Saturday, February 9, 2013. If I put some actual dates in here every so often, It might make it easier to trace my questionable quests that I block from my memory oh so well. By the time I'm back at home, it really gets blurred in a strange way. While we're there on the job, it's TCOB baby. This time out, I enjoyed the company of Misters Brian Molin, Mark Letalien, Chris Garner, and Pete Orenstein on keyboards. The wedding reception was held in a very long tent, not so unusual, as we were basically at the Redneck Riviera, only just on the other side of the street. We were revved up to play. I kept saying to myself (and out loud) that we were gonna rock! "We're gonna rawk!" It's funny how little ideas like that can really take over and give you a sense of purpose. A mission to really elevate the proceedings. I felt that we had to drive this far and be away from our homes and families all day - we can't be up there shoe gazing and sounding lame.
The good news is that we came to play. There was a sense of urgency from the moment I made my way to the stage. Mark is a great asset for a band like this. His enthusiasm is contagious and it lends itself to our brand of high energy dance music and classic rock. I feed off of that and simply lay the groove down into that deep pocket. One shining example is what we bring when we pull out an old soul nugget like Otis Redding's Hard To Handle. This is certainly well known as covered by Atlanta's own Black Crowes, and we do favor their arrangement. However, we step in up a notch and continue to step up the energy as the song gives way to the extended guitar jam that allows Brian to stretch out with his patented outer-blues inflections. Mark goes all out with a great driving beat and summons me to channel my yearning for 16th-note stuttering obbligatos, as if I were inhabited by the deft right-handedness of the likes of a Pastoris/Prestia/Berlin/Burbridge kind-of 4-headed bass monster! Gotta love answering to that call - thank you Mark!
Other highlights were many. We were given some dinner money; only trouble was, we didn't have much time. We found a rockin' little taco stand within walking distance (it was called The Taco Bar - as colorful and fun as it looks here) and had our way with that. Pete offered to run back and start the jazz set. Nice. He was joined by all of us one at a time, a la Stop Making Sense. I made it up for a seriously funky All Blues in 4, not 3, that felt so refreshing a different, even though I had played it in 4 many times before. I have to give credit to Mark on that, although it may have been his close association with Pete that brought the comfort level to the groove with absolute bounce! My NS WAV sounded decent, more growl than during the soundcheck. I always try to bring the on-board tone pot up a bit for some top end, but then I always roll it all off in my quest for that chocolate-dark Mingus-esque tone that is rather elusive on these EUB's.
They wanted Van Morrison's Crazy Love for the send-off dance. We ended up playing a bunch of Van, with some great results: Moondance, Into The Mystic, Domino, Brown-Eyed Girl - eh, all typical but these songs appeal to such a cross-section of folks. Love all things Van, even BEG, as it is known to rescue even the most dance-challenged crowds from party-failure. Beach music was on the menu; I think we rehearsed Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy at sound check, but did we play it during the night? Other early favorites: Can't You See by The Marshall Tucker Band and a request for some Glenn Miller - I suggested In The Mood (in Ab). It was in "The Real Book" so Pete was off and running with it. There's more to that tune that the basic theme, but we did it justice. I used to play it with Johnny Knapp back in the days of "Let Us Entertain You" with the great Tracy Taylor. It is one of those tunes we should all know. Great to be able to play a dance classic for a man celebrating a senior-iffic birthday. He showed us all how it was done!
It was full-on rock and dance at the end. A guest vocalist did a surprisingly confident job on Ain't Too Proud To Beg. Another sure-fire winner seems to be I Saw Her Standing There. If you know me, you know I'd love to hear Paul's count-off from Please Please Me kicking off that tune: "1 - 2 - 3 - Fah!" I think if the band is tight and we don't get turn up too much, then the attitude can be strong and aggressive without turning away people. The key is sounding tight and knowing when to bring the energy (but not necessarily the intensity) down. Hard to play softly and yet with intensity. That comes down to truly feeling what we are playing, as opposed to just knowing that the note is, say F#, and playing an F#. Hard to translate into words, but we were there, or perhaps really close.
So glamorous it is to have to pack it all up as fast as we can manage, after playing a 1-hour set, followed by a 10-minute break and then a 2-hour set. All that we can get on the road to drive to the motel in Dothan, Alabama. By the way, Dothan claims to be "the peanut capital of the world." You know I love my Planters Lightly Salted - wish I had known to partake in the city that probably grows a few of those beauties. We dined on the nutritious delights of Dunkin' Donuts, because America runs on Dunkin'! Thanks as always to Brian and Mark for careful driving and logistics of wonderment! Till the next road trip...
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