soniczen

Nothin’ better than opening for one of my fav’s and then hanging out with the SLO musicians family.

I think it was my best funk gig yet. You know, like, I played great and I felt good. There were only 10 people in the bar all night, but very friendly. There was a crazy dancing jumping guy who entertained us while we played.

It’s been a while. This place has a strange vibe.

Good vibes at Tobin James tonight. More to come…

Classic waiting. Headliner hasn’t showed and we’re just chillin. This means we won’t have a soundcheck. Yay.

The problem with playing at a wedding is the time wasted, or getting wasted between the hour when we can load in our gear and the time they want us to start playing. Another inconvenience is food. Smart couples account for the band in their catering numbers, props to them, but most do not, which leads to the biggest problem… an open bar, where the band indulges with wreckless abandon without anything in their bellies. This can lead to embarassing results on your “special day.” So long story short, feed your musicians, even if its some cheap pizza, otherewise don’t complain when we are stumbling on stage. Another tip? Get paid before you set up your gear.

Killin’ too much time during set-break, but its an itsy-bitsy crowd so I don’t feel so bad.

Somehow managed to load in at the Frog on a busy farmers market Thursday. Downbeat in about 20.

While camping at Live Oak 2009, made these guys. Stuffed only with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon and grilled. Next time I’m going to put some meat or mushrooms in there.

Gig with Inna Vision. The place looks like it never burned down, except for the nice fresh paint and a little less of the Willie Nelson vibe. We played well, good monitor mixes, crowd could have been double but the spring break crowd was more interested in the DJ-dance vibe provided by the venue next door.

As expected there was a “scene” that moved out into the parking lot. I guess you could call it a fight but I fell asleep at a booth until Raeme woke me up to tell me that they were clearing out the bar. Cops were in the lot inspecting each car for herb smoking criminals.

Mixing station was a trip. It is located about 150 feet from the stage on the second floor. The Tascam digital mixer is about 1 foot off the ground so if you wanted, you could lay on your stomach and mix the show.

It started to rain, we settled the $$ and bouced back to the hotel.

Tropics Bar and Cafe was a welcome first stop for the tour. This place reminds me of Frog and Peach: stage as you walk in, tables, messy walls, pieced together sound system. Definitely a reggae vibe here. Clean upstairs bar area and capacity is an intimate 150 persons. The people at this half bar, half internet cafe are your normal mix of bar folk at 5pm. Some getting in on with the cheap drinks, and others mooching the free wifi. We met up with John, drummer from Ooklah the Moc, after he got off work and he showed us how to get to Tropics. Pat, bar owner, was there to give us details on the night. Opening band, Guidance, was to start around 10, then we would finish the night. Nice bar tab and food situation confirmed so we grabbed a cab back to the hotel to rest up a bit and get ready.

Guidance, a nice little four piece with three of them singing, killed their set I thought. Per Hawaiian standard, the male vocal harmonies were on point but the bass player really stood out. The sound situation was classic. 20 channel Mackie on stage by the drummer, monitors on stands at head height and two mains, one with a sub cabinet. Nothing matches.

By the time we played there was about 50 people in the bar, and it stayed that way for most of the night. Not the spring break crowd by a long shot, but a few rastas and people that generally wanted to hear music and not scream at a DJ. Out set was nice and… loud? Man, the monitors right next to my head had me and Tony (trombone) switching positions every few songs just to save our ears. Our set was good for being as tired as we were, and when we were done we were all amped and wide awake, which was good because we had a 6am flight to Maui. Headed back to the hotel around 2:30am and checked out at 4am. No sleep.

…in Hawaii. I can understand how it would feel nice, but really?

Oakland International. Mike and Tim working and updating our myspace. Tony, supervising.

Either way, something shady goes on here.

Our trusty mixer. It has a configurable speaker amp built-in. I have nothing but good things to say about Yamaha gear. My only complaint is that it only has 2 aux sends for monitors, but the model with 4 sends has no built-in amp. Direct outs would also be nice.

Thank you captain obvious.

