B3Burner
Dominant 7th #9
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Registered: 10-2003
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
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Deep Purple Tribute Update-- The San Francisco Gig-- Thu. Dec. 6, 2007
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
Greetings Folks...
What a show! What fun! And I thought practice was "all that". What a pick-me-up to actually have people in the audience...something we hadn't actually experienced until tonight. Well let me back up: We're all experienced musicians who have had many gigs with other bands in our pasts. What I meant to say was first time playing purple with our project.
It's been dry all fall here in Northern California. Wouldn't you know it that the night we play, it's raining steady for 8+ hours.
I did decide to bring the Hammond and Leslie-- figuring I wouldn't be happy unless I did. And I'm glad I did. But I'm also glad I tarped them in thick 4-mill plastic sheets and duct tape. The plastic was soaking wet when we got the organ and speaker out of the Ford Explorer and into the club. But when I peeled the plastic back both Hammond and Leslie were bone dry and happy to have survived the trip.
This was a 5 hour festival with ourselves playing in the 4th slot from 11:30pm to 12:30am.
The first band asked to use the Hammond, so I had to make sure it was set up for them. Neither of the keyboard players had ever seen one up close, so I gave them enough info on making it sound the way they wanted it, and their set went well with its use.
It was also nice to see the soundboard person knowledgeable in mike-ing Leslies. Typically anyone under the age of 40 doesn't have the faintest idea how to do this, but the 35 year old woman who was running the PA, had experience with this, and gave me not one, but two mics for the upper and lower rotors. The sound was better than I have ever heard at either our rehearsal space, and/or my own apartment, so that was a special treat in and of itself.
I think like a couple of thoroughbreds chomping at the bit before race time, we were all pretty anxious with pent up adrenaline and anticipation, cause by 11:30pm, we came out of the starting gate hard, loud, and intense with HIGHWAY STAR as our opener.
We all rose to the occasion. There was no weak link, anyone who came unprepared or less than enthusiastic or pulling down the rest of the team. We all have worked too hard for this to let any of that nonsense get in the way.
Now I am only one fifth of the band, and from my position I was only getting an earful of Leslie and two fists full of drawbars and keys, but it would seem (from the comments I heard later from those who were centered between the PA speakers), that we were all evenly powered and energetic. At times I heard Dave Devine on vocals was a bit hard to hear. I also heard someone say that John Hofmeyer on drums could not be heard all too well from the front and center of the floor, but on stage I could hear him just fine. If anything, Rob (Loyd) Robinson's guitar was a bit hard for me to hear, but I was also on the opposite side of the stage from him.
But enough with the dissecting it into a million pieces. It's Deep Purple, not a sound engineering class. I suppose at some point, getting the sound just right is of importance, but I think tonight was more about stage presence, energy, and showing the public-- and those who had heard we were debuting-- that the 2 years of practice had paid off. To that extent I think we were successful, and I believe that 2008 will be a year for many more gigs, and not just the annual Dec. 6th show.
Our setlist was:
HIGHWAY STAR
PICTURES OF HOME
LAZY
HUSH
CHILD IN TIME
WOMAN FROM TOKYO
PERFECT STRANGERS
SPACE TRUCKIN'
KNOCKING AT YOUR BACK DOOR
BURN
SMOKE ON THE WATER
We did have video rolling of the show. Smoke on the Water fell victim to getting cut off, but the rest of it, I hear, was captured. The more technically minded in our band-- Dave, Rob, and John Hofmeyer will tend to the task of cutting, editing, copying this material onto DVD disc and hopefully putting it onto youtube where I can later give you a link. A work of cinamatic art I doubt it will be, but a damn good bootleg of a decent tribute show, is what we are realistically banking on.
In the meantime I have 9 pictures to show you that were emailed by our singer Dave Devine.
These are uncropped and just directly posted from my C-drive to my online photo server. If they stretch the page too much let me know, and I'll go back and downsize them later:
Singer Dave Devine and myself at soundcheck
Opening with Highway Star
Dave screaming, Pete Fernandez on bass, and myself
Dave (I'm guessing) is singing Child in Time!
Dave, Pete on bass, John Hofmeyer on drums
Guitarist Rob Robinson and singer Dave Devine
Wideshot of the whole band on stage
Dave and myself carving our way through the setlist
Holy ****!!! "People came from miles around..." (and no.... we didn't pay them to show up..... (wise-ass!!))
To make a long story short, the night met all my expectations. My only regret was that because it was a rainy weekday night and we played so late, that many of our friends and family that have to be to work the next day couldn't make it. But hey, next year Dec. 6th falls on a Saturday night, so we have that to look forward to.
That's it for now. Take care, and thanks again for your support.
Last edited by B3Burner, 9/12/2007, 2:01
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John O'Flaherty
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8/12/2007, 10:47
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Rezi
Moderator
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Registered: 04-2004
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Re: Deep Purple Tribute Update-- The San Francisco Gig-- Thu. Dec. 6, 2007
Cheers, John. Nice pics - it's obvious everybody was having a good time!
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11/12/2007, 7:49
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KillerBananas
Purple fan
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Registered: 11-2003
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Re: Deep Purple Tribute Update-- The San Francisco Gig-- Thu. Dec. 6, 2007
Thanks John  Wish I could've been there, but to travel from Norway...well, you know 
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"It can't be hemmoroids! Everybody knows he's a perfect asshole!" Ian Gillan commenting on Blackmore's mystery illness causing show cancelations...a long time ago!
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20/12/2007, 22:49
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