Friday, April 18, 2008: Mallory Square Concert With Billy Currington,
Hey, Y'all:
(Note: some of the photos will not have captions as blogger is acting "buggy" today when I try to add captions.)
Let's start with some behind the scene shots on Friday during the day :
Top photo of Irene with an Irish mascot "stolen" from a bar in Wisconsin by the couple in the second photo. This couple is traveling the USA. They ask people to pose with the mascot. After a photo is taken, they send it back to the Wisconsin bar owner. Just a normal day in Key West.
Big Ass cruise ship on Mallory Square right before Sunset and the Billy Currington Concert!
That is Ashley on the left and Kathy on the right. Okay, eat your hearts out guys: I heard this was mother and daughter much later after I took the photo during the day, Friday, right after I told them Billy Currington was about to appear at Mallory Square a few hours later. I still think they were lying. They are so pretty, I' told them to eat a hand full of Ugly Pills just to tone down their beauty and give the other girls a shot at Billy Currington, Chad Bradford, Dallas Davidson, Brett Jones, etc. etc. etc.
Tim, our daytime manager and Monday/Tuesday manger laughing his Kilyoon's off that he has such pretty ladies sitting on the other side of the bar (such as seen in the last photo) giving him and this bunch of locals a free "Scwhing" in the afternoon . . . while the rest of us are running to and fro from the bar to Mallory Square to make Chad Bradford and Billy Curringotn happen!
So, while Tim was back at the bar cutting it up, we had some cool guys down at Mallory Square making sure Friday night with Billy Currington on the $1 Million stage would happen. Here is the first shot of Dave the soundman from the Jagermeister traveling sound and light stage behind the main 48 channel board.
A shot of the 48 channel mixing board which ran the huge speaker system directing sound to the crowd.
Side shot of Dave's 48 channel board.
The guy on the left, named "Static", was the chief sound engineer just for the monitors on stage which musicians use to hear one another. I forgot the guy's name on the right, but if Static or Dave or any of the Jagermeister guys see this . . . please send me his name so we can give him props.
Shot of the mixing board, amps, and equalizers used just for the monitor and sidefill sound the bands used onstage to hear themselves above the crowd noise.
Matt Dorgan, one of our Security guys, was the early man on the scene performing inventory control/stocking of Cowboy Bill's "Corral Bar" down at Mallory Square.
Ms. Irene wondering if a strainer would make a good paddle to keep her crew in line? And Anna right behind Irene laughing, "Get a whip, Irene!"
What the stage looked like close up during the day. The barricades were taken away at night to allow the crowd to walk right up to the lip of the stage. Photo below shows the stage from about half way back to the huge inflatable building.
Shot of the $1 Million Jagermeister from half-way back to the 15,000 sq. ft. inflatable building housing the World Sailfishing Tournament!
The giant Jumbotron screen slowly going up in the air by about 30 feet or so. This video screen showed ads of supporters plus live crowd shots and close ups of the bands on stage later in the night.
This giant pair of speakers are actually "side fills" giving musicians on stage a taste of what the outside sound was like. The music I played through these side fills is the same I play at the club, yet every song . . . I heard instruments and voices I've never heard in any club. The perfect sound unnerved me so much, I suffered stage fright for the first time in my life!
The dozen or so speakers stacked one on top of another were the high and mid-range speakers. This was only the stack for "Stage Left".
Each musician also had two giant sized monitors at their feet. They were much needed to hear over the scream of the thousands of women in the front rows later in the night.
Looking out from the stage at the empty concert grounds. The steel barricades were temporary. Later, at night when the concert started, we removed the barricades. Fans were allowed right up to the lip of the stage. (p.s. The perspective of this photo doesn't show how far away that building in the background was. The inflatable building, probably 15,000 square feet, was so big you could play arena football inside . . . easily.
This is the kind of stuff most of you never see or hear at a major concert: soundcheck. That's Chad Bradford and the Damn Band putting the $1 Million Jagermeister Sound System through its paces. At full load, the sound was heard 90 miles away in Cuba!
This is Dallas Davidson, great Nashville Songwriter who penned "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" for Trace Adkins doing sound check with Chad Bradford's very young, but incredibly talented band!
