I had been playing and recording a lot of music, recording at Blueberry Buddha, recording my own stuff, collaborating...but I hadn't played out live in like almost a year, so I was especially grateful when Mitch asked if I wanted to play with Golden Hits in the lobby of the Hammer Museum!!! 

I left late, and traffic sucked.  I showed up at 7:20 with my gig bag, a Trader Joe's bag filled with two gongs I had purchased when in Burma and a pink plastic Echo Mic, sort of like a Mr. Microphone.  You never know when those might come in handy. 

I had not been gigging much lately, in part because of my lower back pain.  Just two days ago, I had seen a neurosurgeon at UCLA Spine Center for the possibility of having surgery to try to take away the perpetual pain in my lower back. This was a beautiful low-key way to play live, being able to get up, walk, even lie down, while not having to bring anything more than a small grocery bag of sonic goodies.  Although only Mark knew I was showing up to play, I was nonetheless greeted with smiles and waves.  What a group of friendly, supportive people!!!!!!

Photo:  Mark "Frosty" McNeill of Dublab/Golden Hits.

We'll let the Hammer Museum describe the evening's events:

Spatial Expansion, the Oneness and the Suchness

Organized by the Collective Field, an ongoing collective initiated by Hammer Projects artist Claude Collins-Stracensky, this light-and-sound performance will take place in the lobby next to Collins-Stracensky’s installation and Gallery 6 next to the courtyard. Engaging new forms of aural and visual expression, a diverse group of performers will transform the museum’s lobby and Gallery 6 with soundscapes and light fields. The Gallery 6 lineup will include White Rainbow (soundscapes), Jeff Perkins (lightscaping), Lucky Dragons (interactive sounds), John Williams (light/sound sculpture performance), with acoustic activation from dublab drone dreamers Golden Hits in the lobby.

~~~~~~~~~

Photo:  Mark

One of the two gongs that I purchased from a
Buddhist temple in Mandalay, Burma, a beautiful higher-pitched gong that twirls when hit, pleasing the sound nerd that smiles within all of us.

I had arrived late.  And I left early.  The knife-pain in my lower back announced their dissatisfaction with sitting for two and a half hours on the floor.  As I drove around the building, I saw that the gig had just ended.  Oh well. 

Thank you so much to Mitch for inviting me to play with Golden Hits.  What I think of most about this gig was how much fun it was, so much so that I never saw Lucky Dragons perform.