Political Fundraiser

[OnyxSax]

I picked up a trio gig playing a fundraiser for John Kerry this evening in Virginia (and yes, John Kerry was there). It was one of those last-minute calls, and I decided to take the job myself. I've played gigs before for both former President Clinton and former Vice President Gore, so I was quite familiar with the security procedures required by the Secret Service (i.e. setup by 3:00 PM for a 5:30 hit).

The one thing we underestimated was the size of the hall and the crowd...close to 800 people. We only had small amps for the keyboard and bass and no micrnphone for the saxophone. Luckily, I chose to bring my Conn Chu to the gig. I was able to open it up full bore and it just boomed, not getting drowned out until the final few minutes before the speeches began. I had also brought my silverplate Conn soprano, but it got eaten up by the room.

We also declined to have stanchions placed in front of the stage, I didn't want our stage area fenced off. That also was a mistake. Once Kerry got up to speak people wanted to get up on our riser to get a better look. We had a great (and close) view. The one thing was no one got close to my saxophones...it was as if they had this huge invisible forcefield around them.

The gig itself went well. The keyboardist and I have played together for 16 years, but the bass player was new, so we just played a bunch of Real Book tunes...typical gig. Saying that we played it was actually better than the gig itself. I don't want to start a political discussion, but I was far more impressed with Kerry in person than I ever have been watching him on TV.

It turned out this was the largest Democratic fundraiser in Virginia history. Over 1.7 million dollars was raised. When they announced it, I turned to my bass player and said "All these people paid a total of 1.7 million dollars to see John Kerry, and we got PAID to do the same thing!"

[Larry G]

Mr O. . Great story including getting paid ! I did play for a small Kerry fundraiser in S.F. in an old building converted to a dance theater, a bit of a rough area ........They payed well ( and no John Kerry was not there ) the crowd was great ,odd that there wasn't any political chatter just a party/fundraiser. The only bummer was after a long night the bandleader went home at about 5:00 a.m. to have all his P.A. and trombone stolen from his truck. I left at 1:00 with the bass player for the two hour drive home and missed the all night d.j. with the pounding rave style music.
Thanks for the info on the 26 Conn bari...... still no visitation yet but I am planning a trip soon Larry G

[Hurling Frootmig]

Pretty cool gig.

The wind ensemble I play in played a speaking event for Tommy Franks recently and that was fun. First time I have ever seen a speaker acknowledge the band. Classy guy. Can't say I agree with everything he said but that's another deal.

When I was in high school we played for Reagan on a campaign stop in 1984. Can't remember much about it other than it was hot and we were in bleachers near a runway at a thankfully small airport that wasn't busy.

[geo@loyola.edu]

Hey, Dave, interesting to hear. I've had a few experiences from the other (GOP) side.

Our fearless leader is a rock-ribbed Republican, so we've done fund-raisers for Ellen Sauerbrey, Congressman/Governor Ehrlich (of Maryland, for all you non-locals out there), and even the Presidential Gala 2002, which was a $$$ record-breaker at the time. The governor has given us permission to bill ourselves as ``The Governor's Band,'' so I don't expect we'll see much interest from the Dems! At the last affair we did for the Gov, he said he'd try to get us a gig at the Republican national convention, but not too many of us are holding our breath.

My recollection of the Presidential Gala security is that it was more form than substance. We had to truck in our instruments the day before, so they could be bomb-sniffed, I guess. When we arrived, personal inspection was perfunctory. In my case, the gate screen didn't pick up several pieces of orthopedic hardware I carry---easily the equivalent of a large knife---which usually trigger airport screens.

What I remember most about fund-raisers in general is that we always play less time. There's always a lot of speechifying to sit through. And if there are media crews present, you're always on call for immediate start/stop to provide audible and sometimes visible background.

Maybe we can compare notes sometime: who parties down more, Dems or Reps? (Maybe it depends on whether the ``Victory Party'' actually has a victory to celebrate!)

[Warder60]

About to have my own politcal playing experience.. my high school director (I graduated this year) got a call from a white house representative asking if we'd like to provide some music for Pres Bush this Tuesday. Figures, director was just leaving for vacation and gets back Sunday night, our other director is already on vacation and also gets back Sunday night. So he got a hold of a few students (guess who one was :) ) and we're throwing together a small concert band for the day.
Sounds like we're gonna get one rehearsal in and pick up our marching uniform the morning of the performance, hope it goes ok :wink:

[jazzbluescat]

I did a thing for Ross Periot a few years back. There weren't any security hassels, we didn't even get searched; this was waaay before 9/11.
They flipped out on Willie Nelson's "Crazy."

[OnyxSax]

I've done the other side of the aisle as well. In January 1995, we played the Republican Victory Party when the Republicans took over Congress. Newt Gingrich was there and he gave a speech from our band stage. The press didn't even care about our equipment and just pressed in. I had to practically threaten a couple of these guys.

Our keyboardist told me that if you stick a hand out in front of a politician, he will shake that hand. So, when Newt came on stage, our keyboardist extended his hand, and sure enough, Newt stopped and shook his hand.

[LBAjazz]

If he shook Newt's hand, I hope he went straight home and washed up.

[jazzbluescat]

Been funny if he'd had one of those little electric shock gag things in his palm. :twisted:

[OnyxSax]

Practical jokes usually don't fly too well at these gatherings. My philosophy is never mess with someone who is being protected by guys with automatic weapons.

At one of the functions I played where then-President Clinton was in attendance, I was finished playing and wanted to pack my keyboard up. My keyboard case was underneath a table, and I figured it would look a bit suspicious for me to dive under a table and pull out a keyboard case. I just sat back and enjoyed the typically long-winded Clinton speech.

Personally, I liked Clinton a lot, but man could he just ramble on and on!

[Joe Linux]

When I was in college I was a member of the Kennedy rally band. I was on the stage with Ted Kennedy who was stumping for his brother. Now I have taken up sax, and have been playing it on the street corner for John Kerry. I dress up in a T-shirt tux, and a patriotic red, white, and blue, top hat I got at a costume shop. I stand beside a Kerry sign with an American and state flag attached to it. I play patriotic songs like American the Beautiful, and God Bless America. It must be working because Kerry is leading in my state. It's amazing though because some of the Bushies cuss at me as they pass by. I thought they liked the flag and patriotism.

[Dave dix]

Call these people politicians? I played saxophone for the one and only real politician for 8 years.Screaming Lord Sutch, Now they were real gigs!!!!
Dave

[stitch]

I played saxophone for the one and only real politician for 8 years.Screaming Lord Sutch

You mean you were in his band, Dave?

[Dave dix]

Yes for 8 years
Dave

[stitch]

Yes for 8 years
Dave

Aha - I always suspected you were a bit of a Savage :lol:

[Dave dix]

Very true!!! and he also had a "loony party" HQ very near you in a town called Shepshed,The top railway which was owned by my good friend Johnny Bedder who sadly died last year.He also played guitar for Dave Sutch in the early days with Richie Blackmore,Paul Nicholas etc
Dave

[OnyxSax]

Well, I guess my playing for Kerry is now only going to be a footnote to history :(

Oh well, 2008 is only four years away.

[OnyxSax]

This time we got to play for the "other side". We picked up two of the "unofficial" inaugural celebrations. Last night was the New Jersey delegation's party. Tonight was the "Veteran's Ball". We were put in a side room as kind of the "lounge band" for the Veterans Ball. The main event was hosted by Tony Orlando.

When we told people that Tony Orlando would be at our job, the natural question was "Where's Dawn". As far as we can tell, Tony must have eaten both of them as he is considerably larger than he was when he was on TV.