I have not written in this space for a while. To catch up, BlueShadow has just finished up a 2 month stint as the house band every Friday at the Wild Pony. It was a good run. Some nights were better than others. The band played well, however as the weather got better we found ourselves competing with Mother Nature for an audience. Being an early spring, nice warm Fridays made for slower nights at the Wild Pony. There were always a group of regular dancers (that were greatly appreciated by the band) keeping the players energized.
Here I would like to interject the importance of keeping your ear to the ground concerning gig opportunities and the dedication to the band to make them happen. When it came to the band’s attention that one of the local hotels was looking for entertainment, Pete sprang into action and made contact with the management. He called me to get a few press kits put together with CDs. Unfortunately, the meeting he arra
nged fell through. When the management called back and told him they could meet on short notice, Pete knew he would not be able to make that meeting so he handed the ball and
Here I would like to interject the importance of keeping your ear to the ground concerning gig opportunities and the dedication to the band to make them happen. When it came to the band’s attention that one of the local hotels was looking for entertainment, Pete sprang into action and made contact with the management. He called me to get a few press kits put together with CDs. Unfortunately, the meeting he arra
nged fell through. When the management called back and told him they could meet on short notice, Pete knew he would not be able to make that meeting so he handed the ball and press kits to Jerry and sent him over. Jerry talked his way in and we had a gig the next Saturday.
Now that spring has given over to summer, our venues have taken on an “al fresco” style. I met Jerry at The Patio located on the beach in downtown Traverse City to get lay of the land. We decided to hold a practice outside in front of Jerry’s garage to work out the sound difficulties of playing in the open air. Gone are the black pants and the 50’s style black shirts with a white stripe. The first gig we wore more of a “parrot head” outfit (Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants).
Saturday afternoon arrived and the band began to set up. It had been an overcast day and it rained the night before. This worked in our favor in two ways. First, the night before BlueShadow performed at the Wild Pony and we benefited from the poor weather by having a good crowd. Secondly, the band that was supposed to open The Patio for the season was rained out. That left the summer opening for us!The manager asked us to begin at 4:30. At the start it was a pretty light crowd, however the band was up to the challenge
Now that spring has given over to summer, our venues have taken on an “al fresco” style. I met Jerry at The Patio located on the beach in downtown Traverse City to get lay of the land. We decided to hold a practice outside in front of Jerry’s garage to work out the sound difficulties of playing in the open air. Gone are the black pants and the 50’s style black shirts with a white stripe. The first gig we wore more of a “parrot head” outfit (Hawaiian shirt and khaki pants).
Saturday afternoon arrived and the band began to set up. It had been an overcast day and it rained the night before. This worked in our favor in two ways. First, the night before BlueShadow performed at the Wild Pony and we benefited from the poor weather by having a good crowd. Secondly, the band that was supposed to open The Patio for the season was rained out. That left the summer opening for us!The manager asked us to begin at 4:30. At the start it was a pretty light crowd, however the band was up to the challenge
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. When we reached the 2nd set we had some dancers in front of the stage and on the beach. By the 3rd set management was dragging in more chairs and a boat came in close and moored along the beach. At the end of 4th set the folks at the bar wanted an encore. Joanie made a quick eye check with Greg (the Manager) he gave the O.K. and we launched into “Sweet Home Chicago”. It was a great end to a successful opening of The Patio
. Apparently the Holiday Inn must have agreed. They contacted Jerry the next Monday and we will be playing ther
e six more times over the summer. I invited comments from a few friends that attended that night and they thought that BlueShadow never sounded better.
