Gig report: 7/21/23 Sunset Grooves at Sand Point Country Club

Been looking forward to this gig for a bit. A country club? At Sand Point? Sure! Don't know much about either, but do know enough to know that the terms Sand Point Country Club mean lots of drinks, lots of well-heeled customers, and hopefully lots of pretty views.

That's pretty much what turned out last night!

I left the house around 3:45 for a 4:30 arrival time. Traffic was lame and it took about 5 minutes longer to get there. Fun fact: it's only about 2 miles from Robb's house (my other band's rehearsal home).

I turned off into a neighborhood with a guard post (is that what it's called? Really just a booth at the entrance; I didn't even stop) and followed Waze's directions. The neighborhood was really beautiful, with newer and beautiful homes up and down the streets. No mansions, but definitely upper-upper-upper middle class. Tasteful, just large enough and not cookie cutter, really gorgeous.

Of course, the country club was part of this neighborhood and it featured a beautiful golf course that had some sweet views of Lake Washington. I drove down the path to the club and found a parking spot. I met up with Dennis and got busy trying to figure out the lay of the land. That got us nowhere, but a few minutes later, the other mates showed up and we also met up with a point of contact that wasn't really our POC, but was able to fill in admirably.

We were at the end of the deck.

It seemed like when we got to the "stage" area (in our case, an outdoor patio/deck area overlooking the golf course), no one knew we were supposed to be there. There were tables and club members milling about, with barely any room for a 5 piece band and sound guy. After some back and forth, we were able to get some direction and got situated. For future gigs like this, I think we need to have at least one bandmember do recon with the POC prior to a gig. We probably spent 30 minutes trying to figure out what to do, when a quick pre-visit could've gotten all that info ahead of time. That said, the young lady that was our actual POC seemed like she was more interested in not helping us and treating us like unwelcome visitors.

Finalizing the setup.

Anyway, we did the load in and setup and did a quick soundcheck. For basses, I brought both L-1000s. I thought about playing one in each set. I could play the Hog in set 1 since there's no slapping (the Hog has a thumb rest that makes slapping not great), and then the Gold in set 2 with the 2 slapping tunes. Spoiler alert: the Hog stayed in its bag all night.

I did bring my Orange Terror Bass and Avatar 212 just in case, but when I got to the place, I realized it would be overkill, so in the trunk that gear stayed. I ended up using my B2 Four pedal and I'm glad I did. It made setup a breeze. I just plugged in, got my IEMs working, and I was ready.

After that, we got to our "green room," which was a conference-type room downstairs from the main part of the club. Pretty nice to get to hang out and eat there. Speaking of eating, they had a giant buffet that was just opening up. They said we could go get food, so I went in and took inventory. They had salad (3 types, I took a garden variety), poké bar (!), seafood boil (skipped that), beef tenderloin (so good), shrimp cocktail (took 2), and a variety of desserts (lemon bar please). I do wish I had taken more, but what I did take was delightful.

Grateful to be fed!

From there, it was time to get changed. I went with the white pants and a vintage yachting-themed t-shirt I bought years ago, before I was ever in a yacht rock band. I was hoping to have suspenders to finish off the look, but went with what I hoped was a nautical looking belt instead.

The fit.

The rest of the band looked appropriate, with Hawaiian style shirts and their white pants. Jen picked up a great little white dress that swished around when she twirled. I joked with her that she'd get a lot of tips because it was pretty low cut.

Jen, Dennis, Dusty.

Jen, Dusty, me.

We always start the set with some "mood setting" tunes. A little slower, since we want to bank the "hits" for when the people start dancing. That said, I always love playing "Steal Away" and "Baby Come Back." Those are fun and easy enough (though the high backing vocal in BCB is always challenging for me, range-wise) and get us warmed up. By the third song, "Listen to the Music," we got a few dancers.

B2 Four and setlist.

As we continued, the sun was at our backs but there was a nice breeze. More people jumped in front and danced. One guy must have shouted for "Free Bird" at least 20 times. It was only funny because it wasn't funny any more. We also had these dudes come up and want us to do certain songs (I couldn't hear what) because they wanted to do a dance-off. We didn't meet their request, but on one song, people cleared out so these guys could dance by themselves. It was semi-entertaining.

Of course, we had several instances of requests that we didn't accommodate. One guy wanted us to play "Don't Stop Believin'," which we don't do, nor does it (IMO) qualify as yacht rock. Other guys tried to play Jen's bongos and/or shakers. They were pretty obnoxious. In a few tunes, Jen got distracted by said dudes and missed the third verse in "Maggie May," and later in the set, forgot to do the half time part in "Ride Like the Wind." I had a few mess ups as well. When you play 99% of the time to your band mates, when you get out in the wild, the crowd will surprise and distract you with their antics sometimes. Oh well!

By the end of the night, it was dark and folks were still dancing. We ended our set and of course got the "one more song" request, but as it was 11:00 in a neighborhood setting, we declined (plus, we were at the end of an almost 8 hour day by then). We packed it all up and about an hour later, were headed back to our homes. Overall, a really nice night, and once the money hits the bank, well worth the time.

Next up: 8/23 at the Seattle Aquarium!

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Hate the tile of the fifth Indiana Jones movie, but after seeing it, really liked the movie itself. I was a little concerned with how Harrison Ford would present as an 80-year-old Indiana Jones, but overall, I felt pretty good about it.

Ever since I heard about it late last year/early this year (?), I've been cautiously optimistic about it. With James Mangold directing and his track record, specifically with "Logan," I had medium-high hopes. Of course I stayed away from reviews and spoilers and aside from one minor (but expected spoiler), I went in not know much other than what I saw on the trailers.

The movie jumped right into a flashback scene, sadly no Paramount logo dissolving into something on screen. But very quickly into seeing Indy as late-30's Indy via CGI. It was pretty cool, but not quite 100% right. Something still seemed off. And Harrison Ford voiced Indy with his current 80-year-old voice and it just didn't sound accurate either.

But the action was pretty good, if a little dark on screen. I thought they had a body double play the part but in a BTS video I saw today, it was Harrison playing Indy, and then they de-aged him via CGI. Pretty cool, to be honest.

I liked the dynamic that Pheobe Waller-Bridge brought to her Helena Shaw role. No nonsense and funny, but also not a "good guy" but more a "questionable guy." I liked that the Nazis were pretty much awful all around, blatantly killing folks just for showing up. Seeing Sallah was a nice touch, but his role was pretty much just fan service, as was Marion at the end.

Lots of action sequences that, though exciting to sit through, didn't do much for any real elevation of the movie or stunts in general. Having Antonio Banderas in a "featured" role that lasted all of 3-4 minutes of screen time was sort of a waste. There were some lulls in the movie, exposition, that sort of thing, and the show was a little long to me.

But. The movie definitely captured the feel and essence of the Indiana Jones movies. The music was spot on. The photography of the movie was so reminiscent of the originals. I thought this one fit so much better than Crystal Skull (though need to rewatch to be sure) in the IJ library.

I must admit, the penultimate scene in Rome, I was about to shed a tear, but then got a huge laugh. I thought there was no way they'd do that. And I'd heard that it was being set up to allow Helena Shaw to carry the IJ torch for future movies. If so, that wasn't obviously telegraphed.

All that said, I am so happy to have one more movie with my lifelong hero, Indiana Jones, and I hope to have much more content via TV or whatever comes next. I enjoyed DoD quite a bit and may even go see it again before long.

Forest Ray West Coast Tour Day 14 7/11/2023

This is it, the final day. Seems like we just started it and it seems like it's been forever all at the same time.

The night of day 13 was tough. Me and Miles shared a bed and he is quite the snorer. Apparently he has a deviated septum, which is why he snores. I also snore quite badly, but I don't notice myself. However, with Miles next to me and the bed amplifying every move he made, let's just say it made for a challenging night of sleep.

I got up and showered and took a walk around Eureka. There was a little drive-up coffee stand, but instead, I decided to hit up McD's for coffee as I have heard their coffee is pretty good. Grabbed a sausage and egg sammy as well and I think it was my first McD's food/meal in at least 5 years.

I walked back to the room, which I didn't note, was likely a repurposed smoking room. Even though there was a no smoking placard on the outside, it didn't hide the cigarette stink from nights past. Add in the hot steamy breath of four dudes and it was pretty muggy in there. Eventually, the other dudes got up and we left the motel.

Because the spot for the next gig, Blue Lake, was only about 20 minutes away from Eureka, we had some time to kill. We found the local music shop and spent a while in there. I played a bunch of basses, from Fender P's and J's, to a couple of G&Ls (a L-2000 and a Kiloton), as well as an awful fretless. The other dudes dinked around on guitars, ukeleles, and some other instruments. I didn't get the name of the place, but for a small-town music store, they were well stocked with all sorts of stuff. I was pretty impressed and it was fun to play some of those basses.

