Platinum at Capital City Club: The Night My Amp Went Out

Played in the ballroom on the 3rd floor this past Saturday at the downtown Capital City Club.  Traveled rather light, with only the Stingray 5 and my (actually Jack's) trusty Fender acoustic/electric guitar (for I'll Be).  I plugged in everything (including the XLR to the DI jack in the back of the head), pressed the power switch, and poof!  Not a good sound.  Not at all, and no luck getting it to power up.  No accessible fuse in the back to check.  First had to make it through soundcheck, playing direct and having a monitor mix.  Went over a bit of Thrift Shop with Glen singing Superstition over the rap sections.  Then had to run home and get my Genz-Benz combo.  Run home - that's right.  I drove in the pouring rain - major storms this evening.  I was on a mission to get an amp, right?  The band didn't know, although i think Junius had an idea.  A gig without an amp - not in this band!  I made it back in the nick of time.

The Genz-Benz works great in that it operates normally in a bridged-mono configuration as a 200W combo driving a 12" and a horn.  It also has the capability to move the internal speaker to another speaker out and plug in an external cabinet into a third jack, thus delivering 100W to each cabinet.  Not tremendous power but it delivers a good amount of sound. Very nice indeed.  I made it back just in time, as the band was assembling on the stage and waiting to start the lead in jazz tune.  A true challenge if you have any clue what our rainfall has been over this past weekend - over 4 inches.  We started into Lonnie's Lament, a funky Marcus Miller-inspired groove that showcases a memorable (and dare I say hummable) Coltrane melody.  Lots of good vibes from the crowd as they entered the room.  One of the photographers was very complimentary, as he is a young bassist who confided that he is now driven to improve after checking us out.  Made me feel good, at any rate.  I'll Be was nice,even if I didn't feel it as being as liberating as it has felt in the past.  Kevin really enjoys it, and I do too.  Glen always plays some cool lines in it - another great bassist!  Funny to switch instruments - wish we did it more.

Got a humorous text from Judy - she was playing on the 2nd level and popped in to see us for a minute.  She told me to "keep it down!"  Very funny, Judy!  Made me smile at that.  It was a good night in spite of my equipment failure.  My head may still be under warranty.  The fuse is internal, so the downside is I cannot open it up without voiding the warranty.  Gotta take 'er in, after I find the receipt.  Stay tuned.

The Genz-Benz combo atop my SWR Go-Light 115.  The Combo powers both cabinets with its dual speaker out configuration at 100W per output, or 200W bridged mono.

My only other decent shot, a very nice one of Gus - what a shame I wasn't steady!