Skeletons, Coffee & Music at Viento y Agua
Cool friggin' logo, cool friggin' place...
I think I’ve said it before, but any place that has a skeleton with a rose in it’s hair (head?) holding a piping hot mug of coffee as their logo gets the thumbs up in my book. Viento y Agua Coffee House in Long Beach, CA has just the logo. Plus, they have a deceivingly good sound system (I mean, it sounds REALLY good). They’ve got these tiny little Yamaha mains for the front of house and one, single, solitary Peavey monitor on stage, but I’ve never heard an acoustic guitar and vocal mix sound so good. A big thanks to Angie for making it happen and creating a really comfortable mix for the show!
This place was on it, and so much fun... Me gusta a Viento y Agua!
Before I went on, I had some time on my hands, so I decided to check out the Long Beach coast. It was pretty interesting – I never noticed the gigantic breakwater before (well, I’ve only been here once before, but still… it’s kinda hard to miss). Basically, that shuts down any possibility of surf, but the beach is actually quite beautiful on its own. So, I took a stroll, walked around a bit, then decided to nap it out for a while to the sound of the shore break. Pretty peaceful and, as far as green rooms go for chilling out before a show, that was pretty hard to beat.
Preparing for a little snooze before my gig at Viento y Agua. Ahh...
After I wrapped up, this cool band fronted by writer and music industry veteran Tom Kell called “The Fergusons” took the stage and wowed everyone with a really nice group of songs and arrangements. You could tell this guy had been around a while as pretty much every one of his songs was almost perfectly crafted. (I heard a rumor he writes a new song every single day… woah.) Anyway, they were great, and it was fun to hear the front of house with a trio in that environment.
Tom Kell and The Fergusons doing their thing at Viento y Agua.
After they wrapped up, I hung around for a bit with a few new friends and fans and had a chance to talk shop with Tom for a bit. That guy has been through it all. Major label deal with Warner Bros., publishing deals in Nashville, teaching, etc. The guy has lead a really interesting and full live of music (and still continues to do so). Pretty solid inspiration, I must say. After we rapped for a while, I headed out to find a place to crash and settled on the old standby, Motel 6.
This morning, I’ve been chillin’ out in the warm, SoCal weather at Starbucks working a bit, sending some e-mails, and updating this here site. In a bit, I’ll be headed out to watch a tiny bit of the world cup with my buddy Dave, then will be heading up to Los Angeles to meet up with a few folks before playing at Dakota Lounge tonight at 7:00pm. It will be another solo, acoustic set, but I hear this place has a great stage, good sound, and is generally a pretty happening joint, so if you’re in town and itching to do something fun on your Saturday night, come on out and get it started with me at Dakota Lounge! Until next time…
After I packed up and everyone was gone, just one last parting shot of this cool venue.