Having BassCliff Gig Report Withdrawals

[BassCliff]

Hi guys!

Thursday's bass players Zoom conference was a success. Lots of interesting and extremely talented bass players logged into our little video soiree. What seemed strange to me was all their bass stories seemed similar to mine in some way. Hmmm! Looking forward to next Thursday.

View attachment 3820338

Wow Bill! I'm really sorry I missed that Zoom GTG. But I will send out invites for the next one tomorrow. If anyone would like to join us please drop me your email in a PM. Thanks!

Now just for fun, here are a couple of my video gig memories. The first one is a really fun song for me to play. I don't have to sing on this one so I can really concentrate. But still, can you find the clam?



Here is a compilation from a summer concert at Diamond Bar almost three years ago. This park is really close to where I work so it was a pretty special event for me because a lot of my coworkers from my day job showed up. It was fun.




I hope to see a bunch of you Thursday evening. Take care.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BassCliff]

Hello my friends,

I sent out Zoom GTG invitations this evening. I hope to see you Thursday evening. If anyone else wants to join please PM your email address to me and I'll put you on the list.

Here are a couple more video gig memories to pass the time, a couple of compilations. The first of my "somewhat daily" video gig memories is from a reunion gig of sorts with my dear friends in The Runnin' Kind. This is from about five years ago at one of those "snowbird" resorts in the Palm Springs area.



For the second of my video gig memories this evening is another compilation from my current band. This is from a couple of years ago at The Ranch. I kick off this mini-set with another of my favorite Hal Ketchum songs. Then Austin and Amanda finish it up.




That's it! I hope to see a bunch of you Thursday night. Take care and God bless.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I kick off this mini-set with another of my favorite Hal Ketchum songs. Then Austin and Amanda finish it up.

All of the videos are really good, but specifically nice vocal work sir!

 

[WI Short Scaler]

Hey gentlemen, just wanted to drop an advance notice here that I won't be able to attend the zoom meeting tonight.

We are practicing, as controversial as that may be. If you feel strongly against that let's agree to disagree and leave it at that, there's enough arguing on TB. We discussed things at length among the 3 of us and feel we can do it safely.

Have a good meeting.

 

[dbase]

Hey gentlemen, just wanted to drop an advance notice here that I won't be able to attend the zoom meeting tonight.

We are practicing, as controversial as that may be. If you feel strongly against that let's agree to disagree and leave it at that, there's enough arguing on TB. We discussed things at length among the 3 of us and feel we can do it safely.

Have a good meeting.

My band had a zoom meeting Monday and since we are all biting at the bit we scheduled at least to talk about having our first practice since March at the end of May... I have health issues as well as the lead singer.. We have to convince our wives for the OK. All our future gigs are slowly being cancelled so all we have is practice. I don't sing so I can wear a mask at practice... The studio is big enough for social distancing. Everything is still up in the air at this point in time. I don't see any bars/clubs getting back to Pre-Covid19 era crowds for at least a year or until a vaccine is developed and everyone is protected.

 

[dbase]

Hi guys!



Wow Bill! I'm really sorry I missed that Zoom GTG. But I will send out invites for the next one tomorrow. If anyone would like to join us please drop me your email in a PM. Thanks!

Now just for fun, here are a couple of my video gig memories. The first one is a really fun song for me to play. I don't have to sing on this one so I can really concentrate. But still, can you find the clam?



Here is a compilation from a summer concert at Diamond Bar almost three years ago. This park is really close to where I work so it was a pretty special event for me because a lot of my coworkers from my day job showed up. It was fun.




I hope to see a bunch of you Thursday evening. Take care.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Ha .. good to see and hear the old GK on "Heartache Tonight" Where is that rig nowadays. probably collecting dust in your closet?

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I don't see any bars/clubs getting back to Pre-Covid19 era crowds for at least a year or until a vaccine is developed and everyone is protected.

It's funny you say that about clubs and crowds. Here in WI yesterday, our Supreme Court struck down the governor's stay at home order and ALL businesses were give the go ahead to open last night around 5 pm. I've seen lots of FB posts from bars saying they won't open for a short time in order to get staff scheduled and inventory back in stock. Also others are saying they're open but at 1/2 capacity, 2 stools open between cust's, 6 ft between tables etc.

