Maybe a few months ago, Tim reached out and asked if Embers wanted to get back together for a late summer gig. We got together in May to dust off some songs for our release party in June, and then was all done until earlier this month. We started getting together to rehearse for our reunion show, taking place last night.
Earlier this week, they said tickets were low and within the last day or so, the club was sold out! Two sell outs this year for me, that must be a first.
New dragon strap for the new bass
Saturday was spent playing with the new bass, testing out my new bass with my bass amps, heading to Guitar Center to buy a new strap for the bass, then waiting until it was time to head to Ballard for soundcheck as I was backlining my rig. So that meant leaving the house around 4:45 for a 5:30 arrival time.
Marci was coming, and I got her a guest spot, which was great as all sorts of people were hitting folks up for tickets. I had committed to getting Mike and Amy a couple passes because we love them and other issues, so my people were good. Had to do some gymnastics to get Ian in the room for photos as Will forgot to get him one. Luckily my new buds in Seola Station (Ruth) was able to make some magic happen as she purchased extras just in case she had people that wanted to go. Pro move!
Marci and I pulled up to the Sunset right behind Tim and Kay. I gave him a hug and quickly gave him an old Matchbox VW GTI I had. Since I no longer have a GTI, I figured he should have it as he bought one last year when he came into some $$. He and I both loaded in and then reparked our cars and we were good to go.
Imagine my surprise when I got there and Robb's little buddy, Chris, was there (sarcasm). I don't remember him in the previous Embers days, so this may have been his first show. He's just so squirmy, I don't. I am not trying to be mean; I just have no patience for him. As I was trying to get my amp on stage, he was just oddly in the way. Ugh.
Anyway, we set up for soundcheck. I brought my Avatar 212 and Orange Terror Bass. I was supplying bass backline stage right, by the bar and backstage entrance. I strapped up the new P bass and tried it out and immediately, low signal. It may have been the same input jack thing I had happen the other day. After jiggling it around, no change, so I busted out old Goldie and we got to work.
Soundcheck pic featuring the Professor
After soundcheck, Marci grabbed me to go to KAVU down the street, she wanted an opinion on a backpack she liked. She got it and then we went to dinner next door. Ran into Ben London there with his wife and son. He wasn't coming to the show as his son was leaving town the next day so we just said hi. After dinner, we grabbed a molten chocolate cake down the block and snapped a pic.
I was a bit antsy to get back to the club so I left Marci there to finish her treat and ran into Patrick, Kathy and Reb from Golden West. Having played with Kathy and Patrick before, it was nice to be on the same bill with them and their band. I had met Reb a few months ago at the Conor Byrne show and really liked her vibe and energy. Kathy snapped a pic!
After so many years of playing out, I'm finally feeling like I'm part of the scene. I know people, they know me and generally speaking, we like each other. It's really cool!
Finally I made it inside and got to catch a few songs by Seola Station. At soundcheck, when I thought I'd be offering my rig, I spoke with their bassist, Brian, who said he was gonna use his own rig as he likes being stage left and didn't want to move my stuff. Then he busts out the killer Mesa 12/15 mini stack and I figure that I'd want to use that if I had it too.
Epic rig!
Seola Station was cool. There's a description of their music as smoky and sultry, and that's pretty accurate. Ruth, the singer, was a knockout in heels, a slinky dress and really unique vocals. Low register, singing but almost spoken, very neat. Her band was tight and energetic as well. Really enjoyed what I saw and heard.
Seola Station
Marci and I did head backstage and chill for a bit, trying to get people to enjoy some cupcakes for Cass and Tim's birthdays. Her and I chopped it up with Patrick a bit, talking about backyard wildlife, of all things. I shared my Dodo the cat trauma from earlier this summer. It was just nice to chat and hang out and see our friends.
Hooray for cupcakes!
Hooray for Marci and I!
Pro stage plot diagram for Seola Station!
