Some Motivation

Sometimes I take this to heart.  I try to get more important things done before I run to blab about old gigs.  I also try to look at it as a small memory exercise - don't wanna lose it so I'd better use it.

Now, where was I?

Played my upright bass the other night for the "dinner" set.  Forgot that I would use my Fishman Platinum Pro Bass DI, so I wasn't able to get much volume before feedback.  Trying to research a bit on ways to get more stage volume through a fairly standard bass rig.  Lately I play through a GK Fusion 550 head into an SWR Golight 115 cab.  My pickup is the Fishman Full Circle.  I have an old Boss GE-7B pedal, which I believe is my most extensive eq.  The Fishman does not have a notch filter - why not?  The Acoustic DI they developed later does include a notch filter - one knob that you select the frequency for a very deep and very narrow cut.  Is is always engaged?  Are you always notching something out?  Whatever.  I'm a little annoyed.  A 3rd-ocatve eq would be nice, but that would be expensive and perhaps more trouble than it's worth.  Small dual-parametrics are very expensive.  More on this when I figure it all out.

And for reading this not so helpful entry, let me show you a pic taken at this past September's concert appearance by Steely Dan.  Always glad to know they come around again, this time playing the Aja album in its entirety.  They also played Godwhacker from their most recent Everything Must Go, a criminally overlooked and underappreciated classic.  Thanks to Walter and Donald for all of the great music they've given us here at the western world!

Laying Low, Camping at Red Top, and Then a 6 Hour Gig in Rockmart

I was without a gig the first full week of October.  I thought October was supposed to be busy.  I guess it is for some.  The following week was our annual camping trip at Red Top Mountain.  It's something we look forward to as a family every year now.  As luck would have it, I had 2 gig opportunities that I would have to miss out on since I would be away.  Well, I had a bit of a breakdown in communication with my bands.  I almost let one down completely but a buddy came through to sub for me.  I didn't have the same fortune on the second.  I ended up playing the gig with Platinum in Rockmart.  The fortunate aspect here is that Rockmart is located in the Northwestern part of the greater Atlanta area.  Specifically, the exit off of I-75 is exit 285, which is the Red Top Mountain exit.  What an odd coincidence, I must say, at least to myself.  And, as it turns out, to you, faithful readers.

Earlier that day at Red Top Mountain Park

I had all of my gear, along with our camping supplies, packed in my car.  After a road excursion to the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, a hike near the lake, hunting and gathering of much wood (along with whacking several long branches against trees to break them up) for the evening's fire, then building the mighty blaze to sustain into the evening, I dutifully showered and shaved in the cabin beforehand, and then changed into my evening wear of all black.  It still took me a good 45 minutes to get to the private residence in Rockmart, which was a sprawling estate.  We were staged outside, up a long driveway with a brick patio area in front for dancing and mingling.  High up on this hill, I marveled at how the damp weekend had blossomed into perhaps the warmest and clearest night we could have imagined.  It had rained earlier in the day, but you couldn't tell that by 6pm.  The sky was so blue it almost made you cry.  This gig was also memorable as it was a 6 hour performance, for which we were paid overtime from the start.  The bottom line was that I was strongly encouraged to make it, which I did.  I'm glad I did too, because it paid well and because we have some interesting memories from it.  A lady got up to sing Crazy by Patsy Cline, and very well I might add.  Later on, the EMT's showed up, as someone had too much drink and effects were being dealt with.  I still don't know exactly what happened, but I think a fight broke out and somebody lost the battle.  We were asked to play an extra 30 minutes, after playing 6 hours already!  More overtime.  Good to know we know that many songs.  My gear had a bunch of grass and hay stuck to it, which I didn't see until the next day.  I made it back to the cabin around 1:45am.  Played very well, better than I would the following gig...  Glad I did it, and very grateful to Fuji for being so understanding about the issues I was facing.

View from the parking area along a dirt driveway leading to the main driveway
 to where the stage was erected.  I never saw the house!

Kickin' back before soundcheck.

Before or after soundcheck.

Sitting area with lighted bouquets.

A view of the front of the stage. 

Carriage for show.

Gus is consistantly photogenic.

Best shot I had of the front line.

Glen giving me the eye, with a whole lot of light coming at me.

A selfie included mainly to show that I held up pretty well after camping and hiking all day, and then playing this exhausting gig.  The pic above with the family and our dog Buddy was taken earlier the same day.

This nonsense shot aptly describes the chaos that ensued near the end. of the night.

More confusion and choas, with fans of the drummer beginning to collect.  We were understandably plum tuckered.

