I met these two Long Beach guys who play together, but due to disparate music styles, not at the same time. They like to set up somewhere, and take turns playing songs. They've expanded that idea to add more musicians, and they call it "Lorenzo and Jay's Jamboree". This time it was in the Cultural Alliance of Long Beach's art gallery/workshop/hangout above the "Shenanigans" bar in Shoreline Village, across the bay from the Queen Mary. I know! Could it get any more complicated?
Anyway, we started out with just the three of us, but more guys showed up later on until there were seven players. Most of the time there were fewer than seven people there listening, and most of them were really there to work on their art projects. But toward the end, more people came (I don't know why or where from), until we had about 20.
They were quite appreciative, despite the wildly disparate music. We had 12-string strummy guy (Lorenzo), Johnny Cash-style 12-bar blues (Jay), sings along with 50's classics on backup tracks guy, R&B guy, kinda-Irish with (terrific) harmonica guy, ukulele novelty-tunes guy, and me: 70's nostalgia pop.
Mostly, it was like an Open Mic night -- indeed, I had met Tracks and Ukulele guy before at the Sababa Open Mic. But since the room and stage were large enough that everyone could be set up ready to play, there was a lot less downtime between songs, and it went round-robin instead of each guy getting a 3 or 4 song set and done.
It also made it like a "battle of the bands" because, of course, each guy wanted to outdo the one before him. It's pretty great for beginners to not have the pressure of a solo gig, but to have some pressure to do their best.
I don't know if I'll do another one, 'cuz an hour drive each way to play 10 songs is pretty low ROI, but the guy who runs the place was apparently impressed and asked me to come back and do a solo set in two weeks. That'll definitely be worth the drive.
I got an email from a guy who had heard me play for the Santa Claus line, saying how much he liked it, and wondering if I was free to play for his family's Christmas Eve party. Since all my family stuff is on Christmas Day, I said yes.
I was hoping it was going to be more than just, like, him and his mom, but fortunately, he has a really big family and there were about 30 people there: grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, and half-a-dozen kids.
In an email, he warned me that, since last year his grandma was too frail to attend except in her pajamas, they now have a family tradition of the whole party is in pajamas -- and I could do the same. But when I found out that it was going to be in the back yard, I decided to wear my usual 4-layer Playing In December outfit. I didn't have the luxury of hanging out under one of the heaters, or going inside to warm up, like they all did. Nobody seemed to mind that I was Out Of Uniform. And of course, they all go out and get new fun pajamas just for this.
As I was leaving, the guy told me that it was great, and especially since his mom, who usually never leaves the kitchen at these things, was compelled to come out and actually enjoy the music/party for once.
I left him with 5 Christmas CDs and 5 "Favorites" CDs, as my Christmas gifts/souvenirs for whoever wanted them.
I did so well the night before that I just had to come down again. I don't have many free nights in December to waste.
Not as many people, but still a lot of fun. Somehow, it turned into sing-along night. I had one girl sing "Baby It's Cold Outside" with me, which went great and was fun. Then a girl went through the list, but she was looking for a song for herself to sing -- somehow thinking that this was karaoke. That was awkward.
I had a pack of kids come up to sing "Let It Go", but they stayed and stayed, singing "Do You Want To Build a Snowman", and then "Frosty", "Rudolph", and "Jingle Bells". Finally their parents just had to drag them away.
I was braver about staying later, since nobody even seemed to be home at the closest house, so I was there until 10:45. Besides, I was trying to wait until a quiet spot to try to make a video of "Merry Christmas, Darling". The audio's not bad, but it was way too dark, and it's tough to be your own cameraman.
The rich people who live on the island in Naples put up incredible Christmas decorations, and huge crowds come down every year to walk around to see them. And even though I'd played almost every day for three weeks, I had to go down.
As I drove down there, the thickest fog bank I've ever seen loomed up and engulfed me. When I was playing, it was so wet that water was dripping down my amplifier and guitar, and I could barely tune the guitar with the tuning knobs so wet. The iPad screen got so wet that it would stop responding to my touch. Weird.
Anyway, it was terrific. It's like playing in Laguna, but there's no traffic noise, except the occasional putt-putt motorboat going by in the canal. And nobody's in a hurry to get anywhere, they're there to get some Christmas Spirit, so they welcome some music. Early on there are lots of families with little kids, so I can rope them in with some "Jingle Bells", "Frosty", or "Rudolph", but this year, what worked even better was "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from "Frozen". And whenever I'd play it, lots of people would stop, and then I'd follow it with "Let It Go". At one point I had at least 50 people gathered around, with three of four kids up by me singing it, and half the teens in the audience singing along, too.
