My rock & roll band covers many Ventures tunes like “Hawaii Five-O” and “Walk Don’t Run,” “Wipeout,” “Penetration” etc. There are no tunes more fun to play than those classic Ventures surf tunes.
Tribute to Bob Bogle
Bob Bogle, guitarist for the Venutres, died yesterday at 75. Hats off, wine glasses up to you man. Your plunky, reverberant guitar style is classic and influenced many guitar players. And your sound with that Fender Jaguar guitar through a Fender Reverb Amp is one of the best guitar tones in the history of rock & roll.
My Ventures memory
Years ago my band opened for the ventures and the coolest club in town. The place was packed and we had a GREAT time. It was an honor to share the stage with such legends and to meet them.
It was hilarious during their rendition of Hawaii Five-O when the drummer was doing his solo on his gigantic kit with his black gloves. The bass player’s amp went down and they were trying to figure out how to get it running again. The drummer kept soloing and soloing. He’d anxiously look at the bass player, who would throw his arms up in the air. The drummer got the most classic looks on his face because he was shot but had to keep soloing… Classic.
During that show I didn’t sit in the audience. I sat on the stage, with Bob Bogle’s guitar amp sitting next to me. I absolutely loved it. Every time he’d do one of those plucky riffs where he slid down the neck of the guitar made me a giddy as an elementary school girl.
mediaguru Gigs, Musicians, Random
Until last night I hadn’t picked up a drum stick for at least eight months. Truly sad, but the lame gig situation in this town and my personal and business life have gotten in the way of bashing the skins.
Last night we had one opening band and they sucked. They really sucked. By the time they finished their overly long set, they’d chased half of the mediocre crowd away.
I was worried about my chops so I played pretty straight for the first few tunes. I still have some speed and abilities, but I definitely ran into situations where my brain would send commands to my limbs to do certain complex licks and my limbs would simply misfire or just plain gag and not do anything at all.
I ran into an endurance problem toward the end of the set as well. It was a good thing we only played one set, because in the last song my forearms started feeling like they were Popeye-ing. They were seizing up!
Despite being a fairly lame crowd I still had a really great time bashing the shit out of the drums.
No Smoking!
Perhaps the best thing about last night’s gig was the fact that I didn’t have to take a shower and discard my clothes in the laundry room when I got home. For years of playing in smoky bars I’ve gotten home completely covered with a smoky stench. Now that laws have changed and no smoking is allowed in clubs, I don’t have that disgusting smoke film on my body after the gig. I wish that law would have been enacted 25 years ago.
Studio Drumming Today
I’m off to the studio to play drums for some guitar player’s solo album, then another gig tonight.
mediaguru Gigs, Musicians
No gigs for months, then two in 48 hours
I haven’t played the drums since last year. I’d sort of retired from my rock band since my bass player and very good friend moved to Portland. It just hasn’t been worth playing since he left. He’s back this weekend, and I’m playing TWO shows.
My hands will be hamburger and my body clock is in for a shock. I’ve gotten used to going to be early, like 11pm. This weekend it will be back to the 3am bed time.
Studio drums
Just after I confirmed my availability for the 2nd gig this Saturday night, I got an email from a studio who needs me to do drum tracks during the day Saturday. I’m gigging Friday night, studio drums Saturday afternoon, and gigging Saturday night.
mediaguru Gigs, Recording
After a couple of shots at the bar at that hell gig, and listening to more horrid 80’s metal sung by a singer who couldn’t hit a note if he threw a hand grenade into a piano, we convinced the club manager to release us from playing. So I went home.
This marks the 2nd time I’ve shown up at this club and loaded my gear in but didn’t play a lick. Click here to read about the first time. Note to self: don’t load gear into this venue until you’re sure you’re going to play.
Not all was lost at this gig though. The club gave me a pair of Jägermeister flip flops. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.
mediaguru Gigs
Blogging live at the gig with my iphone
Oh my god the opening band started with a Motley Crue song and now they’re playing Sweet Child of Mine by Guns and Roses. OMFG they’re playing Jackyl now.
Kill me
Oh now I find out we have no bass player. We’re going to try and get out of this gig and see if the 3rd band will just play longer. I’d rather go home and eat rice crispy treats anyway.
mediaguru Gigs
I’m doing a benefit gig tonight. The beneficiary is this local kid who was injured when an illegal bomb his neighbor was building exploded. Nice.
I hope we can raise some bucks to help this kid with his medical bills.
mediaguru Gigs
I’m in Palm Springs in the press room covering a golf tournament. Next door the Charley Daniels band is doing their sound check. Kick drum, kick drum, fiddle, fiddle, bass, keys, and then it happened…
The guitar player started playing. The tone was perfect. The notes were perfect. He was playing “Circumstances” by Rush.
mediaguru Gigs, Musicians
The apres ski gig went pretty well. It’s not a deal where anyone dances because all the people in the club are in ski boots.
It was a 3-piece setup: Drums, bass, guitar. The female singer plays a pretty decent bass guitar.
I finally figured out who the lesbian singer looks like. Linda Hamilton. Remember Sarah Conner from the Terminator movies? That’s her.
White Knuckle Drive Home
Apparently it had been snowing outside during the whole show. When I got to my car it was covered. I don’t have snow tires and my tires are fairly bald. So I put it in 1st gear and inched down the canyon, managing not to slide off the windy road to my death. I didn’t want to be yet another dead rock & roll musician who died a tragic death….
mediaguru Gigs
Got a call last night from a band I sub with now and then. They need a drummer for an “apres ski” (after ski) gig at Snowbird today. Sounds like there’s already a drum kit there too. All play and no load makes guru a happy boy.
Should be a fun gig, playing for a bunch of tired and drunk ski tourists. I wonder if the gay female singer is going to bring her amazingly beautiful girlfriend again. What does it matter anyway?
mediaguru Gigs
I had a gig scheduled for tonight. It was to be the biggest paying gig of the year and perhaps even the biggest paying gig I’ve ever had. I got a phone call from some lady I don’t know who said she’d been “calling the band leader for a month straight” trying to confirm the gig. She said she was getting someone else if I didn’t call the band leader and get back to her in 1/2 an hour.
I didn’t hear back from the band leader in time and she booked someone else. When the band leader did call me back, he said “fuck ‘em. I don’t feel like playing for them anyway.” Hmmm… Fuck them? Fuck me too. How about considering that this gig was going to pay a shit load of my bills?
mediaguru Gigs, Rants