The drive south was fairly uneventful. We stopped for gas, where I spent my first money on the trip, about $13 for a sad turkey and bacon sandwich and some snacks (dried mango and trail mix). It was sunny and getting hotter, but the van was nicely air conditioned. Unfortunately, due to all the gear, my little spot is pretty cramped. Luckily I'm not a big dude, but there's literally more room on an airplane (better angles to stretch out a leg from time to time). Despite that, it was comfy enough (or I was tired enough) to sleep.
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| I brought a bunch of Seattle band shirts. |
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| Late night the night before, long drive next day. |
After a while, we stopped in Weed, CA. We debated whether or not the place was named for weeds or for weed. We determined that no one knew, but likely for weeds. Despite that, we enjoyed walking around in the 90°+ heat to stretch our legs for a bit. Walked around the downtown strip, then jumped back in the ol' van for the trip to Redding.
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| Mt. Shasta from I5 South. |
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| Weed selfie. |
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| Flavor of Weed. |
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| Weed theater? |
Around 6:15, we pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall, horseshoe shaped. Kelly's was in the back corner of the sparsely populated lot, so we backed in front and unloaded onto the small stage in the corner. At this time, it was over 100° and pretty hot, so we were grateful for the strong AC in the small club.
For all gigs, I try to dress up a little, but due to the heat, we bent the rules a bit and went with shorts on stage. Except for Simon; he's not a shorts guy. Besides, there were only 7 people in the room, not counting staff. Because we showed up at 6:15, we sort of did a turbo setup and simply started playing. No hang out time or anything, which was fine. They closed early, at 9, so we wanted to respect that.
No pix or video of the performance, but we did 2 sets. We've got about 20 or songs that I've learned and though I can get through them reasonably well, I found that last night, just jumping in was a little weird (after the fact). I felt like I did OK, but had a bunch of missed changes and turnarounds. Felt a little out of sorts, but talking to Peter after, he said it was great. We took a quick break and played through the second set, which felt a lot better to me.
Even in shorts, I wasn't too hot at all. The room was cool and there was a fan nearby. Poor Peter was super hot, though. He was quite sweat soaked at the end of it, but admittedly, he says he's a sweater, so there's that.
Gearwise, I'm playing the 84 L1K (THE HOG), through my Zoom B2 Four pedal, but using it more for tuning and occasional metronome count offs. Otherwise, I'm using the Bassman Ten for tone and amplification. It's a bit weird; really nasally and mids (410 will do that to you). But LOUD. And the music we're playing is generally not super loud, so I have to use a lot of soft finger technique, which for me, is challenging, because generally I am a hard plucker. But, it's good to spread my wings, right?
I think as the tour continues, I'll learn the sound of the amp better; I like it, but it's not *my* sound, you know? I think I like it fuller and rounder, but the music and Peter like a more flats style thud (I'm playing rounds).
Anyway, after the gig, we packed out in the heat and hit up an In-N-Out burger spot nearby and I got a cheeseburger, Animal style, combo meal. Of course, I had to ask what Animal Style meant (grilled onions and Thousand Island sauce), but it was tasty. I think INO can make a killing if they charge even .50 cents per order of it; I think everyone in line did that.
From there, we headed to San Francisco, as we didn't want to stay in the heat of Redding and pay for a spot. Peter has a friend named Gregorio, who was generous to put us up for the night, even as we arrived at 1:43 in the morning. He was dressed like a mafioso and could not have been more kind and warming. His partner was great as well, and they had two dachshund/chihuahua mixes that greeted us with barks and pets. It was kind of cool. His house/apartment? was welcoming and had a couple couches. They even busted out an air mattress and had a spare bedroom that Miles got (he snores, so he got the solo room).
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| Maestro the dog. |
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I put in my earplugs as suggested by someone on TB, and before long, I finally fell asleep.
Quick hitters:
- Feeling more comfortable with the dudes. They've been great, but the feeling out process always takes as minute. I'm trying not to bore them with dad stories too much, but they are all accommodating and interesting dudes. In fact, I am constantly impressed with their world/history knowledge. I am not great at that stuff and they really know their stuff.
- Each guy has his own personality and even though it's only been 2 days (though I'm typing this mid-day 3), we are getting along well. I think it helps that all these dudes have done multiple DIY tours like this, and they're giving me tips and pointers along the way.
- We are getting more efficient at load in/load out. There's a science to Jenga-ing the back of the van and we're working it out.
- Only one panic stop, in the middle of the drive from Redding to SF. We were all sleeping and Simon had to hit the brakes pretty hard at stopped traffic on a long straightaway. That was a jolt.
- I got compensated for my gigs and I'm pleased with that. I'm simply thinking of it as my per diem and as long as I stay within those means, I'm good.
- Missing my family a bit, but that's what the phone calls are for.