A pack of high school kids came by and I asked them to pick a Christmas song, and showed them my on-screen list. A girl asked me to do "Baby, It's Cold Outside", and I said that I'd love to, but somebody has to do the Girl Part. She said, "No, I couldn't", but her friends insisted that she could, and talked her into it. And she was great -- so much fun!
Later on, I was doing "Jingle Bell Rock" and a group was there, and one guy was singing along in a comic Elvis voice. So, of course, I fired up "Blue Christmas" next, and he looked at me with panic in his eyes and said "Is that... Oh, you're killing me." And he was right -- his wife and friends made him come up and sing it with me. Afterwards, he went over to the jar and put something in it, and then took one of my "jingle sticks" and just walked away with it. That was odd, but I think I probably came out ahead still.
So, for the seventh year in a row, I played for the line waiting to see Santa at the big Winter Wonderland that the city of Mission Viejo puts on. It's every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday in December up until Christmas, which made for nine nights this year.
The lady used to try and book church choirs and Girl Scout troops for some of the nights, but that was always a disaster, so she just lets me do them all now (except the one night that overlaps with her colleague's event, the Holly Trolley).
And as always, it's great fun. Kids are fun to play for, and excited kids even more so. A lot of them show up in their best Christmas outfits, because they'll be getting photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The setup allows the parents to stay in line, but let their kids come over to where I'm playing.
I've been bringing the "tambourine sticks" to let the kids play along, though at this age, none of them actually shake the sticks to the rhythm of the song. The downside to those is trying to keep track of them -- about one per night goes home with someone. Fortunately, they're really cheap.
Along with Santa, there's hot chocolate, cookie decorating, model trains to play with, and Christmas cartoons (with, I finally convinced them, the sound turned way down -- doesn't seem to bother the kids, though).
There are also some high school kids in Frosty and Rudolph costumes. They've been instructed to "high five" the kids instead of hugging, so they don't get knocked over. One little girl went over to Frosty and did the high-five, then excitedly shouted to her mom, way at the end of the line, "Mom! Their hands are *fluffy*!"
The lady who books me for Santa's Workshop and the Farmers' Market gigs recommended me to the head of the Mission Viejo Chamber of Commerce to play their "Holiday Mixer". See, it really is "who you know".
I was expecting a(nother) dull party, but there were a couple hundred people, and they were ready to par-tay. There was an official photographer like at a senior prom, free food (provided by local member businesses), and "Casino Night". Everyone got some free "money" at the door, and at the end of the evening, their winnings (if any) converted into raffle tickets for prizes.
So everyone was busy talking, eating, and gambling while I played, but lots of people came over to say nice things. But oddly, the guy had also booked the "Mission Viejo High School Choir". When I got the signal, I took a break and in they came -- 5 kids and the director. That hardly qualifies as a "choir", but the crowd shushed down and could maybe hear the first few songs, but then they got bored and wanted to get back to their casino games, and it got noisier and completely drowned the poor kids out. As they left, I told the director about the senior home I'd played at that's within walking distance of the school, and would be a far better venue for the kids to sing at.
I played a little more, and then they stopped the games to do the raffle, which took forever. When that was done, most everyone took it as a signal that the party was over, but some people stayed so I played a few more songs, and some couples danced to "White Christmas", etc. That was fun.
While I was packing up, the guy who organized the party came up and told me that everyone loved the music, and it "made the party", etc. So hopefully he'll hire me again sometime.
This was the Holiday Party for my brother's "Elliot Inn" lawyer club that I played for back in September. It was at a fancy restaurant's ball room in Irvine. Everybody except me was in a suit, but, you know, they're lawyers. And I did wear a tie...
It was probably twice as big of a party than the other lawyer party I played at a week earlier. So louder and "looser". No clapping, but several people came up to say nice things. And take a card.
Since it was lawyers again, I put out my "CDs are free. (My tip jar is over there -->)" sign. This is meant to invoke the usual "Suggested donation" dodge of people who don't have business licenses -- cheerleader carwashes, etc. I had thought that lawyers, especially, would get the joke, and not take me at my word and go home with free CDs.
And one guy took a CD and put in a tenner. But four more guys took CDs and put on a buck or three. So I didn't lose money on the deal, but it sure shook my faith in humanity when these guys who make a couple hundred bucks an hour for their expertise decided that mine was worth so little...
Unexpectedly, they had also scheduled a guy to give a humorous (to lawyers) speech about the wild and wooly old days of Orange County law. Luckily for them, I had set up a spare microphone that (barely) reached the podium where he stood. He finished up with only 15 minutes left of the party, so I played some more, but the place was emptying out as people decided that the end of the speech was the end of the party.
So, not great, but a better lawyer party than the last one. The CD debacle left a bad taste in my mouth, but I did get paid, so I should shut up.
