AnthonyD
Well-known member
Wow... Saturday was one mess after another, made whole for me only by the incredible, awesome tone of my new Bongo HSp...
This was one of our regular, annual gigs - "Uncle Joe's BBQ" - a come as you are and bring a friend summer-fun event that usually gets 100 - 150 people. We played last year (the theme was "Rock 'n Roll"), had a blast and decided we'll be back every year.
We looked forward to this big time - it's a lot of fun, they're a great crowd and it's a great place to try new stuff because of the informal atmosphere. And I have a new bass that arrived Thursday!
Day starts at 10:00AM - we're on the way when I get an 11:00AM call from Mike (front man, lead singer, personality of the Band). His wife went head-first over her bicycle during some road-race and she is currently enroute to the hospital (she landed on her head, cracked her helmet, but no bodily harm beyond scrapes and bruises). He's on his way there - not sure if he'll make the gig.
Next call - he will make the gig - she's fine - will likely be here around 4PM. No problem, that's about when we planned to get started.
He shows up at 5PM - and his "Don't worry I'm fine" wife is not with him after all, and a bit peeved that he decided to show-up to play after all (so he's not in the best state of mind). We drop his gear in place, plug in and get his levels set when the fuse blows...
Not the circuit... Not the house... The whole freakin' neighborhood.
Wasn't us - there was some "planned outage" to allow crews to repair some main line somewhere - no one told us (and we don't pack a generator).
We had originally planned to play about 2-2½ hours, until dark - that means about 8:15PM. We wait... Can't do anything else, like say, go for a swim for fear of not being ready to get up and play when the power returns. We watch the minutes go by. 6:00PM... 7:00PM... We're thinking it may be over - complete bust - all this way for nothing...
7:35PM someone shouts "The power is back!" and we rush the stage (the grassy area we set-up in). Set lists out the window, we bang-out about 10-12 songs before it's so dark we can't see the expressions on one another's faces. Can't say it was one of our best performances, though everyone liked what they got - and we now look forward to next year.
But, for me, my bass NEVER sounded so good - Bongo KILLED! And in the 45 minutes or so I did get to play all was right in the world, and it was the perfect gig after all.
This was one of our regular, annual gigs - "Uncle Joe's BBQ" - a come as you are and bring a friend summer-fun event that usually gets 100 - 150 people. We played last year (the theme was "Rock 'n Roll"), had a blast and decided we'll be back every year.
We looked forward to this big time - it's a lot of fun, they're a great crowd and it's a great place to try new stuff because of the informal atmosphere. And I have a new bass that arrived Thursday!
Day starts at 10:00AM - we're on the way when I get an 11:00AM call from Mike (front man, lead singer, personality of the Band). His wife went head-first over her bicycle during some road-race and she is currently enroute to the hospital (she landed on her head, cracked her helmet, but no bodily harm beyond scrapes and bruises). He's on his way there - not sure if he'll make the gig.
Next call - he will make the gig - she's fine - will likely be here around 4PM. No problem, that's about when we planned to get started.
He shows up at 5PM - and his "Don't worry I'm fine" wife is not with him after all, and a bit peeved that he decided to show-up to play after all (so he's not in the best state of mind). We drop his gear in place, plug in and get his levels set when the fuse blows...
Not the circuit... Not the house... The whole freakin' neighborhood.
We had originally planned to play about 2-2½ hours, until dark - that means about 8:15PM. We wait... Can't do anything else, like say, go for a swim for fear of not being ready to get up and play when the power returns. We watch the minutes go by. 6:00PM... 7:00PM... We're thinking it may be over - complete bust - all this way for nothing...
7:35PM someone shouts "The power is back!" and we rush the stage (the grassy area we set-up in). Set lists out the window, we bang-out about 10-12 songs before it's so dark we can't see the expressions on one another's faces. Can't say it was one of our best performances, though everyone liked what they got - and we now look forward to next year.
But, for me, my bass NEVER sounded so good - Bongo KILLED! And in the 45 minutes or so I did get to play all was right in the world, and it was the perfect gig after all.