Golden West took the stage next, with Kim V on lead vocals, Patrick on slide, Kathy on lead guitar, Emily on rhythm guitar, Reb on bass and the great Aimee Zoe on drums. Watching her play was a joy, reminded me of my obsession with Anika Nilles. Same joy on her face as Anika's. Really cool! Reb played some great lines and the band was just fantastic. Marci and Emily talked for a bit before their set as she's from Cincinnati, so they talked about Riley's adventures out there, it was pretty funny.
Golden West!
During their set, I got to see a bunch of folks: Steve and Salena, Andi, Howie, Scott Woods, Pete Nordstrom, Dave Place, Lisa Gordon, Will Wiles, Dan Lancaster, Rob Dent, Ben Heege, Charles and Cindy, both Robb's sisters, Renee and Ruthie, Steve Schneider and Michelle from way back, maybe some others I'm forgetting. Just a love in, it was great!
Once GW got off the stage, we got setup and then had a band meeting like Tim likes to do. He gives a quick pep talk and then we jump back onstage and do our thing. All my stuff was working, from IEMs to wireless guitar and it was time to go. Hit the stage running with Game Changer, into Tomorrow, which we never played back in the day.
From Teddy Laabs
Both songs went pretty well. I could hear myself fine, it was the playing that was tough at first. I didn't really warm up and as soon as we started playing, I was just pumped. All the moving around makes it hard to pick accurately, but I think I was likely the only one that noticed. More missed notes than wrong notes, so that's good, I suppose.
For Cass' and Tim's birthdays, Robb and Darla bought some party favors and he passed them out to all the people, so after our 3rd song, Sideline, everyone sang them happy birthday and then blew the blowers. It was pretty sweet.
Happy Birthday to Cass & Tim!
Initially at practices, I was playing all the songs with pick, after never having done so in the past. It was fine, but on some of the slower songs, Break This Down, Pull, Road Song, I decided to go fingers. Same with Boom, though last night I switched to pick mid-song as it was just too fast and I couldn't keep up. I ended up doing Chimp with fingers as well, I think it just flows better.
Overall, pretty pleased with how we played. I think there were some clams here and there by all of us, but for our first show back, not too shabby. A bunch of great pix were taken, let's take a look. First up, Mike Mitchell's pix.
Next up, Howie Cohen's pix.
This might be my favorite picture of the night.
As of now, there are tons of pics of us but not a lot of videos. Funny thing, our friend Bob Mattson came out to shoot GoPro vids as he's done before. He got set up early and then went to dinner. Before long, Cass reached out to me to ask where Bob was. Apparently both SS and GW hired camera crews as well and they wanted the spots where Bob hid his cameras. He was kind enough to come back and accommodate them, but it was sort of a pain.
Speaking of videos, our pals Ted Laabs and Will Wiles posted vids. I'm expecting Bob's as well as Derrick's in the near future, as well as any more that may pop up.
As far as future SE shows go, nothing's in the books. We have talked about it and we feel good about more. As far as new music? Who knows? I know Tim has stuff he wants to bring in but we'll have to feel it out as a band and see how it is. I think we've all grown and if we can settle whatever happened in the past, there may be some hope. Especially if we can sell out shows on the regular? Maybe we play once or twice a year, make it a can't miss prop, vs a "we can catch them next month" type thing.
And now, that's a wrap on gigs. Nothing officially booked for me as of right now. Grooves may have something in a few weeks, more details on that soon, supposedly.
Before heading to rehearsal tonight, I played the IS bass a little. Yesterday, after I took it apart and put it back together, I plugged in and found that the input jack was a little weird. The signal was super low, despite it playing fine earlier in the night. I fussed around with it and it seemed fine.
When I tried it again tonight, it did it again. I had to crank both my Ashdown and Orange amps to hear it, which wasn't right. I tried a different cable and got the same result. It wasn't until I jiggled the 1/4" end that I heard the full signal.
