2026-07-21 Sunset Grooves at South Whidbey Community Park

What's this? Sunset Grooves first show since November! Over the last few weeks, we have gotten together to rehearse for some summer shows, but also to get a new guitarist in the mix as Dennis is moving to Poland in the fall. We had no gigs, so there was no big rush, but with these gigs coming up, we started moving forward with a kid named Robby. Early 30s, came out with a blue Ibanez and a fun, youthful energy. Helps that he's a solid player and a cool dude.

Fast forward to yesterday, when we played our first gig this year, on Whidbey Island, of all places. We got drafted to play on a Tuesday night, outdoors at the South Whidbey Community Park. Logistically, it was sort of a pain. We had to be there around 3:30 to setup the PA and stuff. But we also had to catch a ferry. I could have worked half a day, and then left for Mukilteo, but instead, I took a few days off to hang out with Marci at home instead.

Headed out the door about 12:30 to catch the 2:05 ferry. Got to Mukilteo around 1:30 and got on the ferry about 1:50, which I guess was the 1:30 ferry, which was running late. Whatever. I ended up on Whidbey Island around 2:15 or so, it's a short ride.

A ferry from the ferry

Did I mention that this would be the hottest day of the year? I got to the park and there was 0 shade. Trees all around the place, but none where we would be setting up and playing. I parked under one tree in a corner and waited for the other guys to show up.

After 45 minutes or so, Dennis and Eric showed up, followed by Robby, his girl Terry, and then Jen and Dusty. We parked and proceeded to set up in the blazing sun. I brought my bucket hat just in case and boy am I glad I did that.

My view from the stage

Before the gig, during soundcheck

Had a tent during setup to take shelter and hide the guitars

Before setup, we were on top of that retaining wall

We finally got dialed in, then did a quick soundcheck. Jen's daughter Erika ran sound. Too bad Riley isn't in town, he might be able to do the same thing for us, make a few bucks. Helen, Jen's other daughter, was there as well and she sang a few songs with us. Her and her pal also ran around on the lawn getting the crowd hyped, it was pretty funny.

I went in with my new wireless rig again and this time, I put the pack on my strap at a thicker part. Happy to say it lasted the whole gig and had no drops. I was able to move around and it was really cool to not worry about the cord. In-ears sounded pretty good and I had a nice show. But for real, it was so dang hot. By about song three or four, I had so much sweat pooling up in my eyes. Luckily, I brought a bandana to wipe sweat, but instead, I tied it on my head during the intro to "Hooked on a Feeling." That thing saved my eyes, for sure.

So hot out

I also brought a fan and had that blowing behind me for the whole show. Poor Dusty had nothing. He got a blister on his hand as well, wrapping it up with gaff tape during one song, then getting it stuck on his hand during one of his acoustic numbers. It was pretty funny.

Robby did great; he and Dennis have great chemistry when they play and it is really cool having a second guitar to fill things out. But, Dennis' last show with us is in a few weeks, when we hit the Aurora Borealis for his goodbye party. He'll be missed, but Robby is a more than adequate replacement. Like I said earlier, he is energetic, eager, and loves to play. He kept saying how much fun he had yesterday simply setting up gear.

With him in the band, he may bring in a new network of fans and friends to check us out. As it was, he had a friend and his wife from work come to check us out. This guy may or may not be affiliated with the Seahawks and he really liked us, so we'll see if that pans out to be anything interesting.

As it stands now, if we can get some gigs and if Robby can inject some new life into the band, I will stick it out. I was thinking of bailing, but then these gigs showed up, so that's cool. I will have to miss a gig for the first time; I have an Embers reunion scheduled at the same time, but I found a sub for them, a guy who played in the other yacht rock band in town. Hope he works out (I don't think he sings, though).

We finished up and packed out in the sunset, which was way nicer than doing it in the dark. And then I bailed. The guy that booked us said to catch the 9:30 ferry, otherwise we'd have to wait an hour for the next one. I jumped and got there in time to get on. And then it was 45 minutes to home from there.

Anyway, it was fun to play the show, it was a hot long day, and I hope we get a decent payout soon.

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!