This was a 35 min set and it took me a while to figure that out. I have spent most of my career doing 3-4 hr gigs. There were occasional short stage blowouts. I would go hard for these. No pace. No reserve. Make the dance. Make them jump around and let loose. Make them regret the awesome ending to our last song. I tapped into that near the end of the performance. Looks good and sounds a little sloppy. I might need to practice jumping around while I play.
My 4 String… also known as “Bread and Butter.” I use this bass for long periods of time. It was made in November 1998. I don’t like chicken grease on my strings. Dexterity is important to a bass player. I’ve modified this bass for longevity. Light strings, heavy-mass bridge, low action, thick grippy leather strap, and very useful tone knob controls. ACTUALLY, I paid a good penny to have it altered by one of LA/Hollywood’s finest. Kenny, a former Fender factory tech and now locally famous luthier. Recommended by a mentor and familiar to some of LA’s top musicians. He said, “your bass will cost this must…” and I said “well what if I just buy one of your new basses?” He said, “my basses cost 5k.” He is well worth it. I believe it because of the amazing work he did on my Bread And Butter. I felt like I was free to play anything as fast as I want for ever…. lol. He tool pictures and showed me inventive modifications to balance the bass/neck. I hope he is well. I want to visit him for more work.
Anything with “Boogie” in the name is going to be good for disco. It’s has a nice bite from the tubes when I get it on a loud stage and crank the gain.
I like the way it sounds on my video. I didn’t like it too much when I was performing because I though there might be too much string noise/click.
I usually have the single amp and 15” next to me and a satellite in another strategic spot. This time I only used one, no satellite for this stage. I think too much stage volume can mess with a sound tech, so I tend to leave it out for the stage type venues.
No lights, but someone suggested using the stand lights to compensate for the stage light weirdness. I wasn’t the only person who found stage lights disorienting. I suggested practicing at home with a flashlight stuck to the cats head.
I need to get away from the music stand. It’s healthy to memorize the songs and the arrangements. It’s possible. Trust, practice and persistence will be required. The music stand has been with me for a long time. I will need to hide it and keep it low for this gig. I don’t want it to get in the way of my interaction with the audience.
A nice, well maintained and managed theater. I would look forward to performing there again. Lots of healthy systems in place. Staff seemed happy and team-like. Metal detector was annoying, but the security was easy to talk to.
No ramp or elevator to load heavy equipment. Lucky my shitty dolly is surprisingly durable. It’s good enough to allow me to pull my amp/speakers up six stairs.
Parking was awesome. It’s not LA or SD. Car in a garage and in the shade. Stage crew was awesome. There are many good places to hide our cases. It’s a full stage with people that know how to keep things in order and light hearted. No wind because we are indoors.
In short, I’ve struggle with food at gigs. The line, too polite, too messy, no clean-up time between sets, ribs, chicken wings, beard, seating, priority, and more. I’ve even asked other bully-type band mates to escort me to the buffet line. It’s all really fucking weird. Maybe I hate buffets. I think my favorite gig food scenarios have been with hotels. Hotels and well catered events will simply have a plate ready for you at a specific time. One time me and band mates had access to an employee longe with a service kitchen and buffet. People were all fat. I was happy. Thought my time as a performer, I will don’t do a good job of attracting food. I really weird. I fight it.
ANYWAY, for this performance, I went into a local Italian restaurant. This was after the coffee shop. Fun area for now, but it’s changing. Anyway, I walked in the restaurant and it smelled like a recently shitted-in bathroom. Wtf is wrong with these people? The ventilation is dumb if people smell poop when they walk in. I ordered a sandwich to go anyway. I desperately wanted something to look forward to when I got in the car to go home. This is my new technique for life.
