Got a decent night's sleep on the couch and jumped in shower. Pleased to note that on this 10 day trip, I only missed one shower because I didn't "think" I needed one. I didn't want to assume we all got showers. What I've learned now is "forget that." If there's a shower, I'm taking one. I'm too greasy not to.
We packed up and drove into Arroyo Grande, another small town, like Morro Bay and Cayucos before it. Grabbed a coffee and a cinnamon roll... only to find that we were gonna stop for lunch about 30 minutes later at In-N-Out. :/
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| Terrible picture of Andreini Coffee. |
After the burger (animal style) and fries (too cakey for me), back on the road. Do I enjoy the In-N-Out burger? Yes. But I do think they are way overrated (repeated for emphasis). They're OK.
Heading further south for the City of Angels, specifically the Boyle Heights neighborhood, I guess. We drove down through Santa Barbara, where Marci went to college. I can't remember if I'd ever driven through it, but I always thought SB would be glitzier and nicer. Granted, I was in a van on the freeway and didn't stop, but from that vantage point, it was a little grungy.
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| Santa Barbara? |
Anyway, before getting to the venue, we stopped at Miles' childhood friend's partner's studio, Lolipop Records. They have a secured repurposed industrial building of some sort, that they've turned into a multi-use space, with recording studios, rehearsal/performance room, video shoot area, and living spaces above. Additionally, there were two small Airstream trailers in the parking lot that we were allowed to stay in. One was newer than the other, but both totally clutch and appreciated. We loaded some stuff out of the van into one of the studios and then headed to the venue.
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| Peter and Miles on the left, me and Simon on the right. |
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| Iggy's great VW bus. |
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| Studio equipment. |
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| Would love to plug that in and hear how it sounded. |
When I was told about this gig, there actually wasn't a venue listed. Instead, it's put on by a group called Non Plus Ultra, who do these "by invite only" shows around town. You buy a ticket and they tell you where it is. Apparently it's a way to keep these non-permitted (how? why? I don't know) shows from being shut down by The Man. So it was a little weird, but the show must go on, right?
We pulled the van into a grungy part of town, where, off the beaten path, was a small door with a handwritten sign above it indicating Mutant Records. Inside the door was a small retail area, with records, a Nintendo GameCube, some books and stickers. A cat also lounged on a stereo. However, in the back corner was a sliding door that led into a large covered area, converted into a performance space. There were also art installations and the like. I walked through that area and out the backside, where there was an enclosed lot with a storage container converted to a small bar/service area.
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| Stereo cat. |
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| Walking into the space. |
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| Looking in from the other side. |
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| Simon in golden light. |
There were two other bands playing with us, Cadet A and Teal Pop. The latter featured a dude named Lionel Williams who fronts a group called Vinyl Williams and evidently he is also the grandson of legendary composer John Williams. None of that mattered, other than to show that talent must run in the family because Lionel was an incredible musician (bass and guitar) and singer.
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| Cadet A soundcheck. |
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| Forest Ray soundcheck. |
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| Stage before we got started. |
Anyway, all three bands got sound checks and then we got to wait. But, more importantly, this was one show I was able to have some family come to. Alison and Chandler came up from San Clemente, about 90 minutes away, to see me, and I was so happy to see them.
The last I saw Alison was last year, when we celebrated Ted's life at his memorial in late May. I don't remember if Chandler was there or not. She may have been working or at school in UNC at the time. They came in the venue and I got some hugs and we got to chat. Chandler's now graduated from school and had just completed a cross country bicycle ride from UNC to CA, or something crazy like that. It was great to see her as a young adult and not as a child any more. Really proud of her, she's a great kid.
And I am always thrilled to seen Alison. She has a really great sense of humor and an innocence about her that I simply love. Her and Marci are great sisters and I wish we all lived closer to each other so we could see them more than once every few years. Hope we all get to see each other soon.
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| Saying goodbye after the show. |
We took the stage in a bit and we actually had some people in attendance. Miles' friend, Aubrey (from the studio) and her her partner, Iggy, were there. He had some other friends as well. And there were a bunch of people there just to be part of the event, in addition to my family.
I went back to the L1K last night and it felt great. We played pretty well and I'm trying to get Peter to show some of his personality when he's on stage. There are too many dead spots and I think for as funny and charismatic as he is, he needs to show that a little to get the audience engaged. As always, it feels like it's over before it begins, so I got off the stage and hung out with the girls some more and watched Cadet A.
They had an Asian woman playing bass, a T-bird, no less. I mentioned to her before the gig that I had a T-bird that I sold because I thought it was too big. Then she was getting up there with the same bass and was smaller than I was. And it still looked great. Sounded great too, she played the bass through one of those Ampeg mini-SVTs.
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| Asian bass player teammate. |
After a bit, Ali and Chan had to go so I walked them out and we chatted outside her car for a bit before saying goodbye with hugs and pictures. I went back in to catch Teal Pop already playing, and heard Lionel on bass a little. What I heard was short, but great. Simon told me that of all the bassists he's heard, Lionel was the best he'd ever heard. I wish I had heard more, as Lionel switched to guitar after that.
The rest of the set was decent, a little dreamy and moody, and then I just hung out in the outdoor area while the band chatted with their homies. I was ready to pack it in, but the dudes were ready to hang. After packing out, we were invited to Iggy and Aubrey's house, so we headed there. Once there, it was more chat time. Iggy was super gracious, having toured before and understanding the struggles. He ordered 3 pizzas at 1:30am and had them delivered. Miles and Aubrey (friends since they were babies) chatted outside while the rest of us talked inside. They also had a giant tabby named Hank that was so friendly and fat, I could barely keep my hands off him.
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| Hank (the Tank) the Cat. |
Finally, around 3am, me and Simon had had enough, so we jumped in the van and I drove back to the studio. Brushed my teeth, washed my face and by 3:30, I was tucked in the Airstream and headed to sleep. Whew.
Quick notes:
- I've been asking a lot of questions on tour, just because I love to know the why. One thing I asked last night is about these 30-year-olds I've been with. In my bands, we're all around 50 years old. We finish a show, we go home, we go to sleep. As much as I'd love to hang, we are just done. These kids? When the show's over, the night is just getting started, as described earlier with going to Aubrey's and Iggy's.
Iggy was really thoughtful in his response, indicating that the post-show hangs for touring bands are always good for networking, tips, finding places to stay, food, etc. He's done tours and has made some wonderful connections as a result, specifically in the downtime after a show.
The past two nights, I've tried being a little more social, hanging for a bit, contributing to conversations, etc. Don't know if I can do it all the time, but it's not gonna hurt if I do. - Smog was wicked in LA, looking almost like the marine layer, but definitely not. Pretty gross.
- Traffic, of course, is a part of life here. Heck, it's a part of life in Seattle, but it's a different animal here.
- Being somewhat of a gamer, having played GTAV and traveled throughout Los Santos (their homage to Los Angeles), it's uncanny how well they captured the vibe. I may have to dust off the Xbox again to run through that, or get it on PC. But need to finish RDR2 first.
- Having a ton of fun on this tour, but man, I am ready to go home. I know Marci and the kids have it on lockdown at home, but I can't help but feel like I'm missed.
- I guess my new employer shipped me a PC and a monitor, so these are waiting for me at home. Job starts 7/17, let's go!!
