My apologies in advance, but I failed to take any pictures. Read on if you don't mind a text-heavy report.
A brief history: Final Gravity is my originals hard rock/prog/metal band based out of LA. We reformed from the ashes of a failed cover band in 2007 and gigged from late 2007 - mid 2011 in the LA area. The band went inactive at that time. We reconvened for a recording project at the end of 2016 and in January of 2019 played together live for the first time in nearly 8 years for one song. That gig report is here. This, however, would be a 30 minute set. We hadn't played a whole set since 2011.
So, The Fox Theatre in Fullerton was one of the venues for this year's Day of Music performances. Admission was free to the public.
Our vocalist Melissa is also the singer in the all-female tribute Lady Zep. LZ just happened to be playing immediately before us. Funny how that works.
I won't bore you with the details of the 40 mile drive from Studio City (my job) to Fullerton... in Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. Let's just say it took almost two hours.
I arrived just before Lady Zep went on. I was able to stash my two basses and my Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live in the green-room-with-no-walls area in the wings on stage left before they started. Since I knew there was backline, I didn't bring an amp.
The drummer and guitarist were not so lucky and had to stand around outside one of the exits near the stage for the whole set. Not sure why there was no access to load in and out from the backstage door, but the theatre is undergoing renovation so there may have been a perfectly good reason for it.
I met the sound man briefly before Lady Zep but didn't get a chance to talk to him again. Lady Zep had to sound check in front of the whole audience, playing half a song twice to get levels, before starting their set.
The house filled up as they went; the floor featured ladies dancing and most seats were filled by the end of their set.
We loaded up as Lady Zep were loading out, which was a careful ballet of not getting in anyone's way. It went smoothly.
I plugged the Pod into the backline GK MB112 and was pleasantly surprised at the full tone I was getting from my basses (which for this gig were my Warmoth Z bass 4 string and my Dingwall Afterburner).
Mike (our guitarist) had his Line 6 Helix and elected to go ampless - direct to board. He brought his Ernie Ball Petrucci and his PRS.
John (drums) adjusted the 5 piece Mapex Armory Rock kit provided for backline.
After less than 10 minutes of set-up, we did a quick line/signal check, the introduction was made and we played our 4 song, 30 minute set.
A few blurry cell phone pics:
Despite the challenges of an acoustically lively room, a crowd and sound mixer unfamiliar with our music and a monitor mix that made hearing ourselves difficult, we delivered a performance we were for the most part happy with.
The audience reacted with more enthusiasm than I had dared to expect (being the resident pessimist in this band). Here's a shot from the stage about a minute after the house lights came up to give an idea of the attendance/capacity.
The last song ended, we broke down and made way for the headliner: Stacey Q. Interestingly, I had seen her in the wings in the "green room" during our set and she seemed to be listening and enjoying (?) our set. I would not have guessed that.
We played for free since this was a charity show (all sales of booze and food went towards the restoration of the theatre) but they did offer to feed us all. We walked a couple of blocks to Fullerton Brewing Company (which is a misnomer since they brew nothing there) and were gifted with a free entree. I chose mahi mahi which also happened to be the most expensive thing there. It was good.
Three beers and a fish meal later and I was driving 60 minutes home. Don't worry; I waited to sober up before getting behind the wheel!
Thanks for reading!
A brief history: Final Gravity is my originals hard rock/prog/metal band based out of LA. We reformed from the ashes of a failed cover band in 2007 and gigged from late 2007 - mid 2011 in the LA area. The band went inactive at that time. We reconvened for a recording project at the end of 2016 and in January of 2019 played together live for the first time in nearly 8 years for one song. That gig report is here. This, however, would be a 30 minute set. We hadn't played a whole set since 2011.
So, The Fox Theatre in Fullerton was one of the venues for this year's Day of Music performances. Admission was free to the public.
Our vocalist Melissa is also the singer in the all-female tribute Lady Zep. LZ just happened to be playing immediately before us. Funny how that works.
I won't bore you with the details of the 40 mile drive from Studio City (my job) to Fullerton... in Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. Let's just say it took almost two hours.
I arrived just before Lady Zep went on. I was able to stash my two basses and my Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live in the green-room-with-no-walls area in the wings on stage left before they started. Since I knew there was backline, I didn't bring an amp.
The drummer and guitarist were not so lucky and had to stand around outside one of the exits near the stage for the whole set. Not sure why there was no access to load in and out from the backstage door, but the theatre is undergoing renovation so there may have been a perfectly good reason for it.
I met the sound man briefly before Lady Zep but didn't get a chance to talk to him again. Lady Zep had to sound check in front of the whole audience, playing half a song twice to get levels, before starting their set.
The house filled up as they went; the floor featured ladies dancing and most seats were filled by the end of their set.
We loaded up as Lady Zep were loading out, which was a careful ballet of not getting in anyone's way. It went smoothly.
I plugged the Pod into the backline GK MB112 and was pleasantly surprised at the full tone I was getting from my basses (which for this gig were my Warmoth Z bass 4 string and my Dingwall Afterburner).
Mike (our guitarist) had his Line 6 Helix and elected to go ampless - direct to board. He brought his Ernie Ball Petrucci and his PRS.
John (drums) adjusted the 5 piece Mapex Armory Rock kit provided for backline.
After less than 10 minutes of set-up, we did a quick line/signal check, the introduction was made and we played our 4 song, 30 minute set.
A few blurry cell phone pics:
Despite the challenges of an acoustically lively room, a crowd and sound mixer unfamiliar with our music and a monitor mix that made hearing ourselves difficult, we delivered a performance we were for the most part happy with.
The audience reacted with more enthusiasm than I had dared to expect (being the resident pessimist in this band). Here's a shot from the stage about a minute after the house lights came up to give an idea of the attendance/capacity.
The last song ended, we broke down and made way for the headliner: Stacey Q. Interestingly, I had seen her in the wings in the "green room" during our set and she seemed to be listening and enjoying (?) our set. I would not have guessed that.
We played for free since this was a charity show (all sales of booze and food went towards the restoration of the theatre) but they did offer to feed us all. We walked a couple of blocks to Fullerton Brewing Company (which is a misnomer since they brew nothing there) and were gifted with a free entree. I chose mahi mahi which also happened to be the most expensive thing there. It was good.
Three beers and a fish meal later and I was driving 60 minutes home. Don't worry; I waited to sober up before getting behind the wheel!
Thanks for reading!
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