We finally got out of Eureka, which overall was a sad little town. It was pretty reminiscent of Olympia, only not as cool because it was in such an in-between state. There were a few blocks of seemingly cool places, but there were a lot of downtrodden people, weed shops, fast food joints, and empty storefronts. We were all pretty bummed about the place.

A few minutes up the road was Arcata. A little more hippy than Eureka, but also a little rough. More people experiencing homelessness, lots of small thrift shops, a guy skateboarding around aimlessly. There was a town square that reminded me of the same from "Back to the Future," only without the clock tower or the DeLorean. There was a killer VW bus though.

We walked around town for a bit before hopping in the van again for our final destination, the Logger Bar in nearby Blue Lake. It pretty looks like what it's called. Giant sawblades embedded in the floor, giant chainsaws hanging from the ceiling, hard hats mounted to the support beams. The woman in charge apparently forgot we were coming and said she was going to put out a social media blast. Regardless, I wasn't expecting much as the town had a sign indicating about a 1000 person population.

Since it was still early, Peter disappeared on a phone call and Miles, Simon and I walked to a nearby river. It was hot and breezy and like a dork, I was in all black. We walked along a path that paralleled the river, and finally got on a trail that got us closer. We saw a young woman sunbathing and gave her a wide berth. Upon second glance, it was clear that she was nude. We were all gentlemen and didn't make a big deal out of it, but then giggled like kids once we were out of earshot.

Simon dipped his feet in the river, which was slow running and green with algae. He regretted it and had to go farther up the river to clean his feet in less gross water. Miles and I sat on the bank and watched the water not flow. We all got too hot and then headed back to the bar to load in.

Inside the bar were a handful of people. The building itself was narrow and we were to set up along one wall, facing the bar. As such, no one sat in front of us because it was just too tight and awkward. Everyone sat towards the end of the bar farther away from us and chatted or played pool.

We played a few sets and towards the end, it got a little better, with people dancing and really enjoying what we were doing. Even though it was the last show of the tour, there was no cutting loose or anything like that. In fact, Peter was being his OCD self and getting a little sour about us not being super tight on an ending. I think Miles lost count of the bars and ended after the rest of us did. He's played it fine many times before and just had a brain fart this one time. No big deal.

After finishing, we loaded out and had already decided we were going to power through the night to get home. The drive was to take about 9 hours or so and we were starting around 10pm, which meant about a 7am arrival at home. Peter took the lead and off we went.

The drive was fairly uneventful. I fell asleep a few times, but those dudes like to listen to music unbearably loud, so it was annoying at times. Sometime around 2-3am (?) I felt like Peter was starting to fade. To his credit, when I asked him, he said, yeah, he'd swap with me. I jumped behind the wheel somewhere south of Eugene and just drove north. I put in my earbuds and listened to some more KJ All Day podcast and got into Washington sometime around 5am.

I ended up swapping with Peter again somewhere north of Kelso at a rest stop. I barely slept overnight, and I was starting to fade, so I caught maybe an hour in the passenger seat while he drove the rest of the way. We dropped Miles off in White Center and Peter got me an Uber to take me home.

Finally, around 9:30, I got home and got to hug Marci, got to pet Kody, and got back to where I belong. I'm going to spend the next few hours unpacking, catching up, going for a run and sleeping. I'll write an overall recap sometime soon.

Quick notes:

• Though I didn't do a 24 hour stay up cycle, it was a lot longer than I'd stayed up for in a long time. Not a big fan.
• The last couple dates of the tour were not great, town-wise. Sort of a bummer as the physical locations (in the woods; by the ocean) were fairly spectacular at times. However, some of the people were so defeated, it just permeated everything.
• I am looking forward to not eating on the road for the next few days. Sometimes one just gets sick of eating out all the time.
• Peter still owes me for the last 3 gigs. I have no reason to think he won't pay, but I'll have to reach out to him to remind him.

Next up: 7/21 with Sunset Grooves at the Sand Point Yacht Club.

Forest Ray West Coast Tour 2023

I did some rough math, looks like we will be on the road for close to 50 hours between all the stops. First stop is from the greater Seattle area (re: my house) to Portland.

Next day, it's from Portland to Redding, CA. That's gonna be a long one, around 7 hours.

Redding to Monterey, CA, 4:43. Ended up in San Francisco instead.

Monterey to San Francisco, 2:05.

San Fran to Albany, CA, :46! Based on that, I'm thinking we'll be staying in the area somewhere.