This missing closing paren was preventing millions the two people who read this from seeing my megapixels and elequent prose banter. Sorry, I’m back.

Pro tip: Talk and be friendly to strangers and they will probably buy you a drink.

I’ve probably killed a few days worth of hours in the alley behind downtown brew in SLO. I’m diggin this stage-side entrance and wondering why I didn’t notice the mural until now.

Inlaws in Thailand for a few years and told me give their truck a spin once in a while, so it has become a carpool vehicle for long-ish band trips. Tonight we head to Stateside in Santa Barbara for a show and we’ll be reclining in leather for the trip down and back.

There’s no phone service out at Pozo saloon, but there’s wifi.

Got a little over 2 hours to kill on the pier. Nice night and a lot of friends coming out so I’m thinking it will be a great night.

Gig: Tobin James night 1, Paso Robles, CA
Um. Just killin excessive time at a wine club members gig in Paso. Super nice night. Expected about 500 people tonight and 1600 tomorrow for round 2, wine industry party.
Free bottles of syrah trump the miller in the cooler.

A usability tip!
Ever found youself trying to tear off your paper wristband only to find that it just stretches and hurts your wrist?
Try this! Its super simple.
Turn the sticky part upside, and pull the “thingy” (as shown) and BAM! Your annoying wristband is off, and you didn’t accidentally bitch-slap whoever was next to you.

Gig: Resination, Klockwyze @ Maverick Saloon, Santa Maria, CA
Tonights second wind, that which is needed at 11pm before a set begins, is brought to you by the bourbon Makers and the cola Coke.

Gig: Resination, Zongo, The Twinkle Brothers at Pozo Saloon, Pozo, CA

 
All things considered, Pozo is probably the best venue in the area except for when Avila beach resort sets up their stage facing the bowl. Pozo Saloon is about 45 minutes northa-east of San Luis Obispo, and is usually hotter than a second story rehearsal room filled with 9 hungover fools on a summer afternoon.

The actual stage platform is fixed, the speaker cluster and lighting setup is always a little different depending on who is providing sound. This gig was BGA and obviously the promoter for the stage canopy.

Hints for musicians playing at Pozo Saloon:

1. Bring water, sunscreen (if you’re pale as snow, like me) and a cooler with beer and leave it backstage
2. You’ll probably get a meal ticket, otherwise plan on buying food there (or bring it) since you’ll probably be there for about 6 hours.
3. Horseshoe skills for the pit backstage
4. Bring a lighter. For some reason, everytime I’ve been at a Pozo gig, I always get asked for one. Straaaaange.

Zongo rocked it funky latin style. I heard most of their set and I was pleasantly surprised to see Jon Lee, Justin Perkins, Shawn (? Drummer), and Dillon Johnson on stage. Listening to their set made me want to play more funky style music. Not that I don’t love reggae, but its gettin’ a little old.

I can’t forget that when I was playing salsa with Sabroso, my range, endurance and tone shot through the roof, probably from just playing more, but I think that the excitement factor played a role too. I digress.

Pozo rocks. If you haven’t been to a show there yet, GO!

Killin time at the giants game in the Oracle Suites. Dope seats, only problem is that a six pack costs $35.

Gig weekend in The city, looking forward to this show tonight (thanks for the heads-up Mike!), Giants game tomorrow, show at Pier23, and Dezarie on Sunday at DTB.
Weather in the city is amazing. Not a cloud.
Cheers.

Gig: Resination, Day two at Grover Beach some-kind-of Festival, CA

The second day at this venue calls for a different medicine. That’s Mike (rhythm guitar) drinking the Korbel, and Tim (drums) with the coffee. The wind and bbq smoke is relentless here.

The red canopy in the background did a triple back-flip mid-set after a gust of wind lifted it airborne. Same thing happened during yesterdays set, except a person was in it’s path. (No one got hurt.) Tie your shit down people!

BTW, we are playing at Live Oak Music Festival. I don’t think they’ve posted it yet, but we will be on the hot licks stage Friday night, 10:30-midnight