I had dinner in the stove so I took my e-screwdriver (what a delight to have) and undid 13 screws in no time at all. I redid the washer and nut for the jack, moving the textured washer underneath the pickguard (I didn't clock where that went yesterday when I put it back together). After that, I put it back together and tried and it was fine. All fixed, I guess.
I ended up taking Goldie as a backup in case the jack fritzed out at practice. (dinner was fine, btw: Costco black cod in the oven)
Rehearsal was fine. Robb was a little tired and it showed in his playing; I think his brain was fried (he said so himself). We were all super loud, but none of that mattered because the new P sounded very good. It seemed to ring clear and true, and I really liked that. The intonation may be a little wonky, some notes sounded a little pitchy at times, so I'll check that out before the show.
As I thought, it was a little neck divey, but while I'm playing, it doesn't matter. It's when I'm not playing, but it's easy enough to put a hand on it to keep it steady.
I may have to pick up a new strap for it this weekend, will hit up Guitar Center or something. I don't like the b/w Fender strap I got with the MIM P a few years ago.
Overall, the bass was great and I will be excited to play it at the Embers show on Saturday. Maybe I'll switch out the pick guard for the black one... who knows??
It finally arrived today, after a lot of impatience by me. And even then, I had to wait a few hours to get home to check it out. Luckily it was sunny and warm out, and the front entry wasn't in full sun. Nevertheless, I got home and brought it in and opened it up.
Shipping delayed one day because seller had to find a box
Original Fender case from 1997
Inca Silver straight out of the case
Back side looking great!
After dinner and watching the Seahawks look crappy until halftime, I took the bass downstairs to give it a closer look. I did play it and it sounded like a P bass. The seller had some zingy roundwounds on it and they sounded fine. Volume and tone knobs turned smoothly and without issue.
The body is pretty spectacular. There is a little mark just under the neck plate, there's a finish scratch right under where my right arm would rest when playing, and that's about it. No major dings or blemishes. The headstock has a little marking on it and maybe a few nicks, but for a nearly 30 year old bass? It is in excellent shape, very happy with its condition.
I did take it apart to look it over more in depth, let's take a look.
Neck pocket date, June 25, 1997!
Can't really make it out, but maybe June 11, 1997?
It was a little furry under the bridge, so I took it off
Backside of the bridge
Used some guitar cleaner to get off the gunk
The cavity wasn't shielded at all, but the bass is quiet so I left it
My apprentice was blocking my workbench
After cleaning it up and playing a bit
First impression of the bass when I picked it up was how heavy it was! Weirdly so! But when I picked up the buttercream P, it felt the same in my hand. However, when I strapped up the new P, it definitely neck dived. Just hanging it on my shoulder and releasing my hands, that guy wants to point at the floor like a divining rod. But once I played it, it wasn't a big deal.
Speaking of playing it, the action was pretty low. For a heavy-handed player like me, I think it was a little *too low. I raised the saddles a half-turn on each allen screw and that seemed to make it better. I didn't touch the truss rod yet as the neck appears pretty straight via the eye test. Just playing through the Orange amp, it sounded great. All notes seemed to ring true and the string-through bridge offered nice sustain.
I do like the red tort pickguard but I might have to pick up a matte black pickguard to swap out down the road. We'll see. Looking forward to playing it with Embers tomorrow night and possibly at the gig. Let's see how it does!
Since the Embers stopped playing together, we've been keeping in touch. Timmy joined Planets earlier this year for a few songs and now we're in full swing for our reunion show, next Saturday, at the Sunset.
Tim had reached out a few months ago to see how we felt about it; we'd be playing with Seola Station and Golden West (with Kim Virant, Kathy Moore and Patrick Porter, among others). I felt a little goofy about having a reunion show for a band that was broken up for only 4 years, but I guess people wanted us, so that's sort of cool.
