Can't believe it's been ten days since the last blog. Seems like a lifetime. 5 days of Y2K fest, SoCal Loopfest, lots of solo gigs in and around then, Vegas....oy! What a trip.
California was great. Not a big surprise as California is awesome. Had some good shows (thank you John Vargas!) and the Y2K Fest was very cool. Saw some unreal music. I was floored by some of it and some of it I was glad to have missed. All kinds of stuff for all kinds of tastes. The artists were very cool and very interesting. Tech was awesome, venues were cool. It was like a little mini-conference/vacation. Hung out with the Walkers and their cadre of international loopers in Santa Cruz. That was a ton of fun. Hideki - round two!!!
After some lovely time in Santa Cruz it was time to head down to Long Beach. Started off with some hang time with Zack Walters of 3rd Alley. Dude made wicked breakfasts and late night tacos, laid down a sweet set of original tunes at the SoCal fest, took me around town a bit and we talked biz, life, etc... great hang with a friend. Good times. Squeezed in a fun day and crazy night with Lew Richards. Lew is an old buddy from the Marines. Hung out at his studio, (17th Street recording studio in Costa Mesa), for a the day and then we went "exploring" that night. Suffice to say that was a mistake. Ended up crashing in my van in the parking lot sometime after 3am and didn't make it back to Long Beach until that afternoon.
DiPiazza's was the location for the SoCal Fest and man was it hot. By far the best line-up I've ever put on stage - both nights! Unreal performers, GREAT venue, sound was tight, audience was light. Got to see Supertall Paul Newman, which was awkwardly awesome and tons of other great acts. Mike Why from Pittsburgh was hot, hot, hot! Daniel Park was precise and perfect, Jean-Paul De Roover did his usual Canadian thing and knocked it out of the park and on and on and on. Talk about a wonderful two nights. It really was something unusually special.
And then Vegas happened. I thought my home state of Montana was devoid of a music loving populace. And it is. Vegas is filled with people who actually hate music. It's safe to say I don't foresee a 2nd Annual Las Vegas LoopFest happening. It's too much to do too much to organize, none of the international loopers (save Jean-Paul) came and Vegas just sucks. Although the local acts - Daniel Park and Red Grooves were tight. The other gigs I scrounged up ended up being a waste. For me to say that is huge. I can find something good just about anywhere. I really can't say enough bad things about it. Thank God for my mother-in-law being in town or this would have been a very unhappy experience. Thanks Karen - you were the sugar in a an extra large cup of bitter Vegas tea. And Ron and Cyndi Press (old family friends from Montana) popped in for a surprise visit. That was pretty cool.
You know, these posts are such a glossing overview of it all. I wish I could detail all the details - like breakfast on Newport Beach, what the attendees said, making new fans, making new friends, traffic (L.A. ugh...) a night out with Dirty Lew, hanging with Zack, 4 days van camping at the Walker complex, all the fun little gigs I did in some pretty cool spots. But, I don't have time to write it and you don't have time to read it ...what to do.
Anyway, I'm a little drained at this point. Ready for home. A little homesick here and there. Miss my wife, miss my cat, miss my house, miss my friends, miss San Antonio. Home soon.