Albany to the coast, Cayucos, CA, followed by a day off for the 4th of July, almost a 4 hr drive. Maybe we stay there as well?

After the 4th, it's back to the Bay Area, this time in Oakland, 3.5 hrs away.

Morro Bay is next, 3:42 back down the coast.

I have address for Los Angeles next, but I'm not sure if it's accurate. Regardless, it's around 3+ hours away.

Next night, back to the coast to Lompoc, about 2:30 away.

San Luis Obispo, location TBD, about one hour north.

On our way back to Seattle, stopping in Eureka, nearly 8 hours north!

Last stop, Arcata/Blue Lake area, 20 minutes away!

And then home. No delays as they have a gig that night at the Central. Crazy! 10 hrs back!

Forest Ray West Coast Tour Day 13 7/10/2023

One more day and we can call it. But first, day 13. Rohnert Park Motel 6 wasn't all that bad. The room was small, the bathroom was small, but the bed was fairly comfortable, even when sharing it with Simon. I feel like I slept pretty well, since the previous two nights, we didn't get in until 3:30 or so.

The intersection of Commerce and Freeway.

Our glorious motel room 147.

We got some coffee and then I went on a fingernail clipper hunt. I did bring a set, that I used a week ago on Sunday. When I busted them out to clip nails again, they fell apart. I walked to a nearby Safeway, but they were sold out. So I bought a couple of Fuji apples instead. I did find clippers at the Dollar Store nearby, but there's nowhere sadder than a Dollar Store, so rather than charging $1.00 to my debit card, I just left. I'll be home in two days, I can clip them then.

We hopped in the van and headed north towards Eureka. Along the way, we stopped for gas. Usually the routine is Peter pumps the gas, Simon uses the bathroom, Miles gets beer and I clean the windshield. Trouble is, I'm short and can't reach the center of the windshield, so there's always a dirty spot behind the rear view mirror.

The tour diet is starting to catch up to me. I feel decent, still regular, but we have not been eating the best quality of food (and it continued on day 13). This day started with coffee and a sausage and egg sandwich at Starbucks and the eating of garbage is what prompted the apple purchase earlier. That said, from the gas station, we hit up Costco as Simon ran out of clean underwear. And conveniently enough, there were $1.50 hot dogs + drinks, so of course, as a cost saving (but life shortening) measure, that's where we ate.

I love this color, but likely a $1000 (or more) option.

On our way back to the freeway, Peter saw a thrift shop and we stopped. For some reason he wants a swede shirt as he can't find the one that he had. Next door to that thrift shop was a donut shop, so of course I went in. And they sold bubble tea. Which meant my bad eating day continued. I got a maple bar (and the person behind the counter threw in a few donut holes) and a strawberry bubble tea. Donuts were great, bubble tea was tasty enough, but the boba were substandard (not chewy enough).

I need to stop visiting donut shops.

But I can't.

Back on the road, we left Ukiah and continued north. I ended up falling asleep until I felt what I thought was a panic stop, but instead a quickly controlled stop on the highway to do a U turn as Peter saw a spot where they could jump in a river. We pulled off the road and Peter and Miles got changed into their suits. I followed along, walking under more redwoods, to a river a few hundred feet from the highway. They jumped in the river and I hung out for a bit, walking in the woods, taking some pictures.

Some mermaids.

Didn't swim, did take off shirt.

After the refreshing swim, we piled back in and headed north again, making yet another stop in some tiny little town called Rio Dell. Peter and Miles needed to pick up "refreshments" and I walked around some more. Peter texted from where he was and said they had free coffee and donuts. Of course I went there and experienced my first weed shop. They checked my ID and put it in their database and I continued my terrible food day with another donut and some hours-old coffee. Peter did what he needed to do and we met Miles and Simon back at the van and then bounced.

Rio Dell, blink and you'll miss it.

Eureka was only about 20 minutes or so away, but we made two more stops once we got to town, still looking for a suede shirt. Neither stop (a western wear store and a hoarder's paradise masquerading as an army/navy surplus store) was successful, so we finally made it to the Siren's Song in downtown Eureka. We were met by a very enthusiastic sound guy, whose name I never got, but I'm told he called himself Gonzo. He talked incessantly about bands he'd seen and heard and ran sound for and people and clubs and it never stopped. Exhausting.

Bless this mess, OMG.

Siren's Song, outside.

Siren's Song, inside.

