BassCliff w/KRB at Placentia (Tri-City Park), 7/13/17

Hello friends, Romans, countrymen, brothers and sisters, insomniacs, truck drivers, and those inclined toward deviant social behavior,

Me and the KRB played a summer concert in the park for the city of Placentia at Tri-City Park, a very nice facility. The staff let me pull my trusty Astro Van through the park right up to the back of the stage to unload. I had to drive slowly through some wildlife so as not to disturb them too much.



Then we had to park in the parking lot down the block. Well, I guess it wasn't that far away. It was still in the park, just not that close. When I exited my trusty Astro Van I noticed more wildlife.



There were Canadian geese and Egyptian geese on the grounds. We had an international crowd here this evening. You had to be careful where you stepped. These big birds kind of made a big mess.

The staff had set up a nice little tent behind the stage for some shade to use as our green room. It came in very handy. You also see the toy hauler the sound company used to hold its gear.



This was our hospitality this evening. We certainly took advantage of this cooler full of water and Gatorade.



Hal and Mario have arrived and put their gear on stage. The PA system today was pretty dang nice. I know it doesn't look like much, but it really kicked. The owner knows his stuff, has been doing this a long time, and pretty much designed and built his FOH speakers.



You see "Grumpy" at the rack. This is his system, and his toy hauler. Grumpy is 85 years old and still does sound company work. He's quite a character.



Hey! Looky there! Here comes Art rolling through the park.



It looks like the band and the sound crew are busy doing all the set-up stuff.



Here's Grumpy, his given name is Lee, at the FOH.



A view of the stage from the FOH mixer. I think Mario is just about ready to give Grumpy some kick drum.



This is the view from my mic as we sound check. It's still pretty warm out here. We had a 4pm call time.



You might notice that my gear tonight looks just like last night. That's because I didn't unload from the night before. I'm really getting lazy in my old age.



Jeremy, we've worked with him before at Knott's and other places, is taking care of monitors on his iPad. Kelly checks her busy communications hub.



The stage is all set. No, we don't have any cover. I forgot to bring a hat. I just had to suffer.



Yes, that's Art's pedal board case in front of his amp. He usually has a pretty loud stage volume. Even with this "shield" I don't have to put any guitar in my monitor. We can all hear him just fine.

I walked up to the "little bass player's room" near the entrance of the park. There is a good sized pond in the park, some might call it a small lake. This is only about half of it. The rest is behind me.



I guess this explains why the waterfowl like to congregate here, perhaps while they are migrating, or summering here, or wintering here.

While I was here I snapped a selfie in front of the sign at the park entrance.



This is a picture of the grounds as I made my way back to the stage. People seem to gather in the shady spots first. It was probably 90ºF at downbeat.



But it wasn't unbearable because of the breeze if you could find some shade, like these guys.



It's just about time to start. Here is Mario taking his place.



Grumpy has some last-minute maintenance to do on Kelly's mic while Daniel and Art check their tuning.



I'll be back in the next post to finish up this gig. Thanks for looking!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

Hi guys!

We are just about to start the show. I can tell because Kelly and I just took a selfie in front of the crowd.



Our announcer announces us, as they are want to do.



Kelly kicks us off with a little something we like to call...."music".



I grabbed this picture from the social media, off of the park's Facebook page.



We took a quick break so as to let the staff give away some raffle stuff.



Then we were back at it. Kelly is singing something that I'm not playing on right now. This is probably the first verse of "Stuck Like Glue", which we did for a friend of the band out in the audience tonight.



Kelly keeps Mario company while he sings "Can't Stop The Feeling". I usually play a little something on the intro to this but decided not to tonight so that I could take a picture.



Daniel does "Devil Went Down To Georgia" while Art does the rabbit ears thing.



Mario thinks that's pretty funny.



Hal just plays his little keyboards and wonders how we still have a gig.



Kelly gives me a smile.



We've just finished and the crowd is starting to disperse while Kelly talks to some fans.



Lo and behold! Who do I see walking up to the stage? It's our very own @johnnyplaysbass. This guy is a glutton for punishment. He's been to at least three of my gigs now. I think that's some kind of record.



Johnathan plays in an excellent Journey tribute band, Another Journey, and I hope to catch one of their shows soon. But they make the big bucks and fly all over the country, rarely playing local shows. One of these days I'll catch them in concert, I promise. (Or is that a threat?)

It's time to pack our gear and get home. It's great to finish at 8:30pm.



The KRB has a couple more park concerts next week, Wednesday at Diamond Bar and Thursday at Irvine. If you're in the area I hope you can stop by and heckle us.

If you had half as much fun as I did then I had twice as much fun as you. Thanks for looking! I hope to see you soon.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

Hi,

OH! I almost forgot. Someone posted a few seconds of video from this park gig. I downloaded it from the Friendface and put it on my Youtube channel.



I've got lots better footage of the KRB on my Youtube channel. Feel free to peruse it. You can disregard any non-musical videos. I've got family and motorcycle stuff there too.

basscliff6

And looky here, another cool picture of the band has surfaced on social media. Here ya go.



I can tell this picture was taken during "Little Red Wagon" because I'm using a pick. Please don't hate me. (The original recording was with a pick.)

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

Hi guys!

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate the company.

Ya know, Grumpy wasn't unpleasant at all. I told him, "You're the nicest guy I've ever met named 'Grumpy'." He said, "Well, if you mess with my mics or my speakers you'll see me get grumpy real fast."

I think the shade helps keep Grumpy from getting grumpy. He had a few guys on his crew so he didn't have to do much heavy lifting. Although I did see him grab a floor monitor, put it on a dolly, and roll it in the truck. He ain't afraid of work.

This was the second uncovered park concert this summer. I hope there are no more. That 85 year old sound guy, Grumpy (Lee), was telling us about all the replacement parts he has, shoulder replacement, knee replacement, ankle replacement, etc, like the Six Million Dollar Man. He was great to work with and has been working in the area for ages.

Ha! We have a few choreographed bits that have sort of evolved as we have worked together. Most of the time we're just running around stage having fun.

I'm hoping to bring my daughter to see your Who tribute soon. That's one of her favorite bands.

I tried growing it long last year but Mrs. BassCliff hated it. I keep it rather GQ. I'm getting too old to mess with my hair all the time. I'm just glad I still have some.

Take care everyone. It's good to share electrons with you.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

Hi,

Yes, there are just a few songs in our repertoire that were originally played with a pick on the recording. I don't normally use a pick otherwise. I do the high harmonies on that song too. It rocks.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

Hi,

A lot of cities have summer concerts around here. In January there are a couple of "Concert Share" events where the bands set up booths and the city booking agents check out all the available entertainment. Budgets, venue types, and amenities vary. I think the KRB is playing twelve cities this summer.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff