Smack Dab playing again at the Rib Joint in Dana Point, CA on Saturday 06-07-2025
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Smack Dab: From left Marc Repaire, lead guitar and vocals; Allison Friedman, lead vocals and guitar; Lloyd Brown, lead vocals and guitar, yours truly and Kent Richards my neighbor and friend, bass and vocals. We play bars, clubs, restaurants, private parties and corporate events. You can reach us at smackdabgroup@gmail.com.
We had the pleasure of playing again at the World Famous Rib Joint in Dana Point, CA on Saturday the 7th of June, 2025. Playing at the Rib Joint is always fun, and even though it is not the most glamorous, they actually have a lot of musical acts, and they even pay a little bit, enough to pay for gas! We are lucky enough to have a little group of loyal fans (friends and family), some 20-25 people that show up to our gigs, so that makes it extra special. Also, the hours are good (since I don’t wanna play in bars anymore), we usually play from 6PM to 9PM, which means that I can usually be in bed by 11PM (which is way past my bedtime, but every once in a while I stay up). Compare that with the usual bar gig that starts at 9PM, and ends at 1AM (which I have done a few times in the past), and you can understand why playing at the Rib Joint is indeed great fun! Also, playing with Smack Dab is really fun, since we have an eclectic mix of blues and rock, which reflects our varied musical tastes.
Even so, playing any gig when you are a hobby player does indeed a bunch of work, especially if you are also carrying drums and the PA! Our bass player Kent is also my neighbor, so he usually helps me to load everything up in the pick up; speakers, drums, stands, PA, hand truck and the obligatory tip jar! We start at about 3PM, and we usually have everything loaded by 3:30PM, then Kent and I carpool to the Rib Joint.
Saturday 06-07-2025: Packing up the pickup truck for the Rib Joint gig.
Saturday 06-07-2025: Packing up the pickup truck! My bass drum pedal bag is well repaired using duct tape, the musician’s best friend!
Saturday 06-07-2025: Packing up the truck! I usually carry the small drums in the backseat, in their Protection Racket soft cases. In my opinion, Protection Racket makes the best soft cases, but they are on the expensive side!
Saturday 06-07-2025: Arriving at 4:00 PM at the Rib Joint. This is a view of Pacific Coast Highway through Dana Point, looking south. To the right is the entrance to Dana Point Harbor, which is really cool place.
Saturday 06-07-2025 at the Rib Joint. As you can see, Live Music, Full Bar, Food Fun! Tonite!
Saturday 06-07-2025: Arriving at 4:00 PM at the Rib Joint to start setting up. This is a view of Pacific Coast Highway through Dana Point, looking north.
It usually takes me an hour and 15 minutes to set everything up; I start with the PA, to make sure that we have sound, then I move on to my drums. Yes, I know that I’m crazy carrying all that stuff, but somebody gotta do it! At 5:15 we were ready for sound check to get a good balance, and then we usually wait for the hoards to arrive! We play three sets, some 12 songs each, with a couple of short breaks between sets. My rule of thumb is that if you are going to play three sets, you need 36 songs, and for a four-set gig, you need 48 songs… We are not at the 48 song mark yet, but we are getting there…
Saturday, 06-07-2025: At around 5:15PM, we are all set up, and ready for sound check! Marc brought a bunch of lights, which was really cool.
Saturday 06-07-2025: What a blessed afternoon; good friends and good music, don’t’ get any better than that! The day started out a bit gloomy, but by the time we started setting up, the sun had come out…
Saturday 06-07-2025: It is 5:15 and I’m ready! Currently I play my 2001 DW kit as a four-piece, along with my DW 13”x5” wood snare. My cymbals are a mix of Zildjian, Paiste, Sabian and Ufip.
Saturday 06-07-2025: The command center! I’m still the PA guy… I use an old analog Carvin 12-channel, four amp powered mixer, which so far is holding up well, and since we only mike out the vocals, this old mixer does the job well. I also use an old Taye double pedal (for lefties), which I use mainly for those stadium endings…
Saturday 06-07-2025: It is 6:00PM and Smack Dab ready for action at the world famous Rib Joint! Gotta stay hydrated…
Saturday, 06-07-2025: It is 9:15, and after playing three sets, Smack Dab is taking a stage bow! This was such a fun gig; a bunch of people dancing, the crowd enjoying our music, and we even made good tips! Life is good!
So it is 9:15PM, and we gotta pack back up, the most non-glamourous part of the gig… After packing up, Kent and I have about a 15 minute drive back to our neighborhood, and luckily for me, my son Matthew was home to help me bring all the stuff back into my garage. I was in bed by 11:30, not too bad for gig night, but the next day I was a bit sore from all the playing and lifting, but I’ll gladly do it again!!!!! Age is just a state of mind, especially when playing music!!!!!!
Here are a few video clips from that night; as always super fun!
My Presam work ID card, circa 1980. I had combed my hair as a rocker as a silly joke. As I’m writing this, I’ve been employed full-time since the spring of 1976, so it seems I’ve been working continuously for almost 50 years, earning a paycheck! Not bad, and the rewards have been plenty; food, rent money, mortgage money, buying stuff (cars, pickup trucks, drums, houses, horses, education, vacations, etc.), and making sure that my family was fed and had a roof over their heads. I like working, and I’m still at it, and I’ll keep it up as long as anybody is willing to pay me for what I do, whatever that is! A little note about my employment history back in Sweden; back then (1970-1980) it was customary to issue a final written performance review, and for some reason, I saved them all, with the exception of my first job. So, even though I had forgotten the dates, when I found the records (you will see them below), the dates became accur...
The Deadly Raisin Bread... S o it is about a quarter ‘till 9 PM on Thursday the second of October, 2025, and we are just about ready to go to bed. I’m downstairs getting Lars his Apoquel pill for his allergies, wrapped up in a piece of turkey, as is our habit. After his pill, Lars rushes up the stairs to the bedroom where he sleeps. So far so good… We had brought up a couple pieces of yummy raisin bread for a little evening snack (yes, I know, it is not a good habit, but it is soooo yummy), and left it on the dresser upstairs. Well, as you can probably guess by now, as soon as Kathy comes in to the bedroom, Lars is wolfing down the raisin bread, like there is no tomorrow. At first I thought it was funny; here goes Lars again snatching food whenever he can, be it somebody’s sandwich, a whole mackerel, a turkey drumstick or leftovers. However, Kathy quickly realized that grapes can be toxic to dogs, and if raisins are just...
Smack Dab is Lloyd Brown, lead vocals and guitar; Allison Friedman, lead vocals and guitar; Marc Repaire, lead guitar and vocals; Kent Richards, bass and vocals and myself on drums. You can reach us at SmackDabGroup@gmail.com. So we had the pleasure of playing at the World Famous Rib Joint in Dana Point, CA on Sunday the 12 th of October, 2025. It is always super fun to play a gig, and being that the Rib Joint is both close to my house and unpretentious, it has become our most frequented gig venues, and they even pay us a little bit! All that fun and money! Whoo hooo, it is soooo fun to be a rock star! Money for Nothing, and Your Chicks for Free!!!! Well, this time I thought I give a little more background on what it takes to play a gig, even at a lowkey place like the Rib Joint. The World Famous (well, at least that’s what I call it) Rib Joint at 34294 Pacific...
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