NYE 2016

We made it through another year! Once more, Yacht Rock played New Year's Eve on a stage built over the ice rink at Park Tavern in Atlanta. The event had 2,000 people show up--it had sold out earlier in the day! We loaded in around 6 PM, and even without the audience, it was already pretty warm under the tent. By the time the crowd had arrived, it was as warm as a summer show.

This gig had Ganesh Giri Jaya on percussion and vocals. An excellent addition!

All in all, I had a very good show--no great disasters or mental lapses to speak of. I had a good solo on Waterloo, and I made it through Careless Whisper (quick story on that--it was recorded on tenor, but at a slower speed, so now it's in an awkward place on the horn). Everything else was cool until midnight--we played Auld Lang Syne in F, and instead of playing C to F as the first notes of the melody ("Should auld"), I played C to F# and then slid down to F, like a nice big grace note. Ouch! Happy new year? We finally stopped playing (thanks to the noise ordinance) around 12:15 AM.

It seems particular to Park Tavern that as we put away gear, dressed in our regular street clothes, we have to stop and deal with questions about when the next set will commence. I'm not sure how it could be more obvious that we are finished for the night.

The rain that had begun to fall around 8 was still coming down after midnight, but fortunately had scheduled loaders to assist in dragging gear up the hill. Home by 1:45 AM. Boom.