And now for something completely different! I played at Smith's Olde Bar Sunday night with Greg Lee, and also jumped on stage for a couple of songs with Glen Pridgen. I'd never played live with Glen or his backing band The Breeze Kings, but they seemed pretty cool and the quick rehearsal at soundcheck was easy. Greg Lee's stuff was likewise fun and relaxed, obviously one of the benefits of playing so many gigs with four guys from Yacht Rock. My only regret was that I'd failed to bring an amp for my keyboard, and since the monitors were along the front of the stage and I was in the back corner, I was probably a bit too loud in order to hear myself. I'll get it right next time!
Crappy turnout, by the way. Smith's Olde Bar didn't help us by mistakenly saying that there would be karaoke in our slot up until a four of five days before the gig. Anyway, we'll be playing these songs again at the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival August 28 at 1:15 PM. Come and check us out, and then stay for Indianapolis Jones, happening at 2 PM, 'cause they're awesome.
I got called to sub once more on the Serenbe Playhouse production of Miss Saigon. Bonus gig! Right as I was walking from the parking to the pit, the helicopter flew by on its way to the staging area, and I got pumped about doing this all again.
I really enjoyed playing the show. A performance can be a real test of what you do in practice--what sticks and what does not! For instance, every show has a massive amount of flute, and it made me rethink the way I approached tuning with regards to lining up the third octave stuff with the first violin and the trumpet. I also had to consider embouchure fatigue at the end of the show--stuff that doesn't matter at home!
In other news, I think I'm tired of fighting my clarinet. I've had the same instrument since college, and I'm ready to investigate a different horn. Some of the Buffet quirks that I've put up with for twenty years...I'm starting to think it's the horn and not me! I feel good about saxophone and I feel good about flute, so why shouldn't I feel good about clarinet?
I also heard some stories on the break about guys who couldn't hold it through the first act and peed in bottles (this happened on a couple of other nights--not this one)! I don't see how you could do that without the people next to you being aware of it. Then again, I was so glued to the book and the music director that I probably wouldn't have noticed.
Moving on--I'll be at Smith's Olde Bar tonight, playing with Glen Pridgen:
Yacht Rock played the Eats and Beats benefit at Buckhead Theatre Thursday night. I think this was our fourth consecutive year of playing it. There are never enough gigs in August, so I always look forward to this one, and it's an easy gig, and it's a Thursday night gig and I'm home by midnight, so...yay!
Like I said, easy load in, one set show, plenty of food. The wait between soundcheck and our set is a good chance to take a nap (I took two). Our show was a piece of cake, and I can't even gripe about the Buckhead Theatre too much--being on in ear monitors pretty much negates the vanilla sound and vibe of this room.
The playing was a little loose--it feels like we haven't played a normal gig in a couple of weeks (which it has been). We're still a six piece band until Pete returns from paternity leave.
What else...someone in the green room coined the term food ghost as a metaphor for a fart.
Next weekend is the Yacht Rock Revival in Atlanta, so there should be lots to stress out about, plus we have an out of town show Wednesday night in Nashville, playing with Ambrosia, Player, Matthew Wilder, and Robbie Dupree. Plenty to stress out about!
This week's major activity was playing Miss Saigon, Wednesday through Saturday. Four more nights in the box.
Complicating things was some sort of cold that I picked up in Chicago. I thought my throat felt funny because of the air conditioner, but whatever it was stayed with me, gradually strengthening up until Friday, when it finally began to fade. I hesitate to even say that it was a cold; maybe a sinus infection or something, because there wasn't a whole lot of snot, just the other symptoms (headache, throat ache, coughing). A coughing fit while playing a gig on a wind instrument sucks, and the feeling that you're going to have to cough right as you're coming up to a delicate flute part REALLY SUCKS.
Monday, Tuesday: More chipping away at the book. With the thoughts of what didn't work Sunday night (generally technical stuff I thought I could do, but couldn't play under pressure), I went through everything, trying to reinforce the trickier parts.
Wednesday: Knowing that I needed to save face (literally), I warmed up and then played only a little bit of the show, just to start winding it up for the night.
Most of the musicians arrive sometime around 7 PM. I left Marietta at 5:15 and got there at 6:45, which gave me a little bit of time to eat before getting in the box.
The field where the show is staged.
