12/13/2024 Lawnlife at Edgewater Hotel

A few weeks ago I got asked to play another low volume cover band gig with Sid and Eric. Sid is cool so far in that he leads with how much he'd pay. Easy hook at that time. He offered $500 for 3 ten song sets. 20 of the songs I already played with him in October, so I had to learn 10 new ones. Of those 10 songs, I already played 2 with Sunset Grooves ("Escape (Pina Colada Song)" and "Listen to the Music"), and the others I was sort of familiar with.

I made the Spotify playlist and got to work learning structures of tunes. We met once at Sid's house last weekend for an hour and that was that.

Last night, the gig was scheduled for a local law office's holiday party at the Edgewater Hotel. Being that it was a holiday gig, I wasn't sure what to wear. Being a "tech bro," I long ago got rid of any formal clothes. I asked the other guys and they were wearing black on black. I don't have any good black pants, so I went with dark green jeans, a red button down and a grey blazer that came off during the first set. Plus, both Marci and Haley said this was the better look than the greenish blazer I also tried on.

the lewk

Load in was at 5pm, but surprisingly enough, traffic wasn't too bad. It was raining pretty good, though, and that made for a dumb commute to the hotel. Luckily, the law firm paid for all three of us to be valet parked (the only way the Edgewater rolls, I guess) and after unloading the car, the valet handled the rest.

Pulling up to the venue

 Valet parking, not gonna complain.

I brought my 84 L1K (the Hog) with flats, my 99 MIM P with flats, my Trace and my 212. I have a 15" that may have better suited this gig size-wise, but it would've cost me another trip, that I didn't want to take. But with the 212 and its wheels, all I needed was one trip to get me upstairs to the Alki room, where we were playing.

TE GP12, Avatar 212, basses, SansAmp BDDI

SansAmp I haven't used in years, tuner only sometimes works

Put the bass in the corner

The room was no big deal. And there was no view out the windows because it's just water. During the day? Probably spectacular. At night in the dark? Nothing to write home about. Seems weird to book a party there if you can't see the view.

The law firm was small, there were about 20-25 people there. We started playing through our set as people were coming in. Eric played with brushes and I had my volume dialed way low. Sid sang and played what he needed to. People were able to talk and the volume overall was tolerable. It was an interesting gig as we were just background music. One guy did watch Sid and comment on his playing (Sid is a whiz on guitar), but for the most part, we were just there. Given the lack of interaction from the patrons, I wonder if they wished to have hired a DJ instead?

Anyway, we played through 10 songs. I played pretty well and overall, we were pleased with how it went. At this time, dinner was being served and we were fortunate enough to be fed as well. We ate our dinners (Cesar salad, steak, some dessert) and were ready to go, but the party planner wanted her teams to be able to chat, so we sat.

Steak was nice

A bit after that, they decided to liven things up by playing what was likely the world's lamest trivia game. Questions like, "How many seasons did Seinfeld run?" and, "What NFL player was nicknamed 'The Sheriff'?" Crazy lame, but they got into it and I'm just a bitter old man.

After that snooze fest, we finally got up to play some more, but they requested some Xmas tunes. Luckily, Sid has a book full of tunes and he and Eric tore it up on some classics. He didn't want to throw me a curveball last week with more tunes to learn, so I stood there like the world's hottest non-playing bassist for a few songs. I suppose I could've chimed in by ear on stuff like "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman," but as Sid does hit the bass notes with fingerpicking, I didn't want to muddy things up and mess up a good thing.

We only played a few more songs after that and then they called it. So, for a 30 song set, we ended up playing maybe 18, with about 5-7 guitar/drums Xmas songs thrown in. Either way, Sid got paid, and I'mma getting paid tomorrow in cash (Sid don't believe in Venmo, PayPal, etc). I got fed and was home by 10pm, so overall, not a bad night's work. 

Gear worked out great. The L1K did what it needed to. I had my SABDDI that I hadn't used in years as I wanted to travel light and easy. The Korg tuner I have on it has been working intermittently for years as well. It worked at first, but then it took a dump for whatever reason. I guess it's time to bust out my soldering kit that I have never used.

Performance-wise, I played well. Songs like "Pump It Up," "All Star," and "What I Like About You" all came out fine. It was weird sort of playing them at 50% volume and energy, but it's what they wanted. We did to some blues songs like "Lay Down Sally," "Pride and Joy," and less bluesy, but still walking lines, "Moondance." They ended up being fine and I enjoyed it, but it was a little out of my comfort zone.

Anyway, that's that and I think that's a wrap on live shows, unless there's a surprise somewhere.

Me and Eric

Oh yeah, this morning, I found this in the passenger footwell of my car. I assume it belonged to the valet. Now it's in the trash. Bummer, it was unopened.

Promise this is not mine

Next up, Planets sometime in March 2025. Stay tuned.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Finally finished the main story, watching/listening to the credits now. After having the game on Xbox One X, then letting it stall there, I got it on PC sometime last year after getting a nice PC. I played it a bit and got to about 40-45% or so, I guess, and let it stall again.

