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Back In The Saddle Again. Free Spirit is now LIVE on stage AGAIN, after a 10 year break. |
We are a trio, everyone in the band is over 60, we play OLD music for OLD (mostly) people. :-) We've been doing this together since 1969 except for the 10 year hiatus we took that started in 1995. In 2005 we got back together and started rehearsing and gigging. The first name the band had was "Free Spirit". After thinking about it for a while, we decided it was only right that we use that name for the remaining years we play together.. It's GREAT to be playing again with my old band mates. :-) We've had a lot of gear in the last 38 years, but I believe
the gear we're using now is the best (for what we do) as any we've ever
used. |
This is our basic stage setup. |
Here's a little closer look at the stage setup.
These pictures were taken at the Simi Valley Moose Lodge, Simi Valley
California. We really enjoy playing for these people. They range in age
from 25 to 80 and they love the variety of music we play. They pay us
a fair amount of money for our time and they are very appreciative. We
always feel like we're playing for friends. We play at this Moose Lodge
about once a month and they have already booked us for New Years Eve 07/08.
:-) |
This is the heart of our system. It starts with a Carvin XP 650 PA head and 2 Carvin 1x12" cabs. This PA has ALL the power we will ever need for the kind of gigs we play. The speaker cabs are light as a feather and strong as an OX. The "speaker stands" that come with this system are excellent as well. I want to thank by buddy Moshe Alvarez for setting me up with this great system. Moshe is the assistant manager at the Hollywood Carvin store and works for MCS part time. :-) I've always run my guitar stereo. Here's the chain: Guitar into Nady 201 true diversity wireless system to a Korg ToneWorks AX3000G pedal board. From the board I go out stereo to 2 Crate 150 watt Power Blocks to 2 Crate "Celestion" 1x12" cabs, one right and one left. This system has more than enough power for the gigs I play. We always record and video tape our gigs so we will have something
to listen to and watch in our REALLY old age. ;-) For recording, I use
a Fostex MR-8 HD hard disc recorder. This is the best VERY small portable
recording system I've seen. You can light up 4 tracks at a time which
is very important if you want to be able to mix down later. I put a
mic on the bass, guitar and drums and run a tap off the PA for the vocal.
There's tons of room on this recorder to do live gigs. Something like
30 hours at 8 tracks. We only use about 4 hours at a time. I let it
run through each set and then I mix it down later. I can't say enough
about this system for the player who wants to get some very decent live
recordings without having to have a ton of recording gear and a “sound
man" to run it for you. |
My other speaker cab sits on top of Rol's bass amp. Rol's bass
amp is also a Crate, which he's had for MANY years. 160 watts with an
EV speaker. A very decent amp for small gigs. Rol also runs through
a Nady 201 wireless system. Actually, we've been using Nady wireless
systems ever since the Nady 410 FM system that you had to "tune"
to the correct frequency and then match it with the transmitter. There
are two things I won't go on stage without, one is my Nady wireless
system and the other is my preamp booster system. ;-) |
OK, here's some gratuitous pics of the "old
guys" doing their thing. :-) |
Our floor monitor system is an OLD Centaur
system. We've had it for 20 + years and it still does what we need it
to do. It's got an internal 70 watt amp and is pushed by a monitor tap
off the Carvin PA head. As you can see the Carvin PA speaker and stand
are very small but they really do a great job. We've only been using this
Carvin PA for about a month but I couldn't be happier. :-) |
As I said, we also video tape each gig. Actually,
this is not a "tape", but one of the new "hard drive"
cameras. Again, just like the recorder, I just turn it on at the beginning
of each set and let it run. I'll cut and edit the sets and burn DVD's
later. |
I'm watching Rol out in the audience walking
around. Gotta love wireless. :-) |
OK, I had to get in the act. :-) |
This is Dave, the best club drummer I've
ever gigged with. He's not Mr. "hot licks", but he keeps a
good beat, knows when to fill, AND, when NOT TO, and has a great memory
for arrangements. Sometimes I'll pull a song out of our archives that
we haven't played for 15 years and he will remember our arrangement.
Pretty cool. |
These pics wouldn't be complete without
a little "guitar porn". I'm really partial to my Wraith design,
so we both play similar guitars. Yeah, in the 70's we used to ALL wear
the same clothes too. :-0 Man, I'm glad THOSE days
are gone. (Disco sucks). ;-) |