended the Lakers game--Kareem bobblehead night!) and went to the Rainbow Bar and Grill on Sunset Blvd, where it's still 1989, judging by the dress code. We had pizza. Ron Jeremy walked by.
Saturday: wedding day! We played a reception at the Bel Air Beach Club. Old school. The wedding party=awesome; the Bel Air staff=crappy. The staff was evidently used to pushing bands around. We don't put up with that. There was friction ASAP.
Anyway, the attendees and the bride and groom were enthusiastic from the first note, which made the gig pretty easy in spite of the conditions.
Sunday: we flew out of LAX around 1 and landed in ATL around 8:30. Football and naps.
Special thanks to our soundman Hans, who drove all of our gear out there, ran sound for us, and is currently driving it all back.
