[Dixielandjazz] Band set up

[Patrick Cooke]

>And to think!  I always thought they put us drummers in >the back row to
keep
>us from falling off the stage after imbibing a bit too >much,  :)

        Reminds me of a night many years ago.....I was playing at Prima's
500 club, and Monk Hazel was on drums, stage left, on the tallest riser 4
1/2 feet off the floor.  It was during the show....the MC was telling his
jokes when there was a loud crash.....Monk (who had had a few too many) had
fallen off the bandstand taking the snare and hi-hat with him.
Surprisingly, he was not hurt.
      Pat Cooke

----- Original Message -----
From: <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 12:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Band set up


> In a message dated 1/6/04 9:23:04 AM Pacific Standard Time,
> bowermastergroup at qwest.net writes:
>
> > Another benefit is that the most important member of the band (we all
know
> > I'm talking about the drummer) is not buried in the back row.
> >
>
> And to think!  I always thought they put us drummers in the back row to
keep
> us from falling off the stage after imbibing a bit too much,  :)
>
> I fooled em all one night however, playing in a a place that had beautiful
> purple velvet curtains behind the bandstand, I leaned back on my stool to
rest
> my back against the wall, and whoomp! fell about five feet down to the
ground
> outside the club.  This was an after hours joint out in the country a bit,
and
> they had built the club in an old barn with a loading dock.  Apparently
they
> had put the stage area on the dock and just hung up the curtains without
> installing a wall behind them.  I found out why it was so cold up there as
well.
>
> They called the joint Billy's Bayou, out in Crow Canyon in the East Bay
> countryside of San Francisco, California for you guys that don't know
where the
> East Bay is.  A few of you may have even played there back int he late 60s
before
> the cops shut it down.
>
> In the winter time it got very interesting, because all the cars used to
park
> in rows side by side horizontally on a hill, then it would rain like hell
and
> the cars would slide into each other often trapping a couple inside that
did
> not belong together, :)   made for some interesting times indeed.  Place
was
> frequented by the Hell's Angels Motorcycle gang as well, so it tended to
get a
> bit drunk and rowdy, especially if one of those guys found his lady friend
in
> one of the sliding cars.
>
> The best fun however was watching drunken Hells Angels trying to ride
those
> big Harley hogs up the slippery muddy hillside to park the bikes in front
of
> the club, A real circus on wheels many nights.
>
> Ahh  the good old days.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Tom Wiggins
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