My trio gig was a last minute call to provide background music for an awards ceremony at a hotel in Buckhead. We set up on stage in the back of the room, ready to roll. Right from the start, the staff asked us to play softer because there was a meeting on the other side of the air wall. It was kind of hard to believe because the attendees walking in were drowning us out, and then the MC made announcements through the PA...I beg to differ that volume was an issue. Whatever...the bigger issue at hand was that no one quite seemed to know the flow of the event. A half hour into the gig, they began the program, so we took a break. "How long is the program?" I asked one of the coordinators. "An hour." The trio found a place to hang out in a sitting area.
A half hour later, I went to see how things were progressing, only to find that they WEREN'T DOING THE AWARDS! They were eating! Uhhh...are we supposed to be playing? Nobody knew (or apparently cared). I gathered Nick and Kevin and we prepared to play for what was left of lunch, only to be told that there were four minutes left and then the awards would begin. So...back to being on break? The same coordinator came over to us and said, "We're going to be talking for the rest of the program, so y'all can pack up." Oh...kay. We pulled our gear out into the pre function area, packed up, and left. Three songs. What the hell just happened?
The Yacht Rock gig was at a golf course, one of those repeat events from last year and the year before. We squeezed onto a too small stage for three sets.
First set, nobody acknowledged us; second set, really excited about us; third set, pandemonium. We even broke the neighborhood curfew for a quick encore of Footloose.
We had Pete and Monkey back. Monkey played a particularly awesome solo on Two Tickets to Paradise.
