Gear Fest, day 2. We didn't have to worry about being up early and getting in line at 8:00... we are registered, so all we had to do was walk to the displays. No, we didn't see everything yesterday, and there were a few things we wanted to see again.
Sunny, but breezy, start to the day...
I played a few guitars and we made our way into the store; looking for some strings that I want to try. And, mostly just looking...
Joan was lobbying for a small amp for the motorhome - I'm in no hurry. No gigs coming up, and the neighbors in the RV parks probably wouldn't care for the "house band" playing so close.
A young guy getting his photo taken by the "Marshall Wall"...
We enjoyed watching and listening to the artists in the various manufacturer displays...
Checking out some cars on display...
A huge tent of drum displays (you only see a small portion of it behind the Pearl Drums truck)...
A LOT of sound coming out of that area.
We found a couple more things in the store, the Hot Deals area, and the "Open Box" tent (what I bought had never been opened) - then proceeded to check out...
Like yesterday, check out was fast and easy: they scan your customer number, run your credit card, and all the stuff you put in your file gets delivered to the Order Pickup tent outside...
I had fun watching the Sweetwater employees in a steady line, bringing out stuff and calling names...
The people in this area were like kids at a Christmas party... plenty of excitement during their short wait.
We got our stuff (OK, my stuff), and decided to walk back to the coach; past the warehouse shipping bays...
Trollies continued to bring people in - there's still time to buy stuff before Gear Fest 2017 is done today...
Back at the coach, I sorted through my stuff...
That isn't a Star Trek phaser in my hand - it is an electric string winder... I'm gonna change some guitar strings!
Out for a late lunch, a bit of grocery shopping (we head out tomorrow), and off to a concert tonight (Eric Johnson, a popular guitarist).
Gear Fest 2017 has been a lot of fun. I wasn't sure what to expect... it reminded me a bit of the national photography conventions we used to attend, with hundreds of vendors and a lot of "interesting" attendees... just like a lot of wannabe photographers, the same is true with musician types.
Off to the concert, then see you down the road.
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On edit:
The concert was interesting. Eric Johnson was sponsored by Fender (they do offer an Eric Johnson Artist Series Stratocaster). There is no doubt the guy is incredibly talented as a guitarist... but, he played for about 25 minutes, opened it up for a question-and-answer session that lasted about that long, then played one more song. For the first couple of songs, he was accompanied by two Sweetwater employee/artists (bass and drums, and both were outstanding)...
After a couple songs, he played one instrumental acoustic number...
Then, the Q&A, and one more song...
Pretty easy gig for him.
With all the budding guitar players, there was a lot of admiration with the audience. The Pavilion was full; this was the last event for Gear Fest... "If you haven't picked up your purchases, you need to do so now at the Check Out area. Thanks for making Gear Fest 2017 the best one yet!"
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