I woke up on Day 11 in the Airstream and it was good. Comfy. I bounced out and went to the studio to use the shower and facilities, which, and I cannot overstate this, was so convenient and appreciated. After getting cleaned up, I waited for the boys to wake up and get ready.
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| Waiting for the fellas to get up. |
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| Cool little Musicmaster bass on a cool chair. |
The hard part about getting in so late is that we get late starts. The good part about that, I suppose, is that we save some $ on breakfasts, but we still all go get coffee, so maybe it's not that great a savings after all. We hit the road after 11 or so (I can't remember) and headed north for Lompoc.
Of course, we stopped for coffee at a Starbucks attached to a gas station on a busy intersection. Saw some road rage where a guy actually stopped after the intersection to yell at the person that cut him off and had the audacity to honk. It didn't evolve beyond that but, what a day to be alive!
Back on the road, we drove a bit and I saw Peter's favorite place, Sprouts, and happened to mention seeing it. He pretty much cut off a few lanes of traffic to take the next exit, and then we made our way over. He and Miles picked up sandwiches, Simon got a copy of The Silmarillion (he finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy on this trip) from Barnes and Noble, and I grabbed a box of protein bars for breakfasts (no need for lunch, had a Starbucks sandwich earlier).
Aside from that, the trip to Lompoc was pretty uneventful. I did look on Wikipedia to see what Lompoc had to offer. The word "Lompoc" means "stagnant water" in the Native American language of Purisimeño. Not sure why they called it that, I didn't go that deep in that subject. What I did find interesting, though, was that in the 80's, Lompoc was designated as a future site for space shuttle launches. Economy grew there as hotels and businesses were built in anticipation. However, after the Challenger exploded in 1986 (fun fact: I was in the orthodontist's chair getting braces put on when it happened), plans changed and Lompoc never became that launch site, at which point, the city went into a recession. Bummer.
We arrived in Lompoc around 4:30, but we weren't scheduled to play until 9. So once again, we had time to kill. Unfortunately, where the Wicked Shamrock was, there wasn't much to see or do. We parked right out front, right next to the "smoking section," which was basically right out the front door. The bar itself was at the corner of a L-shaped strip mall, which contained a vape shop, a tax/document center, a fashion/hair salon, and a t-shirt printing shop. It was pretty old and grungy, but that's what we booked, and that's where we were.
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| Entrance to the Wild Shamrock. |
After loading in, we all took turns hanging out in the van because we could at least be by ourselves and not stuck in the bar. Eventually, Simon went to grab a bite, as did I. Through the generosity of my pals at TalkBass, I received the generosity of another reader and was able to get dinner, as I hadn't been paid for the past few shows yet. I walked over to a local brewery and had a tasty tri-tip French dip sandwich. I opted for the side salad as well since I haven't been eating the best on this trip (but feeling pretty good despite that).
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| I love a good French dip. That was a good French dip. |
I also haven't been able to exercise at all on the trip. No running. An OK amount of walking every few days, but I am missing putting on the HOKAs and getting few miles in. Just not feasible, even with the downtime during the day. I'll start it up when I get home this week.
This Wicked Shamrock was the prototypical neighborhood dive bar. A couple pool tables, a pony wall, a stage and dance floor on the other side of the wall. When we got there, there were about 10 people inside, drinking, talking, playing pool. About the only redeeming quality of the bar was a small bookshelf (take a book/leave a book).
When the time came to play, there was a nice little crowd. They were pretty appreciative and danced at times. We were scheduled from 9-1, with a few breaks sprinkled in. For our first break, we announced a 5 minute break, which was more like 10-15. After our second set, we did the same, and then the manager asked us to no longer take breaks and just play through.
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| Always waiting. |
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| Put the bassist in the corner. |
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| My view from the stage. |
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| The tools for every show but one, so far. |
Maybe the late nights are catching up, or it was a weird vibe to the club, but I wasn't feeling it, and Miles thought the rest of us weren't as well. I felt like I was just going through the motions. Because it was the long set, we had to play some of the covers and tunes we haven't done as much. There were a couple mistakes here and there, but overall, it is what it is.
We had planned on heading to Cayucos to stay with a friend of the band's, but that town was 61 miles away, about 1:20, and we didn't want to do that after 1am. We got offered to stay at a place in town by a few guys that were at the club, but we decided that heading to Cayucos would be OK as we had to go north on Sunday anyway.
We took a quick detour with a local named Jack, who is in Lompoc trying to revitalize the local theater. We walked over and took some pictures and chatted for a few, before piling in the van, dropping Jack off (no pun intended), and heading to Cayucos, with me at the wheel.
An uneventful 1:20 later, and we were at our friend Darren's house in Cayucos for the night. Surprisingly neat and tidy for the bachelor pad. Happy to have a clean and spacious living room to crash in for the night.
Quick notes:
- Upon arriving at the Wicked Shamrock, this happened while I was having a seat in the bathroom:
Me: scrolling
Him: (under breath) f*ck…
Me: …
Him: how's your s*it treating you?
Me: feelin' better already
Him: where you comin' up or down from?
Me: Los Angeles area
Him: well, welcome to Lompoc. You know we have a federal penitentiary here?
Me: I've heard that
Him: we've got the highest number of meth users in the state of California too, woo hoo!
Me: …
Him: Most people just drive through Lompoc on their way somewhere else.
Me: …
Him: loud belch
- Finally got paid for 3 gigs, so that's good. I'm still owed another one, but it'll happen when it does. We apparently got a guarantee for last night, which helped. Evidently the LA gig only paid $74. And there were a lot of people there. Sort of a bummer.
- Speaking of payment, the place we played last week in SF, the Milk Bar, said they'd pay after July 4th and they still haven't. Peter has called, texted and emailed with no response. He's understandably frustrated about that, so we're going to try to stop by today.
- When I drove to Cayucos, it was dark but I could see fine. I stayed in the lane and got us there safely and comfortably. Miles and Peter have done most of the driving, and yes, they've gotten us there safely, but comfortably? I suppose it depends on who you ask, but there have been some less comfortable moments, that for sure.
- Peter did try opening up a little more before some songs and I think he can do it, but last night's crowd wasn't the greatest, so let's see how it goes tomorrow.
