K&W at Java Joe's, open mic -- 25March2008

Amazing. The place was pretty much jammed the whole night. We got there during act number 4 or 5, and we were 8th or so. Turns out that, unlike the Gypsy Den Open Mic nights we've been to, the Java Joe's Open Mic is mainly the headliners of subsequent shows, previewing and hyping the upcoming gigs. At the Gypsy Den, it's all amateurs, trying to get a little stage time. There were a few beginners at Joe's, but mostly it was established bands, and recombined versions of them.

They're all old friends up there, and are happy to sit in with each other in any combination for percussion, backup vocals, or whatever. It's really just a big Music Party on Tuesdays. We were The New Guys, but they're all very friendly, and we met a bunch of guys that basically have the same "hobby" that we have. Neal, the guy we met the other night at Brea Downtown was there and recognized us like we were old high school buddies. We met Gary of "Acoustic Conversations", the band Daleen and I had seen at Brea DT last summer which prompted us (K&W) to get our gig there (with, hopefully, more to come). Also Mark, possibly the last holdout of the bunch that still stoops to play at Borders -- the rest of them have abandoned it in frustration and disgust, a perfectly understandable reaction to the way we're treated. And a nice guy named Patrick, and the "sound man" Scott, who "hosts" the evening, and brings all the equipment.

It's a big happy "club" really -- one I wouldn't mind belonging to (if not for the long drive...) (OK, even with the drive.)

We got to play three songs, which we had agreed upon on the drive home last Friday: "Desperado", "Fire and Rain", and "Let it Be". These are pretty clearly our "greatest hits" with audiences at Borders, and we've played them a few jillion times so we should theoretically have been able to pull them off even under pressure.

Pretty close.

Problem was, on top of nerves, the sound was pretty awful, from where I was standing anyway. Apparently, although I couldn't hear myself hardly at all, we were perfectly clear for the audience -- which is a chilling thought, since I had to just abandon hoping to know what I was up to and play (and sing) by faith. That's really hard, and scary, and especially, dangerous, 'cuz you don't know if or when you're making mistakes. You can almost play guitar by feel, but it's pretty tough to sing that way -- you have to be able to hear what's coming out, and adjust on the fly.

Anyway, although I couldn't tell, we appear to have done all right. Since it's a big party/reunion for the attendees, there's a lot of chatting and laughter going on in the room, even when the established guys are on. But we had some people tune in, and got a really warm response, generally. The owner (Chuck) seemed happy with us, and the other "club members" we talked to afterwards all said nice things. We seem to have "passed the audition".