It was really tough for me to not check parts after I'd set up in the pit. By 7:15, all of my horns were out and ready, and that left about an hour of time before the downbeat of the show. I wanted to use that time, but I was aware that playing too much might screw me at the end of the night. So...play a little bit, look at my phone, talk to Clara (the oboist next to me), repeat.
This turned out to be a good show for me. My face held up a lot better (and that flute part at the end where I'd died Sunday night--coincidentally, at the same time that Miss Saigon dies in the show--was better an octave lower, and with a two measure break during the big ensemble unison right before it). Having the Sunday show under my belt, two days of practice, and a good night's sleep all helped immensely. I didn't feel bad about the way I played this night.
Thursday: I could feel that my chops were tired--my lips felt puffy, and the center of my lower lip felt kind of numb, so I did no playing at home. Instead, I spent time watching my music and listening to a cast recording.
I made it to the show in plenty of time, ate, got in the box, set up my instruments, began noodling...and it started pouring outside. Since the stage is not covered, the show was moved inside--down the street to the small ballroom at the local inn.
The parking lot became a muddy mess. All of this seemed authentically Vietnam--a sudden rainstorm, heat, humidity, trudging through a muddy field with all my gear, not sure where I was going...
So...indoors. This was not a giant Atlanta hotel ballroom; the entire space was the size of a fast food dining room. We set up all the way upstage against a curtain, with the actors working in the space between us and the rows of chairs--around twelve feet. It made for a really weird show--there was no staging, no helicopter, no lighting, and most importantly, no microphones on the cast, so we had to play as softly as humanly possible (and it was still too loud). I took most of the flute and piccolo stuff down an octave so that it wouldn't stick out as much.
Playing quietly for the entire show was exhausting. Things sounded weird, and I was really uncomfortable because some of my parts felt really exposed. At the same time, this different set up allowed me to hear differently how my parts lined up with the other instruments.
Friday: Back to the box! I think all of the musicians were happy to be back at our more normal volume levels. This show felt pretty smooth. I did no playing at home (once again listening/watching my part go by), saving all of my warm up stuff for the pre-show hour. Another solid performance. I was relaxed enough about what I was doing that I was finally able to really pay attention to what everybody else was doing. Every night, the music has made a little more sense to me.
A word about the weirdness of Atlanta traffic: Friday afternoon took less time and had significantly less traffic than Wednesday or Thursday night. What's up with that?
Saturday: My last night on the show, which mentally gave me license to go for it. Things felt pretty good! I was a little bummed when the helicopter went overhead, realizing that I wasn't going to hear that anymore, and I was only about a half hour from the finale. Everybody filed out of the box like every other night, and that was the end of it, dragging my horns back through the soggy field to my truck.
Another trip to the midwest. No Pete on these gigs due to the impending birth of his son.
Friday: Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
We flew into Indy pretty early, giving us ample time to go find lunch. Kip never seems to want to eat what the majority is eating, so the rest of us went to some place called Bakersfield and had really good Mexican food and left him at the pizza place. We later regrouped at the van, where we found him trying out his new chair.
We still had time before load in, so the van made its way to Broad Ripple and we dispersed again, mostly to the record store. Nice to see one of my college heroes, Rob Dixon, still making music in Indy.
The rain moved in while we were setting up, flooding the parking lot.
A sold out show. Nice!
Saturday: Chicago.
Indianapolis and Chicago are not very far apart, so we killed time with a band field trip to see Jason Bourne. I hadn't been to the movies since the latest Stars Wars came out last winter. This theatre served food, which was pretty cool--I've never been to one like this before.
I sat next to Monkeyboy.
On to Chicago. I will spare you any pictures of the beloved wind farm...because I was asleep and missed all that. Instead, here's a shot from our gas stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere in northern Indiana.
The high in Chicago was 75.
Our show at Joe's on Weed Street was pretty good--around 500 people in attendance, but their energy was at least as good as the 1,000 people from the night before. The on stage sound was also twice as good as the night before.
Both this show and the previous evening in Indy had horns added on (same guys for both shows). I'm not sure exactly why, but when we play with horns, I feel almost no connection to the other Yacht Rock guys, and also almost no connection to the gig that we're doing. I guess I don't really feel much of a connection to the horn section either. All we're doing is going over my arranging homework.
