John Hancotte's Bass Desires: Live at the Dillard House on Wednesday May the 4th!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Live at the Dillard House on Wednesday May the 4th!

It was a cool, crisp, breezy spring evening that Platinum found it's way up to the Dillard House, tucked away up on the outskirts of the Blue Ridge Mountains near the border of Tennessee. I think it's Burton County, so it's near Lake Burton, where I was last year when I played at Waterfall Country Club. The Dillard House Restaurant is famous for it's family-style serving of wholesome comfort food. We were fortunate to begin our evening in the restaurant, dining as a guest of the booking agent and client. The sweet tea was the epitome of Southern refreshment. Not to be missed when you're parched. We were served baked chicken, fried chicken, roast beef, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cole slaw, fried okra, green beans, cooked carrots, cooked spinich, biscuits & corn bread, um, I think remember it all. I had some of everything. This was early in the night, say, around 5:15 when I got there. We didn't linger. Once we wolfed down the grub, it was time to get set up, sound check, get changed, and then play for the entering crowd, who had just eaten after us.
The band was a truncated one - 6 pieces with Virginia, Kevin, Glen, Derek, Gus, & myself. Thus, no horn & no 3rd vocalist. They were missed, as we just have a better stage show and vibe when we're all together. The crowd was a tough one that took a while to warm up to us. Ultimately, we won them over, but it sure took a while. Some of the highlights were the Superstition medley with extended funk segment including The Humpty Dance & something else that Glen led us on, Jessie's Girl, & Get Down Tonight. We sort of learned Shining Star by EWF at soundcheck, but didn't play it. We did learn & play Here Comes My Girl by Tom Petty & that sounded good. Another cool thing that Glen has started doing is sticking in Forget You at the end of Purple Rain - it works really well. Whip It sounded good too. I finally have the form down cold, & I used the Ashbory on it. That song is so quirky that the little bass is just right for it. Other than that, I played the Stingray 5. I ended up singing Honky Tonk Women up front while Glen played bass (!) as well as Your Mama Don't Dance by Loggins & Messina. Crazy fun. I tried to shake it like V has coached me to. Not sure how well it went over, but I had fun & threw caution to the wind. Gus got a big kick out of me doing a little high kick off of his bass drum. The agent was really nice & took good care of us, bringing out a giant plate of the freshest chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted! Yum! I had some good comments afterwards & even someone who is learning the bass talked with me a bit. Good people all around. I drove back afterwards, but I should have worked it out to stay since there were accomodations & it was very tiring. Here are some pics!