Tag Archive - venue

Jerrico Tennis Club gig

May 14, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

My Setup at the Jerrico Tennis Club, Vancouver, BCToday I’m playing at the Jerrico Beach Tennis Club in Vancouver just outside the Kitsalano district right on the ocean. This is a very nice private, members only club with a fantastic view of the water and the north Vancouver shore.

This is one of those wonderful Vancouver venues that while playing I get to look out and watch the sun set out on the ocean. Today I’ll be performing in the club house lounge gazing out the windows. Other times we’ll perform pool side.

Inside the Jerrico Tennis ClubToday Andre and I are playing as a guitar duo. I’ll be arriving at 7pm to set up our small pa system. We’ll begin playing at 8pm until midnight.

Finding a place to park was tough! Usually I can find a spot on the street at the entrance to the venue however, today was the first hot summer time Friday and I think everyone here in Vancouver was at Jerrico Beach.
Fortunately I was able to unload my pa at the club and found a pay parking spot a few blocks away. Unfortunately the Tennis Club staff, including the musicians are not allowed to use the clubs parking no matter how much equipment you have.

The view from the Jerrico Tennis ClubOnce I arrived back at the club it was time to quickly set up and begin playing. Unfortunately for us this is a very loud room with large windows everywhere. It’s very tough to dial in a great sound here however everyone seemed to really enjoy our performance.

At midnight it was time to end our performance, tear down the gear and head home. The ugly part of this gig was having to lug all my gear 3 or 4 blocks to my vehicle. Sometimes being a performing musician, especially a band leader, is 15% is actually playing and the other 85% is lugging gear, setting up, tearing down and driving. But that 15% playing the guitar and entertaining wonderful people in a beautiful venue while watch the set on the ocean makes it all so worth while!

Another view from the Jerrico Tennis ClubNext, Monday, May 17th I’ll be back on the Magic Charm to sail around Vancouver for another cruise gig.

Playing Guitar for the Columbia University Dept. of Pediatrics

May 3, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

My setup at the Sheraton Wall CentreToday I’m playing and performing for the Columbia University Dept. of Pediatrics. The event is being held at the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver. It’s a 7:30pm start and ends at 9:30pm. I’m going to arrive at 6pm because the Sheraton’s parking garage and it’s two towers can make the load in a bit confusing. I’ll be using my small sound system as it will be a very small group of 30 to 40 people. I’ll be playing in the Orca room located on the third floor.

This time the load in was easy. I found a place to park right beside the elevator that took me from the parking garage right to the floor the banquet room was on. (This venue isn’t always that easy) I’ve performed here before and it can be multiple elevators and a lot of walking.

This event was one of those background music gigs were the room is very crowded. I had people bumping into my guitar while I was playing. It was also a very noisy room from all the networking chatter which is all very common for a corporate reception gig.

My small sound system

Everyone seemed to really enjoy my performance as I had a lot of great comments from the guests. Also had a guest ask if he could play a few song on my guitar. I once allowed a guest to play it and he dropped it! So I don’t allow it anymore.

At 9:30 I packed up and then it was time to head home. Another successful event.

The photo on the left is what my sound system looks like all packed up. It takes around 15 minutes to set it up.

Below is a photo of the Sheraton Wall Centre Orca room were I’ll be performing background music for the client.

Taverna Gorgona

May 2, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Taverna Gorgona, Ladner, BC

I don’t often play restaurants unless it’s a corporate function or sometimes it’s a fill in date during a tour however there are a few exceptions.

Taverna Gorgona is a Greek restaurant located in Ladner, BC. It’s a town just minutes from Tsawwassen were I grew up. I try to book into the venue once a month if my schedule permits.

My set up inside Taverna GorgonaThe owner, Franco and staff are wonderful. And I love the food!

Today I’ll be arriving at 5pm for a 6pm start and I’ll play until 10pm. I set up in a tight little space, with my small sound system then I patch into Taverna Gorgona’s house system to fill the rest of the venue, On sunny summer days I’ll set up outside and use my wireless system to patch into the house.

My laser eye surgery… Part 1 From glasses to contacts

April 12, 2010 in Day to Day with 0 Comments

As a kid I was terrified of having an eye exam. (The eye drops were the big issue) I began wearing glasses for nearsightedness when I was very young.

As an adult I really hated wearing glasses so I decided I would try contacts. At the time I was really worried about putting something in my eyes however, I soon discovered it was no big deal. You can touch your eye just like you would touch the tip of your finger. It’s easy and absolutely painless!

Now, the problem for me with contacts was that once in a while they were a little uncomfortable. (It was like having a little bit of dust in your eye) and if I was tired they would really bother me. Also at the end of the day, It was a real nuisance taking them out. One solution to my eyes drying out while wearing contacts were lubricating eye drops. Now having to put eye drops in my eyes was easy and a very welcomed relief!

So, moving on to my contact lens disaster story…

One very hot summer July evening I was performing with my band in a very cool BC town called Nelson. The weather and the temperature in the venue was extremely Hot! It wasn’t to uncommon to be sweating under the hot stage lighting but this particular night was ridiculous!

During the middle of my performance, due to all the heat and perspiration, my contact fell out of my eye. It was such an awful experience to have to perform half blind.

The result of my experiences is that neither eye glasses or contact were right for me. The step was to investigate Laser Eye Surgery.

Page 10 of 10« First...«678910
lite 1.4email listsadd sitesubmit website