I finally decided I needed to just finish the main story. I focused on that and let the side quests and hunts, etc, chill for the most part. I'd play RDR2 for a few nights and then go back to D2. The past few nights, I've been back on D1, of all things, but decided tonight to see what I could do.

I knew I was close to the end as I was in the epilogues, but didn't think I'd finish tonight. I'm surprised I missed the big spoiler just before the epilogues. I wasn't expecting that and I was surprised.

Overall, this game was pretty incredible. The story was good, but it ultimately boiled down to revenge and justice. I played through as a good guy, but decided to just blast some fools at the end, but nothing happened there as a result. I may have to revisit that when I go back in to do some of the side quests and things like that.

And now that I'm done with RDR2, I can justify getting Indiana Jones & the Great Circle (if I don't get it for Xmas, that is).

Also, I need to get my Xbox working right so I can play RDR, the original. The Xbox's DVD keeps randomly ejecting, which can interrupt the games, so I'll have to see about how that can be fixed.

Time to get my exploring going!

11/30/2024, Sunset Grooves at Aurora Borealis

Fun night at the Aurora Borealis last night, with our pals the Post Punks. I showed up around 6 for soundcheck, only to find the sound guy had car problems and wasn't there yet. I started setting up my stuff (Zoom B24, butter bass, IEMs) and got ready. Spencer on sound showed up shortly after, and then it turned out that Jen and Dusty had forgotten their IEMs. Luckily, Jen's daughter was at home and was able to bring them up to the club.

Earlier in the week, I found some flats in my gear box and swapped out the rounds that were on the butter bass. Those rounds were super zingy and I just felt like it was too much, even for non-yacht rock stuff. I spent some time getting used to the flats and found they sounded pretty good.

We soundchecked with a song or two and got our levels dialed in. As a band, we got at $100 tab so it was dinnertime. Grabbed some not so great fish and chips, and then it was time to watch the Post Punks do their set of 80's songs. My new-ish friend, Ben, plays bass for them, as well as the Rallies. He brought an Olympic white P with tort, and an Ampeg amp and 410 and sounded great. He played fingerstyle and with a pick depending on the song and it was great stuff. He's solid and I really enjoyed his band's set.

OK fish and chips

Ben with the Post Punks

Cathy also sings with the Post Punks and she sat in with us for a few tunes later. She has great stage presence and voice control. The rest of the band was decent and did fine, if a little disconnected. Bonus points for the keyboard player who also busted out a sax!

Ben and Cathy!

I was fortunate to have some friends come for a change. Mike (with the photos) and his partner Amy, Brett and Elba and their friends, and then later my boy Aaron showed up. Seven people out for me is pretty good. Eric had something like 10 and overall, it was a pretty nice night for us, attendance-wise. I'm sure the club would have liked double that, but the crowd was into it, dancing and singing along.

I set up my phone again stage right, hit record and hoped for the best. IEMs sounded good, though my bass was pretty hot after some time. I was able to deal with it. I think I played really well. My main issue was with singing. For the past 3 weeks or so, I had bronchitis, which then turned into pneumonia. I'm feeling better, but my lungs are definitely still healing. I can sing, but some of the high notes can be tricky. I forgot to hit my inhaler before we started and on some songs, I struggled.

Upon watching the video back, I was really pitchy. I felt like I was good in the moment, but woof, there were definitely some challenging moments where I was close, but not quite.

Stage was nice and big, lighting was decent. New shirt was on point.

video capture from phone

Dennis and I interacted a bit during the set. I'd go over to him and he'd come right up on me. Good times!

Me and Unc getting close

Cathy jumped on to do some ELO songs with us

Last 3 pix by Mike Mitchell

We got to play all 23 songs on our setlist and had a great time doing so. Both bands were on point and the crowd was well entertained. As always, I can't wait to do it again. We don't have anything lined up, though, so there's that.

Now it's time to get to work on the private party in a few weeks.

11/22/24, Planets in the Ocean at the Central

Big show at the Central as part of something called the Cloudbreak Festival. Evidently a group is putting on shows all over Seattle during November. I guess the hook is any tourist staying in a participating hotel gets free admission to the club or something. Good for bands,we all get paid, but with so many great shows, it sort of cannibalizes itself.

Last night while we were playing, across town was Smokey Brights playing one of two nights at the Tractor, and then Riffbrokers and Braly/Sangster playing at Tim's. Other bands in other venues as well, so we were a little iffy on how many people might show.

The Central has turned it around the past few years. It's actually a cool place to play again, but the Pioneer Square location is a little sketchy at times, though I've never had problems there. I love it also because it's the closest club to home, about 20 minutes to get there. I found great parking and in I went about 6:30.

I brought the Hog and Goldie, variations on a theme. I spent some time earlier getting tones dialed in and ultimately liked what I heard. I set my Spark Booster to be a clean signal and matched the output on my Tone Hammer so that when AGS was switched off, I had the same output. However, if I had SB on with AGS, it would push a little harder.

