February 12, 2004 - Solano Beach, CA

We got into Solano Beach real early in the morning. Even though we weren't staying the night here in Solano Beach, we all got our own rooms instead of doubling up. I think the decision was made to leave after this show so we could get Sandra to the airport early in the morning, and the city that we're in after this show is only an hour away. I checked into my hotel room and fell right to sleep. When I woke up I showered and got dressed and decided to go for a walk. I went to put my luggage back on the bus because I figured I wouldn't go back to the hotel room tonight after the show. The next city was only an hour away. The bus was parked behind the hotel on the street. I saw Danette and Sandra hanging out on the balcony in one of their rooms. I told them good morning and asked Danette what time bus call was. That became our running joke with her this tour. Every time I saw her on the bus what time sound check or load in was - even though she posted those times every morning on the bus.

When I got to the bus Victor was just waking up. He kinda' likes sleeping on the bus. I told him I was going to walk to get some breakfast and then probably meet them at the venue instead of making bus call. I saw some guys along the way who pointed out where the venue was. It was about a mile away in the 'design district' of Solano Beach. Once they pointed it out, I got my bearings and I realized where I was. I instantly remembered how to get to all the places that I went to last year when we were in this town. I stopped in the drug store to get a post card for my wife. I asked a woman in the drug store where a good place to get breakfast was and she told me about a place called the Hideaway café. Fortunately I was headed that way. She told me I wouldn't be impressed with the way it looked from the outside, but I would love the food. She was right - it looked like a shack from outside. It was smaller than a one car garage and it looked like it was made from old cardboard. But the food was good. There was a Marine inside telling his friends about flying for the President in DC. He started naming different landmarks. It made me have warm thoughts of home.

After breakfast I decided to walk down to the ocean to fill out the post card I was sending to my wife. I had called my wife from this spot last year before our gig. That night was very dark and I was standing all alone at the beach surrounded by cliffs and there were houses on the cliffs. I called my wife to let her hear the ocean through the phone. Now it was 11:30AM and the sun was shining bright and the temperature was very comfortable. There were about 5 or 6 people surfing. There were also about 5 or 6 people giving each other massages on the beach. I filled out the postcard and then walked back down the street to drop it in the mailbox. I walked around town for a while and then went to the venue. I still had 40 minutes before the bus would come, so I took a nap in the dressing room.

When the bus got there, we loaded in and set up. Joseph and Ted played a round of duct tape basketball. Ted made an incredible basket. He threw it from the stage over the lighting rig into a trash can that was about 35 feet away. My friend Ron Johnson from the Karl Denson band came to visit me. Ron is a great bass player. I told him I would leave him 2 tickets for the show. He said he would go to the Erykah Badu concert for a while in San Diego and then head over to the show. Last year when we played here, Karl Denson sat in with us.

After sound check one of the venue engineers agreed to run me to the Ducati dealer in Oceanside which is about 20 miles north of Solano Beach. It was great to see some of the surrounding area. These folks around here have 'globs' of money. When we got back to Solano Beach I had him run me to a department store to buy some luggage. I had accumulated so much stuff on this tour that I needed another bag. The bag that I flew in with was already 7 pounds over the weight limit. I found a really decent sized Nike duffel bag for only $14.

When I got back to the venue it was full of people. It was time to check the tuning to the basses one last time before the show. The show was great. Sandra Williams sang her butt off. During Victor's solo she came out and traded 'ad libs' with him. The chemistry on stage was great. Maybe it had something to do with everybody on stage's last name starting with the letter 'W'. There are 3 Wootens, a Watson, a Walker, Sandra's last name is Williams and my last name is Wellington. Danette's father was in town and was going to check out the show tonight. We love that guy - his daughter is a clone of him. He came to the venue in LA yesterday but he couldn't stay for the show. He's also a very good singer and he knows a lot about music. He absolutely loved the show and enjoyed everybody's feature. And he told me that he absolutely loved it when I did the 'daddy dance'. Also, the great fiddle player, Mark O'Connor was there and gave me a copy of his latest CD. Mark's son Forrest took the cover phot for the CD. I met him about a week earlier at our show in Missoula. During our shows we're always saying things to each other to make each other laugh. Sometimes we'll point out people in the audience who look like other people. Last year there was a guy here that looked exactly like Barry White. I heard he was here this year too. This time there was a guy that looked just like Samuel L. Jackson. He was standing right next to Kerry Lathon. Kerry came to the LA show and he decided to drive down to this show AND he was going to check out tomorrow's show too.

After the show I let a couple of people check out my 7 string bass. I let a guy named Jared check out my 5 string Fodera Imperial. He had been emailing me for a while and he had taken one of my classes on musicdojo.com. I vaguely knew who he was while I was talking to him. Later I recognized him by his email address. Since I keep in touch with most people by email, their email addresses become more recognizable than their names.

I was going to walk back to the hotel since it was a beautiful night but we collectively decided not to go back to the hotel since the next city was an hour away. We could just check into our rooms there and shower then. At some point, Sandra would be dropped off at the airport to catch her flight back to NY.

I'd like to thank Ralph and Brad from the Belly Up. They were so much fun to work with. Ralph really enjoys listening to us play and he had some very kind things to say about my playing. I appreciate Brad running me up to Oceanside to the Ducati dealer.

Toné & I would also like to send out a Happy Birthday to my stepdaughter (Toné's daughter) Shauna. She turned 24 today!

Here's a picture of Sandra doing her thing...

peace & blessings

anthony