Platinum performed at the scenic Barnsley Gardens Ruins May 7th

I had never been here before.  I realized that after I had exited off of 75 north of Cartersville.  My route was a strange one, quick lefts & rights, almost u-turnish in direction sometimes, getting over to an access road to make an otherwise not-possible left, etc.  My trusty "unupdated" Tom-Tom kept me on track and never lost the road, although the way back in the dark was a different story.  I passed some cow pastures and regretted not stopping to shoot some pics, but I needed to get there.  I did wisely stop for gas, since I knew I was headed towards a more remote territory.  Once I arrived, I had to check in at the registration office and secure a cart escort, who helped me find my way.  I was asked to move but never did bother, and that decision bit me a little later in the night.

We were in a tent, a nice one, with a big dance floor and DJ's deluxe sound system and lighting rig.  Poor DJ - he's been sick for almost 2 weeks and this load in was not a pretty one - one word: gravel!  Not a friend to heavy road cases.  I trudged up the stairs and made the best of it.  I brought along my Tobias fretless as well as my P-bass, which sported a nifty new buzzy sound.  WTF?  I can't win with my equipment lately.  We played some jazzy tunes for walk in - cocktails were had prior to the guests' entrances.  It was a by the numbers kind of gig that Platinum excells at.  Not to point anybody out, but the last tune of the night was to be Shania Twain's "From This Moment On", which the band had played long before I joined up.  I guess it was long before everybody else had as well.  We were not all on the same page and V was not liking what she was hearing.  We ended up playing through "September" just to get our gig legs back.

We were shuttled back to our Green Room chalet, where our bandwiches awaited us.  Ugh.  I wasn't in the mood, but ate 2 just to keep regular.  The salad was lettuce.  Enough said.  All the cokes were taken by then as well.  I need to lay off of the sodas anyways.  We killed some time and then we played.  It was muggy in those ties and jackets.  My big faux pas of the night was losing track of time and walking back from the break to see and hear the band playing without me.  I felt as if I had died and was watching them play in my wake.  It was surreal.  Virginia gave me a look that almost rivaled Binnie's, but she doesn't come close.  Binnie has that look patented.  Still, V was throwing daggers with her eyes and I scampered up to my bass and waited for the right place to creep in on "Come Away With Me".  The rest of the set was "Don't F Up" and I did well in that regard.  I did the modulate after the solo on the Supremes medley and realized that I had been correct back at the Alice Richards tent affair.  Whew!  One other blip was during"What I Like About You" where I played E E D A insead of the so often repeated E A D A.  Lexxi looked at me like "I heard that".  I know we all did...  Such is the life of a bassist.

My escort.

All set up and a moment to take it all in.



An opportune moment to be snapping pics of the Ruins.



View from the outskirts.

The mighty Augustus.

My Precision bass with Badass II bridge, Basslines Quarter Pounder pickup, & Hipshot D-tuner.

My Tobias fretless 5-string with Bartolini preamp & pickups.

A green room of sorts.

I called this "Brothers from a different mother".  Taken from Lexxi's Facebook.

Glen is the 4th lead vocalist, but #1 in so many ways.

A crowd shot.

Checking in.

V contemplates my fate after missing the downbeat of the 2nd set.

We will be saying goodbye to a great friend soon.  Love you DW!

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!

Glen sings Jessie's Girl & is fending of the Paparazzi!

Gus obliges with his winning smile.

Virginia keeps the energy up even when the crowd isn't into it.

Kevin thought I was shooting video - sorry Kev, it's just my pitifully slow camera & unsteady arm while I'm playing too.

DJ the Man!

My reaction after not passing the Blue Man Group auditions.

A Triple Play at Java Monkey --> CooCoo's Nest --> Alice Richards' Tent

Here is a recap of late last week.

Thursday the AAG played 2 great sets of jazziness and original wonderment.  It was a nice evening to be outdoors and the patio was full of willing participants to our deconstructed standards.  We played some of Guy's & Jason's tunes along with Mercy Mercy Mercy, Josie, & Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), which we do a lot when we can't think of anything else to play.  I thought we might try a Marley tune, but we don't really know any (?).  We played some Bob at Adrian's wedding, but it was a different line up I suppose.  I am always quite nervous before taking my first solo of the night.  To have to follow Jason is quite a feat and I usually have some serious doubts about my abilities to play melodically and flashy enough to warrent any applause.  It was nice that I did get some clapping after a few of my solos and I actually feel that I played some interesting stuff.  Where I (or we) completely fell apart was on Rhythm-a-ning, a Monk tune.  I have never completely come to terms with rhythm changes, and it showed here tonight.  Ugh.  We had some crazy time issue and the form went into hiding for most of Jason's solo, but somehow we found our way back into it.  Well, the bass is the foundation, so I made it a point to get with it a bit more, but I need to check out some transcriptions for this ubiquitous form.  My Jazz bass definitely will not fix itself and I can't bring it out until I put those original pickups back in.  It's funny how we always seem to have a mighty crowd by the end of the evening and they want more, but it's simply too late.  We have an 11:00 curfew, which has been challenged before without success.