The show at Conor Byrne with Tim went pretty well, we sold it out, after all! He jumped on for a few Embers tunes and then played Holiday Daydream with us. It was fine and fun. Since then, we've been in touch, really ramping up the last few weeks. We've been discussing a set list, but the truth is, it's not like we have 30 songs to choose from. We'll get a set for maybe 14 songs at most, so we'll play all the regular songs, but are also dusting off some songs I never did with the guys, like Tomorrow, Nearly Forgotten Show and Ways of the World.
Last night, we met up at Tim's space in Belltown and ripped through 8 or 9 songs. I got to play through Andy Stoller's huge GK rig, with 2 410s stacked on top of each other. I brought ol' Goldie along and it sounded so aggro with some overdrive. As usual, we were super loud, but it felt great to dust off the songs and hang with the boys.
We played each song twice, except JYD and Boom. We'll hit the rest of the set tomorrow night and likely go top to bottom a few times next week. And by the time we go next Tuesday, hoping to have the new bass on hand to get some reps!
I recorded last night's stuff and it was definitely fine. Need to clean up some notes and stuff, all of us do, but for a first time back together, it was great.
I have been a bad boy again. With a few gigs under my belt and about $800 in fun funds as a result... I've been looking at basses again.
I was keeping it chill, though. Mainly looking at getting a "true" LB-100, with a matching body and neck, not a mongrel like the one I got in January (though it is a killer bass!). I was thinking of that to justify getting another bass. Keeping it on the cheaper side, looking at the Tributes, with an Olympic White/maple neck in my sights, free shipping, for $439, which was the cheapest one I could find.
I would've preferred the rosewood neck, but those are long gone and this is what's out there.
Then on Saturday night, I was scrolling around eBay and happened across this guy who was selling a Fender American Standard P bass, in what I thought was also Oly White, but with crappy pictures.
Could this be Oly White with terrible white balance?
I took closer looks at the photos and fired off a message to the seller about it after asking Copilot a bunch of questions. The bass is from 1997 and looked to be in fantastic shape. Seller had great feedback over something like 4000 transactions. All the case candy was there, original case, and the best part? Priced at $950. Searching on Reverb and Copilot, it seems any American Standards were going for $1300-1500 or so. This guy wanted $950 + $30 for shipping.
I was prepared late Saturday to make an offer of $900 and see what he'd say, but I wanted to sleep on it, so I did.
Come Sunday morning, I saw someone else had made an offer and after thinking about making a $925 offer, then making said offer, I said f-it and hit the Buy it Now button. This was after he said it was actually a silver-colored bass, which meant it was Inca Silver, a color offered by Fender at the time, which also made the bass an even better deal!
YOLO baby!
I waited until Monday night to ask for a tracking number as I didn't get one. Apparently the seller had to go get a burly box to put the bass and case into. It shipped out Tuesday morning and it's estimated to come in Tuesday next week. That will give me two rehearsals with the Embers crew before our big 9/12 reunion show at the Sunset.
We were offered this show a few months ago and were pretty excited about it. I know nothing about the Divorce but both Cass and Robb had played with them a bunch when they were in Dear John Letters. Evidently they had a great draw in the early 2010s and played a bunch of great local shows back then.
I showed up at the Tractor around 6pm and double-parked behind a car that was already there. The Tractor has a loading dock in the back that they lock once the show starts. It makes things really handy to not have to find parking elsewhere, but it can be a bit challenging to get all the cars in there.
Cass and Robb were already there, as was Robb's awkward friend, Chris. Some of the Chimestone dudes were there as well. Good to chop it up with Cass for a bit. We talked about our plan for our set, less talking (for me at least; he's not on mic), and how we were going to play our new song, "Tourniquet."
I didn't know what to expect as far as crowds go, but as the doors opened, it seemed like Chimestone was having a good draw. I think all 5 of those guys are NHS grads, and their crew travels well. It seems like every time we play with them, they have a good crew showing out.
Teddy shared his bass rig, I was happy to use it. One less thing for me to be bringing around on a long day to begin with. He also had a beautiful Stingray that he was going to play, which ended up sounding just as good as it looked.
