But I don't have 'em. It occurred to me that this was a gig I could take a few pictures at using my phone, just to prove that, well, what does it prove if I'm in none of the pictures?
It was the three piece band with me on upright, an electric guitarist, and a singer. A law firm hired us to play their holiday party. I'm not sure if it was a Christmas party or just a year end party or what. The venue was a large event space on Pier 66, with a great view of Elliot Bay. Doh, that's another thing I could have taken pictures of. More on why no pictures later.
The pier has some kind of access to cruise ships, which means that it's a high security area. I'm not sure why cruise ships would be a target of anything bad, but apparently they are, so you have to get through a gate to load in. They have seen musical instruments once or twice before. Getting through was a snap, once we got the guard's attention.
We loaded in through the dock and then took a freight elevator up to the kitchen to get to the room where we were to play. Then I came back down, took the van across the street to a parking garage since there was no parking on the pier. Then I carefully left my phone and any ability to take pictures locked up in the van. DOH! One more reason I'm not BassCliff!
We were set up in a corner of a large room that had tables and tables of food like meatballs. Ah, something else I could have taken a picture of. There were bars scattered around in other rooms and the corridor nearby. I hit the hard stuff - Coca Cola - right away. The bartender was amused. She took care of me well and poured me several stiff Coca Colas over the course of the evening, so no complaints.
The party officially started at 4:30, and we started playing at 4:45 or so. No sound check meant we had to ask one of the organizers how things sounded. He said the bass was everywhere but the guitar and singer were hard to hear. The little Carvin amp was practically turned off. I guess the upright projects pretty well just on it's own. So, we adjusted. The room filled up with lawyers who spent the evening talking to each other and ignoring us for the most part. My best guess for attendance is somewhere between 200 and 300 over the evening, maybe more. We would get the occasional person who would come up and watch us for a while, then wander off. We aren't exactly a dance band and it wasn't a dancing event. So, no dancing. It was odd being ignored and then hearing back how much everyone liked us. We were pleasant live Muzak. That's OK with me. I got paid to play for nearly three hours and then got home at a reasonable time.
Getting out was a bit of an adventure. Because the van was parked in a garage across the street, I had to get it back through the security gate. Unfortunately, the guard had decided to disappear. I was beginning to contemplate scaling the gate to see what would happen when he showed up again to let us in. Something like that has to happen or it wouldn't be right.
And then we all went home and got a good night's sleep before turning back into day job types. I'm getting closer to existing. The phone with a camera was loaded into the van, it just stayed in the van. Maybe next time.
It was the three piece band with me on upright, an electric guitarist, and a singer. A law firm hired us to play their holiday party. I'm not sure if it was a Christmas party or just a year end party or what. The venue was a large event space on Pier 66, with a great view of Elliot Bay. Doh, that's another thing I could have taken pictures of. More on why no pictures later.
The pier has some kind of access to cruise ships, which means that it's a high security area. I'm not sure why cruise ships would be a target of anything bad, but apparently they are, so you have to get through a gate to load in. They have seen musical instruments once or twice before. Getting through was a snap, once we got the guard's attention.
We loaded in through the dock and then took a freight elevator up to the kitchen to get to the room where we were to play. Then I came back down, took the van across the street to a parking garage since there was no parking on the pier. Then I carefully left my phone and any ability to take pictures locked up in the van. DOH! One more reason I'm not BassCliff!
We were set up in a corner of a large room that had tables and tables of food like meatballs. Ah, something else I could have taken a picture of. There were bars scattered around in other rooms and the corridor nearby. I hit the hard stuff - Coca Cola - right away. The bartender was amused. She took care of me well and poured me several stiff Coca Colas over the course of the evening, so no complaints.
The party officially started at 4:30, and we started playing at 4:45 or so. No sound check meant we had to ask one of the organizers how things sounded. He said the bass was everywhere but the guitar and singer were hard to hear. The little Carvin amp was practically turned off. I guess the upright projects pretty well just on it's own. So, we adjusted. The room filled up with lawyers who spent the evening talking to each other and ignoring us for the most part. My best guess for attendance is somewhere between 200 and 300 over the evening, maybe more. We would get the occasional person who would come up and watch us for a while, then wander off. We aren't exactly a dance band and it wasn't a dancing event. So, no dancing. It was odd being ignored and then hearing back how much everyone liked us. We were pleasant live Muzak. That's OK with me. I got paid to play for nearly three hours and then got home at a reasonable time.
Getting out was a bit of an adventure. Because the van was parked in a garage across the street, I had to get it back through the security gate. Unfortunately, the guard had decided to disappear. I was beginning to contemplate scaling the gate to see what would happen when he showed up again to let us in. Something like that has to happen or it wouldn't be right.
And then we all went home and got a good night's sleep before turning back into day job types. I'm getting closer to existing. The phone with a camera was loaded into the van, it just stayed in the van. Maybe next time.
