Ranchella Recap

Special thanks to the Last Ambassadors, Spindrift, Dogman Joe, John and the sound and lighting crew, the volunteers and the grillers for making Ranchella 2.0 possible. Thanks also to Julie, Kristin, Acacia, Gabriele, Winston, Vanessa, Ian, Alex, Jim, Steve, Samantha, June, Mike, Gabe, Colin, Frank, Max, Liz and Dan for taking a chance on us. And to everyone else who came, we really appreciate your enthusiasm. I’m uploading pictures to the photos section as we speak.

To recap the evening, I dropped off stuff in the morning and Whit stayed with TLA to build giant backdrop and lighting structure. By the time I got back from the vocals recording session there was a barbecue firing and a great black stage set up. Spindrift was spilling grooves out on the large grass field and the redwoods framed a perfect encampment of frisbee-throwing, Mateveza-drinking festival-goers. I finally saw some facebook friends face to face and I met people who had discovered GWT through the other bands and I’m very grateful that they showed up early enough to hear us too.

It’s a good thing Winston, Vanessa and Ian played with us, because the stage was huuuuuge. I got to stand up and dance around, ad I’m happy the crowd was in such a good mood! Thanks to everyone for their patience with my picture taking after our set. TLA put so much work into the event and I noticed it wasn’t being recorded or photographed, so I think the pics will be appreciated ( I can take down anything if someone sees one they are dying to eliminate).

Anyway, Dogman Joe took the stage after us and many of you may not know that Whitney used to be his drummer, which is what makes us all one big happy family. He asked the audience if we “believe in love” and he rocked out with his 5 person crew.

Last but not least, the light show was in full force for the entrance of TLA (The Last Ambassadors). Lasers climbed and crossed the circle of redwoods around the stage. Fog billowed around the stage stairs and a soft red glow arose for Jake’s vocals. Phil, the new bass player, moved around a lot and brought some nice funk to his centerstage spot. It hit me quite hard- every member of this band can sing! I look forward to more rich harmonies in the future. We heard more originals than every before tonight, and I must say that for an outdoor festival, the amount of original music was outstanding and refreshing.

It was a little funny that TLA kept telling the crowd not to throw glowsticks on stage- it reminded me of a story I read about a band that threw bananas at the audience only to get them thrown back and end up paying hundreds of dollars to clean a club’s PA system of banana pulp. The glowsticks in general were integral to the show though, and I doubt I will forget watching the glowing hulahoop girl in the warm night as the wolloping bass and drummer-triggered fantasy loops filled my head.

These guys, other than being incredibly talented musicians and showmen, put a ton of work into this event and I feel extremely lucky and grateful to have been a part of it. Thanks for reading this. Hope to see you at Anna’s Jazz Island Friday August 1st for our all ages show with guest guitarist Steve Laciak.

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