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| SATURDAY
November 28, 1998
Tonight's Gig: Croce's Top Hat, San Diego, CA I woke up from a restful sleep at around 12:30PM today. I couldn't get to sleep after I got home from the Club Caprice gig. I tried to, but I absolutely could not. After trying to lie down, staring at the ceiling... I then got on the computer to unwind. Somehow, while checking email and working on my webpage, I fell asleep while sitting at the computer (how pathetic!) and remember waking up on the carpeted floor around 6AM. Well, what a diehard computer addict I am! I then started working on the computer again and don't remember getting to my 'real' bed until 6:45AM, when I finally got a decent round of sleep on the king-size bed.  My wife and I saw the movie 'Elizabeth' today. This movie is a period piece which centers on the life of Princess Elizabeth, the child of King Henry VIII and Ann Bolin of England. And the movie pretty much covered her rise to the throne as Queen Elizabeth and the conflicts and problems she faced as a rather young queen. Other than that, I don't want to get bogged down into the story and get into all the details. I'm not a film critic, but I must say I really enjoyed the film. And from a movie buff who just loves to go to the movies for the thrill of it all, I really loved the cinematography and costumes in 'Elizabeth'. It's a superbly crafted movie with fine acting, and I feel this film is bound to win an Oscar or two... It was raining on the way to the Croce's gig in downtown San Diego. Once I arrived at the corner of 5th and F, it stopped raining, which I was most thankful for. The umbrella I bought in Portland (back when we did the tour) didn't want to work! Fortunately, there was no rain while I carried my drums into Croce's, and later on I noticed that it didn't rain for the rest of the evening. Some Hep Kittens Are Here! When I walked into Croce's I noticed that Toni, Kitten, and Regina were there. I was surprised to find Toni here, but it was good to see her. I don't really expect any of the serious dancers to show up at Croce's because of the small dance floor, and... it is considered a 'Yuppie' place which seems to be uncool with the younger Gen X'ers. Anyway, I like the venue because it brings a totally different crowd than what we are accustomed to seeing, and that's the usual swing scene crowd, the more serious dancers. Booked At The Coconut Club Later, I found out that Toni was going to have the opportunity to sing with us at Merv Griffin's Coconut Club in Beverly Hills. So she brought a tape recorder to record some of the songs we do, the ones in which she would sing in order to learn our arrangement of each song. I told her that I was looking forward to hearing her singing voice. I knew she sang for The Eddie Reed Big Band and had sat in with Lavay Smith on numerous occasions at The Derby in Hollywood, so my anticipation for hearing her voice was definitely growing. At one point she gave me a big, warm hug, of which I was a little surprised. She's a very attractive young lady, AND I'm also married... In Walks Regina! Regina, our number one fan from San Fransisco was there too, dressed in a 40's vintage dress and hat to match, looking the part, and dancing the part, and simply looking like a million bucks. She was stylin'. It was interesting, yet very nice that we had some people like Regina and Toni here at Croce's that we usually see in L.A. or San Fransisco. It definitely was kind of strange for me, but they were also down here in San Diego for Andi and Dean's wedding (tomorrow) in which the band was also performing. I guess I'm so used to performing at Croce's and noticing that most of the people appear to be tourists, or are here for a convention or something. I really didn't expect a lot of people that I knew from the swing scene, but I was glad these people were here! A Great First Set! The crowd at the beginning of our first set was the most I had ever seen at Croce's. There were a lot of people here tonight, surprising... I predicted no one would show up because of the rains, but I guess there were a lot of people from out-of -town due to the Thanksgiving holiday. It was so crowded, people were standing because there simply weren't enough chairs to go around! The aisles were full! It was a little frightening to me, this many people and so close. The stage is set up so that the people are intimately right up close to the stage, which is oblong and skinny, barely enough room for a 10 piece swing band. There's also a balcony where people look down on the band. But perhaps because of the setting of Croce's and the atmosphere, we get the wildest, most applause-crazy audiences, and tonight was no exception. Well, that first set was pretty impressive, I have to admit. I'm pretty critical on my own playing as well as the band's performance in general, but I must confess I thought we kicked ass during that first set. We started off playing 'Bugle Call' rag. I always start this tune off with a drum solo and I thought this was pretty effective for a show opener. We powerhoused through the rest of the tunes all the way up to Sing, Sing, Sing. I honestly couldn't recall getting that much applause aside from the one night here when I pretty much outdid myself earlier in the year. The Rest Of The Evening The swing dancers were impressive tonight. It was entertaining, watching these great dancers putting on a show of their own, adding to the excitement of the evening. At one point the audience was applauding the dancers to the point where I thought they were stealing the show. Toni mentioned to me that the band was going to be featured in Swing Time Magazine, and that she was going to do the interview herself. Well, I just told her that it was great that she was doing that for us. The next set was a little rough. It's so hard to really get the audience going during the second set when you've pretty much impressed them in the first set, but in the third set the band got back into true form and we ended with a 'bang' and an encore! Well done, boys!! As usual, I got home around 3:00AM, couldn't sleep and had to unwind at the computer for a while before retiring to bed. Currently Reading:
Dave Weckl - Back To Basics (Video) Dave Weckl - The Next Level (Video) Lawrence Stone - Stick Control (Book)
Buddy Rich - Live At Caesar's Palace Chicago - The Musical
Carlos Rull 
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