First, thanks again y'all - without the support everyone gave, it wouldn't have happened!
WARNING: Long post ahead!
What a trip!
Where to start????
I won't bore anyone with every detail - especially the flights there and back. Suffice it to say they were completed safely, although with some aggrivation when dealing with the transportation of instruments.
Baja California Sur is a beautiful place where mountains and desert meet a beautiful blue sea with incredible white sand beaches. It's a very laid back place, to say the least.
Cabo Wabo is a pretty big place right in the center of Cabo San Lucas. Very nice, not fancy at all, just nice and laid back. Decent sized stage (well, with 7 guys, a bit cozy...), good backline and house PA, and a WONDERFUL crew of guys taking care of the whole thing (and of us as well).
Thursday of last week, we played by ourselves, did two longer sets, about an hour and a half each. The room was almost full, and the crowd was very enthuastic - always a good thing.
Friday, we went in for a soundcheck in the afternoon, walked into the VIP/dressing room, and walked smack into Sammy Hagar. He was exceptionally gracious and friendly, and has a great sense of humor. (First thing he said: "Man, there's a bunch of you muther*******!!!!) The rest of the Waboritas (his band) were just as cool, particularly Mona, the bassist (she's a kick-@$$ player too, great tone as well - nice Esh bass).
We ran down for a sound check after spending a while just soaking in the whole "gee, that's really Sammy" vibe. We'd learned a couple tunes on the off chance that he may want to sit in with us, and had only had one chance to run through them before leaving on the trip, so we decided to run through them again for soundcheck.
So, there I am, making sure everything is working right, checking out my gear on stage, looking at my hands and my "cheat sheet", running through Van Halen's "Black & Blue". The stage is crawling with the crew, getting things set for that nights festivities. I noticed something streak by in my peripherial vision, but pay it no mind, thinking "it's one of the crew, doing something"....it's not. The vocal part come up, and I hear Sammy's voice! (Coolest moment of the whole trip!) He got through the first verse, sounding just like the recording, and then started forgetting the words, so he just sorta scatted/improvised the rest of the tune. He apologized after the tune for having forgetten the words, as he hadn't sung it since 1988! (Uh...you're sorry Sammy??? Puhleeeze!!! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!!). He asks if anyone has a recording, I just happened to have my trusty copy of OU812 handy, and it was handed over. He promises to learn the tune for that night - he's gonna sing it with us!
That night, we get to the club, we're opening for Smashmouth. The guys in Smashmouth are great, very friendly and genuine people. We go down and kick out an hour, the highlight of which is Sammy dropping in and belting out "Black & Blue" in front of a packed house.
Smashmouth put on a great show, Sammy sat in on a couple with them as well.
Saturday was the big night: us, followed by Smashmouth, then Sammy & the Waboritas. The place was PACKED, if you'd passed out, you probably wouldn't hit the floor for at least an hour
. We went out and did our best, and were very well recieved, considering the partisan crowd (they're there for Sammy, not us!). Smashmouth kicked arse as well, very good show. The Waboritas are smokin', see 'em if you ever get the chance! About two hours of killer stuff, Sammy works the crowd better than anyone I've ever seen, and the band is tight and relaxed at the same time. Great show.
The only downers were the minor accident I had (nice big scrape on the side of the rental van
) and the fact that we had to be up and out of the rental house at 8:30 am the next day.
Rico is still down there! As a matter of fact, as I type this, he's probably onstage with Sammy & Michael Anthony crankin' out a couple tunes. They've asked him to hang with them until Monday! Lucky bastid! The rest of us have "real" jobs to deal with...sigh...
Anyhow...here are a few of the promised pics...
Sammy says hi!:
WARNING: Long post ahead!
What a trip!
Where to start????
I won't bore anyone with every detail - especially the flights there and back. Suffice it to say they were completed safely, although with some aggrivation when dealing with the transportation of instruments.
Baja California Sur is a beautiful place where mountains and desert meet a beautiful blue sea with incredible white sand beaches. It's a very laid back place, to say the least.
Cabo Wabo is a pretty big place right in the center of Cabo San Lucas. Very nice, not fancy at all, just nice and laid back. Decent sized stage (well, with 7 guys, a bit cozy...), good backline and house PA, and a WONDERFUL crew of guys taking care of the whole thing (and of us as well).
Thursday of last week, we played by ourselves, did two longer sets, about an hour and a half each. The room was almost full, and the crowd was very enthuastic - always a good thing.
Friday, we went in for a soundcheck in the afternoon, walked into the VIP/dressing room, and walked smack into Sammy Hagar. He was exceptionally gracious and friendly, and has a great sense of humor. (First thing he said: "Man, there's a bunch of you muther*******!!!!) The rest of the Waboritas (his band) were just as cool, particularly Mona, the bassist (she's a kick-@$$ player too, great tone as well - nice Esh bass).
We ran down for a sound check after spending a while just soaking in the whole "gee, that's really Sammy" vibe. We'd learned a couple tunes on the off chance that he may want to sit in with us, and had only had one chance to run through them before leaving on the trip, so we decided to run through them again for soundcheck.
So, there I am, making sure everything is working right, checking out my gear on stage, looking at my hands and my "cheat sheet", running through Van Halen's "Black & Blue". The stage is crawling with the crew, getting things set for that nights festivities. I noticed something streak by in my peripherial vision, but pay it no mind, thinking "it's one of the crew, doing something"....it's not. The vocal part come up, and I hear Sammy's voice! (Coolest moment of the whole trip!) He got through the first verse, sounding just like the recording, and then started forgetting the words, so he just sorta scatted/improvised the rest of the tune. He apologized after the tune for having forgetten the words, as he hadn't sung it since 1988! (Uh...you're sorry Sammy??? Puhleeeze!!! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!!). He asks if anyone has a recording, I just happened to have my trusty copy of OU812 handy, and it was handed over. He promises to learn the tune for that night - he's gonna sing it with us!
That night, we get to the club, we're opening for Smashmouth. The guys in Smashmouth are great, very friendly and genuine people. We go down and kick out an hour, the highlight of which is Sammy dropping in and belting out "Black & Blue" in front of a packed house.
Smashmouth put on a great show, Sammy sat in on a couple with them as well.
Saturday was the big night: us, followed by Smashmouth, then Sammy & the Waboritas. The place was PACKED, if you'd passed out, you probably wouldn't hit the floor for at least an hour
. We went out and did our best, and were very well recieved, considering the partisan crowd (they're there for Sammy, not us!). Smashmouth kicked arse as well, very good show. The Waboritas are smokin', see 'em if you ever get the chance! About two hours of killer stuff, Sammy works the crowd better than anyone I've ever seen, and the band is tight and relaxed at the same time. Great show.The only downers were the minor accident I had (nice big scrape on the side of the rental van
) and the fact that we had to be up and out of the rental house at 8:30 am the next day. Rico is still down there! As a matter of fact, as I type this, he's probably onstage with Sammy & Michael Anthony crankin' out a couple tunes. They've asked him to hang with them until Monday! Lucky bastid! The rest of us have "real" jobs to deal with...sigh...
Anyhow...here are a few of the promised pics...
Sammy says hi!:
