Sound Check with The Flecktones

Bassmanbob · #1 10-18-2011, 07:58 PM

Being a fan of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, I checked to see when they were going to be in South East Florida back in the spring. I had seen them once in Ft. Lauderdale at an amphitheater, in the rain, about five years ago. I find out they were going to be at my nearest theater on 10/18/11. So I send an e-mail to the local HS band director (who I'm friends with and know he is a big fan of theirs) and ask if he wants me to see if they'd consider doing a visit to the school. (I've heard that the group is cool with interacting with students.) He tells me he'll check it out and get back to me.

Over the summer, he e-mails me back saying that he's arrainged to have the HS jazz band come to the sound check and do a Q&A session. He asks me if I can chaperone the kids... Hell yeah I can!

Today:
I took the afternoon off from work. We show up and watched the sound check. Of course they are amazing, and they were really cool with interacting with the HS kids. They played some different stuff and asked the kids to figure out some of the time signatures. Then there was the Q&A session. All four of them (Bela, Vic, Roy and Howard) really seemed sincerely open, straight forward, encouraging and down to Earth. It was a real pleasure to see these guys, who are at the apex of musicianship, be so cool with a bunch of high school kids. The kids loved it, as did the band director, and of course, I loved it too.

Then the band director and I came back for the first of the two shows that night. Simply amazing. We both agreed that if we didn't have wives and kids, we would have gone to the second show too.

Oh... if you didn't already figure it out, Vic was his usual amazing self.

Thanks for reading.

AlvarHanso · #2 10-19-2011, 06:15 AM

Gotta love those guys!

Tampabass · #3 10-19-2011, 06:28 AM

seeing them this weekend in north Florida (Magfest), and really looking forward to it

woodsideh · #4 10-19-2011, 06:30 AM

They are definitely a first class group of guys. I met Victor about 10 years ago when he was doing an Ampeg clinic with Steve Bailey. He is amazingly warm and open and makes you feel like an old time friend. They are playing this weekend here in Charlotte (got the best tickets I could get). Victor is doing a Q&A / Clinic at a local mom and pop music store the afternoon before the show. FIRST CLASS... need I say more.

HeadyVan Halen · #5 10-19-2011, 06:31 AM

Heard they have a pretty good bass player.
True?

mantrabass · #6 10-19-2011, 06:34 AM

That's awesome! Super jealous of you, but at the same time that is very cool. I wish my jazz band would've gotten to hang out with the Flecktones! Ahhhh, heroes.

Anyhow, I'm anticipating seeing them at the Berks Jazz Fest in March. Although the schedule for this year isn't announced yet, their fest date was announced on Bela's official site. Should be incredible. I'm hoping to get in on the Veasley Bass Boot Camp, so maybe a master class with Vic will be happenin', too.

edmidlifecrisis · #7 10-19-2011, 06:38 AM

Hey, great story!! I went to the second show last night, it was fantastic. Afterwards they all came out and sat on the stage to talk to audience members, pose for pictures, and sign. They were all as nice as can be after what was obviously a very long day for them! I didn't get a chance to talk to Vic but did talk to Bela and he was great!

Victor's solo at the encore just killed.....blew away the entire audience.

I didn't edit these Android photos so the rigs would be visible.....

smgleitch · #8 10-19-2011, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadyVan Halen

Heard they have a pretty good bass player.
True?

He is ok if your into that sort of thing.

lol

tonedeaf · #9 10-19-2011, 08:24 AM

I was at the first show last night. Victor's solo was during the first song - real eye popping stuff, but not wankerish at all. All of these guys are incredible musicians. Here are a few pictures. I was in the third row so it was just about impossible to get a picture of the whole band at once. In other "big week for tonedeaf" news, I got to train with Royce Gracie last Thursday! Excuse the goofy look in the picture, I was a little bit starstruck. Big doings here on the quite Treasure Coast of Florida.

lefty007 · #10 10-20-2011, 08:20 AM

I went to the show in Ft. Lauderdale last night. Amazing, as expected. Have seen them a few times, and Victor solo, too, but it was a treat to hear the old songs with Howard Levy.

They all looked a bit tired and were not in the best musical shape I've seen them, but honestly, I don't know how these guys play so good night after night, year after year. They are all super human to me.

