Today I’m playing in Whistler, BC. We’ll be performing as a trio with Lyndon Dewitt on percussion and Andre Stepanian on guitar. The venue is the Squamish Cultural Center and the client is CVS Caremark.
This is a big event to play as I will be performing solo guitar from 6:30pm to 7:30pm in the Iskten Hall on the lower level and the from 7:30 to 9:30pm I’ll perform with my rumba flamenco latin jazz trio upstairs in th Great Hall.
I’ll have to bring 2 sound systems. My smaller PA will be used in Iskten Hall for my solo guitar performance and my larger PA for the trio upstairs.
Whistler is a 2.5 hour drive from my place so I’ll be leaving at noon to pick up Lyndon and begin our trip. Andre will meet us in Whistler as he is working earlier in the day and doesn’t need to arrive until 6:30pm for his performance with us at 7:30.
Preparing for the gig…
I’m up early because I have to ensure I have everything needed to run 2 PA systems including a microphone for client speeches, performance contracts, cheques for musicians, client contact numbers, and a cd player to play background music for our breaks. There are a lots of little but very important details that can’t be missed. Then I’ll iron my clothes and pack up the truck.
Now it’s off to Whistler BC…
Half way to Whistler Lyndon and I stopped for lunch at a small town called Squamish. One would think the Squamish Cultural Center we’re playing would be located here but no, it’s in Whistler.
Ok, this doesn’t happen every day however, I watched a black bear eating grass across the street from our venue. How cool was that! I’m now setup for my first performance and heading upstairs to setup for the trio.
Once everything was all setup up for the trio, I had time for a very quick sound check then I had to rush to the lower level to play for the reception. At 7:30 I had a 15 min break to get back upstairs to the Great Hall to prepare for the trio performance.
We began playing at 8:45pm until 9:45 (with a short break in between). Once we were done, it was time to tear down the PA on the lower level, then upstairs to pack up the PA in the Great Hall once the client left. Once again the client enjoyed our performance and it was time to head home.
We left Whistler at 11pm and I arrive home at 1:30am to unpack the truck and jump in bed. I’ll be returning back to Whistler June 7th to perform with Gabriel Mark Hasselbach in Zen Dreamscapes.
