Thoughts on the 7/16 Dudley Manlove Quartet / BowieVision Performances
On Saturday 7/16, I performed at the Bite of Seattle with two of my bands: The Dudley Manlove Quartet, and BowieVision. We had the opportunity for both bands to perform on the same stage, in adjacent time slots, so it was actually very easy from a logistic standpoint. The Bite of Seattle is a food and arts festival held every year at Seattle Center, and I have often performed at this event over the past thirty years. The stage crews have been all be around for that length of time, so I get to work with the same bunch of great engineers and stage managers who have made these shows successful and easy.
I arrived at about 11:30 AM with the few items that I actually needed for this gig: my guitar, my pedalboard, and a bag with a few cables and change of clothes. Each stage at this event is equipped with rented backline equipment including a drum set, bass amp, guitar amp, keyboard stand and amp, and so on. It makes the changeover between bands very easy, and allows us to travel pretty light. My equipment was driven to the stage in a Gator (basically a 4WD golf cart with a small pickup bed), and I got to ride along, doing my best parade queen wave as we wove through the crowd.
The Dudley Manlove Quartet performed first, charging through a high-energy set. I was particularly delighted that we played “Night Fever” by the Bee Gees, as it got everyone up and dancing. Disco music allows people to pretend they’re making fun of disco dancing, when in fact they are enjoying themselves doing it. We also delivered some classic rock hits to keep the crowd moving. Following a short break and wardrobe change, we returned to the stage as BowieVision and played another 45 minutes. We definitely had some Bowie fans in the crowd, as there were several people singing along who knew all the words.
The overall experience of working at these events is always fun. It’s a big festival with happy people enjoying food, beer, and fun energy. I did spot a booth selling elk burgers, which sounded really good, except it was so hot that day and I was already pretty overheated from playing two sets in the sun. Maybe I’ll get that elk burger next year.