[Dixielandjazz] "worst gig"

[David Richoux]

Since a lot of these "Worst Gigs" are parades, I will mention some also.

I have been in the Los Trancos Woods Community Marching Band ( http://www.ltwcmb.com 
  ) since 1978 and we do quite a few parades every year. Once, during  
a St. Patrick's Day parade in San Francisco the rainy weather was the  
strangest i have ever marched in. Every other block we would march  
into a rain squall - "wall of water," freezing cold - then on the next  
block it would be glaring bright sunshine! I had a good raincoat on,  
but I was playing an upright tuba, so it would fill up the bell with  
rain water each time.  Not a great time...

A few years later we were invited to play for a Saratoga (CA) school  
opening parade. We were one of the few non-motorized (or non-horse )  
units in the parade and the route was almost five miles long. Blazing  
hot, trudging along a two-lane road (with traffic coming the other  
way) though a semi-rural area with next to no audience - and at the  
end of the parade all they had for refreshments was Kool-Aid and  
Cookies! We were not allowed to have our signature rolling beer cart,  
because it was a "school event," and there was no way for us to get  
back to the starting point where our cars were parked... we hitch-hiked.

Ever since then we have been much more selective in determining which  
new parades we will actually do!

Dave Richoux

On Jan 31, 2009, at 2:39 AM, Jim Kashishian wrote:

> The "worst gig ever" thread of course has less meaning to the reader  
> than
> the one that experienced the actual gig, so I had stayed away from the
> subject.  However, Larry mentioned a gig with the Air Force Bands,  
> and I
> recalled one I did with the 523rd out of March AFB, California (early
> 1960's).  This is not a "worst gig" though, but a different  
> subject:  your
> tax dollars at work!
>