What Key?

My Bass player John and I were hired many many years ago to play with an "established" group who needed bass and drums. The gig was in Morgan Hill for a Christmas party at a rather large restaurant. Now I was fairly new to the Bay Area and while I had heard of Morgan Hill, I really didn't know where it was. This, mind you was well before Google, Mapquest, and certainly GPS.
For instructions I was told "oh it is just past Los Gatos." Now I knew Los Gatos and had played there...but if you're not from the Bay Area, Morgan Hill is about 30 miles "just past" Los Gatos my friend.

I knew I was in trouble when I was on US 101 and saw signs listing the miles to Los Angeles. I had never ever been late for a performance. These were pre-cell phone days...no one to call. To make matters worse, this was a newly built restaurant in a new development so far off the beaten track at the time, that there were very few street lights, signs, or landmarks. I swear I thought I saw tumbleweeds roll in front of my car. It begins to rain. Not Good.

I finally roll up to the venue five minutes before downbeat and was greeted by John and the two dopes who hired me and gave me directions. They promptly grabbed my tubs and brought them in while I parked. John started setting up my drums (God bless him).

I ran inside. The trio was playing while I finished the set up. All told I managed to set a record for setup and was only about five or six minutes late as I didn't bother with my toms or cymbals and just went with snare, bass, and hi hat (until the next break).

OK....Cool. You have to realize that I was ticked with myself as well as the contractor and everyone attending the event. Once I am settled in, I start getting the "lay of the room" and noticed that the restaurant was not finished being built yet. Still needed paint, they were understaffed, the room was too small for the amount of people, and of course it goes without saying that the stage area for the band was way too small even for this quartet. There were unfinished windows and open to the outside. Oh yeah...did I mention it was Christmas time? Even in California it gets cold in December. The furnace was not operable yet and I swear you could see your breath.

So here we are in tuxedos I'm wearing a muffler, and John put on an overcoat. Besides our playing skills, John and I were also hired because we were vocalists. Cold air is not good for singers.

The "leader" and his piano playing partner didn't really have a book or a playlist. Before every tune the conversation went like this: " so...what tune do you want to do next?...I don't know...how about A Foggy Day?...naw...let's do that later...how 'bout On A Clear Day? ...yeah ok
C? ...no...Bb....Cary...John do you sing that one? ...yeah I do but in F...well Ok then ...let's play it in F....wait...Concert F? yep. how fast do you want to take it...oh I don't know...about here...1...2...1-2-3-4. From the head or an intro?...oh yeah let's do the last eight bars as an intro.
hey...why couldn't we do A Foggy Day?... it's the same tempo."

It went like that ALL NIGHT!

I got paid (not enough) and went home talking to myself and pounding the steering wheel the entire way. It was still raining. Sheesh!
cn