Val's Birthday! A great start to the day was Steve & Kristi (with Jimmy too) singing 'Happy birthday to you'... Steve & Kristi had a private gig today so after breakfast we made plans to check out a music store and a few other shops too.
We drove to Guitar Center where we had decided to check out the Bose L1 Compact system with some Taylor guitars. Wow! It was huge... different sections for acoustic guitars, electric guitars, basses, keyboards, drums, PA, recording, accessories - all pretty well stocked. We made a bee-line for the acoustic guitar section... temperature and humidity controlled behind closed doors, nice touch. Although there was a sticker on the door advertising 'Play your guitar through a Bose L1 system' there were no Bose systems in the acoustic guitars section - we saw a Fishmann SoloAmp and a few dedicated guitar amps, but didn't play through them. The staff left us to our own devices, and we were able to pick up any gutars and play (at least, the ones we could reach) - it was good to play some Taylors again!
We then explored the rest of the store, and found three L1 systems with pride of place in the middle of the floor space - the wall areas were crammed with all manner of amps and mixers and rack units and speakers, but the L1s stood out as imposing, modern, sleek, and unique among all the other much bulkier items. The systems (ready to play) were Model 1, Model 2 with single T1 and single B1, and a Compact. The salesman invited us to pick up a guitar from the acoustics room and bring it back and plug in... again there was no hassle from any of the staff, they were accommodating without being intrusive. We played for a short while using a Taylor 614CE through the compact and it sounded spacious and warm... very pleasing. We can see how this system would be ideal for a solo performer and would be a great way to get the wonderful Bose clarity in a simple plug-and-play unit that's so portable - but for us with 4 guitars between us the Model 2 with 2 T1s and 2 B1s is exactly right.
After wandering around a few more stores we made our way back to Steve & Kristi's to find a card and present on the table - they'd left them there before heading off for their afternoon gig. We took the opportunity to shower again (shopping can be hot and tiring) and started to get ready for the evening. Before setting off we met with Marc who had loaned us his Martin D28 guitar - he has a large collection of instruments including some very nice guitars and a mind-boggling selection of banjos... he played us a banjo tune and we played him our self-penned 'Some Way Home' (borrowing two more guitars to do so). We thanked him again for his generosity and re-joined Steve & Kristi to head out on the town. Kristi had booked a table at Harbor Lights, a waterside restaurant, ensuring we had a window table with a smashing view across Puget Sound... and we enjoyed a lovely meal before driving to the Antique Sandwich for an open mic night of music.
We got there nice and early to register for a performing spot and to sign the release form (required because the evening is broadcast live on the radio!), then settled down to take in the atmosphere and chat with other musicians and friends. There were 34 acts registered for the evening, and they all had to be squeezed into 3 hours (7:00 pm to 10:00 pm), so the MC informed everyone that they had a maximum of 6 minutes including setting up time. We were act 14 and Steve & Kristi were number 24. There was a great variety of styles, abilities and genres on the bill - most people did only one song, and kept to their allotted time slot... but some did stray beyond it and by the time we were on stage the MC announced that we were running behind schedule, and he asked if people could do maybe 4 or 5 minutes each. So we kept within that by playing only 'Some Way Home'. The sound was good, and we sensed that the audience were listening intently - and we got great applause with lots of positive comments, one of them smiled broadly telling us it was a heck of a long way to come for one song! The flow of acts continued relentlessy and we were impressed with many of them (although Jimmy was disappointed that one of the acts swallowed up 9 minutes, eating badly into the time left for the remaining performers)... Steve & Kristi brought the house down with their 'Angels Of The Road'.
Then it was off to a bar for a drink or two to finish Val's birthday celebrations. We were joined by Marilyn, a longtime friend of Steve and Kristi.
1 photo today
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website
We drove to Guitar Center where we had decided to check out the Bose L1 Compact system with some Taylor guitars. Wow! It was huge... different sections for acoustic guitars, electric guitars, basses, keyboards, drums, PA, recording, accessories - all pretty well stocked. We made a bee-line for the acoustic guitar section... temperature and humidity controlled behind closed doors, nice touch. Although there was a sticker on the door advertising 'Play your guitar through a Bose L1 system' there were no Bose systems in the acoustic guitars section - we saw a Fishmann SoloAmp and a few dedicated guitar amps, but didn't play through them. The staff left us to our own devices, and we were able to pick up any gutars and play (at least, the ones we could reach) - it was good to play some Taylors again!
We then explored the rest of the store, and found three L1 systems with pride of place in the middle of the floor space - the wall areas were crammed with all manner of amps and mixers and rack units and speakers, but the L1s stood out as imposing, modern, sleek, and unique among all the other much bulkier items. The systems (ready to play) were Model 1, Model 2 with single T1 and single B1, and a Compact. The salesman invited us to pick up a guitar from the acoustics room and bring it back and plug in... again there was no hassle from any of the staff, they were accommodating without being intrusive. We played for a short while using a Taylor 614CE through the compact and it sounded spacious and warm... very pleasing. We can see how this system would be ideal for a solo performer and would be a great way to get the wonderful Bose clarity in a simple plug-and-play unit that's so portable - but for us with 4 guitars between us the Model 2 with 2 T1s and 2 B1s is exactly right.
After wandering around a few more stores we made our way back to Steve & Kristi's to find a card and present on the table - they'd left them there before heading off for their afternoon gig. We took the opportunity to shower again (shopping can be hot and tiring) and started to get ready for the evening. Before setting off we met with Marc who had loaned us his Martin D28 guitar - he has a large collection of instruments including some very nice guitars and a mind-boggling selection of banjos... he played us a banjo tune and we played him our self-penned 'Some Way Home' (borrowing two more guitars to do so). We thanked him again for his generosity and re-joined Steve & Kristi to head out on the town. Kristi had booked a table at Harbor Lights, a waterside restaurant, ensuring we had a window table with a smashing view across Puget Sound... and we enjoyed a lovely meal before driving to the Antique Sandwich for an open mic night of music.
We got there nice and early to register for a performing spot and to sign the release form (required because the evening is broadcast live on the radio!), then settled down to take in the atmosphere and chat with other musicians and friends. There were 34 acts registered for the evening, and they all had to be squeezed into 3 hours (7:00 pm to 10:00 pm), so the MC informed everyone that they had a maximum of 6 minutes including setting up time. We were act 14 and Steve & Kristi were number 24. There was a great variety of styles, abilities and genres on the bill - most people did only one song, and kept to their allotted time slot... but some did stray beyond it and by the time we were on stage the MC announced that we were running behind schedule, and he asked if people could do maybe 4 or 5 minutes each. So we kept within that by playing only 'Some Way Home'. The sound was good, and we sensed that the audience were listening intently - and we got great applause with lots of positive comments, one of them smiled broadly telling us it was a heck of a long way to come for one song! The flow of acts continued relentlessy and we were impressed with many of them (although Jimmy was disappointed that one of the acts swallowed up 9 minutes, eating badly into the time left for the remaining performers)... Steve & Kristi brought the house down with their 'Angels Of The Road'.
Then it was off to a bar for a drink or two to finish Val's birthday celebrations. We were joined by Marilyn, a longtime friend of Steve and Kristi.
1 photo today
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Steve & Kristi Nebel website
No comments:
Post a Comment