BUT, I also heard about alot of places that went crazy and were overflowing with people, jammed in face to face and flowing outside at many of them. I mean I'm happy that bars are open but the approach of going from "nothing" to "all out" seems excessive. I think whenever people go out there will be an increase but just my opinion of course. We had a gig scheduled for 5/24 at an outside patio, venue we've worked with alot, that was obviously cancelled. I wonder what will happen with that. They haven't posted anything about being open now or when they will be.

Crazy world.

 

[Kitsapbass]

I know my governor just took a header off into Lunacy Ville (as in comply with contract tracing or you’re under house arrest until you do), but I think a somewhat sane middle ground is there.

I’m a bit envious of my friend in Arizona who actually got to eat at a restaurant for the first time since March - and he & his wife were the only ones there, and it’s not in a small city either.

I know that my county hasn’t had 160 cases yet, and still the same two deaths in a county of close to 300k, yet we’re still on lockdown.

 

[nixdad]

Hey gentlemen, just wanted to drop an advance notice here that I won't be able to attend the zoom meeting tonight.

We are practicing, as controversial as that may be. If you feel strongly against that let's agree to disagree and leave it at that, there's enough arguing on TB. We discussed things at length among the 3 of us and feel we can do it safely.

Have a good meeting.

Rehearsal? What's a rehearsal?

 

[Kitsapbass]

So here’s what I do for my day job. The “before” pictures.

 

[Kitsapbass]

The after pictures.

 

[nixdad]

View attachment 3829525 View attachment 3829527 View attachment 3829528 View attachment 3829526 So here’s what I do for my day job. The “before” pictures.

Jeez, Nate. It’s a miracle anyone survived.
Thanks for sharing your world with us - fascinating!

 

[BassCliff]

Hi!

Ha .. good to see and hear the old GK on "Heartache Tonight" Where is that rig nowadays. probably collecting dust in your closet?

Yep, my rig is sitting in my garage. It's not collecting dust because it's covered.

It was great to see everyone tonight. @Kitsapbass has a pretty cool job, but lots of responsibility.

@Bassed in NZ joined us to lend an international flare to our East Coast/West Coast/Midwest get together. @nixdad told us a pretty cool story about a show for which he had backlined the bass rigs. A few of us talked about the Netflix and Amazon Prime shows we've been binging. I'm hoping I get start playing gigs again before September. We'll see, I guess.

My heartfelt thanks to @Bunk McNulty, @Tony In Philly, @Kitsapbass, @ak56, @dbase, @Bassed in NZ, @McG, and @nixdad for sharing in the fun, sharing old pictures, sharing our favorite libations, etc. I should mention that @wintremute could not join us tonight because he and Mrs. wintremute were celebrating their anniversary! Yay! Anyway, let's do this again next week. God bless us all.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[dbase]

Hi!



Yep, my rig is sitting in my garage. It's not collecting dust because it's covered.

It was great to see everyone tonight. @Kitsapbass has a pretty cool job, but lots of responsibility.

View attachment 3829598

@Bassed in NZ joined us to lend an international flare to our East Coast/West Coast/Midwest get together. @nixdad told us a pretty cool story about a show for which he had backlined the bass rigs. A few of us talked about the Netflix and Amazon Prime shows we've been binging. I'm hoping I get start playing gigs again before September. We'll see, I guess.

My heartfelt thanks to @Bunk McNulty, @Tony In Philly, @Kitsapbass, @ak56, @dbase, @Bassed in NZ, @McG, and @nixdad for sharing in the fun, sharing old pictures, sharing our favorite libations, etc. I should mention that @wintremute could not join us tonight because he and Mrs. wintremute were celebrating their anniversary! Yay! Anyway, let's do this again next week. God bless us all.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

This was in the editorial page this morning ...

 

[WI Short Scaler]

The after pictures.

Pretty cool, I suppose after awhile it's just a job to you but looks pretty interesting to me.

It was great to see everyone tonight.

Looks like a well attended meeting. Sorry to have missed it but the chance to practice could not be turned down. We definitely scraped some rust off!

 

[Kitsapbass]

Pretty cool, I suppose after awhile it's just a job to you but looks pretty interesting to me.