Sunday: Fly home. I thought for sure that I'd sleep on the plane, but instead watched most of Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, which was ok--pretty predictable. I didn't make it all the way to the end, but it doesn't matter.
We landed around lunch time. I had enough time to head home, eat, warm up, and head back south of Atlanta for my first night subbing in the pit for Miss Saigon, playing piccolo, flute, clarinet, and alto saxophone (it's a hybrid of the reed books 1 and 3). For this performance, the pit is inside a massive steel shipping container. Let's hope the power doesn't go out this time (you can read about my previous adventure at this playhouse here), though that made for an excellent story.
I've done quite a bit of practicing getting ready for this show, but it doesn't seem like it can ever be enough, mostly because after learning all the notes and rhythms, I still have to get in sync with the conductor and rest of the ensemble, which may be the hardest part (and there's some really difficult shit to play in a few of these songs). In addition to this night's show, I also have Wednesday through Saturday, so maybe Friday and Saturday, I'll have the flow of it?
I think I did pretty well for the first time--there were even a few moments where I actually thought I was doing a good job, but by the end of the show, my face (and my brain) were exhausted, and I had one big exposed flute part that was rough--I could feel everybody in the box cringe as I tried to hold it together. If I'd had twenty seconds of rest right before the part, it would have made all the difference in the world. I might have to do a little editing during the big ensemble part immediately proceeding it.
The pit thing is weird--nobody talks to each other after the show ends. Everybody packs up really quickly and walks out, and on this night it reinforced my feeling that I'd blown it because of rough eight measure flute solo on the ninety-fourth page of the book. By the time I'd cleaned out all my horns and put everything away, I was the only one left. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to play all of this stuff, but the total absence of any camaraderie leaves me once again feeling alone on the gig.
One more thing: they theatre company hired a real Huey helicopter to fly in and touch down for a minute during the fall of Saigon. Not only do I not get to see it (because I'm in a giant steel box and I'm glued to the music), but I'm not even sure that I hear it. Major bummer--I love helicopters. More unfulfillment!
Yacht Rock was back in Atlanta for a weekend of gigs. In between gigs, Pete joked about trying to check in on the Delta app. It's only half funny--looking at my Delta app as I write this, there are eleven more trips this year. Damn. Anyway...Atlanta!
Friday: Due to all of our crazy calendar this year, this was our first available date to play the Park Tavern (in previous years we've averaged about once a month all summer long). Pretty good crowd, around 800.
To change things up, we added a horn section for this show (Rob Opitz, trumpet and Sir Richard Serrington, trombone) with pretty good results. My horn charts for Yacht Rock have only been used a couple of times in the entire existence of the band, so they still have a few wrinkles that need to be ironed out. Regardless of that, though, it was nice to hang with some other horn players for a change. I feel out of touch.
It was also nice to check in with Ganesh Giri Jaya, filling in for the vacationing Mark Cobb. As usual, he did an excellent job, and hipped me to some cool new music by Mark Guiliana. Check it out!
Saturday: Venkman's. Hooray for air conditioning.
No horns on this one (so I was more confident in what I was doing), and Daniel Morrison of the Yacht Rock Schooner played drums with us. Solid gig. I didn't screw up as much as the previous night.
We were tested with these gigs! A local Atlanta gig, then a cross country flight with a late night gig, a flight back across the country, and then a gig with a bunch of music that we don't see very often. It hurts my brain.
Wednesday: Corporate event at The Tabernacle in Atlanta.
Hat of The Great Bencuya
The Tabernacle is a really amazing place to perform, and I must say that I like everything about it, from the loaders who dragged our gear in to the size of the stage to the sound of the room to the backstage accommodations. The audience was pretty fired up for a Wednesday night, which was super cool, and my in ear mix sounded like the frickin' radio (I mean that in a good way)--very clear, and everything was perfectly balanced. Plus, I was on a riser, so I didn't feel like I was hiding behind the guitar amp. We finished early, and I was home by maybe 10:30. Everything about this gig was fantastic, including side-boob girl, who danced in front of Pete and Monkey for most of the second set. Hats off to you.
Friday: Corporate event in Tucson, Arizona.
Fly dates are not my favorite, by virtue of the fact that I have a ton of gear to carry. Even after checking a bag and a Pelican box of gear, I still am loaded down like a paratrooper at the gate--two saxophones in gig bags plus a backpack. Every trip stressful until I can get my horns and bag stowed.
