Two Versions of Hollywood

Yacht Rock played a really easy corporate gig in Hollywood, FL at the beginning of the week, and got back to Atlanta just in time to play a movie premier at the Atlanta Film Festival.  Dig:

Sunday:  Up early for our flight to Miami.  Ouch.  The good news is that we were met at the airport by Kip and Hans with all of our gear--they'd driven down the day before with the van and trailer.  After the short trip up I-95, we pulled into the Westin, where a whole crew of stage hands dragged our gear into the ballroom for set up.  After set up, lunch, and soundcheck, we had a little time to hang out in our rooms before the show.  Nice place!

our driver/assistant audio engineer Hans, all decked out for the gig

The first night was great--by the end of the first set, a few people were in the mood to get out and dance, and by early in the second set, it seemed like everybody was up.  Very cool!

Even with the encore, we were still finished by 10 PM.

chief audio engineer and gig manager Kip

The best news of all was that because we were playing the same gig on Monday night, we could leave all of our gear set up.

Monday:  We were all free to do whatever until 5 PM.  I slept late, went for a run, read my book, waded in the ocean, swam in the pool...pretty good for a Monday!

Same gig with more or less the same results.  We had 'em by the end of the night!

photo by Hans

photo by Hans

This one had a quick load out.  The same crew that brought our gear in was anxious to pack our gear up, and we had to hurry to take care of our stuff before they began grabbing stuff.

Tuesday:  another early (for me) flight, back to Atlanta.  Enough time to eat lunch and unpack my suitcase before it was off to another gig.

This one was quick and easy.  We were invited to play for the premier of Imba Means Sing! at the Atlanta Film Festival.



Since it was just a couple of songs, we used our "radio set up"--hand percussion, acoustic guitars, woodwinds, bass, and one keyboard.  We played Summer Breeze, Afternoon Delight, and then the choir from the Atlanta Music Project joined us for Africa.  I was a little bit nervous about this one--I've always played the parts on EWI, so would I be able to do it on flute a whole step lower?  I made it through just fine, trying not to think about the notes very much and just concentrating on hearing the melody clearly.

A couple of guys stayed to watch the movie, but I bailed because my brain was FRIED.