Hours before the gates open, these 3 young beauties working for our food purveyor . . . The Dolphin Deli on Stock Island . . . were here setting up. These were some hard-working high-schoolers stayed busy all night.
We will never know how this guy, Captain Jagermeister, got his "props with behind the scenes peeps", but what the hell, he was there, most of you weren't, why worry why? We were all in the afternoon spirit of getting ready for they night!
And then "Here Comes the Night!"
That is Jamie, lead guitarist for the Damn Band on the left. Chad Bradford is on his right. And had I'd a great big spotlight, you would have seen 4 out of 5 people in the first 1000 by the stage were screaming women.
Chad, the drummer, laying down the backbeat for the dancing crowd and the Damn Band. The photo above this one is of Jamie "in the zone" oblivious to the crowd.
Chad Bradford and the Damn Band under the high tech LED lighting.
Chad Bradford firing up the crowd with his singing.
I took this shot from the side of the crowd. You sort of get an idea how crowded it was.
This shot is from the middle of the crowd. Behind me was the mixing board and the big inflatable tent.
Jamie in two shots zoning out on a lead riff, oblivious to thousands of fans watching him work
Ladies and Gentlemen, that's Billy Currington taken through a telephoto lens.
Billy Currington in a blur with Jamie and Chad from the Damn Band
A shot from the wing of Stage Left of Billy Currington singing.
Another shot of Billy Currington at Mallory Square. This time from up close out front.
Paul, Samurai Bartender, putting together some Jager Bombs . . . no doubt . . . as Ms. Irene can smell a Jager Bomb a mile away!
This is a side shot of the crowd from Stage Left. Notice how high up in the air the Jumbotron screen was set up.
I never caught this guy's name. He was with Dallas Davidson, songwriter extraordinaire. He made sure (along with Dallas) that I introduce Dallas as from "Albany, Georgia!" Dallas might be in town this week for the Song Writer's Festival, so maybe I'll have him tell me who this guy is.
After the Mallory Square Show, Chad Bradford's band hit the stage at Cowboy Bill's and then Billy Currington and Dallas Davidson showed up late and said, "What the Hell" and did entire sets seperately with the Damn Band.
This is Quinn the lead guitarist of the Damn Band posing with Ashley who will be back to Cowboy Bill's "ASAP!"
This is a shot of the whole "Damn Band" standing next to two beautiful ladies. From left to right, Chad the drummer, Jamie the lead guitarist in the back, Quinn the bass player, Ashley and her sister Kathy (that ain't your mom, your pants are on fire) and Chad Bradford.
These three were making noise for the Boyz in the Band! And how!
That is local beauty, Amanda, on the right with an unknown couple she'll have to ID later. The photo above this one is off three people playing bongos on the DJ Booth wall and making strange noises.
That's one of our bartenders, Samantha, who got up on stage and belted out an old Levon Helms song. Terrific!
Chad Bradford and Jamie hamming it up on stage while Ron Rice Paddy leans into the photo from the dancefloor. . . .
Chad the drummer on break with the smoking "L.A. Gal" who won the Sexy Bull Riding Contest on Wednesday and Thursday Nights. She's also President of the Chad Bradford and the Damn Band fan club.
The look of shock on the crowd's face when Billy Currington showed up unexpectedly and played an entire 60 minute set with The Damn Band . . . Another magical night at Cowboy Bill's!
That's Billy Currington about 2 AM, jamming with Jamie of Chad Bradford and the Damn Band. Found out later that Jamie had once toured with Billy as Billy's guitarist on a national tour. All the people who left the club early that night are kicking themselves in the butts for missing this whimsical show. Outstanding late night set!
Ainsley ripping a bottle cap off a long neck beer with just her tongue piercing.
Billy Currington's "Official Cowboy Bill's Bartender", Rachel, making Matt Dorgan look good.
Ron Rice Paddy and Jason at the end of the night looking up at the "Mother Ship" taking off from Cowboy Bills. Aliens often visit the Weirdest Country Bar in the Known Cosmos. You couldn't ask for two better Ambassadors of the Bar to say, "Smell you later, ET's!"
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