The gig last night went well. A friendly crowd - it didn't hurt that Joan, Steph, and Dan were there to lead the applause. ;-) Steph took some photos...
The crowd seemed to enjoy the Beatles, Van Morrison, Jim Croce, Paul Simon covers, along with a few "unknowns." A mix of ages in the audience. The crowd had come together to support the recall of the board member discussed in earlier posts. Based on what I saw, the community is looking forward to a change.
I did 2 hours of music. Well "union musician hours": I played for 50 minutes, took a 15 minute break, then played for another 50 minutes or so. I was a little nervous (excited nervous) before I started, but it all slipped into place with that first guitar strum.
Joan helped me pack and load gear at the house; Steph and Dan helped me get it all out of the car and back into the house after I was done. That is a lot of gear for what I would consider my "small rig." I used my Taylor T5, the Bose S1 Pro, a pedalboard, mic, and stands. The folding wagon is a real help in moving gear, but it gets pretty heavy when lifting it into the back of the SUV.
Could be that I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for packing this gear around? Nahhhhh! But, I really appreciate my family's help, carting stuff to and from the car and back into the house.
Oh, and the best part: we were home and unloaded before 8:30. OK, maybe not "the best part," but right up there. ;-) I finished in time to get some food from the Japanese Hawaiian fusion food truck. Sure beats the "good ol' days," when the band looked for a truck stop to be able to get something to eat at 2:00 am. And the beat goes on.
4 comments:
Sounds like a good time. And home at a decent hour too. It is always good to have "roadies" to help with the gear.
A definite good time, Earl. And most definitely nice to have someone to help with carting the gear. I use a folding wagon, so that helps to be able to load in with generally one trip (with a backpack strapped on and a guitar in hand). It takes me about 20 minutes to set up with my "small rig", so getting there a half hour early gave me time for a sound check before people started showing up.
Odds are pretty good I won't be soliciting more solo gigs, but it felt good to do this one... and if one presents itself, I am good to go. A couple band gigs coming up in the next couple weeks. Then, it might be about time for a "summer break." :-)
I don't solicit gigs either anymore - too much like work (truly a four-letter word) most times. However, I enjoy the playing part. Bluegrass jams cover that for me, similar to the way your band situations do for you. And the local G4V has now started a beginner jam every other Friday. The first one was good and I will mostly lead the second one this Friday.
Hi Earl - I assume the bluegrass jam is just carrying in a guitar? It is the other gear that makes it more like work. It's like the old line: "I play music for free - I get paid for hauling all that gear around." Even going to Mark's to get together with the guys is a lot of work: carting an amp, guitar, mic stand, pedalboard, and a backpack full of cords and other stuff... and losing an hour and a half each time with the commute.
The Guitars 4 Vets sounds like a good program. Kudos to you for participating.
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