The Next Day: From Athens to Bluffton

How my day began - trailing behind Ira
on our way back to Atlanta after a night in Athens.

On the road again.  My first real road trip in my new 2004 Honda Oyssesy.  I was packed for the Last Call gig in Athens and this evening's performance with Platinum at the Hampton Hall Club.  Oddly enough, I use different gear for the 2 bands, so my stuff was substantial.  Had to repack it all, putting the Last Call gear towards the middle since I wouldn't be needing it.  I had to make room for Derek and Glen's gear plus their overnight bags.  I did all of that at Publix, where I bought an apple, an orange, and a banana for my breakfast.  No protein, but I figured we would be stopping for lunch sooner than later.  The whole day was an earlier one.  Through a couple of issues, we were a bit tardy.  Uggh.  I hate to be late.  We were still okay for the soundcheck.  It's always good to pad the time.  I'm learning that for every rider, an extra 30 minutes can be a good rule of thumb.  Nobody wants to be late, but everybody has their own issues.

Always good to have someone to talk to on a long trip like this one...  lol, right?

One thing for sure: it was all-out beach-ready hot in Bluffton.  It was a penetrating heat that made you run for shelter.  It felt like late July down there, with not a cloud in the sky.  We had a bit of trouble finding this Hampton Hall Clubhouse.  My GPS gets me close, but not quite there.  We went down a long road that seemed to lead to nowhere.  It did take us to a gate that wasn't labeled as we had hoped.  This keeps the riff-raff out, for sure!  I guess there's another way in, but I eventually manned-up and pressed the callbox.  We were allowed access and before long, we were there unloading into the ballroom.  The band had been alerted to my travel woes, so our tardiness was excused.  Fun stuff on the way to super-stardom!  We had 4 on the front line this evening, with Johnny Collins and Tony Hightower co-fronting along with Dianna and Virginia.  Tony has some incredible scat chops, which he let soar on Fly Me To The Moon.  Bravo!

Dianna gave me some good photo ops, so I had to oblige.  She is always an inspiration; lots of energy and raises our spirits.  We performed Little Trip To Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love), Tom Waits tune from his debut album Closing Time.  I recently picked that one up.  Released in 1973 but recorded in '72.  Hard to believe it's that old of a record - 40 years?  Really?  Well, we missed the Miles-infused muted trumpet noodling.  Either you love the guy or you don't.  I guess I'm the biggest fan of his in this band.  I made a chord chart for the tune, with a little help from the net - hey, time is tight and I don't mind getting a helping hand.  I'm certain I made a few adjustments and tacked on the tag at the end.  The form is the same for the verses and solo.  With Word, which is what I use (insert table, etc.), it's easy enough to copy and paste.  I can make these relatively quickly, and they're easy to read since I use 16-point Arial font.  It appears that a few of my fonts were 14-point.  I occasionally make the flat symbols, which are a lower-case b (duh) 12-point font for aesthetic reasons, depending on the time.  To post them, I have to convert to a pdf (easy enough from Word, provided you have Adobe Acrobat Professional) and then save that as a jpg.  A little lossy but that's what the blog will allow.  Oh, I keep some templates with those funny symbols (half-diminished, full diminished, and Major 7, respectively) at the bottom for ease of use.  I usually delete them along with the extra bars after I have saved the final chart.  So in case somebody needs it, here's my chart for the Tom Waits love song Little Trip To Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love).

Virginia rocked her costume change to perform our Lady Gaga medley.  This wedding was certainly a big budget.  The family was very nice to us.  The whole crowd was so into our music from the opening doors, grooving to our opening jazz numbers: Herb Alpert's Rise and Grover's Just The Two of Us.  They danced and reacted like they were part of a televised broadcast.  People remarked later that they thought they were watching a broadway performance.  I do my little part, with my two left feet back there dancing as best I can.  Funny that I had my NS/Stick plus a few other basses.  I try to mix it up in that regard to make it more of a show.  I even broke out the Ashbory for Shout!

We ended up at this little hut across from the hotel for a late night drink, not to mention the pizza in the hotel room.
Ah, the simple pleasures of the road.

The next day was family fun at Mercier Orchards,
apple picking and strolling around downtown Blue Ridge.

