Fun Time at Angel Fire

Vaughn McMillan

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ABQ NM
Our band played a show Friday evening in Angel Fire NM for their Cool Summer Nights concert series. Angel Fire is a ski resort in a beautiful mountain valley, and one of our favorite places to play. LOML and I left the house at 10:00 AM Friday and got home and unloaded about 1:15 AM Saturday. It was a long day but worth it. We had perhaps our most fun show ever with this band, playing to a very appreciative crowd. Beautiful weather (a bit windy at the start), with partly cloudy skies and temps in the mid-70s.

A little side story: Our tip jar set a record of $591 at this show. To put that in perspective, a very good night at a typical bar gig nets $100 in the tip jar. (And the tips are on top of our regular pay.) But during the intermission at Friday's show, a guy came up to Donnie (our drummer) and said he was getting ready to offer us $100 if we'd play some Pink Floyd, but we beat him to it by playing Comfortably Numb to close the first set. (It's always a crowd favorite...we do a nice version of it and it has my best solo of the night.) So he gave us the $100. Then he said he'd repeat the offer if we'd play the song again. Jokingly, Donnie asked "How many times do you want us to play it?" They guy checked his wallet and said "I've got enough for three more times." :eek: We didn't take him up on his full offer, but we did play the song again later in the second set, and true to his word, he chipped in another $100 bill. :D But even without his contribution, we broke our all-time tip jar record. Toward the end of the last set, people were literally lined up waiting to drop money in the jar. But better than the money, the crowd was very responsive to every song, and we got many, many compliments afterward. That's the best part of this hobby. :thumb:

Here's a few photos LOML grabbed along the way:

Our Office...

Stage Shot 1024.jpg

The boys at work...

Boys at Work - 1024.jpg

Pretending I know what I'm doing...

Vaughn Alone 1 - 1024.jpg

A quick panorama shot from my perspective...

Crowd Shot Panorama - 1024.jpg

Donnie getting ready to count the tips...

Donnie and the Tip Jar - 1024.jpg
 
Beautiful venue! I love the big timbers used in the pavilion. Keep up making the crowd happy and you're going to have to hire security for the tip jar:D:thumb:
 
That is awesome Vaughn! Dang, we need to get to see you play one of these days. I'll talk to Sharon about it.
 
Looks like a great venue. I agree with Brent, so day I need to make to to one of your shows. I always click the "Interested" button on the FB event, one of these day I'll click the "Going" button.

BTW, always look forward to seeing what t-shirt you have on, love that one. :thumb:
 
Well, Talked to Sharon, and it seems like if there's a gig somewhere in september? Later? At a special venue, we might think about a drive.

Heck, even the normal venue looks pretty special to me.
 
Well, Talked to Sharon, and it seems like if there's a gig somewhere in september? Later? At a special venue, we might think about a drive.

Heck, even the normal venue looks pretty special to me.

Currently, the only gig scheduled for September is Friday the 13th. :D It's our monthly stop at the Dragonhorn Tavern. Ryan can attest to its "Dive Bar" status, but it's a fun little pub. I'll keep you posted if any other venues get added to the calendar.

Mike keeps the calendar page on our website up to date: https://www.donohoeandgrimes.com/apps/calendar/. Keep in mind that the Wednesday gigs at El Patron are just the acoustic trio (without me), but these days those are the only ones they do as a trio.

The October 5th gig will be at the Balloon Fiesta, but unfortunately it's a corporate event that we can't invite guests to.
 
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