We flew a few hours, arriving in the desert around lunch time. The resort where we stayed had a nice restaurant, so we ate there and then caught a quick nap before set up/soundcheck time.
So...Mardi Gras themed party in Arizona with a late 70s/early 80s band out of Atlanta? OK!
This gig was not as great as the Tabernacle gig, but it wasn't anything too difficult. I was given a Nord Stage for my bottom keyboard, and I always enjoy trying to figure out how to make it do what I want. Too bad they're so damn expensive--I'd love to have one! Because it's a weighted action keyboard, playing piano and rhodes is really much more comfortable than the springy action of a Nord Electro. Then again, somebody else had to carry this monster in and out of here (Electro=18 lbs; Stage=36 lbs)!
The only thing that was really tough (to me) about this gig was the hours. Due to the time zone, we played from midnight to 3 AM east coast time. Ouch. Around 2:15 AM, I really started dragging.
The desert and the resort were beautiful. Too bad it was 107 degrees that afternoon! I would have liked to have gone for a walk, but the heat and my fatigue from traveling were too much. If we'd only had one more day to acclimate to the time change, I would've made an attempt to get out and see more.
The hill right outside my room.
You can make a plastic cup out of corn. I dig that.
Friday: Travel day.
My breakfast of champions: medium coffee and three bananas.
We took an early afternoon flight out, so following lunch at the airport, it was off to Huntsville, AL via Atlanta.
The skies were clear, which made for some pretty great pictures.
We landed in Atlanta in the early evening.
Live saxophone in the Atlanta airport! I didn't recognize this guy, playing some smooth jazz over tracks.
The flight from Atlanta to Huntsville was humorously short. Lots of jokes--will they even both pulling up the landing gear? I think take off to touch down was thirty minutes.
Saturday: 80s Concert in Huntsville, Alabama.
We played at the space center last year (you can read about it here). They wanted to kick it up a notch, so we brought the big dudes.
A passing thunderstorm looked pretty mean, so we tarped our gear. It didn't amount to much. I'm sure that if I hadn't brought a tarp, we would have washed away. Hiding from the rain ate up a chunk of time, so I guess it was a good thing that only Jeff Carlisi and Bill Champlin came to soundcheck (in all fairness, we've played enough shows with Robbie that there was no need to check his stuff).
This is how Zach tunes a guitar.
One more special guest not on the show poster: Larry B Scott, who was in the movie Space Camp (filmed right here in Huntsville!), but who is probably more famous for his role as Lamar from Revenge of the Nerds. It sounds like he does the rap from Revenge of the Nerds every time he's on a stage with a microphone, so we quickly worked up the music that accompanies him. I was given Poindexter's violin part.
Unfortunately, Larry didn't seem to care that we'd figured it all out, and he launched into the rap without heeding our arrangement. We played the parts, but some of it ran over his lyrics. It's unfortunate--capturing it on film would have been a social media bonanza.
Here's the spot from the movie:
Anyway...
I don't have anything to do on two of Jeff Carlisi's .38 Special songs, so I took some pictures.
With the exception of Robbie, we don't play with any of these guests regularly, so learning and remembering all of their stuff felt like a near endless progression of first dances--I know how this one goes, but I am by no means comfortable. Add to it a handful of charts that I was reading, and trying to remember when (and how much) to transpose my keyboards, and I was a little fried by the time we finished. The whole night felt a bit sloppy and tentative for me.
My only really epic failure came at the beginning of the second set. I'd preset my stuff for Danger Zone, but we did the Revenge of the Nerds rap right before it. I'm always very paranoid about missing the beginning of PYT, and as Larry finished up his spot on stage, I suddenly overlooked Danger Zone and frantically reset all my stuff for PYT. Then realizing that I'd skipped a song, I had to frantically set all my stuff back to Danger Zone. Got it? I was stupid. I missed some of the beginning and then butchered some of the middle, and then I had to stop playing altogether (which I'm not supposed to do) because I forgot to pick up my horn for the sax solo at the end. Not my best moment.
For what it's worth, I was solid on PYT.
The shows this weekend are in Atlanta--Friday at Park Tavern and Saturday at Venkman's. Both are Yacht Rock. Neither involve a trip to the airport.