The Globe in Athens: Upstairs for Last Call

Standing at 199 N Lumpkin St. in Athens, Georgia, I could see the world.  Well, I was at The Globe, or as the proprietors of this establishment coin it, Globe.  Globe it is.  Globe Athens if you're on facebook.  It is situated on the strip, so to speak, across the street yet right next door to the famed Georgia Theatre, where I found a parking spot available after circling the block for many minutes.  The members of Last Call (David Falkenstein, Ira Kramer, Karl Rosenblume, along with special guest Farrel Anne) gathered our collective wits and sojourned across SR 316 on the first Friday of October to perform at this event facility.  Unbeknownst to us, the upstairs area was in the midst of a full-on renovation.  Parts are cherry, others not so much.  It will indeed be sweet when the work is completed.  The stage was decent; elevated and plenty of room for our needs.  Seating included some comfy sofas and and chairs; a deluxe living room if you will.  Too bad that there is no elevator, of course.  Heavy lifting performed by ones younger than I, namely sons of David (and Mrs. F.).

I got there after the others but not too late to run through a couple of songs for soundcheck.  I remember going through Maggie May - that song is destined to be a crowd pleaser.  Still working on my elaborate setup that I seem to have.  Not sure how to make it much simplier, but i'm working on it.  At least the bass pedalboard is tidy and compacted.  The Boss GT-8, with it's mid-cable wall-wart and such, needs a proper housing.  So setup is what it is.  With 2 instruments and stands, a cable case, 2 pedalboards, a music stand and book, plus all the gear David is generous to provide, it's not a quick and dirty throw-together.  Technology is heady stuff.  So what is cool is that when I patch the lines in and insert the earbuds, the mix is always golden.  This is what Walt used to beg of me, monitoring through the earbuds.  It gives a terrific listening experience.  We do seem to have the need for somebody to help with the levels in the front-of-house, as the mains can be too loud or not loud enough.  Hmmm.  Maybe I could wander out fornt with my bass on the wireless next time.  There's soundcheck level, and then there's show level, when people fill the room and the ambient noise level increases.  Just an aside...

This and all other pics of the band taken by Chuck Meiers - thanks Chuck!

Farrel Anne leading us through the Rod Stewart classic Maggie May at coundcheck.

After soundcheck, we checked into Hotel Indigo, cruising in a fine black Suburban tricked out to the max, and then walked to dinner.  Karl and I tagged along with David and Ruth to meet up with their sons and friends.  A seriously grand dinner was enthusiasticly met with hearty appetites and a carte blanche sense of bon homie.  Very nice place with awesome food and wonderful conversation.  A big garden salad, blackened filet, crispy potatoes, and asparagus (no tasty adjective but it was the perfect accompaniment.)  Yes, that was my Hopsecutioner on the table!  It felt good to be an adult again!  What a nice, relaxing time.  Thanks DF and all the family for making it wonderful!

Back at the Globe, we had just enough time to change into our stage clothes and get started.  We plowed right into it with No Matter What.  I don't think I'm ready for playing my slide solo right off the bat, but I'm working on it!  Farrel's tunes were spot on and relaxed: a perfectly paced If It Makes You Happy, a strong take on The First Cut is the Deepest, and a terrific sing-along on Who Says You Can't Go Home.  Junior's Farm was solid and forceful, but we collapsed at the end - it was like the barn just fell over.  Macca threw us a crazy time change, which we usually nail.

I panicked and couldn't find my wallet.  Ran back to the hotel in search of it.  Turns out it was in my car; fell out of my pocket as I was changing into my pants - classy, I know.  I was thus relieved but a bit out of breath.  I got my exercise after that big meal!  Fortuantely, the second set didn't suffer from my escapades.  New tunes for us like My Happy Ending and Hand In Pocket were tight, thanks again to Farrel.   The lads delivered big, anthemic versions of Like a Rolling Stone, Trapped and The Kids Are Alright that punctuated a set of high energy rockers for the youthful crowd.  Good to see our faithful throngs enjoying themselves with little abandon.  A point of view I don't always get, even at our other shows.  Opened with Mary Jane's Last Dance and closed with American Girl - hmmm, I notice a theme here.  Classic rock ain't going nowhere.

David is wearing an Italian shirt on a dare, and he's not happy about it - actually, he was, and he looked great!

Johnny sings - go wake the children!

David & Ira make it look easy.

Closely cropped shot of Karl deep in thought yet perfectly in tune.

Lots of congrats and hi-fives after the show.  Load out was what you'd expect.  It was all-of-the-sudden crazy late.  We were a bit worn out.  So glad to be able to retire to a bed instead driving home.  I was getting up early to hit the road for a gig in Bluffton, SC.  Had my additional gear with me so I was going straight there, after picking up my cohorts.  Below you can see that I inadvertently followed Ira back most of the way along SR 316.  Till next time, Last Call Loves You!

The front patio of The Globe at 2:00 a.m.

Art hanging above the stage

My room at Hotel Indigo

On the road again, following Ira the next morning.