At the Central, they had a GK amp and 410 that I used. Once we got it on stage, I got dialed in and was pleasantly surprised at how it sounded. Last time we played there, almost 2 years ago, I used the same rig, but with the old T-bird and I did not like how it sounded and couldn't get comfortable. I also used my IEMs with Planets for the first time. The sound guy gave me the monitor signal and it actually worked out really well. I think I've been getting used to hearing more definition on my bass from using IEMs at SG practice. I may need to try doing it at Robb's house too, as having the IEMs and some ambient stage sounds bleed through via the wedges and amp at the Central was a nice combo.

Terrible red lighting

As we got dialed in, the other bands showed up. We thought the club would backline, but both bands brought drums. Dragontail Peak (love that name) brought a bass rig of doom, a 410 and 115, powered by an Ampeg something or other. Jim from The "NO" 3 brought an Orange head, but used the house cab.

Speaking of TN3, it is always cool to play with local legends. Kurt B. on guitar and vocals, Jim on bass, with his Ric, and then Dan Peters from Mudhoney on drums. I've played with Kurt and Jim before, but never Dan, so that was cool.

Anyway, before long we got started. 10 songs and 42 minutes later, we were done. I think we played quite well, with a couple of goofs at times. Robb went into his guitar solo a little early in the first song, but Cass and I were able to latch on and follow along. He did something early again in Panic Attack, so Cass and I had to watch each other and count through the bars.

Tone-wise, I really liked what I heard in my IEMs. Vocals for me were nice and bright, but as the gig continued, I had a harder time hearing myself, not sure what that was about. I did set my phone up to record on the side and after the show, I took a look and we sounded pretty good. Really good performance.

Off stage, I had an old friend/co-worker show up, so her and I chatted for nearly all of the Dragontail Peak gig. I didn't even get a picture of them, but tried to listen during our convo and what I heard was blusey, articulate, precise and a little proggy. They have a video online from Darrell's that didn't well represent what I heard last night. I don't even know if it was the same dudes. But they were tight and sounded good.

Side note: was great to chat with Whitney. She is one of the OG's from the MS Store and we've kept sort of in touch over the years. Her husband, Taylor, has been to a few shows, and now it was her turn. I know how tough it can be to get out with 2 little ones, so for her to show up by herself in her badass leather jacket and lookin' tough, was appreciated. Loved seeing her.

We were also graced by Tim, fresh off his tour with Duff McKagan in Europe and the US. He just played a triumphant show on Wednesday at the Showbox and I'd asked him to come, but wasn't sure if he would. Turns out, he and Kay came, as well as Muzz. I'd seen Tim a few times and talked with him on the phone a bit, but this was his first time seeing Planets and he said we were great. We all had a great time catching up outside and hearing his tour stories, as well as a really cool life update that we couldn't be happier about. Just great stuff. Talking about dusting off some Embers stuff in 2025, so we'll see how that goes.

After chatting, we went in and caught the last couple songs of TN3. I could hear a bit outside and it sounded great, but inside it was loud and muddy. I would have liked to have heard more songs, but catching up with Tim was worth it.

The "NO" 3

All in all, another great night. Playing live music, seeing old friends, hearing wonderful tunes, can't wait to do it again.

Next up: Sunset Grooves at the Aurora Borealis. Stay tuned.

Bomb Cyclone 2024 thoughts and news

Tuesday 11/19, we had a bomb cyclone. Big winds, mainly. I also have bronchitis and pneumonia currently and as a result, I got out of having to pick Mom up from the airport that night. She was scheduled to arrive at 6:00pm and luckily, Knight volunteered to pick her up as we didn't want to give her any illness.

He had a rough go due to the winds and forgetting Mom's key for the umpteenth time. Her flight got delayed, diverted and finally got in at 11:30pm. Better him than me!

Marci and I were able to make dinner and the lights flickered on/off a few times, before finally kicking the bucket around 8:30 or so. I had stopped at REI earlier to pick up camp stove and some butane. We tried to stay warm and just hung out, then went to bed pretty early.

Yesterday morning, I had to be up earlier because I had an earlier work call-time. No big deal. Just cold in the morning. Luckily we had hot water and could make coffee with the stove. I got into work and aside from some stop lights without power, it was fine. Work was warm and had power and at the end of the day, Brooke let me take home some big battery packs and the plan was to use to power the fridge and things.

I was able to get home in decent time and plug in said fridge. I used the other to see about powering a space heater as the house was 55-58°, so a little cool. And poor Kodo is stuck at home, no heat, little light, but he's doing ok.

Backyard is full of branches and tree debris. Crazy part is none of the trees are on our property. Luckily, no damage, just a giant mess.

Power is out. Comcast is out. Cell coverage is spotty. It's been pretty extensive. A bunch of neighbors have generators, but we don't, so we're at the mercy of batteries, etc.

Last night we headed into Bellevue for dinner as there is power there. Driving there was a mess, but once we got there, Marci had Just Poke and I had dumplings. No wait and not many customers at the restaurants. Afterwards, though, we tried to find some bags of ice to help with the fridge and freezer but everyone was sold out. It was a mess in Bellevue!

We got home and I went for a run in the dark. It had been a few days and what else was I going to do? Marci started packing for her trip to SoCal anyway. The run was uneventful. Dark. It's crazy how dark it is without streetlights. Even with head lamp and handheld flashlight, it was so dark!

