John Hancotte's Bass Desires: 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!