K&W at Yorba Linda -- 21March2008

Eventful night. We left early so we could drop by "Brea Downtown" to see if we could find out anything about why we're not getting any response from the lady that books the entertainment there. I figured that if nobody was there setting up, it didn't really tell us anything, but if there *was* somebody there, we'd at least know that it was still happening, and maybe find out more.

As it turned out, a nice guy named Neal was setting up, so Step One confirmed. We talked to him, and he says the incommunicado Linda is still in charge, but she's usually easier to raise on the phone, not email -- so I guess Warren will start trying that. With any luck, we'll get another shot at that place.

Then, on to the Yorba Linda Borders. It's pretty nice when the coffee girl lets out a little "Yay!" when she spots us coming in. We clearly, at minimum, suck less than whoever else she might be expecting.

As we were setting up, a little girl in "Heelies" zipped over to me and asked if I was "from the YMCA". She hadn't, but her dad had recognized me from the Princess campouts. Not sure why somebody in the Mission Viejo YMCA program was hanging out at the Yorba Linda Borders, but he never came over. Nice to be recognized, though.

Otherwise, a pleasant, normal night. Until later, when seven 12-year-old girls came in. They were having a fun time, pretended to dance for a while, and then went over to the counter to buy some hot chocolate, etc. I've been learning "Hey There Delilah", which is a pretty popular new song, so I started playing it, thinking they might recognize it, which proved to be very much correct. They all perked up and came flying over to sit in the comfy chairs up front, many of them singing along. Then they noticed the song lists ("We get to request songs?!?"), and started asking for kid songs: "...Friend In Me", "Rubber Duckie", "Puff", "Over the Rainbow", etc.

They were pretty fun to play for, generally polite, except they didn't seem to have the attention span to actually listen all the way through the songs that they'd asked for. They probably didn't really need those lattes and cappuccinos they were ordering.

After that, we went to check out a place called "Java Joe's", which we'd heard about off and on for a while, and keeps popping up on other local bands' schedules. It's just 3 or 4 miles down the road from the Yorba Linda Borders, so we decided to drop by and see what was up. If it turned out to be as lame as the local coffee shops we've tried to play at, we could just drive away.

We got there at 10:55, and the place was *jumpin'*! A three-piece band (drum set, acoustic guitar, and conga, with three-part vocals) was jammed onto the little stage, and 15 or 20 people were down front, dancing! Another 15 were sitting and talking, either inside or out on the sidewalk where it was quieter. Amazing.

We watched for a while and decided we were definitely "in". So we found the owner (Chuck), and Warren just blurted out, "We want to play here!", to which the Chuck said, "I *want* you to play here!" We all retired to the relative quiet of his office, and he signed us up for the very next Tuesday's "Open Mic Night", where we can play 3 songs, and hype any other appearances, including the also-booked Wednesday night full-sized gig. My head's still spinning...

The bad part is, only 3 days to "prepare" -- the good part, only 3 days to worry. We've gotten all-too-comfortable playing at the various Borders stores, there's no fear left -- it's not like anybody's actually listening. But this place is an actual Music Place. People come there to (a) drink and talk, and (b) listen to live music. On purpose. That makes it quite a bit different.