One good thing about no power is not staying up all night goofing around. Plus, it's just too cold! We were both in bed by 10 or so reading and snuggling.

I'm on my own the next few nights. Have rehearsal and a gig tomorrow night, so it'll suck for Kodo, but oh well. I'll plug in a light for him and he will have to tough it out. :(

For f's sake

How could this a-hole get elected president again? Why can't the good guys win for a change? Now I just sound like I'm whining.

My goodness, for all the excitement, hope, joy, happiness and expectations around Kamala's run, for it to just lay like a wet turd last night was very surprising. Even more surprising (or maybe not), is how many people in this country are willing to vote for a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, known racist, proven misogynist, and all the other -ists that that a-hole is known to be.

I keep catching myself thinking, "we did it once, we're gonna do it again and be OK at the end of 4 years." But this time, he has no guardrails, no parents in the room to guide him. He has a bunch of yes men and women ready to do his bidding. And he has presidential immunity and a conservative leaning Supreme Court to back him up also.

And then, best case scenario, he dies or his mind continues to deteriorate and he has to step down, only to be hit with the worst case scenario, JDV steps in and assumes the mantle. Younger, smarter, just as awful, and all the pieces in place.

Just the worst people at the worst possible time.

I went to bed knowing the outcome, after staying up to read and watch. Marci went to bed a little earlier; I think she knew what was gonna happen, but it wasn't confirmed yet. I woke up today to her holding me and crying because she finally got confirmation that TFG won. She's scared and upset for women's rights, both in general and health related. She's upset that so many people voted for someone so awful. And she's scared for the future of our kids and all the youngins.

Today at work, it's just been "get through the day." Everyone's a little off, myself included. I talked to the kids here, Ruthie and Chelsea, and they are definitely not happy. Brooke is also mad, but she took most of the day off to self-soothe/run errands.

I've been checking in on friends and Marci and the kids. Everyone is doing their best, but we all have this ominous cloud hanging over our heads. The way I see it is that we will likely be OK, but there is this giant unknown quantity that is yet to happen.

Will Haley's health be affected? Will Marci's? What about Riley's future? Nieces and nephews? What about our healthcare? Or retirement? Will prices of necessities increase? I feel like we're finally stabilizing and now what? Higher prices?

How will someone like Austin, or shoot, Hay or Riley, afford a home in the future? How will any of these young millennials or gen Z manage to get ahead? It was already bad, now it's likely going to get worse?

I'm feeling like I need to at least get off Twitter for a spell. I like to stay informed, but I am spending too much time hitting refresh to get any new nuggets. Or, maybe I stay on until January and then jump off. I just don't know. There has to be a better way.

I like to be optimistic but I'm also realistic. I am not 100% freaking out, but I am concerned. Haley's been reaching out, I think she's really concerned as well. I am happy to see she is staying informed and learning, but I just wish she could do her thing and just "be." Since 2020, it's been so challenging for her either at school or at work. Most recently it's been money and time related. Too much time working to try to make money to pay for school and stuff. And now this election? It never ends.

Riley may be concerned, but he hasn't really said much via text. I think he is pretty even keeled and he may be the touchpoint for his friends at school. He's an ally and a good bellweather for what's going on. Assuming he has the knowledge to be informed and support.

For now, I want to stay informed, support Marci and the kids, and see what happens. I refuse to assume the worst will happen (naivety, defense mechanism, call it what you will), so I will cross that bridge when I get to it. It's weird being in this position. We are the USA. Things happen, we move past it and persevere. But this has never happened before, esp with this democracy, so will we persevere? Stay tuned.

10/27/24, Lawnlife House Show (sub gig) in West Seattle

After a week of woodshedding for 20 songs, it was finally off to West Seattle for a house gig with a guy I'd never met in person. Not only that, I had SG practice later, so it was gonna be a long day. I packed the car with my Orange TB, Avatar 212, my pedals and a couple basses (Goldie and black P).

On the way over, it started off sunny and windy, but then started dumping rain. Pretty messy, but once I got to Sid's house, it was less so and we were able to get loaded into his living room. At which time I realized that I did not need to bring a 212 cabinet.

Heck, I didn't even need my pedals. I did bring an old school tuner (which turned on, but didn't work, weirdly) and a stand. I plugged directly into the amp and went from there. Sid played a Tele through a tiny Fender amp and Eric played some drum kit that was at the house.

After spending a few minutes on the phone with Sid the other day, it was evident that he was a skilled musician. However, after never having met him, I wasn't sure what to expect. Eric said he was around my age, in his 50s. He was medium build and bald, but had cheaters on the whole time, and due to the lack of hair, I couldn't tell how old he actually was.

He made a bunch of recordings of the songs for me, all tuned down to Eb, and then some altered even further. It was a little annoying, but workable. Good thing I went through them a bunch, as once we started, it was pretty clear that the studying paid off.

We had 2 sets of 10 songs each, and overall, we played well. About 10-12 people showed up and were appreciative. My bass sounded great just by itself through the Orange. Being tuned down, it was a little beefier, but on some other songs where I played higher on the neck, it sounded just fine.

Had some fun with most of the songs. Had a few goof ups here and there, but overall, happy with the performance. Was great to play with Eric on drums. He was really solid and powerful and tasteful all at the same time. It was fun just shooting my shot on songs like "Proud Mary" and "Walking on the Moon." Eric and I had a great vibe and I wish I had recorded the sets.

An easy $200. Would do it again.

 

Surprise gig

My boy Eric reached out the other day, offering up a 2 set cover gig with him and a guitarist. It's a house/private party, evidently hosted by the guitarist, Sid. Pay is $200 and after I saw a setlist, I said, sure, why not?

I'm not doing anything else at the moment and a quick and lucrative project should be fun. Networking opportunity as well.

The setlist is 20 songs. Sid plays in Eb tuning, so everything is down a 1/2 step. It gets a little confusing as he also sings some of the songs in different keys than originally recorded. I was doing music math trying to decipher if a song like U2's "I Will Follow," which is originally recorded in Eb, would then be another 1/2 step down if I tune down to Eb in the first place.

Of course not. Once we are tuned down, then Eb becomes the new relative E, so we are good. But, in the U2 instance, we will play that in E (Eb). Make sense?

There are some songs I don't know at all, like "Late Night Talking" by Harry Styles. Easy enough, but I'm unfamiliar. And then songs like "Copacabana" or "Super Freak," both of which I've heard, but never have played along to.

Sid has sent over clips of him singing with acoustic guitar, so as long as I play to his recordings, I should be good. We won't have time to practice beforehand, so I'll just have to shed and listen extra hard as we play on Sunday. Stay tuned.

9/21/2024, Planets in the Ocean at the Sunset

Yeah, I played a show last night but the best part was not the gig, but pre-show.

Me and Cookie

Cookie looking like Bella

After slogging through an hour's worth of traffic due to freeway improvements, I dropped my stuff off and headed to the bar at the front of the Sunset to say hi to some friends. There were two dogs next to me and one of them was basically Bella in disguise. Her name was Cookie and she was quite sweet.

This is Bella in 2020

I got my fill of visiting with Bella's ghost and jumped on stage for sound check. I didn't bring a rig, only a couple basses (The Gold and the butter bass) and my pedals. One of the other bands (turns out it was Tango Alpha Tango from PDX) was sharing their SVT and 410 cab, so that was cool.

Our stage setup

During sound check, everything sounded pretty good. A few months ago, I got some new earplugs for onstage, the horribly named Eargasm plugs. And though they work, I just haven't gelled with them. Even with the smaller size, they are a little weird fitting to my ears and they just don't seem right to me.

Despite that, the Ampeg sounded nice, the monitors for my BGVs were decent, but I asked for more. Trouble was, I got feedback, so I told Colin, our engineer, to leave the levels where they were at. And with that, we were off. Without a set list, of course. Luckily, we had an old one in my pedal case so we edited that and kicked it off.

Crowd was a little light, as it seems to be in Seattle when the show starts at 8:30, but lucky for us, they push fog in the club and it makes it hard to see anyone. We started with our song, Nomenclature, which is fast and kicks us off with some energy. It's a bit of a challenge to hit the ground running without warming up, but it went pretty well. At that point in the set, I could hear my vocals OK. As we continued, though, I had a harder time. Not sure why or what changed.

Anyway, on we went, it was pretty high energy and fun. I haven't been doing any big jumps lately as I always land off time and it throws me off. Plus there was a big support beam above my head and I didn't want to hit that. But, I did some medium jumps, only one or two, and it worked out ok.

No pictures yet, but there should be come coming soon and I'll put them up when they are posted.

Next up was Low Hums. I saw them last year before I went on the road with Forest Ray. I can't say I remembered much about them, but I thought there were more dudes. For this gig, it was a three-piece. Bassist played a P and what sounded like flats. He was super solid, not flashy, but definitely in the pocket and doing his thing. The guitarist had shades on (I just can't do it; hard enough to see without em in the dark) and was really cool with his effects and playing. And the drummer was on a righty kit playing lefty. He was also solid and loomed over his kit. They had some cool moments and I enjoyed the set.

Low Hums

Either the Low Hums played a short set or Tango Alpha Tango took a minute to get set up. Maybe both? Anyway, TAT took the stage as a quartet. When Stereo Embers played with them in 2018, they were a three piece. For this show, they had another guitarist/keyboardist with them, and he was great.

Overall, this band is a showcase for Nathan, the guitarist. He is a great singer, with cool stage presence, and is a shredder in the John Mayer sense of the word. Really good player and sort of knows it. His wife, Mirabai, on bass, was solid on her CS Jazz. I do wish she was up in the mix a bit as she was sort of drowned out by both guitars on either side of her. And the drummer was really epic. He was a joy to watch and really delivered a solid set.

Tango Alpha Tango

After our set, I used the restrooms (Sunset has the best bathrooms in the Seattle club scene) and came out to some ladies using the mirror and blocking the sink (shared sinks). They complimented the gig after realizing I was in the band. Unique and interesting to get a compliment in that situation.

