Saturday, May 07, 2005

K&W - RSM 06May05

The gig went really well last night. It started off slow -- seemed "too early" since the sun was blazing through the windows, making it seem like early afternoon. It just doesn't seem appropriate to be doing mellow coffeeshop music so early in the day. So I played the faster, pop-ier stuff, and got into it eventually. It was more or less full most of the evening after a while.

The highlight was later on when I put my almost-full bottle of lemonade (graciously provided by Borders management) on the table next to the amp, and launched into "I've Just Seen a Face". Apparently, the vibrations were buzzing the bottle toward the edge, and just after the word "Falling!", the bottle fell, with a crash, right next to my foot. I, of course, froze, looked down at it, decided there was nothing I could really do that was urgent, and continued the song (albeit with an abbreviated last half). The irony of the timing was lost on no one. That's entertainment.


We cleaned it up (mostly), and got back going, but even though it didn't really seem to bother me that much, my concentration was shot for the next dozen or so songs. Weird.

Our new little fan ("almost 9"), Paige, was there again (with her dad) -- two weeks in a row. It's always nice to have someone to play to. There was also a lively high-school-age girl who listened for a while, asked for a song or two, and whipped out her cell phone to call and excitedly beckon her twin sister. Obviously more kids who grew up listening to their parents' playing of this "old music".

But the night was mostly notable (to me) by how well I was singing. With a microphone, you're hearing yourself from "the outside" so it's easy to be impartial to how you sound -- it sounds like someone else, or a recording -- so I know when I'm singing good, and when I'm singing bad. Last night, after about 9:00, I was hitting stuff I usually strain for, and more flexible than usual, both. A lady asked for "Pancho and Lefty" and it was, by far, the best I've ever sung it. I wish I'd'a had a recorder running.

Conversely, I was playing pretty poorly -- made a lot of "got lost" mistakes, seemingly always during the instrumental verse, screwing Warren. Concentration problem. Especially after the lemonade explosion. We're at Yorba Linda tonight -- we'll see if I can stay focussed...

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