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.