And Zoomie, I heard Pat Travers was great. A friend from Elizabethton went and had his pic taken with PT.
The whole eveing was very interesting. I witnessed so many things from a musician's perspective. Since some of it applies to you guys that play out regularly around here, I'll share to try and help you avoid some heartache.
First up was Steve and The Hurricanes. The mix was the worst that I have heard in a very, very long time. I didn't see a sound man but if they have one, some one needs to put him out of his misery quickly. The kick was so over mic'd that the minute the band fired up, low-mid resononant feedback was overbearing thoughout every single song. I failed to hear a single note played by the bass player and he had more than enough juice (backline Ampeg) to get the job done with some sense of clarity. Nothing but mud and hum.
I felt so bad for the band as no one could here anything therefore leaving a performance nary of mention. I could clearly see by the bass players finger patterns that he was laying down some good stuff, but like I said, I never heard a note.
The lesson learned here is that it is critical to either A) have a sound guy that has a vague clue, B) Have someone at each and every performance that you trust to identify serious problems, C) have someone in the band that runs cordless get out in front of FOH sound for a few moments of the first song. 15 seconds of listen time for anyone would have had them diving for the boards!
Second up was The Kris Bell Band. Mix was still horrific but the guys from Steve and the Hurricanes helped them work on it throughout the show to combat felonies. Still, no one backed down the flippin kick mic! Cord short problems on 2 different singing mics before they finally got it sorted.
From a performance perspective, this band has to be one of the best in the south and I am more than willing to bet money that they will draw national air play sooner or later. The band was tighter than ten toes in a sock. Kris is a remarkable guitar player with some of the best timing that I have ever witnessed.
The bass player was heard although still buried in the mix from time to time, and laid serious grooves. They closed with.........wait for it..........Freebird, and I have to admit they owned it. Their version was actually better than I have heard LS play it.
We ended up getting hauled back stage by the bass player to talk shop and he showed us his basses, Fender 4 and 5 Jazzes. The back of his four string had a ton of signatures from the whos who of rock and roll. Very nice guy! I just love that bass players seem to generally be more grounded and friendly than anyone elese in bands.
While we were chatting the drummer begged for some quick load out help. Next thing you know I'm helping him him schlep ATA's! ROFL. Mrs. Zoomie sees me up on stage and was wondering what the heck was going on. Temp roadie!
The bottom line is that these guys are a rock solid band and good enough that I bought their CD to give it a serious listen at home.
Pat was last. I happen to be a huge fan of his current bass player, Rodney O Quinn. This is the guy to we mere mortals of bass should model ourselves after. Great stage performer without being over the top. Blistering bass skills to back it up. And an even greater guy off stage.
The mix had improved again although still not anything better than tolerable. Interestingly, it improved the moment THEY TURNED DOWN THE KICK !
Very small crowd which allowed for some fantastic pics. All three bands played like they were playing at a 100K stadium! Reminded me that you earn fans one at a time. If there are only 4 fans, then you rock all four's butts off, and then reach out to say hello and thank them for coming.
All the bands handled the drunk portion of the crowd very well. They had fun with them without ever being disrespectful.
Pat's entire band made themselves available for a meet and greet afterwords. In spite of it being 2 AM, every person in the band chatted with every single person that wanted to say hello. They never rushed anyone.
I had to ask Rodney about his infamous white bass as I could never figure out what it was, other than a Fender P/J of some kind. Turns out he plays a Tony Franklin FRETTED P. I had seen the more popular fretless version a number of times but had no idea that they made a fretted version.
We got a few pics. Pat insisted in a taking a pic with Mrs Zoomie which made her night. She was giggling like a giddy school girl. Another classic example of dumping your bass player husband for the first cool guitar player that shows up.
World class folks one and all. They seemed to really enjoy chatting with everyone. Again, earning fans one person at a time.
A heads up to anyone that ever plays at Conleys, especially upstaris. It is an all metal commercial building. Bring everything that you have, and give yourself serious time to work on sound quality. If you are opening for someone, you need to have someone there to help with sound. Otherwise, you could be the hottest band in town that just happens to sound horrible at best.