Teddy's rig and bass
Chimestone took the stage and played a competent set of REM-ish rock and roll. Frontman Jake came out on fire, working the stage with and without guitar, singing expertly. Ted on bass was solid throughout, tasty notes and playing all set long. Jonathan Plum, of course, was so solid as well, also adding killer harmonies during the songs. Paul was stellar behind the kit, driving with power and energy. I don't know the other guitarist's name, but he was great as well, tasty leads and playing. Enjoyed watching and hearing them for sure.
Chimestone at work
During Chimestone's set, we hooked up with a local photographer named Ian who had been sent by our bud Will. I asked if he'd be willing to take some non-performance pix of us and he agreed. We went to the loading area and stood/posed by some dangerous looking stacks of pallets while he snapped away. He ended up taking a bunch there as well as during the show. Hope those turn out to be cool!
We took the stage after Chimestone loaded out. Had to switch drum sets, but other than that, no big deal. I gave Dave the sound guy my IEM transmitter and he got bass and vocals into my ears. Had the bass rig on stage turned up as well and with hardly a word, Robb started into "Unraveled." Everything sounded great to me in my ears. Robb's vocals and guitar were loud enough that I didn't need any of his signal to the IEMs.
Unlike last show, I put the wireless pack on my strap and it was not going anywhere. My IEM receiver was opposite on my left hip, which would reduce any interference. I have new silicone ear tips from some old Skullcandy earbuds that create an awesome seal and didn't leak like my foam ones would if I smiled or laughed, so all my gear was working as it should. Until my left earbud popped out during "Unraveled." No worries, after the tune, I put it back in and we were golden.
We continued the set with "The Loud Silence," and then our nemesis from last show, "Nomenclature," and those all went off without a hitch. Robb or I didn't say much until after that song, so it was sort of refreshing.
We worked our way down the list and we were doing great. We sounded good, mistakes were low, crowd liked it and our energy was high. All the songs were fine until we hit "Holiday Daydream," where Robb forgot to do the chorus and went straight into the second verse. He's done that before, so we'll have to mention it again. Aside from that, though, everything else went well.
The last song was our new song, "Tourniquet." Robb brought it in a few months ago and it pretty much wrote itself. Over the past two rehearsals at the Rock Rooms in Ballard, we've really worked on it. It's pretty much a 3-part song: riff, verse, chorus. I'd like to come up with a bridge at some point, but it came together quickly and plays well. We may do have Tim jump on it when we play the SE show next month, but we'll see.
Got off stage and the Divorce jumped on after us. A very tight and pro 4-piece. A bit emo, a bunch rock and they looked great doing it. All 4 dudes were great musicians and the songs were well-received. They drew a nice crowd and had people singing to all their songs. At some point during the set, Robb made his way right up front and was pumping his fist and jumping along to the tunes!
The Divorce
During either of the other bands' sets, I chopped it up with Steve and Salena a bit, as well as Cass. We all got a laugh out of Chris and his tendencies. He means well, but I don't really want him to be running merch for us; one of us can handle that. He can help Robb schlep gear back and forth, I don't need his help with anything.
Got some props after the gig. Kim and her cousin gave me the best compliment, digging the white denim jeans I picked up the day before at Goodwill! Jimmy, the bassist in the Divorce, complimented my playing as faster than he can do; he has a Geddy Lee Jazz with a skinny neck to be able to play faster. We felt great about our performance, likely one of our best ones in a minute.
Had to beg Steve and Salena for pix. I think plenty of people took pix and video, but gotta be patient. Chris Elko was there and should have a video for us soon. And Ian's pix will be sent out soon I'm assuming. Other than that, felt great about it all. Sold a couple of limited pink LPs as well, so that's a bonus. We got a check for $566 (surprise!) so overall, a great night.
Next up, Cupcake on 9/11 at the Blue Moon?? Stay tuned.
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
