John Hancotte's Bass Desires: The Southern Club on Peachtree: Last Call Performs in Buckhead

PRELUDE:

This place takes me back. Back to the good old days when Good Old Days was in Buckhead. My first memories of gigging in Atlanta clubs are of this place, back when it was the Chameleon Club. Used to play there with Jelly Roll (Kris Gloer, David Fisch, Lawrence Katz, Scott Burroughs, and myself, often with special guests), often opening for the Urban Shakedancers, around 1990-92. My side offshoot group, Leroy Boy (also with Scott aka B. Tillman Scott on drums, plus Matt on bass, Mose on guitar, and myself on guitar & vocals - Matt & Mose both tended bar at the CC), also played there a few times, along with the Glen Pridgen Band. We had many great nights. I miss the stage being at the front. I recently played here in the current setup when it was called the Peachtree Tavern. It's a real nice stage with a deluxe sound system. So deluxe that it takes a pricey technician to get 'er going.

THAT NIGHT:

DF offered up a band supper that would find us down in the vicinity. Alas, I turned it down to make a family dinner of fish tacos. It all ran behind in time and they rushed out the door to make it to temple service. Consequently, I ended up running late. The only saving grace was that we had met earlier to load the rented cargo van with the hefty gear.

See, we brought our own audio rig, as we like to know what we're working with. David tapped into available funds and smartly purchased a second sub-woofer for matching bottom end at "stage right". With the subs and massive mains, plus the wedges, the rig is better than ever! Let's not forget the sexy "new" e-drums - they really do sound nice! We rocked our Sennheiser in-ear monitors as well. I tell you what, I don't know what kind of ear-buds we use, but they sound great! I'm the bassist and I have no complaints. Lots of bottom end, tons of crisp highs. We do a crazy compression circuit that gives us some grief on getting a good level to the crowd, but it makes the mix sound like a Sir George Martin production.

So the funny thing is that the name has changed but I couldn't see it out front or in the back. I was convinced I was at the wrong place and started tripping out, pulling over on the side of the building next to Trader Joe's to google the address and gps it. When it told me I had to travel approximately 500 feet, I started to wise up - I'm my own worst enemy!

MY DEAL:

As you can tell form these pics, I brought out a bunch of basses for this night. Plus, both pedalboards, of course. For Stick Free Hands & Free Tonalities, it's the only way I can cope. I was this close to bagging it for the evening. Why, I'm not certain. I ending up wanting to have options. I usually favor the NS/Stick, whether I'm tapping or just playing a regular line. I had used the NS/WAV electric upright back when we played at the Park Bench and wanted that vibe again. I really love that tonality. It's not just a fretless sound, it has that other growly vibe to it, but it speaks well in a band mix. I also played my Stingray 5, my Fender Jazz, The NS/Stick, and even the DeArmond Ashbory rubber bass. It now sports those white ukulele strings that the other brand uses, so I'm not sure if I can call it a rubber bass anymore. It sure holds it's intonation better and doesn't suffer from string breakage at all. And I like the sound of it. Wish I had the where-with-all to do that mod that boosts the volume to the same level as most other basses. Meanwhile, the NS/Stick sounded very good and I managed some decent independence. I really have worked on a couple of things, but they aren't ready for prime time - I'm thinking of my little chiming part for The La's There She Goes and some power chordal stuff on the Avril tunes. With our mix, I've learned that less is more. It's like going to a buffet, I still want more...

THOSE HIGHLIGHTS:

Farrel's Magic Power (has to be one of most challenging tunes to sing, ever), Keep Holding On, Who Says You Can't Go Home, & Tears of a Clown. Ira sounded great on his featured tunes: Wild Horses & Fire Escape. Nobody sings Tom Petty songs (besides Tom himself) better than David (aka Papa Falc) - The Waiting & Mary Jane's Last Dance were incredible moments. I got back to my roots and belted out the Stones' Happy and of course Bowie's "Heroes". Always fun to trade lines with David on The Beatles' I've Got a Feeling. Plus, we introduced a new version of Comfortably Numb that was Bic lighter worthy. We had fun busting out Journey's classic tune Lights. Farrel gets extra points for learning it on the fly. We make her do a lot of songs that were written before she was even born! Karl filled up the empty spaces with tasty lines and innovative runs. Sounded sweet!

the first cut is the deepest

Okay, so real quick, let me add in a couple of pics I took featuring Karl. It feels a little lopsided with too many DF & myself, plus he's always in the back. I got in his face and even shared in Julie's hospitality for a memorable photo opportunity. Thank you Julie for the drink and your smile!

Karl krackin' up!

IN CLOSING:

Back to Chuck's great pics. These next few are from video stills. Different color saturation and amazing group shots. Shots? Not us! Before we knew it, it was time to wrap it up and pack it up. We were feeling drained and our crowd was hailing taxis. That's what happens when we leave out the Who mini-set. Never again, I say! We were blessed to have Leo help us on the in and out. He also helped with the front-of-house mix and ushered in some of his homies to fill up the place. Leo rocks! And he just graduated from UGA - congratulations to you Leo! Congrats to Farrel to - she's made it through High School! Best of luck to you this year as you follow your muse in music! Till next time - LAST CALL LOVES YOU!!!