And then someone else (full disclosure, drummer's wife, who tells it like it is) said after a hard week, seeing and hearing us was like church for her. She's seen a million club shows with Cass, but for whatever reason, this show really resonated with her, so that's cool.

All in all, a very enjoyable evening. I got to do what I love with people I love and get it back from the other bands. Can't wait to do it all again in November.

9/6/2024, Planets in the Ocean at Darrell's Tavern

Since our last gig in June, I think we've only rehearsed once or twice. Maybe once? Much of the reason was life getting in the way, mainly for Robb. In July, both his dad and father-in-law passed away within 3 days of each other. His wife was in WI tending to her dad when Robb's dad passed, so he was alone for that, and then her dad passed and he couldn't support her in-person.

Just a sad time all around.

So in mid-August, we finally got back together to rehearse and see each other, and that was really great. Group texts are fine to stay in touch and all, but in-person is where it's at. We ran the tunes and it went fine.

For Friday's show, I headed to rehearse one last time on Thursday and that was a mess. I got stuck in traffic on the freeway, all 4 lanes blocked due to a traffic fatality (RIP), and it took me about 1.5 hours to get to the next exit to turn around and just go home.

All that to say that we'd have a show with only one rehearsal in the past 2 months. Lucky for us, we are pros.

Darrell's, where your dad used to drink!

No traffic jams the night of the show, so I was way early, around 7:30. I was backlining my rig, so I wanted to be there in time to set up. Last time I backlined at that June show, I was late getting there and it was awkward.

Cool to have Bruce Lee behind me, I wish he could've adjusted my stage volume.

Cass showed up a few minutes later so we got caught up on the last two months. Before long, everyone else rolled in and it was a good ol' band hang. Some of my old pals showed up, Aaron, Kevin, Steve and Salena, Andi, David. And the mates from Mopsey, old musical pals Richard, Ryan, Wesley and Jason. And the Kings, though I only know Ric from them. Great to catch up and chat with everyone, including my own mates.

Before long (no soundcheck, weirdly), the Kings Seattle kicked things off. They're a 7 piece ska-ish band, with 3 horns, guitar, big boy Zeke on bass, drums and singer/keys. They were great! Lots of energy, lots of peppy tunes. I only wish the sound guy had dialed things in as the keys and horns were a little quiet.

The Kings Seattle

After their fun set (they'd be a great party band), we took the stage. I brought my P bass as Steve was there and he's a bit of a P bass aficionado. Since I got the bass, I thought the action was a little low, but since I don't have a good reference point, I had him check it out and he said it was dialed in. I trust his judgement, so I felt good about that.

Having my amp off the ground about 2 feet, I thought I'd be able to hear it pretty well. Turns out, I was wrong. That bass gets very strong mids sounds and not as much in the bass. I tried to adjust the EQ on the amp a little, but mainly ended up turning up my master volume. It worked out for the most part. I also ended up standing just in front of it when I wasn't singing. I think having crash cymbals right next to me didn't help either.

Despite not having a practice recently, I thought we played pretty well. There was a trainwreck in one of our songs (not me), but otherwise not bad. The sound guy had my vocals really loud; the only interaction I had with him was him telling me the wedge in front of me was mine. I guess I could've asked for some different boosts, but I just went with it.

I think the P was fine. What little I could hear in some videos was that it was definitely there, but dialed a little quiet for my tastes in FOH. Any character or nuance was not really heard, but you just knew the bass was there. The bassist for the Kings had a more thumpier sound (he played a PJ Fender) and it fit the tunes but same thing, not much character or bite to the sound.

The strings on my bass may be a little too new, despite on me having the bass since May and playing it fairly frequently. Or maybe I just need to put different strings on it. My boy Steve said I should only play this bass with this band; he said the character he heard out front fit perfectly with Robb's guitar sounds. That said, he is a bit of a fanboi with the P basses, so he is quite biased!

After we finished up, the incredible and muscular Mopsey took the stage. They are 3/4ths of the Young Sportsmen back in the day and 1/4th drummer Jason. They are all bros from way back and they are fantastic, if a bit loud. I saw them a few months ago at the Belltown Yacht Club and I thought it was the club just having a bad night; all the bands were just so loud. But no, it's Mopsey. They are an arena band playing clubs. But they do it oh so well!

Wesley plays a Firebird and for such a nice and warm dude, seems out of character but simply gives some great attitude. Ryan moved back from Colorado recently and replaced Eric O on guitar, as the commute for EO is just too great from Tacoma to Seattle (I get it). Ryan sings as well and he and Wesley are just wicked together.

Richard on bass used to play with Cass and Robb in the Dear John Letters years ago, so they have history. I've know Richard for a little and he is a gear aficionado (there's that word again). I asked him about his stuff, he said he has something like 40 pieces of amps/cabinets/combos at his place. Nuts. He and Jason compliment each other so well as the rhythm section. Jason is sneaky good and powerful and they do good ass hard rock.

Richard on bass!

Frickin' Mopsey!!