Looks like a well attended meeting. Sorry to have missed it but the chance to practice could not be turned down. We definitely scraped some rust off!

I just make sure that I’m not telling tales or showing pics that haven’t been cleared is all for obvious reasons. All the pics I posted were from a Google search, to ensure of that.

On a side note, looks like Guam isn’t happening but San Diego is. The nice thing about that is it’ll end up being a quick turnaround - 72 hours and home again.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi Chris,

Looks like a well attended meeting. Sorry to have missed it but the chance to practice could not be turned down. We definitely scraped some rust off!

Hey, I don't blame you. I'd be happy to play with real people again. We'll just have to see how quickly the folks around here feel like getting back to being America again.

I just make sure that I’m not telling tales or showing pics that haven’t been cleared is all for obvious reasons. All the pics I posted were from a Google search, to ensure of that.

On a side note, looks like Guam isn’t happening but San Diego is. The nice thing about that is it’ll end up being a quick turnaround - 72 hours and home again.

Yeah, that little fender bender looks like it would take more than a little bondo and paint. Wow. I wonder if the bus driver lost his job or if he got away with blaming it on a bad map.

Enjoy your quick visit to San Diego. Travel mercies. Take care.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[McG]

View attachment 3829525 View attachment 3829527 View attachment 3829528 View attachment 3829526 So here’s what I do for my day job. The “before” pictures.

It was great to see everyone tonight. @Kitsapbass has a pretty cool job, but lots of responsibility.

It was a fun GTG as usual. Nate had some amazing stories from his unusual career. The photos are incredible.

Yeah, that little fender bender looks like it would take more than a little bondo and paint.

Years ago my neighbor had a Corvette restoration shop. One day his girlfriend called saying she got into a "little" accident in her Vette. Jack said to being it by the house. Later that day a tow truck showed up with a severely front-end crunched Corvette. Jack looked at it and said "I thought it would be a bondo, paint and buff job".

 

[Kitsapbass]

Yeah, that little fender bender looks like it would take more than a little bondo and paint. Wow. I wonder if the bus driver lost his job or if he got away with blaming it on a bad map.

Enjoy your quick visit to San Diego. Travel mercies. Take care.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Won’t be before June. I’ve been on an email thread for 4 hours discussing what all they want to do. Generally speaking it’s a wish list that the Navy bean counters will go and start running numbers, and then they’ll go to the Defense Department.

On a positive note, maybe Skunk Baxter will be there this time. He was when I worked on the Maine in San Diego.

 

[nixdad]

Hi!



Yep, my rig is sitting in my garage. It's not collecting dust because it's covered.

It was great to see everyone tonight. @Kitsapbass has a pretty cool job, but lots of responsibility.

View attachment 3829598

@Bassed in NZ joined us to lend an international flare to our East Coast/West Coast/Midwest get together. @nixdad told us a pretty cool story about a show for which he had backlined the bass rigs. A few of us talked about the Netflix and Amazon Prime shows we've been binging. I'm hoping I get start playing gigs again before September. We'll see, I guess.

My heartfelt thanks to @Bunk McNulty, @Tony In Philly, @Kitsapbass, @ak56, @dbase, @Bassed in NZ, @McG, and @nixdad for sharing in the fun, sharing old pictures, sharing our favorite libations, etc. I should mention that @wintremute could not join us tonight because he and Mrs. wintremute were celebrating their anniversary! Yay! Anyway, let's do this again next week. God bless us all.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

It was another excellent GTG, Cliff - thanks again for hosting.

Here's a full account from a few years ago regarding the 1985 Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley All Star Jam we had discussed last night: Your Chuck Berry Story

Here are a few photo stills from the concert video which was released years later:
Phil Chen and (the hands of) John Lodge in front of 1 of the 4 Trace Elliot rigs we had supplied for the concert:

Chuck Berry, Phil Chen, Rudy Sarzo, John Lodge and Ron Wood:

Ron Wood trying to get Chuck Berry to play guitar during "Rock and Roll Music" before being waived off by Chuck. The other out of focus guys on either side are John Mayall, Chuck Negron, Kenny Jones and Carl Wilson:

The guy in the black shirt behind Bill Champlin - that's me:

Me with Carl Wilson after rehearsal on day 1:

Chris