Wave Invasion successfully completed our Relay For Life Trifecta yesterday. We stated out in Diamond Bar which was a nice enough venue although the setup required hauling our gear down a flight of 12 stairs. Fortunately this was the first gig of the day so it wasn't too bad. They really liked what we were doing and gave us an extra half hour to play. The stage was one of those bouncy affairs more useful as a matt in the WWE than a performing stage for musicians so as we started the first song the drumming vibrated Gary's outboard reverb tank so badly that it sounded like a wall of thunder. We stopped and let Gary move his tank off the stage and began again. That was the only glitch. The rest of the show went great. The MC/DJ said he books a lot of Beach Party affairs and asked for our card and our contact info as did several other people. The stage was uncovered but it was overcast and cool so we didn't break a sweat.




We packed up and headed to our next show at the Relay for Life in Pasadena. This was a smaller affair since it was their first year holding the event. We got a great reception and made more contacts and got an offer to play for the event in West Covina next year. A lady came up to us at the end and said that she lived across the street from the athletic field and enjoyed it so much when she heard us playing that she came over to see us. A teenage girl at the DJ booth said, "You guys are pretty good." The whole show went really well with only a couple of interruptions for announcements and to refill the generator which was supplying the AC when it ran out in the middle of our performance.




At the end of this 3 to 5 show we packed everything back up(fortunately we got to park right next to the stage) and headed back down the freeway to the Glendora Relay for Life 7 PM show. As we got there a Bluegrass group was performing onstage. We set up our gear behind the satge since we were a few minutes early and had it ready to go when the bluegrassers left the stage. 10 minutes later we kicked off the 3rd set of the day and again had a really good show. The relayers really enjoyed it and were writing requests on sheets of paper and holding them up as they passed by. It's always fun to see them break into a gallop when we play the William Tell Overture as part of the Ghost Riders on the Storm medley. We sold a few more CDs which we had been doing at the 2 previous shows and made a few more contacts for future shows with the DJ and a few promoters for events like car shows.




We all survived it and it turned out to be a fun day and not anywhere near as wearing as I figured but the weather was very cool and in our favor so that helped. I simplified my setup which freed my wife/roadie to help with the drums. The really great thing was performing with a group of guys who just went along with whatever was presented and performed 3 great shows. There was no complaining, no egos, and no problems. It is always a pleasure to perform with Jeff, Richard and Gary but they were just amazing yesterday.