They had great between song banter, great stage presence and great humility. I can't gush enough about how much I love these dudes and their music. Wesley said he'd play with us anywhere anytime, so we'll have to cash in on that in the future for sure. I had a great time talking to each of those dudes.

Afterwards I had a couple people mention to us how we as a trio compliment each other so well. That our music is very reminiscent of other bands, but not so much that we sound like a copy of anyone. I've heard that type of comment before and it is pretty gratifying. As a more traditional rock band in our previous iteration, we were more support players of the band. In this band, it isn't so much "everybody go solo" but we have more breathing room in the songs, which does allow each of us to stretch our legs a bit, but within the confines of the tune. It's quite fun.

At the end of the night, Darla, Darcy and Rose got a photo in front of "Mom." It wasn't until after I got home that I realized it was the first time seeing both D & D since their dad passed. I did offer condolences to Rose but neglected to with the girls. But I was able to talk to them both and give hugs, so that was good.

Up next, Planets at the Sunset on 9/21. Stay tuned.

My memory is bad

I wanted to write a post about my memory... but I forgot what I was going to write.

The reality is, I do seem to have some issues with memory. More long-term stuff, it seems. Short-term is OK, but it depends on the situation. Sometimes I'll talk to someone about something, could be talking to Austin at work. And then the next day, I'll think about relaying something but can't remember if I told him or not.

Sometimes I'll preface the convo with a, "I can't remember if I told you," which gives them an out if I have. Otherwise, they just nod and smile and suffer along.

I will try to use tools to remember, specifically with work-related or to-do related things. I'll write 'em down or put 'em in the phone, etc.

If I'm distracted (on the phone, looking at the computer, etc) and someone's talking, I have to stop so I can focus on what I'm being told. I try not to make it obvious, like I was in the middle of something, so at least it seems like I'm giving the speaker my undivided attention. I'll sometimes feel like others aren't great at that and I'm interrupting or something.

Last week I was at lunch with Marilee and Brooke on MS campus. Nadia came up and we all talked books for a minute (we are book nerds). Nadia said she remembered Carr giving me his old v2 Kindle in the MS Store days. Then she said she remembered me always having a book on hand to read at lunches in the mall.

I don't deny any of those things happening. I even remember Carr giving me his Kindle. But I can't say those memories would ever have popped up in my head for any reason for the rest of my life. The fact that Nadia brought it up cracked me up. I don't have any specific memories about anything that happened with her and I at the Stores, so for her to have that of me was funny.

I also remember a lunch I had with D'neka last year. It was the first time I'd seen her in years, so it was great to see her, but she relayed a memory that I had NO recollection of. And, of course, I don't remember what it was about now, or if it even happened. So maybe there's no story here.

Which brings me around to this blog. I mainly seem to be keeping track of gigs and stuff, for the sole reason for having the memories around when I can't remember them anymore. I don't know if anyone finds them interesting or even reads them; I only ever post them on Talkbass and, as seen last year after my Darrell's gig, some people will find it when searching their bands' names.

But I'll keep writing, if anything, to keep my memories in a spot for future entertainment and archiving.

8/10/2024, Sunset Grooves On the Hiyu

Well, that was a blast. Let's list some of my first time accomplishments as a long-time bassist:

• played on a decommissioned ferry, the Hiyu
• not that I've played on commissioned ferries, or even a boat. The closest was playing on a flatbed truck as part of the Seafair parades in the late 90s when we sponsored a hydroplane.
• played under an open drawbridge
• that sort of goes with playing on a ferry. I mean, when else would you play under a drawbridge?
• got hit with something while playing (not undergarments)
• during a song, I felt something thud off my chest. I thought it was a light or speaker or gear of some sort, but looking around, I saw nothing. It was a decent hit, more surprising than painful. The song continued and finished, no harm, no foul. Turns out, some kid had thrown a can or bottle of Modelo (confirmed by my keyboard player) and it hit me, then bounced off his leg, at which time he kicked it overboard as it was leaking. Thankful that it didn't hit anyone else or any equipment. That would've been a downer.

A few months ago, we booked a show at a venue called the Hiyu. Apparently, the current owner made a bunch of money, bought a decommissioned ferry, and renovated it to host parties, weddings and events. He heard about us and asked us to play.

We agreed to do so for a guaranteed take, and we were a bit nervous about it as ticket prices were $55-65 per person. Our draw is hit and miss and we try to book private parties, but that's challenging in its own right. We have not hit the magic combo of marketing + exposure + club gigs that brings the decent draw. Every once in a while, we'll have a gig where people come up, tell us how awesome we are, tell us they want to book us, and then crickets. I figure if we hit on 5% of those, we'd be good.

Anyway, the owner told us another act sold 140 tickets or so and they had a great time. A few weeks ago, after our tix went on sale, we had 60 sold. And then just the other day, we had 216 sold! The boat only holds 310 or so, so we were feeling pretty good.

The weather was gonna cooperate, with 82°F expected. I showed up at the dock at 3:30 and we loaded up.

Where I parked.

On the way to the Hiyu. Load in/out sucked.

Our venue for the night!

