Johnnyplaysbass w/Tribute to Journey: Another Journey @ Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield, Ohio

Hey Fellow TBers!
This is my first attempt at a gig report, so please be kind. I hope I can follow the blue print that @BassCliff has made. He has set the standard by which all gig reports are measured.

My Journey tribute band, Another Journey, performed at the Hard Rock Rocksino in Nothfield Park, Ohio on Saturday April 8th. Northfield is located about 20 miles from Cleveland. Here is the Hard Rock's advertisement for the show.


The band is based in Las Vegas, but I live in Orange County in Southern California. On Friday morning, I flew from LAX and met the rest of the guys at the airport in Cleveland. We were picked up in an official Hard Rock vehicle by one of their drivers. (The Hard Rock provided ground transportation for us for the duration of our time in Cleveland.)



We arrived at our hotel about 6:00pm. Here we are unloading our stuff.


It had snowed 6 inches the day before, so there was still snow on the ground. It was in the low 30s that when we arrived. Here is the view from my room.

All five of us had our own had our own rooms. We got ourselves situated and met in the hotel lobby and dining area for some pizza that we had ordered for delivery. ( @dbase, sorry I didn't get any pictures of the pizza. There will be some food shots later. )
After dinner we all retired to our rooms. We were tired from a long day of traveling.

Van call was at 1:00pm Saturday. We were once again picked up by the Hard Rock and taken to the venue. We arrived about 1:20pm. Here is a photo of the giant screen advertising our show at the entrance.

And here is a photo of as you enter the casino's south entrance.

Of course, being the band, we entered at the back of the venue near the loading dock. Upon entering, we saw this waiting for us.


Here are some photos I took of our "Green Room".

After checking out our "Green Room", we were taken to our dressing rooms. I shared Dressing Room 1 with two of the other guys. There was also a bathroom with a shower in there, as well.



My rig for the night was an Ampeg SVT-CL head and an Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. I brought my red Fender Jazz Bass Special and my black Fender Deluxe P-Bass Special. I used the P-Bass Special for the show.

My pedals for the night consisted of my Line 6 G50 wireless, Boss TU-2 Tuner, Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus, and MXR M-80 Bass D.I. +.


Here is a view from FOH.


It was around 5:00pm when we finished soundcheck. The doors didn't open until 7:00pm and showtime was at 8:00pm . So, we had a lot of time to relax before we hit the stage. When we returned to the "Green Room", this was waiting for us. Stuff to make sandwiches and a fruit tray. I don't like to eat much before going on stage, so I just ate some pineapple and blackberries.

And our fridge had been stocked with various sodas and water.


I took this shot from the stairs right before we took the stage. It's a full house!

 

The show started at 8:00pm and we played about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Here are some photos taken by the staff of the Hard Rock during the show.













We took this photo with the crowd behind us at the end of the show. The audience was fantastic! The staff were amazing! We had an absolute blast!

We got back to our hotel around midnight. The van picked us up at 1:00pm the next day to take us back to the airport. Here we are loading up.

 

We got to the airport about 1:30pm. Since my flight wasn't until 6:15pm, I couldn't check in until 2:15pm. Once I was able to check in and went through security, I met the other guys at a place called The Pub for some dinner.

I had the English Pot Roast. It was delicious!


Instead of flying back home to SoCal, I flew to Las Vegas. My wife drove to Vegas and picked me up at the airport. We spent two nights there at the New York New York Hotel and Casino together and drove home Tuesday morning. I had a great gig and overall fun trip! Thanks for reading my first gig report! Hope you enjoyed it!

 

Thanks for the kind words, @dtripoli. I've played my share of dive bars over the years, as well. Definitely have some great memories and stories.

Thanks, @OCDave. The IEMs that our keyboard player uses sends him a click for a few songs that he starts, like "Open Arms", "Who's Crying Now", "Faithfully". For some songs our drummer uses IEMs, too. Sometimes our lead vocalist will use them for his personal mix, but he didn't for this show. The lead guitarist and I have yet to use IEMs and just rely on the floor monitors.

Thanks for the feedback, @dbase . I'm glad I passed the test. I made sure I got a few food shots for you specifically!

If you ever make it out to this way, we'll have to hang out and get something to eat!

Thanks for the kind words, @growlypants . Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks for your vote of confidence, @McG . It's nice to play a first class gig at a first class venue for first class fans!

 

Thanks, @dlb1001! I have played a lot of little places in my time, too.

Yes, it was a great venue to play! Thanks for the kind words!

Thanks, @nixdad! Glad you liked it! I met these guys back in March 2012 through a friend of mine who was the original drummer. He and I had played together in a country band in Los Angeles in 2009, and later a rock cover band. He moved to Las Vegas in 2011. He and and the guitar player were forming a Journey tribute band in early 2012 and asked me if I wanted to come to Las Vegas for an audition. So, I drove out there one day in March, auditioned, and got the gig.

Thanks, @DirtDog! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks, @Sore Thumb! Thanks for taking the time to read it!

 

Thanks, @BassCliff! I really appreciate the kind words, especially since you are the gig report king! Everything about this gig was, as you said, excellent!

This was the first time I had flown with two basses. I had previously flown many times with just one, either in a gig bag placed in the overhead bin or checked in an SKB Waterproof ATA Bass Guitar Case. But, I always worried about not having a backup bass. So, I searched the internet and TalkBass for a gig bag that was made for two basses. After much research I decided on the Reunion Blues RBX Double Bass Guitar Gig Bag and I couldn't be happier. I would highly recommend it to anyone. For this gig I flew Southwest. They are very musical instrument friendly and your first two checked bags are free. I brought the gig bag containing two basses (carry on, easily fit in the overhead bin), a backpack (personal item), and a suitcase (which I checked). I opted to pay $15 for early check in both ways so that I was in boarding group "A" and assured an empty overhead bin for my gig bag. I try to travel as light as possible, too. Our baggage fees are factored into our covered expenses, as well.

I've never had my gig bag pulled aside by TSA for special inspection before. This last trip when I put it on the conveyor belt in Cleveland, the TSA agent checking the X-Ray screen did seem a little surprised that there were two basses in it.

Hopefully, we'll catch up at each others shows this summer, or even at another TB member's gig! Thanks again!