This gig fell into our lap a few weeks ago. Robb said a guy who runs a store in Lake City that sells audio equipment and outdoor equipment wanted us to play a show. The place is called Turntables & Trails and a lot of cool bands have played there recently. We were joining our pals, the Rallies, as a 2-band bill. Lucky for us, Dusty's band, the Purrs couldn't do it, so we got the add instead.
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| $20? Yup. |
It's been a busy couple weeks for the PITO boys as we've been busy with life stuff and haven't gotten together for a minute. Except for the last two weeks, so I guess we're OK? Last Thursday we met up to rehearse as our buddy Brian in the Rallies and Full Life Crisis does videos and wanted to record us. He booked us a few months ago, so we met up last Sunday for that. Two to three hours later, he had recorded us doing 4 songs and it was great.
But I digress. Last night, after a busy week of travel for Cass, a test pressing for us from the record company, the video from Brian, it was time for our next and possibly last gig for 2025. I showed up a little later after I dropped off my non-working Ashdown amp at a repair guy's house in Magnolia. Sheesh, traffic was a joke last night.
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| Front half of the store as they were setting up. |
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| The back half of the store. |
As I showed up, the Rallies were getting set up. Ben was nice enough to offer his little Bag End 15" with Ampeg SVT III or something. I'm just glad to not have to bring gear. Ben showed up with his sweet P and they sounded great during soundcheck.
I was sort of concerned being in basically a room with a PA, but the owner, Spencer (I think?), ran sound and it was just fine. The Rallies sounded great, from instruments to vocals. Then again, not much volume was needed for the small space and the moderate turnout. We were competing with the incredible World Series game 7 and other gigs around town. There were a handful of folks for either band and it seemed to be OK after all.
The Rallies took the stage first despite getting top billing on the poster. I guess Steve the singer wanted to be done earlier because he's older (I was told). Even though the gig started at the old-friendly hour of 7:30 or so (pushed back from 7), we let them go first. No big deal. They put on a professional, gentlemanly set of polished pop. Brian, who recorded our video, and is living the early retirement life of chasing music, is the new guy and he's a great fit for their band. Very solid and pro on guitar. Ben sang like an angel on backing vox and Lee on drums is simply solid and a great foundation. Steve sings great and anchors the band with his acoustic guitar. They just work.
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| The Rallies |
We took the stage and it was a lot of fun. Ben's amp sounded great for his bass and I feel like it sounded pretty good for me, playing the gold bass last night. And even though the Rallies are a rock band, we are a LOUD rock band and I was a little concerned at first. But then I thought, f it, we're loud, let's do our thing.
Robb comically didn't print set lists, which was fine. The whole feel of the gig was like playing in someone's house. It was pretty casual and friendly. I was cracking dumb jokes and having fun. I'd turn around to talk to Cass and everyone could hear what I was saying. It was a good time.
Playing in and around a bunch of vintage audio equipment was cool. I enjoyed looking stuff as I was playing. It might be cool to go back there sometime and load up on records and or record player gear. I'll have to save my record player update for another post, but within the last month, I've bought about 20 LPs. Who am I anymore?
Afterward, lots of kind words from Dave, one of the guys that helps to run the place. He posted a video of us to Facebook and was excited that a Seattle musician from way back (Gerald Collier, Best Kissers in the World) who also said some nice things about the "rhythm section." People in the room liked it and we are excited to make the connection with the crew at T&T. Hoping we can get up there again in the summer and pack the place out.