Rig notes:

Victor was using a Phil Jones preamp, which seemed to be wired to the amp section of the Hartke amp (bypasing the preamp in the Hartke). Sounded good, just as always. I was standing on first row, as close as you can get, and the volume on stage was surprisingly low - I swear I could hear Victor unamplified bass when slapping. . . I was that close. Big surprise was to see Victor playing a really nice turquoise NYC Fodera 5-string in about 5 songs. And the Compito fretless always sounds amazing.

Anyhow, if you haven't seen the Flecktones live, do yourself a favor and put that in your to-do-before-you-die list.

mantrabass · #11 10-20-2011, 09:21 AM

How likely is it to meet these guys after the show? Meeting Victor is obviously wishful thinking for me, but I'd also like to meet Bela and talk to him about the fantastic documentary he did on playing with various world music & instruments.

edmidlifecrisis · #12 10-20-2011, 10:53 AM

After the show at the Lyric Theater, they took a break and came out afterwards and sat on the stage to talk with the members of the audience who stayed. I don't know if they do that every show, but at the Lyric most performers I've seen there talk afterwards to attendees. It's generally a small, polite low key crowd. I actually talked to Bela and not Victor, as one of the folks I went with is a banjo player.

RickC · #13 10-20-2011, 12:48 PM

What's the green maple-board bass in those pics?

/rick

AlvarHanso · #14 10-20-2011, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mantrabass

How likely is it to meet these guys after the show? Meeting Victor is obviously wishful thinking for me, but I'd also like to meet Bela and talk to him about the fantastic documentary he did on playing with various world music & instruments.

Except for festivals, it's 99% that they'll come out after the show and hang out with people for a pretty good while. In 2000, I sat around talking politics with Jeff Coffin for close to an hour after the show. I'd also been lucky enough to run into the band before the show and Jeff tried teaching me some Tuvan throat singing, and Bela came out and hung out with us for a while, and Victor showed up a little later, coming from an impromptu bass clinic at a local music store. Bela and Victor ended up trading one shoe, and they ended up wearing mismatched shoes for the show that night. They are some of the nicest guys in the world, and I've had good fortune to get to talk to them after several more shows. Not just the "normal" "Great show guys!" quick chat, but actual conversations. The next time I see them, I really want to ask Victor about his book.

Just Thumpin' · #15 10-20-2011, 07:44 PM

That is Vic's Blue NYC 5-string...

J

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickC

What's the green maple-board bass in those pics?

/rick

mcglyph · #16 10-20-2011, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonedeaf

I was at the first show last night. Victor's solo was during the first song - real eye popping stuff, but not wankerish at all. All of these guys are incredible musicians. Here are a few pictures. I was in the third row so it was just about impossible to get a picture of the whole band at once. In other "big week for tonedeaf" news, I got to train with Royce Gracie last Thursday! Excuse the goofy look in the picture, I was a little bit starstruck. Big doings here on the quite Treasure Coast of Florida.

Dude that rocks. Royce is like royalty, right up there with Silva. Congrats!

LowEndMan2112 · #17 10-20-2011, 07:53 PM

Had the pleasure of meeting all 4 of them back in July. All seemed like great, down to earth guys, and not to mention, great musicians! That show was probably up there in my top 5 I've seen.

Sheldon681 · #18 10-20-2011, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonedeaf

And if I'm not mistaken, it looks like someone got his blue belt from Royce too. It WAS a big week! Congrats!!

tonedeaf · #19 10-20-2011, 08:30 PM

Yeah, it'll be tough to top this last week in terms of big encounters for me. I don't get starstruck by celebrities, but I was thrilled to be in the same rooms as Victor Wooten and Royce Gracie.

I was trying to explain the Flecktones to some of my jiu jitsu training partners. I told them that Victor (and the whole band, for that matter), are like Royce Gracies of the music world - real masters and innovators of the art.

tonedeaf · #20 10-20-2011, 08:36 PM

If anyone's counting, in the first show Victor played the blue 5er for the first song, the fretless 5er for two others I believe, and the Yin/Yang bass the rest of the time.

I really liked his fretless style. Smooth and supportive, not flashy, and not anything like an excessive mwah factor at least where I was sitting. In fact, unlike a lot of his fretted playing, it seemed to me like he spent most of his time on fretless down in the lower register. Really nice, smooth tone.