Warning: this blog is mostly going to be pictures! The gigs weren't as interesting as the locations. Here we go!
Monday: We flew to L.A. It feels like an all day flight, and when you get there, people are eating lunch.
Our first gig was to be a corporate event on Tuesday, but it's too far to fly and then play (especially if the gig is going to go until midnight on the west coast), so we came out a day early and spent the day night in Torrance, CA.
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| balcony view |
After the sun went down, we returned to the hotel, showered off the sand, and headed out for food and drinks at Hudson House, a hole-in-the-wall bar on the way to the beach.
Tuesday: Before heading out to our gig, I had time to run to Redondo Beach. The coast really looks this beautiful every morning.
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| lunch |
The client put us up for the night at the resort--we were spread out in million dollar cottages along the golf course. Here's our digs:
Our early arrival and soundcheck left plenty of time to explore before the gig. Here's more of the surrounding property.
The gig was pretty easy. From what I remember, it was a decent corporate party. The only hiccup occurred earlier in the day when the production company forgot to bring microphones and microphone stands. Kip yelled at them.
Wednesday: We only had to make it back to Los Angeles today, so...late check out! I squeezed in another run and some exploring along the cliffs.
We managed to book a last minute public show at a place called Club Bahia in Echo Park. Yikes! Very different from what we'd experienced the day before.
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| photo cred: Eden Beckett |
The gig was ok--kind of a shitty room. Matthew Wilder and Peter Beckett sat in with us, but there were still only a hundred and something people there to witness it. As you can see from the photo above, we debuted some new custom denim outfits. After paying the rental fee for the gear, we netted zero dollars.
One more thing--in spite of the venue's claim to having "the best tacos in town" (or something along those lines), the food was really, really, really bad. Zach, Bencuya, and I went to a convenience store (which was playing Coltrane's Say it Again and Again off the Ballads album!) and then three grocery stores in search of food (chips) and alcohol.
Thursday: Our house! It looked like a house from a porn shoot. The nine of us (seven band and two crew) shared this place with our film crew trio of Troy, Megan, and Jordan. Jordan is an olympic level snorer.
Our first order of business was a trip to Matthew Wilder's house in Venice.
It's good to be Matthew Wilder.
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| some stuff that he's worked on |
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| boom! |
Lunch at a vegetarian place called The Butcher's Daughter.
After we left Matthew, one of our friends from the Yacht Rock YouTube video series took us on a tour of the Warner Brothers lot.
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| Does The Great Bencuya blog? |
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| the sound stage set of The Fosters |
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| this is not going to end well |
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| Harry Potter flying broom |
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| My Fair Lady |
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| Superman's cape |
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| J.R. Ewing's hat and boots from Dallas |
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| The Music Man |
We closed out the night with some video interviews and a joint podcast with the Beyond Yacht Rock guys. I said nothing.
One last shot of L.A. at sunset.
Friday: Enough of that! We flew all damn day to New York City, landing at JFK in the early evening. The walk from the gate to baggage claim is still entirely too long. The airport now has men's rooms, women's rooms, and a "dog relief" rooms. Woof.
We landed around 8 PM (picked up by our van and trailer), checked into the hotel in Brooklyn, and by 10:45 PM, I was in the Village. My plan was to check out Joel Frahm, one of my favorite sax players, performing with Jean-Michel Pilc at Smalls. The first set was sold out, so I bought a ticket for the second set (beginning at midnight) and found something to eat.
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| it looks like something is finally going to move into the Brecker Brothers' old spot 7th Ave South |
The ride back to Brooklyn was more complicated than my trip into the city. The A train was maybe(?) running on a different track, so I waited for it on the A platform, switched to the F platform, went back to the A platform, and finally back to the F platform. I have no doubt that I was missing it by moving back and forth, so I eventually jumped on a Brooklyn bound train and switched to the A further down the line.
Saturday: Yacht Rock had been hired to play a wedding in Brooklyn, but we didn't load until mid afternoon, which left me time for a run around Brooklyn Heights before we split.
Once again, there's not much to say about the gig. It was a wedding. We used our own gear (ahhhh!). Dinner was not provided, so I ate a salad (with frozen lettuce--yuck!) and a big bowl of rice from Whole Foods.
Sunday: Back in the van, we drove down to Washington D.C. for the final Yacht Rock Revival show of the year, this time at the historic Howard Theatre. Lots of history here! Check out some of the backstage murals.
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| George Clinton |
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| Duke Ellington |
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| Marvin Gaye |
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| Duke Ellington statue out front |
As with the other Revival shows, we backed up Robbie Dupree, Matthew Wilder, Peter Beckett and Ronn Moss of Player. Ambrosia was the opener. Nice gig! I had a good tenor solo on the outro of Africa for a change.
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| Ambrosia on stage |
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| first class was so close that I could reach out and touch it |
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| there goes my suitcase |
A night off in Nashville afforded us the opportunity to catch up with our friend Heath at APA (who books us on cool gigs all over the country) and Dude from The Shadowboxers (Matt Lipkins).
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| nope |
The gig of the day was a corporate party at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Quite a view! This was another painless gig. In between sets, things threatened to get weird when a few of the clients requested to come on stage and sing along with the band, but our handler managed to shut that down. We finished at 10 PM, and back at the house by midnight. Good flute solo on Lowdown tonight.
Wednesday: Strip the beds, take out the garbage, and drive home!
Some videos from our recent gig at the Houston House of Blues: