Outdoor gigs in July are always a bit of a gamble. Heat, humidity, storms – usually at least one shows up. Our live acoustic duo performance for Valley View Club’s 60th anniversary in Cambridge managed to flirt with all three and still let us get through the show.
Setting up on the flatbed and watching the sky
Valley View had a flatbed trailer set up under a big tree for us, which we were grateful for right away. It wasn’t too high off the ground (our backs thanked them for that), and when we asked if there was any way to get a canopy over us to block the sun, they had one up within minutes. That alone put this firmly in the “thoughtful venue” category for us.
The forecast had been calling for scattered storms all day, so we showed up half-expecting to be moved inside. Instead, when we arrived it actually felt pretty good out – warm, but with a nice breeze moving across the course. People were already outside on the patio and around the clubhouse, clearly not letting the radar scare them off.
We had Paul Weddle with us on sax, which always changes the way the night feels. Whenever Paul’s on the gig, we tend to push ourselves a little harder – more harmonies, more songs we only pull out when there’s a sax in the mix.
Feedback, thunder, and a few big umbrellas
We’ll be honest: the first part of the night was more about fighting the sound than anything else. Smaller outdoor space, sax mic, monitors – that combo seems to invite feedback if we’re not careful. We had a few squeals early on that made us wince, but after some quick adjustments (and a little trial and error), we got it dialed in.
Meanwhile, the sky was doing its own thing. As we worked through the first handful of songs, we could see a darker blob of clouds creeping toward us. Then came the first crack of lightning and thunder, and it was close enough that all of us had the same thought: “Should we be out here right now?”
It started to sprinkle just enough to make us nervous for the gear. The Valley View crew came through again with some big umbrellas, and we did this funny dance of covering the exposed speakers and cables while still trying to look like a band that had everything under control. We took a short break, grabbed some food, watched the sky, and decided to roll the dice and get back up there.
The rain never really came back, but the lightning kept showing up in different directions. Puffy clouds one way, dark sky another, blue patches in between – it was like three different weather reports at the same time. We took our chances and, somehow, it worked out.
Anniversaries, harmonies, and Paul’s feature tunes
T
his whole night was about anniversaries – 250 years of America and 60 years of Valley View Club. The course has been there for about one-fifth of the country’s history, which is kind of wild when you think about it.
Onstage, the songs that felt best were the ones where we really leaned into the harmonies. There’s something about locking in three voices outside, with that stormy air hanging around, that’s hard to explain. We both found ourselves thinking, “Okay, this is why we haul all this gear around.”
With Paul on sax and vocals, we got to pull out some of the tunes we only do when he’s with us: “Lido Shuffle,” “Take the Long Way Home,” and “Baker Street” all made appearances. Those songs just land differently when there’s a real sax solo cutting through the night instead of a keyboard patch or a guitar line faking it.
“Jessie’s Girl” with some dancing from Denis
One of our favorite moments was a request from Denis for “Jessie’s Girl.” We hadn’t played it before, but we decided to give it a shot. The funny part is that we knew about the request in advance and we had actually been in Greg’s car before the show, quietly working out harmony ideas over the bridge.
When we finally got to that bridge live, Paul and Greg kind of lost their nerve and backed off the harmonies, leaving Tom out there on his own. He didn’t drop the ball.
“America the Beautiful” and the mad dash teardown
We wrapped the main part of the night with “Wild Night,” which is always a fun one to end on, and then closed things out with “America the Beautiful” on the eve of the 4th. Greg and Paul leaned into a version that stays close to the Ray Charles arrangement – soulful, patient, and not rushed. It felt like the right way to nod to both the country’s birthday and Valley View’s 60 years.
As the last notes floated off into the breeze, the temperature dropped what felt like 15 degrees in a couple of minutes. The wind kicked up, the sky darkened for real this time, and suddenly it was less “encore” and more “everyone grab a cable.”
We went into full teardown sprint mode – winding cords, hauling speakers off the flatbed, tossing cases into cars. There’s a photo of Tom holding an umbrella, looking up at the sky, with lightning defining the clouds in the background. That pretty much sums up the end of the night. By the time we got the last piece of gear in the car and pulled away, the rain was coming down hard and the lightning was picking up. We definitely got lucky.
Thanks, Valley View
Huge thanks to everyone at Valley View Club for having us out for your 60th, for the flatbed stage, the quick canopy and umbrellas, and for rolling with the weather right alongside us. For anyone looking for golf in Cambridge, this is your place!
If you’re planning a celebration and want a piano-guitar acoustic duo (sometimes with sax in tow) to bring this kind of live music to your place, you can reach us through this page: bellandfieldmusic.com/book-acoustic-duo/.