The Estate is right there on Piedmont in Buckhead, a stone's throw from those serious restaurants that are elusive to a down-n-dirty gigging musician, namely Bones, Kyma, The Buckhead Diner, yeah you know the 'hood. I've driven past the place perhaps 987 times and never really notice the stone gate and premises. I drove past it once again trying to get in and turned around at the next street as I was heading south on Piedmont. Well, there it is. Load in wasn't terrible. I always make certain to bring the ol' cart. I bring a lot of stuff, so wheels are critical. We were all running late, as this was a Wednesday evening gig and traffic was thick, being this close to Christmas. We didn't get a traditional soundcheck/rehearsal but managed to check all of the lines and levels. I think this was where Jason prompted me to check my cables. Lo and behold, the cable "hardwired" from my pedalboard had a buzz whereas the replacement didn't. He showed me on the board meter that I still had some sort of noise, so we went with a DI again. Not certain if I can ever really fix this. Might try a different power supply for the board.
The place is cavernous. Somehow, the fates were with us and we managed to keep the volume in check. Anton has played here many times and claims that it may be haunted by a little girl who died in the venue. I'm really not the superstitious type. The basement was cold and creepy and we ate possibly one of the worst "bandwich" meals ever - my trusty hot sauce couldn't even save it. These clients spend all of this money and then skimp in some ridiculous ways. How much more would it be to just let us eat what everybody else eats? The green room was not where we chose to hang after that... Derek and I enjoyed a big headshaking laugh (perhaps a bit at my expense); so strange how life can be uncanny at times.
The gig was fine, although we ended early. A good amount of energy. Four on the front line again. I had a nice thumpy tone, considering my Stingray strings were at the end of their life. Took me forever to load out for some reason. Hey, I brought a lot, including my acoustic guitar. Fun to switch it up, and hope to play more guitar this next year.
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| Ice sculpture |
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| Detail showing Rudolph's red LED nose |
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| Setting the stage (what stage?) and Johnny practices some keyboard parts |
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| Gus and I chillax in the patio area before the downbeat |
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| Not too many dancers, but there a few very enthusiastic ones indeed |
Meals at weddings are expensive. $75-200 per person, so multiplly that by 100-200 guests, it turns out to be a lot for just food, not booze (which is considerably more money), venue fees, flowers, entertainment etc. and the costs just keep going up. Everyone says the best way to save money on a wedding is to reduce the # of guests/mouths to feed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. I never mean to rant. It's not what this blog is really about, and I'm happy to have a gig. That said, if a client agrees to give us a hot meal, then we expect it. We're there early to make certain everything is good. It is expensive, but it's also good karma to pay it forward in return for us to bring that extra touch of magic for the most important night of somebody's life. I saw what the other vendors were eating and it was a lot better than what we were served. We're not asking for filets, but we do need something of substance. We don't drink alcohol whatsoever, so we feel it's reasonable to get fed. Again, thanks for your comment!
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