Central Coast Motorcycle Association Gig

We played in the white tent

Sand, Sand and more sand.

The gig was originally turned down by the JD Project ( Jon went to John Olmstead’s wedding ) and at the last minute the other band that was hired backed out so we put together a band of Doug, Brad Daane, JJ, and myself. It payed $1000 for an hour and a half plus free beer and dinner.

So I pulled up to the kiosk at the beach entrance in Oceano, paid my 5 bucks and started my first Pismo dunes experience after living on the Central Coast for 21 years. I really enjoyed the drive on the beach to the tent that was about a mile and half away.  Lot’s of 4×4’s, trailers, buggies and motorcycles.  The ocean waves breaking on the beach right next to me while I was driving.  Occasionally I would get sideways in the truck when I would drive over a soft area in the sand.  Most of the “road” out to the tent was compacted sand that was ok for my non 4 wheel drive truck.  When I got up to the tent I turned off the compacted sand road and pulled into the parking area by the tent.  As I was driving around to the back I start to feel my tires slipping and next thing you know I was stuck.  I was like ” Fuck, I better stop and not bury myself anymore” Fortunately  the place I got stuck was a OK place to park and I could deal with getting pulled out after the gig.

The gig itself was pretty fun.  Playing with Doug is like old hat except we tried a couple of songs we don’t really play and they were rough to say the least.  One highlight was we played a new Doug song ” Wagon wheel “  { turns out not to be a new Doug song but a Dylan song }  We had messed around with it at practice before but with JJ and Brad we went for it and it had a really good feel.  I look forward to playing that tune with Jon and Dave.  The rest of the gig was cool also.  Playing with Brad ( Killer Bass player ) was fun and refreshing.  JJ was his same self.  Not really looking like he was having any fun.  He is so steady with his beat which is great but when you play with someone you want them to have fun.

After the gig it was time to eat.  I fixed myself up a plate of chicken, bread and salad.  First bite of chicken , crunch, crunch – sand. Next bite I tried the salad, same thing -  sand.  Everything was covered with sand so I ended up throwing away the plate and started to pack my gear.

Realizing that I still needed to get my truck pulled out I found the guy in charge and asked him for help.  Next thing I know one of his guys puts a hitch on my truck, chains it to his behemoth 4×4 and say ” I’ll go slow”  I put the truck in reverse, look in both of my mirrors and he starts to pull me out backwards.  Suddenly I am being pulled backwards very fast with no control.  I put on the brakes which does nothing but causes my front end to drag deeper in the sand.  I have no control and he is pulling me faster than I was comfortable.  He pulls me out to the compacted sand, jumps out, unhitched me and is gone.  I was literally pulled in 3 minutes from start to end. There was nothing slow about him dragging me out. I found out later JJ got stuck also and they helped him get out.

All in all it was an interesting gig and  fun.  I have to say I like the fact that I am $250 richer but I could definitley do without all the sand.