Hello friends! It was a pleasant evening for an outdoor event here on the outskirts of Shaky Town. Arnie and his Country Club Band played the big stage on the second day of the National Orange Show Fair in San Bernardino. I headed East on the 10 freeway along with a few thousand of my closest friends during the afternoon rush hour traffic. I pulled into Gate 8 but I did not use the public entrance. I drive by and yell, "It's OK. I'm with the band!" Lucky for me the stage is in the same spot again this year along with a YUGE generator. I think that oughtta get the job done. I couldn't get in right away. This gate was locked. Today is a special day to honor Veterans and they are starting to stack up at this gate too. Oops. So I call my dear friend and man-about-town, Chris, to help us out. He works the Orange Show too as well as running sound for both of my bands on occasion. He was able to get that gate unlocked in a quick jiffy. I was way early so I tossed my gear on stage and did a little exploring. Here's a view of the park where the stage is located. It was a comfortable, breezy day. You could not have ordered more perfect weather. This quonset hut was where the veteran's ball was being held. They had a ceremony, dinner, and a military choir. I asked one of the drivers if those mortars still worked. He said, "I'm supposed to tell you 'no'." Here's a little closer shot of this large stage. That's Rigo at the FOH, a friendly and easy guy to work with. I think he was on the crew last year when we did this gig. Here's the monitor board at stage left. Raul was running it and was also very easy to work with. He said, "I like you guys. You don't yell at me." George and Kaleb get the stage wired. I think this was Kaleb's first day. George was teaching him the ropes, or the cables. I'm not sure what they were going for with these stage decorations. Hmmm, I see eats and I see beer. Which shall it be? Beer! This is Kevin, our mixologist today. He was an affable sort who spotted me a beer even though he didn't even have his cash register yet. He said, "You look like an honorable guy. Pay me later." I guess I forgot to tell him I'm the bass player. I did not enjoy that Wolf Pup IPA. It's too lemony for me. But I finished it. To let it go to waste would be alcohol abuse. Then the rest of the crew, held up by the traffic coming out of Orange County, started to arrive. Arnie got is guitar set up. I helped Jason haul his drums from the parking lot. Come to think of it, I helped Arnie and Johnny too. That's what you get for being the first to arrive. Arnie and I are done with our setup dance. Jason and Johnny continue as a duet. We all brought fairly small gear. You can barely see it on that huge stage. Yay! Amanda is here. All is right with the world. Even though she's a bit under the weather she still put on the show. I'll be back in the next post with some action shots. Thanks for looking! Thank you for your indulgence, BassCliff
Hi! We played two forty five minutes sets. The first half of the first set was a little inconvenient having to stare into the sunset. I'm glad I brought my dorky sunglasses. And it's on with the show! Jason keeps time. He was at ease on this big stage. He could hit hard and not hurt anybody because we were a lot more spread out. John had brought his full rig. He likes having all the sounds and he's not afraid to use them. A little later in the evening we had a request for some Johnny Cash. I sang "Folsom Prison Blues" and called for a banjo solo. Johnny had it. Amanda, even though she wasn't 100%, had fun dancing all around the stage and getting her moves on. Here's a little gif I made. Look out! I think Johnny is going for his banjo patch again! Or maybe it's his trombone patch. Doesn't matter, they both sound great. It seems Jason was really keeping an eye on his metronome. Uh oh. Look out! The guitar player is headed this way! Don't point that thing at me unless you're going to use it! Amanda and I sang "Shallow" together again tonight. We're having fun with that song. I'll be sad when it goes away. Unfortunately, there was not a big crowd at the park today. Our first set had about twenty people in the crowd. Toward the end of the last set we had four die hard fans ignoring us. We were done shortly after 9pm and started the strike dance. The band sounded great and had a ton of fun but there were very few witnesses. We got a few compliments from the sound crew. Good enough. I was home by 10pm and in the office this morning by 9am. It's the dual life I lead. In the morning Johnny and I will catch a plane to Sacramento so we can drive over with True Willie for a show at Feather Falls Casino and Lodge near Oroville. That's always a quick, fun trip. I'll try to remember to take a few pictures. Thanks for looking everyone. I appreciate you sharing in my fun. Please share yours. Break a leg! Thank you for your indulgence, BassCliff
The people that didn't show up, missed out. It won't be like that at Gilley's. See you soon. Hangar tour Saturday?
