I left work at 5pm and got home at 6. I changed and ate a quick dinner, was on the road to the Sunset by 6:30 or so. I offered my bass amp for backline and hoped to be there by 7. I got called about 6:45 because they wanted to soundcheck the other bands. I was stuck in more terrible traffic. I got to the Sunset around 7:15 and loaded in, only to be told they had a GK bass rig ready to go. :/
I found a parking spot pretty quickly and then set up to soundcheck. I brought my Terror Bass and Ashdown 115, planning to put it on a chair, which is what I did. Only the butter bass made the journey as I wanted to travel light. We did a quick check and then stood down for a little bit, waiting for our 8pm start time.
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| Crap picture of the Terror Bass and the Ashdown |
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| Same pedals as always |
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| Butter bass makes its PITO debut |
Chatted with Darla and Darcy for a few minutes, and then it was time for us to take the stage. 8pm show, we started around 8:05 or so, with a 35-40 minute set time. There was a decent crowd when we started, with about 20-30 people in the room. I wasn't expecting anyone for me, so I was happy to see a couple friends walk in: Taylor, who I worked with many years ago, and Paul, who drums in the Pop Cycle. Jonathan P. walked in as well, though he likes all of us, not just me.
As we were trying to be time conscious, I tried to not talk on mic like I might usually. Robb did most of the chat, so it worked out. With 3 months since our last show and maybe 2-3 rehearsals in that time frame (blame COVID, trips, life events, etc), we did the best we could.
I felt a little sloppy. I couldn't decide if I wanted to hold my pick with the pointy side or rounded side down. While playing, I recently realized that if I rotate my pick 90° and play with the fat, rounded side, I can pick a bit quicker. The trade-off is sometimes I just miss the string due to the shorter angle of the point. Regardless, there were missed notes, there was one instance of a dropped pick as well. Vocals were OK, for the most part. Ron, the sound guy, had my vox dialed in hot up front, so it threw me a little. It's hard for me to remember that just because I hear it loud, most likely the FOH sound is fine. My hair kept blocking my view as well. I have to see the neck at times and on a dark stage with shoulder-length hair, it can be challenging.
During Panic Attack, I tried to take a couple pictures before the bass comes in.
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| My boy Cass |
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| My man Robb |
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| Ghost me and some people |
Before long, it was over and I had great fun. I was moving fast to tear down and the next band's guitarist was already on stage putting his pedals down and getting set up. Even the sound guy indicated it was bad etiquette. I made a snooty comment about the guitarist keeping my water since it was already up there, but I don't think he heard me. Whatever. No need to make enemies.
Despite that, the next band was really good. They were mid-30s, polished, super tight and great singers with great harmonies. They brought a nice crowd and had a great set.
After them, Cass stepped out to the front bar for a drink and I joined him in line. The guy in front grabbed me and told me how melodic my playing was. He then realized that Cass was the drummer (Cass is always "complaining" that he never gets recognized) and proceeded to tell us both how much he, a sound engineer, loved our bass drum/bass lockdown status. It was really cool to get the compliments from him and his friend, so we chatted for a bit with them before heading back into the music area.
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| Cold Comfort |
Rounding out the night was the Maya Experience, a little grunge trio. Maya was a powerhouse singer and her band was ok, but the songs were a little simplistic. It was interesting that for most of her songs (which were mainly of the 2-chord variety), the bassist was fine. He pretty much played root notes and stayed glued to one spot on the stage, practically with his back to the crowd. Then they got to their last two songs and his bass notes were just out. At first, since the entire song sounded weird, I thought it was dissonance by choice, like an artist's decision. Then the next song came up and he was definitely out a 1/2 step, at which time I realized he was either not knowing the song, not knowing how to look at the guitarist's neck, or not knowing how to adjust on the fly. Whatever. No one seemed to care, the kids seemed to like it enough.
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| The Maya Experience |
All in all, despite the stupid traffic, we had a lot of fun. We are booking time with Jonathan to finish off three more songs. I got to play live with Planets, after not having done so for 3.5 months (!), and we actually made some $$ ($284, going right into the recording budget).
After not playing with PITO on stage for so long, I forgot how great it is to do so. Very satisfying and I can't wait to do it again. Sadly, we have nothing on the books until August, for a private party, but I'm trying to drum some shows up with other bands. Stay tuned.
