I played the La Habra Borders' "First Pour" party from 12:30 to 2:30, and then Warren and I played at Mission Viejo at 8:00. I was afraid that my voice and/or fingers wouldn't hold up for two gigs in one day (4.5 hours total), but I did fine. The 5 hour gap helped a lot, of course. I'm sure I couldn't do 4 hours in a row...
I'm feeling repetitious saying "It went pretty well" every time, but I/we really haven't had a "bad gig" for several months now. Actually, La Habra started out looking like it was gonna break that trend -- when I started, there were only 7 disinterested people there. And the setup is pretty lame, with the drinks pick-up station right next to the "band corner". But after 4 or 5 songs, my mom, dad, aunt and uncle came in and saved the day.
It's pretty clear that a small group (or even one person!) that's really listening can change the whole dynamic. For one thing, I play better when I have someone to play to. For another, the group that's clapping are modeling that behavior for the others. And when passers-by hear the applause, they're more likely to wander over to check it out, and possibly stay, and snowball the whole process.
Anyway, they really helped get the audience "working", and by the time I had to pack up the place was full and really with me. I made $30 in tips -- best so far for a solo, I think.
And there was an older lady sitting up front with her daughter, and she seemed to be *really* enjoying it. She recognized all the songs, and was really appreciative. When I started the distinctive guitar intro to "Scarborough Fair", she clapped! Like at a concert where people clap whenever they recognize a song from the intro chords or words. I've never had that before...
I hope the girl that followed me at 3:00 appreciated the warmed-up audience I left her. Us Borders performers don't often get the benefit of an opening act.
The Mission Viejo gig went well, too. My voice was a little weak at first, but actually warmed up as we went along. I was afraid that we'd have to quit early (i.e., when we're *supposed* to stop, not when they start closing the store), but my voice was OK, and my fingers seemed to go past hurting into numb, so that was OK, too.
The usual gang of regulars were there, of course, but they're starting to know and like us, so that works out OK these days. We've heard from them before that most of the bands that play there are loud and/or annoying, so they like it when Warren and I come in. And we made $35 in tips -- not as good as The $79 MV Anomaly last time, but better than the previous record otherwise.
The one unexpected issue with playing two gigs in one day was trying to remember which songs I'd already done. During the second gig, I'd look at a song sheet and think "Did I already play that one, or was that this afternoon?"
No comments:
Post a Comment