Guy & Jason flaunting their chops.

Adrian helps me find 1 again.

Yet another goofy pic of me, but it is in mid song and I'm playing with 1 hand, so I get a few points there.

A guitarist/friend who stayed for the whole show.

Break.

Garrett takes care of us with food, drink, & constructive comments as well.  We value what he brings to the small round tables!  There's a story behind this shirt and it's a classic dramedy - sad and funny at the same time.

All packed up after having to perpendicular park to load out.  It's an evil smile, ultimately signifying that I have 30 minutes or so of drive time ahead of me around 285 & then the Johnson Ferry construction.

Friday was the debut of a new "super group" Sunset Strip, headed up by James Terry, vocalist and musical visionary with a flair for fronting bands and producing top notch stage shows on a semi-modest budget.  He drives a truck with a trailer full of PA & lighting gear to take care of many applications.  Also making up this band is the drummer from Hologram Mark Hoialmen, plus 2 guys from Reality Check: Bobby Slaton on lead guitar & vocals and Jason Calhoun on rhythm guitar, guitar synth, & vocals.  We had 1 rehearsal before this public appearance and we actually got quite a lot accomplished that night.  The repertoire is very similiar to Hologram's, although there are certain tunes that the other guys did not know, or want to learn for that matter.  Still, the songs they did know sounded so much better - no offence to the old player.  These guys really know how to tweak their tones and they run directly into the PA via their Line 6 Pods and whatnot.  It was big and powerful, I have to say.  I also have to say that it makes for a supremely long setup and soundcheck.  Some highlights were Home Sweet Home, Any Way You Want It, & Pour Some Sugar On Me.  For some reason, the endings were really a bit precarious.  We don't have any rapport as far as facial signs or language to facilitate ending the songs with any cohesion.  It usually is the drummer's job to say "Hey - this is the end!!!" and bring us to a rousing finish.  That really didn't happen a whole lot.  Oh well.  The bar staff really seemed to enjoy us.  I found it to be an easy gig all in all.  The worst part was the load in, which was not thought out when this place was constructed or designed.  I ended up doing my loading up the hill to the turn lane.

View of the patio and the rear of the stage from where we loaded in.

If you were wondering what the Blue Moon neon sign at the top was all about, here's what it's referring to.  A special attraction for the crowd was the presence of the Blue Moon girls who helped to stage some kind of contest.  The winner was annonced druing our set by one of the girls.  Such is life at the neighborhood watering hole.



Saturday night I was back with Platinum for our annual trek to Carrolton and specifically's Alice Richards' estate and tent near Southwire.  I have recently learned that she had passed away approximately 3 years ago and that her husband had founded the Southwire Company.  Well, this was another black-tie benefit party for Tanner Medical, this time with a 1920's theme.  David Winterhalter brought his clarinet and played beautifully over some '20's standards that he helped us organize.  I brought out my upright, and you know what - not a single person in the band commented on it.  I had never brought it before, so I was a little surprised to not get any little quip about it.  Weird.  It sounded good but it did want to feed back and I didn't have my special eq/di pedal.  Rats.  Next time.  My 6-string was my bass for the rest of the night - no problem.  Thanks to Gus for bringing my custom NL2 to 1/4" speaker cable that I had left at the Temple gig.  Subbing for Glen was Mike Little, with whom I played up at Lake Burton last year for one of Gwen's gigs.  We had a lot of fun on that one but this was a tough one for Mike, I get the feeling.  Platinum expects perfection and rightly so.  It's hard to walk into it and know everything cold, but ultimately that's what needs to happen.  We all got lost somehow on I Hear a Symphony and I still don't really know what happened.  I think one of us didn't modulate when we were supposed to and it threw Virginia off - can't blame her for that.  Everything sounded thin to me.  It's been a while since Glen hadn't been on a gig and we just missed him - he was with Platinum Soul, the smaller band that night.  One tune that went very well was a new one for us - It Takes Two (Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock).  Gus sampled the intro and just let it play.  Funny what he did!  He's always got a moment where he acts the fool!  We sounded good on it and Kevin got the rap down so he made it work!

This last shot here was taken after everybody had left - including most of the band.  As usual, the last few remeaining were Gus, DJ, & myself.

We all donned some new costume hats & ties that gave us a gangster (not gansta) look.  I thought it was nice and Virginia might get some nicer ones down the road.  I like the way she's always trying to make it more special.  We ate well and at Kevin's request, they even brought us ice cream!  Can't complain about the treatment - even using the portapotties.