The Annual Carrollton Tent Event for Tanner Medical

Panoramic view inside the tent - it's a big tent, to say the least - from my spot on the stage.

Stepping back into this massive structure is surreal.  Has it been a year since I wearily drove home from the last time we played here?  Does it always rain on these types of events?  Not always, but it did tonight.  It was good to see Gyro tending to the audio needs.  I have his number but haven't made the time to venture over to his fine studio in Marietta.  Platinum brought their musical prowess to deliver some special requests and some old favorites.  A special dance kicked off the first set with the nearly century-old Tin Pan Alley chestnut Let Me Call You Sweetheart.  I have been playing it for some time now with MartaY.  I got a copy of a version by Connie Francis, so I suppose I'll always associate it with her.  Also have the duet with Pat and Shirley Boone.  They are similar in that neither includes the verse.  Songs used to have a verse that apparently wasn't entirely necessary.  Only folks like Tony Bennett still choose to sing verses of old standards.  We ended up playing it in the key of G, which was the key of the sheet music I had.  How convenient!  It sounded good.  I missed (we all did) the fact that we didn't play the customary jazz/dinner set - it seemed like forever until our time came along...

Speaking of being a year...  this tent-like structure is so massive.  I take for granted that it is set up solely for this annual function.  When I come here, I feel as though nothing has changed.  The tent looks the same.  The stage looks like the same one and is in the same place.  The fiberboard backdrop seems to be from the same warehouse.  Everything.  Even Gyro, our spot-on audio tech, the best in the biz, hasn't aged.  I've known Gyro since working some MMS/ASL shows out at the Ritz at Lake Oconee - we all but closed down the bar one year (another torrid story with a grey goose as the central character - nobody got too hurt.  Hey, rehearsal was at 8 a.m., so how much could you party, especially on the $35 per diem)...  The point was that  I used to believe that this incredible structure stayed out - it's just too big to move - so naive...

I hadn't played my NS/WAV in a while, so I brought it along for the first set. I used the Frame Strap System attachment along with my wireless for nice mobility.  One thing I adjusted was the angle of the bass, effectively tilting the neck towards my field of vision for a better shot at intonation - I need all of the help I can get on this!  Why hadn't I explored that before?  It may not be as hip as playing it without looking at the dots, but it sounds right.  One more thing to do for next time would be to lower the height (ie loosen the strap a bit more) so that the nut is closer to eye level.  I have been playing it a bit higher to facilitate thumb position.  Otherwise, it gets hard to see what's going on in that upper octave.  The truth is, I don't play much in that area.  Better to make it more comfortable for the money notes.  Another fine point here is to put the contraption on (likewise with the Stick and such) before the jacket, thus effectively hiding the strap.  Ah, it seems to just float in front of my torso.  I alone think it's cool.  I guess that's all that matters sometimes.

The long second set was handled well with my Precision, albeit with bridge position pickup engaged for added clarity.

We had Bogey filling in for Kevin.  He did a great job fronting the band and giving us some good energy.  We needed that, as it was a long wait from soundcheck to the first set.  No jazz set in between.  It was almost a 3-hour wait.  Good dinner, with chicken alfredo, asparagus  salad, cupcakes, ice cream, juices, anything we wanted...