One year ago today: February 18, 2021, the whereabouts.
Five years ago today: February 18, 2017, just create a category.
Nine years ago today: February 18, 2013, I shun “night” medicine.
Random years ago today: February 18, 2020, a license to offend.
A quick shop to restock the cabin and I went to work on my music gear. All problems solved and what a sound. This band has nice equipment, but I’ve mentioned how unfamiliar they are with most of it. If a set of buttons gets changed in transit, I’ve seen them take twenty minutes to figure it out. The overall sound was good, and that is what they just tinkered with. My bass setup has been configured from the ground up to be astonishingly superb, including the special speaker I have that faces down into the floor. It was derived from the need to compete or be drowned out, and few performing musicians would join a band that does that.
It’s still early but all the gear is checked out and ready. The major difference is the tone, and no, I can’t do much about it because that is the premise for the equipment. You have to hear it live, it is a kind of smooth punchy sound, a cross between the best recordings of BB King and the old “stack of Marshalls” (look that up on your own) that gave an incredible sound because they could deliver on lower volume settings.
I cooked up eight pounds of chicken and spuds, plus rice, for the week ahead. We’ve got a bit of cool weather predicted, so I’m hoping we can get the yard spruced up. The arrests have police brutality have begun in Canada. They have begun to block in the protesters, probably in preparation for more arrests, and they are clamoring for the names of the police—which they would already have if they’d followed my advice a month ago. The only effective peaceful protest against civil servants to keep them fearful of their own homes and families. No threats, no violence, just keep them reminded you know where they live.
Pine bark beetle damage.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
Many hours later, it is my sad blog duty to report the worst gig in maybe 15 years. This was worse than bad music and zero audience rapport. I’m pressed to say where it all started, but two months back I pointed out how bands that gig and rehearse on the same equipment quickly cancel the rehearsals. Without that constant rote repetition, the music gets ever sloppier until every song sounds alike. We had that in spades this evening. I’ll again step you through what went wrong, which usually means I have a solution that works for me but not always the whole band.
First, I was 15 minutes late and for the dumbest of reasons. I did not use my checklist and I was half-way to the gig when I realized I had not loaded up my bass. I had to double-back, and this meant when I arrived, the band had already played five tunes and another couple while I did a quick setup. My fault and this will never be forgotten, the bass man who forgot his bass. There is a reason, but I’m not saying. I did not follow protocol. (At the same time I have been the arch-proponent of this band learning to play a set with one member missing.)
I had suggested to Parson to give the audience a few of those piano lullabies he likes, but instead he chose to make up for the missing bass lines with increased volume. The show was way too loud for the room, front tables moved to the rear where they could visit. Worse, Parson kept choosing tunes that were not the country music suited for an audience this age. The crowd was easily mid-70s and I don’t mean a youthful bunch. This room is never calling us back.
In fact, they tried to stiff the band. I’ve already explained the “cruise-line” effect where the bands can no longer bring in the crowd. People go to where they always go and hope there is entertainment. Besides, nobody I ever heard of has a following of drunk grandmothers.
The hired gun drummer was a flop. I know that guy from somewhere, possibly Kissimmee, or he has a brother who is also a drummer. He knew a few moves, but the guy is an idiot, not that there is anything terribly wrong with that in Florida. He remembers the days of the $150 each gigs as well as the rest of us, but he isn’t worth that kind of money. I don’t like drummers who follow anybody in the band who gallops although this one half-caught on just follow the bass lines. But why was Parson playing all them old rock tunes? You tell me.
The club emptied out near 9:00PM except for the gabby people out on the patio who were still talking about their grand children’s weddings when I left. The club tried to short us, saying quit after two sets instead of three, but band logistics don’t work that way. Even a single tune requires the same amount of gas, effort, and equipment handlage.
ADDENDUM
Have you heard of the Felicity Ace? It’s a "roll on roll off" container ship on fire near the Azores. The interesting part is the cargo. About 4,000 luxury cars. Bentley, Audi, ,and Porsche models. Over a thousand Porches anyway. The cause? Likely the lithium batteries, so all the water in the Atlantic can’t put out the flames. Serves them fucking right, pardon my French. You cannot get something for nothing, which is what lithium battery people are trying to do. No, you need a scientific breakthrough, something millennialized America has not done on any scale.