Hi Cliff Numbers? Traffic $v(k$!!!! You' re with the band and we follow! 8th may? 1st august? I can 't find a pattern. All I can see is a great report! Afraid of friendly fire from that mortars? thx greetings Wise
Hi guys, Hangar tour? I think I can make that work. Sounds like a plan. Even though we didn't have a big crowd right in front of us, people were listening all around. I just got a phone call from my friend Chris. He said that Stan, the big honcho there at the fairgrounds, asked him, "Who was that band on the big stage last night? They were great!" Chris filled him in. Stan wants to hire us for the VIP events next year. Very cool. That means more $$$!!! Just goes to show, put on the show even if you think no one is watching. Because somebody just might be watching. Thank you. The number I like the most are the zeros at the end of my paycheck. Thank you for your indulgence, BassCliff
...I have played my share of outdoor gigs. I have never, ever liked those barricades. I do remember the times when people were allowed up close. Thoughts?
hi Cliff Never ever worry about the crowd! Only "dad bands" do that. (And the kids that do pay to play anyway ) I remember a Christmas gig I did, where we played for the bar owner, his family and the staff. It started to snow at noon and did not stop for three days! Waiting for 200 clients!!! That don' t show up to eat. The food was prepared! We were not payed. (we played for the door and there were about 25 - 30 guests that night ) But we played! We played three sets (1h each) long story short story…. The bar owner booked us later... And we made the zeros! greetings Wise btw: the food was great and it was "all you can eat"
Cool report @BassCliff Lemony beer at the Orange Fair? A citrus-y evening indeed. Too bad about the low attendance, but it looks like it may have resulted in bigger future events. Good on ya!
Hi Jim I would love to discuss that! In a bar! Or any other place where folks meet in person. People build them to keep "the others" out! (out of fear) I won' t go any further! may the bass be with you Wise(b)ass
Back when I played out...I thoroughly enjoyed two tiny bars in downtown Hampton, Va. 50 people would break every Fire Code. Anyway...hotties, literally 3ft away from me, drinking beers...my wife hated it!
I played the Orange show a few times with Diamond Creek back in the 90’s before our son was born. Our daughter used to like coming out to see us there because there was plenty of room to dance. Saw Charlie Daniels Band and The Texas Tornados their a couple times too, after we finished our show. Nice report.
Great show again Cliff. Yeah, we all get those "no one shows gigs" once in a while. Like a true pro you all brought your A game.
Hi guys! We should probably have this discussion in its own thread. I think they are necessary in a lot of situations. In this case, there was no crowd to control but they kept the kids from climbing on the subwoofers. Agreed. We just have our fun, like preaching to the choir, and if anybody else has fun it's just gravy. Thanks! I guess that citrus-y IPA is supposed to be refreshing but it just annoys me. I suppose it fits in with the theme of the fair. Sure, in the small rooms we play I enjoy the close interaction. I'm sure you've seen that in some of my other gig reports. But never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. Diamond Creek sounds familiar. Who was in that band? I'm afraid the area is a bit economically depressed these days so there are very few big names at this fair lately. Awww, thanks. We are just having fun. Why not? Luckily the right person noticed. Thank you for your indulgence, BassCliff
I've been saying and practicing that for years. Some others I've played with took the opposite approach. You proved my point. I dunno man, he's the boss. If I had a boss coming at me looking like that I'd be shaking.
Great gig report as usual. @BassCliff gig reports: Where excellence is commonplace. Btw, it's hard to tell from my phone, but those look like 105mm recoilless rifles to me.
Seems like playing to mostly empty seats just happens sometimes. We once played a house concert for the local parks system at a restored grist mill. We expected 50 to 60 since we were playing inside the mill; we had 2 people in the audience, but they enjoyed the show. We have played several more gigs since then for the same parks system at different venues. Great report again Cliff, thanks for taking us along. Thump on, One_Dude
I really enjoy your gig reports ❤️ And the crowd that didn’t show missed out! Looks like you all still had fun
If you take four of the squares of your stage, that is honestly the size of the stage we played on last night! I remember your report from here last year, what an awesome gig!