We were given a timeline on how things would go. Show up at 3:45-4, load in, get sound checked by 5, Hiyu to the loading spot at MOHAI on S Lake Union by 5:30, boarding at 6, shove off at 6:30. By now, I should know nothing ever goes as planned.

Once we all arrived and took the long walk (thankful they had two carts) to the Hiyu to load in, we had to wait for setup. Luckily, we didn't need to bring a PA, but the two sound guys they had were used to running sound for DJ sets. Our guy, Aeden, a college kid who has ran sound for us a few times now, was great and worked with those guys to get things going. But it did take a really long time and we were all roasting in the sun. There was a lot to look at, though, being on the water and all.

At the stern of the ferry, depending on which way we headed, I guess.

Plenty to look at!

Once everything was loaded, we headed south to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), where the attendees would join and board. Sun was hot and the line was long. Before long, they started boarding and we still hadn't sound checked. It was definitely after 6 by now and Aeden and crew were seemingly not super stressed. Then again, it was chill, but we definitely wanted more than a line check. After a little longer, we finally sound checked a couple tunes (always weird with folks watching). Then it was off to get our gear on and get ready in the tiny green room (a closet, really).

I brought my flamingo suit and after getting it on, I thought I had made a fatal mistake, given the heat and the sun, but overall, it was a win. More on that later. But it was quite warm in the ferry, as it was built in 1967 and had no AC onboard. On the deck, though, it was quite comfy.

Jeff, the owner of the Hiyu took the mic before we shoved off. Apparently there were some issues with wristbands or something, causing a delay, so he offered to have the Hiyu come back 30 minutes after the originally planned return of 9:30. There was much cheering on that. People just wanted to have a good time. I saw a couple of friends I know from the scene around town, said hi to a few of them, grabbed a Coke, and then we were off.

On the way to MOHAI.

The hero bass.

The backup bass.

A bit of the crowd.

We had two sets of tunes to do, about 30 songs. I decided to change up my sounds a little. In the past, I've used my Zoom B2Four, with a patch per song (or so). I try to make my bass sound close to the recording, but for that many songs, when most of them could just have a core bass tone, it was overkill. Over this past week, I tried to simplify things, going with an SVT amp sound, with an octaver, chorus and synth in front of it, clicking them on and off as needed.

I also brought my regular pedal board, but as I hadn't messed around with that in rehearsals recently, I decided to leave that unused.

IEM-wise, we had a quick check, as mentioned, and it was good enough to get started. We hit the ground running and went to work.

Set 1. We skipped Still the One but hit it in the encore.

The first two songs seemed to go pretty well. We were getting our feet under us, thinking about our IEM mixes, seeing how it felt to play on a moving vessel. Jen had her wireless mic and when she would go into the crowd, the signal would cut in and out. On song 3, the sound guy was switching out her mic and we had some dead air, so we started vamping on the intro for CGIR while they did that. That was sort of cool. We were feeling it and having a great time. Looking off the back of the ferry and at the surroundings was a super unique experience and I highly recommend it!

Before we started.

Shoving off!

It was during "Somebody's Baby" when that Modelo hit me in the chest. It was surprising, it was weird, but after a few seconds, I forgot all about it. Evidently we also got flashed, but I didn't see it. Supposedly it happened during "Maneater," of which we got a video, but upon close scrutiny, I saw nothing.

The passengers got a kick out of us and we really fed off their energy. They were really close to us and enjoying themselves quite a bit. When there's no way to go home, they just have a good time. People were singing along and dancing and it was a great time for all of us.

At the end of set 1, I tried to get some food, having ate nothing but a granola bar and some string cheese before leaving home at 3. They had a food truck on board and I was given a food ticket, but the line was 20 deep and I didn't want to wait so I just enjoyed the cool breeze on the deck instead.

Happy smile

Set 2 started with a couple songs featuring acoustic guitar by Dusty. Eric rolled to drums and we got to work. We usually don't do these songs unless we have 2 sets as it's easier to start with the change, rather than switching personnel in the middle of a set.

Set 2

After a bit, the sun started to go down and luckily, the Hiyu had pretty good lighting (better than some clubs) and I could still see what I was playing. My IEM mix seemed weird, though. Lots of muddy bass due to the SVT patch and the gain being too high. I think, really I don't know. I saw a video and the bass sounded pretty good out front. At that point, I just used that for reference, it didn't need to sound cool to me or anything; as long as it sounded good to the masses.

There was a gentleman in front of me for most of the night. He asked to grab the mic during our set as he wanted to promote our QR code for tips. He was a little tipsy but he got to work and also walked around with our placard, getting us more $$$. He really loved us and claims he wants us to play his foundation in the future (again, back to the 5% rule mentioned above). Hope it happens, but not expecting anything.

When we finally finished, with a couple song encore, I got so many compliments on my suit. I purchased it a few years at Goodwill, for the low low price of $10.00. It is a pretty epic suit, and people eat it up. One woman told me a story about flamingoes even. So there's that.

The suit (mike mitchell photo)

At the end of it all, it was a wonderful night. The views and crowd were astounding, the weather was unbeatable, and the experience was one for the books. This is why I play music. When the energy is there from all around, it is unbeatable. I can't wait to do it again!