4/30/2025, Sunset Grooves at private event

Well, at least we got paid.

A private event for a corporate gig dropped into our lap a few weeks ago. Paid well, we'd get fed, it was close to home, and they wanted us to play for about 3 hours. We got our set list together and got to work on dialing in the tunes and order.

Load in was scheduled around 3:15 with music to start around 7 or so. It was for a local hospitality company and as such, we played at one of their hotels, the Hotel Interurban in Tukwila.

Upon arrival, there were no notes on where to load in or park. After talking to the doorman, he said to park at the top of the parking garage in the back, spot 228 or greater. That meant the top floor, end of the lot. Which was about as far as you could go away from any doors for loading in. It was up there where I met Buddha, a sound guy that Dusty hired, a friend from way back with all sorts of stories about the Seattle music scene.

We had some hijinks in finding someone to help us, and then car Tetris, moving the two SUVs into place so we could load in through a back kitchen door. Two bellhop carts and a couple trips later, we finally got to the 19th floor, where we could set our stuff up in the corner of a random ballroom.

Prior to setting up.

My general POV.

After setting up.

Once we were done with setting up, we looked to find our green room. There was none. We also hadn't met our point of contact so we still had no details on things. One guy from the crew running lights and audio for the company's meeting was super kind and sort of showed us around. He was able to get us drinks and give us the lay of the land that the event person did not.

We were told there would be a buffet for us to partake in, but ultimately that didn't happen. After some elevator runs by Jen, she was able to get us a hotel room to hang out in as our green room. The ballroom was on the 19th floor and the room we got was on the 11th floor. Luckily there was elevator access, but weirdly there were no floors between 11-19 on the elevator, despite those floors obviously existing.

We went to room 1104 and chilled out for a bit, trying to get a handle on dinner and when that might be.

Hotel room hang out.

We watched some hockey in the room and Jen disappeared and returned a bit later with some beverages from the bar (club soda for me). That was fine and dandy but reinforced how lame it was that the point of contact was nowhere to be found and totally unhelpful.

After some back and forth, it was determined that catering could feed us around 8pm and our downbeat time had been pushed back to 8:30. Not ideal, but it was what it was. We hung out in the room and in the clubhouse area on the 19th floor and after a bit, dinner was served.

Onion was good, steak was tough, overall 6/10.

I got a chance to talk to Buddha as well. He was full of stories, as I mentioned. Dressed to impress, all in stagehand black. Leather cowboy hat, rings, bracelets, cowboy boots, painted fingernails, he fit the part. Very calm and reassuring while watching us set up, got us dialed in fairly quickly. He told stories about his Chrysler 300 SRT, getting free drinks at The Met (he knew the bartender), managing legendary rehearsal studio NAF back in the day, all sorts of stuff.

Main man, Buddha.

Finally, about 5 hours later, it came time to play music. We had 3 sets prepared, with the first set to be lower energy as people filtered into the room. However, upon arrival, they first told us they wanted us to play in two rooms. We told them (not the point of contact, of course) that, no, we wouldn't set up in one room and then tear down just to play in another room.

So, the main room it was. We started with set 2 and it was sort of awkward. Even with the dance floor, only 2 people came out. And before we played our first note, we had some technical difficulties with someone's IEMs being tangled, so we had to stand around for a minute or two getting that sorted out. Music finally started and those 2 people started dancing. Lights were on and Jen asked for them to be dimmed, which meant, of course, they turned them all the way off.

It was dark. We had sunglasses on. There was mood lighting from the aforementioned light crew, and fortunately for me, there was a light wash bar next to me, which sort of helped. IEMs sounded weird as well. I've noticed that at rehearsal, since there is no external sounds from PA speakers, we are good. And then when we get to a venue or outside the house, anywhere with amplification, it messes with my head a little. Everything was so loud, so I'd adjust my volume lower, at which point the IEMs didn't even register. Just a weird tug-o-war of sounds that took me a few songs to overcome.

Performance-wise, I had some bad moments. Couldn't see, missed some notes here and there. Hearing was weird, missed some cues (or heard wrong cues) and went to wrong parts or missed parts completely. Not ideal. Combine that with a weird crowd (most on the dance floor at any time was about 10), and it was just an odd night. All of us had our missteps. As far as the ones I can control (lighting/sunglasses, IEMs), I need to get better at those. Maybe stop with the sunglasses next time unless it's outdoors. And I'm in my head a bit about the IEMs, so I need to just trust the process.

As far as the crowd is concerned, I tried to treat it as a paid live rehearsal, but man, it was tough to sell it. Crowd was indifferent, it seemed. Almost pity claps after the songs, super weird.

At the end of it all, lights were turned back on at 10pm and we were done. I'm not sure how many songs we played, maybe 15-18 or so? But after the way the day unfolded, followed by how we played, it was a good think, I think.

All that was left was the terrible teardown process, since we brought a PA and all the cables and things. That's the worst after these private, non-club gigs. Luckily, I just get to go home. Dusty and Jen have all the heavy lifting, literally.

For such a weird night, I actually had fun. It was cool hanging with the crew, suffering as a unit, and ultimately, I got to play music with my friends, which is never a bad thing. Pay should be pretty good as well, so there's that. Just don't think about the hourly rate when including rehearsal time.

Rooftop view of Mt. Rainier.

Only played the P.

Worked at that hellhole mall in the background for 4 years!