We loaded in and had plenty of time to look around. I headed to the water and looked for something to eat and finally settled on a Mexican spot around the corner. I watched some of the Home Run Derby with Julio and consumed my burrito. It was a decent meal and I asked them to go light on the beans. I walked around more after that, headed to the historic part of town with some cool Victorian homes, and finally made it back to the club.

First up was a band called the California Poppies. A four piece that seemed to think they were a lot better than they were. I felt like they thought they were a group of good guys that played great feel-good rock. Instead, I thought they were just OK. The singing was pretty good, the drummer was solid, but the bassist was probably the dullest player I'd heard in a long time. Simply playing the bass, no creativity, no flourish, no nothing. Solid, but just barely.

Where I watched the first 2 bands.

California Poppies.

Next up was a duo called Blood Honey, featuring a woman on guitar and vocals and a man playing upright bass. She started the show singing acapella about loving herself and that it was OK. Though the message was positive and uplifting, it was a little cheesy. That said, it took a lot of courage for her to do that, so I give props for that. Her and the bassist were decent enough, but her guitar was out of tune and the songs were just meh. But I liked them a lot better than the CP as they weren't nearly as full of themselves.

We took the stage finally to about 8-9 people, 4 of which were people from the previous bands. We played our standard set and it was fine. We have gotten tight over the past few weeks and at this point, I'm just going through the motions, waiting for us to head north on our way home. I am having fun, but I'm ready to get back to normal, get to playing with Planets and the Sunsets. One more day and it's back up I-5 and I can't wait.

Home for the night.

Quick notes:

• When we pull into some of these smaller towns, I've been enjoying reading up on them on Wikipedia. For example, in 2010, census showed that the little town of Rio Dell had 3 Asian people listed. I think it's higher now, but didn't stick around to check.
• The weed celebration of 7/10 is because if you flip 710 over, it looks like OIL, which apparently is a thing in weed culture.
• Eureka is a weird little town. I'm getting Olympia feelings. It's definitely rough around the edges, with little pockets of, "huh, that's cool." It seems to simply be a stop on the way to other places.
• After playing, I'm noticing the middle knuckle on my left pinky finger is sore and tight. The rest of my hands feel good so I don't know if it's due to playing or what. Arthritis??
• I am ready to stop eating tour food. But sometimes it boils down to having to eat cheaply, which means eating garbage. That said, next time I'd rather hit up some grocery stores, grab some less crappy stuff (protein bars, etc) in bulk, which go a long way.
• Planning on an overall recap when I get home. This is a reminder note for that.

Next up, last up, the Logger's Bar in nearby Arcata. Stay tuned.

Forest Ray West Coast Tour Day 12 7/9/2023

I woke up on the floor of someone's duplex after sneaking in at 3:30 with the band. I wasn't sure if the owner, Darren, was in the house but all signs pointed to yes: wallet on the counter, jeans and shirt hung over a kitchen chair, shoes behind the couch. Darren had seen the band a few times before and offered us his place to stay in. When we arrived the night before, I was surprised at the tasteful beach house decor. I was under the impression he was a bachelor, and from the brief conversation I had with him last week, he seemed like a hard-working, man's man type of guy. This place had a sort of "Live, Laugh, Love" look to it.

Slept on the floor here. Windows look over some houses to the ocean.

From the wraparound deck.

Our home for the evening.

It seemed clear to me that his place had a woman's touch in its style, but after I woke up, he didn't seem to be around. I took a quick shower, then headed down the street for coffee and a cinnamon roll at nearby Cayucos Coffee. When I got back to the house, Darren and Simon were outside talking. Turns out Darren's parents own the place and he was in the downstairs unit while we crashed outside. I'm guessing his mom must have decorated the place, which solved that mystery.

Miles and Peter were out walking around for a minute, and before long, we hit the road, heading north for San Francisco. We didn't have a gig that night, so it was more of a travel day, with about a 3 hour drive in front of us.

I popped in a podcast eventually and dozed off for a bit while Peter drove us into San Francisco. We got to town around 5 or so, and the plan was to hit Target for Miles to pick up a prescription, then off to the Milk Bar to try to collect our payment from last week's performance.

The Target we hit was in the Moscone area of San Francisco. Last year, when working for Amazon, I spent a week in the exact same area, across the street at the Marriott while I worked an AWS event at the convention center around the corner. I don't remember that area being as grungy as it was yesterday. It was pretty rough, and the inside of Target was no exception. Simon reported a bloody toilet seat in the bathroom and I saw a security guard that looked like he was part of a SWAT team.

