Tag Archive - 5pm

The Money Booth and Playing solo guitar for Maddocks Services

July 4, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs, Guitar Slinger with 0 Comments

There are some gigs that are kind of the same old thing then there are others that are just awesome. Playing solo guitar for Maddock Services 30th anniversary was one of those very special awesome gigs!

The gig was on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon and I was hired to play solo guitar for a 30th anniversary event for Maddock Services. This was to be a private back yard party that for me, would begin at 5pm until 8pm.

The house was massive with the main event taking place in the back yard. The back of the house had a couple of terraces then a massive tent stretching from one side of the property to the other. I was to set up in the middle of the tent on a dance floor for my performance.

I found the coolest part of the event to be the Money Booth. I had only seen one of these on the Ellen Show however, there it was! Guest’s were lined up around the house for their 30 or so seconds to jump in the booth.

Once they were in the booth the fan began blowing money around for the occupant to gather as much cash as possible in the allowed time!

Anyways time for you to see for yourself…

Once again I’ve taken my “Gig Cam” with me so you can join me behind the scenes today on the gig.


Performing solo guitar at the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver for HISCOX

May 2, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

The Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver BC

 

Arriving in the Gallery with my cart full of gear!

Today I’m back in downtown Vancouver for a solo rumba flamenco guitar performance at the Bill Reid gallery located in Cathedral Place on Hornby street in downtown Vancouver.

I’m already at the entrance to the parkade and waiting for the clock to strike 4 pm to save $4 on my parking. So I’ll arrive in the gallery just after 4pm to begin setting up.

Once again this is a corporate performance and I have no idea who the client is. All I know is that there will be between 100 to 150 people attending.

My solo performance set up at the Gallery

The view of the gallery from my chair

The gallery was a lot bigger than I anticipated with 3 floors and a vaulted ceiling. This place was really nice and the art work created by Mr. Reid was fantastic!

I met with my onsite contact and was directed to my performance location. I used my 2 small Yamaha monitors on stands to fill both ends of the room. I also used my Behringer D212 powered monitor for my own personal monitor.

By 5pm I was all set up and ready to perform. The client arrived a little early so I began my performance a 5:20pm. I also found out HISCOX was the name of the company I was playing for.

My setup

The Bill Reid Gallery with my performance chair at the end of the room

HISCOX is an insurance company that helps to insure people and businesses with special insurance needs such as myself. As a musician it’s hard to get good insurance for my gear and instruments through the regular insurance companies.

I performed until 6:15ish then took a short 10 minute break for speeches. I even had a request for a jazz tune that I performed and was rewarded with a nice tip!

I took my second break at 7:30 pm for 15 minutes then performed for the rest of the evening until 8:30 pm.

The event

Once I was done I packed up my gear and headed to the parking garage. Unfortunately the doors to the garage elevator were locked so I had to cart my gear around the block to the main street entrance.

The event

Once I arrived at my vehicle I found a parking ticket on my windshield. The fee for parking was $30.50!! due to the fact that I hadn’t displayed my parking ticket properly on my dashboard.

Fortunately for me there was a parking attendent across from me ticketing other cars in the garage so he was able to amend my ticket to $21.50. (the regular fee)

A massive totem pole within the gallery!

Unfortunately I had to remit my payment by mail. It’s a standard practice here in Vancouver once the parking attendant has left the building to had out the mail in tickets.

Next up for me will be another corporate event Wednesday at the Five Sales Restaurant in Vancouver as a duo with Bass Guitar Slinger Brent Gubbels!

Stay Tuned…

Playing solo rumba flamenco guitar at Taverna Gorgona

April 16, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Tonight I’m back to play solo rumba flamenco guitar in a wonderful Greek restaurant in Ladner, BC.

I usually book myself in once a month however I haven’t performed there since November of last year.

Taverna Gorgona is a great place to sit and relax with a nice hot coffee and play. Best of all is the amazing food!

For tonight’s gig I’ll leave my home around 3:45 pm and plan to arrive at the venue for 5pm. I don’t have to bring a very large sound system as I will plug into the house system. I’ll bring my Bose T1 mixer with a couple of small Yamaha monitors.

My performance will begin at 6pm and I’ll take 2 or 3 breaks before I end at 10pm. Then I’ll sit and enjoy a wonderful meal.

What is it like to perform at the Vancouver Aquarium?

January 23, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Today is my first gig of 2011!

It will be a corporate performance with my fiery rumba flamenco guitar trio with Andre Stepanian playing flamenco guitar and Lyndon Dewitt on percussion.

Once again I’ll be performing background music for an unknown companies annual gala event. I’ll plan to arrive at 5pm to set up and our performance will begin at 6:30pm and will play until 10:30pm.

I have no idea what to expect for this gig so I’ll be bringing a medium size system with 4 Yamaha PA speaker cabnets for the room and a single powered monitor for the band. If it’s a really big group I’ll also be using in ear monitors.

Here’s a video I shot of the shark tank with my blackberry while we were hanging out before the gig.

I plan to leave at 3:30pm and if the traffic is light as it usually is on a Sunday, I should arrive between 4:30 or 5pm. This gig is also formal attire therefore we’ll all be wearing a suit and tie.

Once I arrived I entered the aquarium to find the event coordinator to find out were we’ll be setting up. I’ve played the aquarium a number of times now and the big room we were to play in is not the best for sound. Lot’s of glass and smooth surfaces. (yuck)

We began playing after a short speech at 7:15ish, the people at the event really enjoyed us and it looks like I’ll be back next year. Unfortunately I didn’t bring cd’s as there were a number of people from the group that would of loved a copy. It’s never my intention to sell cd’s at a corporate performance however it’s always a good idea to have a few copies on hand in the car. (bad packing today)

After the gig it was time to pack up, unfortunately it was pouring rain outside. Good thing I was able to park very close and a bonus was that parking for tonight was only $2!

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