The purpose of this thread is to document the Saturday Night Concert at CAAS 2008. Pics and click-n-listen audio clips come in just the order the event happened, and include nearly all the announcements and asides.
That's about 2-1/2 hours of great music, pretty well recorded from the second row – just like you were there. It will reward headphone listening, or hearty volume through your audio system.
For those regular CAASites who couldn't attend this year, this may be the next best thing. For those who have never been, see what you missed! And for those who were there, here's a chance to savor it at leisure.
Since the intention was to document the event itself, listeners who want to hear JUST the music may be frustrated by the introductions and incidental material – and by having to scroll through the posts to each performer's bit. Just bear with it!
The CAAS Saturday night concert, I'm told, is always the climax of the four days of the Convention. None but CAAS President Mark Pritcher (and presumably a few others on the inside) know what's coming ahead of time.
So at 8:00 when Joe, Nobody, and I made our way to the main hall, I didn't know what to expect. The line to get in had extended clear to the lobby; we came entered at the front end of a ballroom stretching clean out of sight, chandeliers glistening. We were ushered past the stage to second row seats reserved for the Gretsch contingent (Gretsch always gives GDP representatives first-class treatment) and seated next to Fred, Dinah, and their grandsons.
We were about 15 feet from one of the speaker mains with a clear view of the stage. I assigned the Edirol to Nobody, who was a seat closer to the sound, and I fired up the camera.
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First up were some extended preliminaries. Mark Pritcher manned the podium and kicked things off with his remarks, introducing the evening's theme A Tribute to Chet Atkins.
Next came door prizes and presentations – and I'm sorry I didn't get more pics. Since we're so virulently Gretschocentric here, I DID get the part where Mark gave away a 6119-1962FT as a door prize. The guy's wife (or other SO) gets pretty happy. Figger he was threatening to buy a Gretsch otherwise...
The sound of a Gretsch being won
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It came and went by so quickly I got neither audio nor decent pics. A cabal of CAAS, Broadway Sound, and Gretsch conspirators surprised Mark Pritcher with what had to be the outsize haul of the week – and a gesture of appreciation he'll never forget – when Ami Hodges presented him with the first Gretsch 6120CGP, which was the guitar star of the show. Mark got very quiet, and even from a distance we knew his eyes were leaking as he held it aloft in dazed appreciation.
Now that's a much-beloved guy.
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