Like years past, I signed up to play the "receptions" for the Mission Viejo Activities Committee's "Holly Trolley" event, where they take people around to see the winners of the Christmas lighting contest in three sightseeing buses.
There are two departure times each of the two nights, and each is preceded by an hour reception, where there's cookies, finger food, hot cider and chocolate, and music: me.
Usually, it's in the garden party space out behind City Hall, but this year, with the forecast of rain for Friday, they moved it into the big lobby. This was fine with me, 'cuz indoors is (A) better acoustics, and (B) warmer. And once they got it all set up, they kept it in the lobby for Saturday, too. There was some discussion about whether it was better there anyway, and they may keep it there for next year, too. Got my vote.
But the whole event is a little awkward, because the worst part of playing a party is getting started, and for all four of these, just as me and the guests are starting to get warmed up, somebody comes in, shouts "All aboard!" and steals my audience.
And, when I play a party, I get there early and get all set up, and then when the first guests arrive, I start playing. Of course, they're all alone in a big open room, so they're shy, and it's awkward that they're getting a personal concert, so after that first song, they don't/can't clap. Then more people show up, and when the next song is over, they follow the lead and precedent of the first set, so they don't clap, either. And so on until there's a big party going on, but the "no clapping" behavior has become the standard. But I don't let it bother me. Anymore.
It's meant to be volunteer work -- everybody else there is on the Activities Committee -- along with the Santa's Workshops that I play. Between these two (four?) gigs, and the nine Workshop nights, I'm playing for them, for "free", a lot of nights. It's big fun playing for the kids so I'm OK with that, but last year they unexpectedly sent me an honorarium, which I hope they'll do again.
The Saturday Holly Trolley overlaps with, and trumps, a Santa's Workshop night, and is the only Santa night that I missed. One of the Santa's Helpers ladies told me that I really add a lot to the Workshop event, and that when I wasn't there, I was "really missed". Well, shucks...
My wife volunteered me to come play some Christmas music for the old folks at the senior center where she takes the dogs to visit twice a month. It was in a big multipurpose room, with a stage and everything. Playing *indoors*. Twice in a row!
All the old folks were very nice, and of course loved the Christmas music and some other songs to fill out the hour. Lots of them sang along on the classics: "White Christmas", "I'll Be Home...", "Winter Wonderland", "Comin' to Town", etc.
The only dark spot was a guy over at the side who would not, did not stop talking the whole time. It wasn't much of a problem for me, 'cuz once I was playing I couldn't hear him, but the poor guy next to him looked beleaguered. Staff people kept going over to try to shut him up, but had no luck. Finally one of the staff ladies went over and managed to get him talking to her, to let the other guy off the hook. She couldn't stop Mister Talkative, but she could change his target. Awfully nice of her to take that bullet...
When I finished, lots of the old folks came up to tell me how nice it was, and how much they liked the music, etc. After they were all gone, the lady who runs the program came by to tell me how much everyone enjoyed it, and if I wanted to, she could set me up on a monthly schedule, and pay me $60 per visit. That's a ways below my usual fee, but a steady gig, guaranteed nice (mostly) attentive audience, indoors, with great acoustics -- I think I may take her up on that.
Let's just say it was nothing like what I was picturing. I thought it was gonna a "Holiday Party", with like lots of people, chatting and laughing, cheerful lighting, spiked punch, inappropriate remarks, lampshades on heads -- you know, like a cocktail party you see on TV.
Instead it was an "on the way home from work" get together. No spouses, just a bunch of lawyers with nothing in common but work, talking shop for two hours while I played over in the corner like I was in a different movie. More like a company meeting than a party. Or rather like when some people get to a meeting a little early and are standing around talking.
Since I'd be in a room full of lawyers, and I'm not technically legally allowed to *sell* CDs (no business license, and no rights to the songs), I made up a sign that I was hoping they'd find amusing -- "CDs are free. My tip jar is over there -->". They had a table out for me, so I put the sign, some Christmas CDs, some regular CDs, and my song lists out. I thought, "Lawyers make a lot of money, they'll be good tippers, and I'll make more than my usual five bucks per CD".
So here I was in this dark little side room at a restaurant, the size of a living room. About 30 people total, all jammed on the other side of the room as far away from me as possible. I'd'a thought I was too loud, but the lady running the "party" told me that the volume was "just right".
They just stayed away from me like I was selling life insurance, and from the table like it was "Free Ebola". Finally near the end of the party, somebody put in two bucks, and a guy took one of each CD, and put in five bucks. So much for "Lawyers will be good tippers".
Coincidentally, the corporate lawyer from Toshiba was one of the 30 lawyers there, and we had worked together on some stuff and became friends. Before he left, he also took one of each CD and put in a ten -- my usual price.
But hey, I got paid to be there. And nobody said that your job was gonna be "fun" all the time.