Sadly, Miles thought the pharmacy closed at 6, but it actually closed at 5, so our 5:30 arrival time to the Target was not compatible with their times. No joy for Miles. From there, we headed back to the Haight district to the Milk Bar. We parked in the adjacent Whole Foods parking lot, where I stayed with the van while the boys went to collect.

How it started at Whole Foods.

I sat in my home-away-from-home for the next 30 minutes or so before Simon came back and filled me in. Apparently the bar owner was not there and the acting manager (some young kid) didn't have the authority or funds to settle our tab. Peter was pretty frustrated about it, but there wasn't much else we could do.

Our next task was to find a place to stay. Peter tried all his contacts. Miles reached out to some bands he knew and had played with. I put out fliers on TalkBass, some friends on Instagram and Facebook and we all struck out. Peter was also suffering from some gastric distress, so he was gone for long periods of time.

All in all, we spent about 3 hours in that Whole Foods parking lot. Speaking of which, that WF didn't have a loading dock. Instead, they'd block off a whole row of parking next to an apartment building. The semi-truck would back in, and then a woman with a forklift went about her business unloading the truck. She drove that forklift like she was performing in Stars on Ice. Twirling, spinning, reversing, speeding around the small parking lot like she was being judged for it. Simon, a certified forklift driver, was duly impressed.

Whole Food timelapse.

Once Peter returned from his gastric distress event, he was done. He had spent the last 3 hours shmoozing his friends and connections, he was hungry, tired and felt lousy. As a result, he had gone ahead and booked a motel in Eureka, about 5 hours away, which meant driving until about 3am. Miles and I tried to talk some sense into him, talk him away from the ledge. We had thought about booking a place closer, then making the long drive the next day instead.

Peter finally relented and tried to cancel his booking after we pulled into some alley in SF. A few minutes of back and forth, some frustration on his part, a pull from his medicinal stash, and then we were on our way to a Motel 6 a little ways north. The drive through SF was foggy and with poor visibility, and then I fell asleep.

Next thing I knew, we were in a Burger King drive through at 11:30, at which time Peter bought us a family pack of burgers. I blindly grabbed a Whopper and powered through that bad boy, having only ate the cinnamon roll earlier (and a small pasta salad that Peter got us at WF earlier). We got to our room, got cleaned up, I put in my ear plugs, got in my sleeping bag next to Simon, and fell asleep listening to my mates cackling at George Costanza in an old Seinfeld rerun.

My dinner until we hit BK later.

Motel 6 to the rescue.

Quick notes:

• The consecutive nights of gigs and scrambling for places to stay is challenging. But trying to think of it strategically, it makes sense. If we did a 13 day, 10 gig tour, that leaves at least 3 days where we are just existing. Maybe traveling, maybe finding places to stay, but not generating money, even if it's just the bare minimum. Maybe if Planets does a 3 city in 5 day tour, where it's closer to home and we have better funding (as 50 year olds, we have a little more leeway with lodging and funds), it would make sense.
• I asked Simon if he'd ever seen Peter lose it while on tour, he said he hadn't. Not that Peter lost it last night, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did. He does have some anxiety issues that he's been pretty transparent with me about. I've talked about my experiences second hand with people with anxiety, so he could relate. I can only imaging how the stress of not making money, not having anywhere to stay, not eating, having stomach issues all adds up to more stress that exacerbates everything. Where the only real remedy is rest and reduction of stress. He perpetuates it, but it's also what he loves.
• I had an opportunity to weigh myself for the second time on this trip. Yesterday, I clocked in at 159.3, which is pretty much where I've been for the past month or so. I was hoping to drop a little bit as I've been eating less, but couple the less food with less activity and I guess the net is no change. Looking forward to running when I get home.
• Speaking of home, I can't wait to get back. Not that I hate being on the road; I think it's been overwhelmingly positive and fun. It's the uncertainty that gets me, but I'm also realizing that as long as I have a floor and a roof, I'm good. Which a few weeks ago, I don't know if I would have said that.

Next up, Eureka, CA, at the Siren's Song, where we are headlining on a Monday night. It is what it is.

Forest Ray West Coast Tour Day 11 7/8/2023

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.

Waiting for the fellas to get up.

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.

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).

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.

Always waiting.

Put the bassist in the corner.

My view from the stage.

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.

Up next: no gig tonight. We are headed to SF to pick up something for Miles and hopefully collect from the Milk Bar. As usual, not entirely sure where we're staying tonight.