I was a bit worried that having two gigs in a row would only serve to show me how old I'm getting by crippling my knees and trashing my throat -- but I did OK. More than OK -- it was as if the previous night's performance was just a warmup to this one. I was singing better (and higher) than in a long time, the whole four hours. I was also somehow mentally sharper than I'm used to being -- the songs seemed easier to play than usual, and the extra apparent bandwidth let me do things that I'm usually to "busy" to attempt. I think I was just a lot more relaxed than usual, and that "throw it to the wind" feeling is amazing.
So I had a blast, feeling "invincible" somehow, even though I played to abject silence most of the night. There were plenty of people out there, and there were an occasional few that seemed to be listening, but there was scarce little interaction (clapping, requesting, etc.) But I didn't mind, oddly enough -- the sound was inexplicably clean for this notoriously noisy outdoor venue, and I was having fun just playing for myself.
I did have some little first-grade dancers for a while, but their parents were too busy with some kind of big get-together to pay much attention themselves. I played "Here Comes My Baby" and dragged out the "Twist and Shout / La Bamba" medley again. Much later I discovered that they were Spanish speakers -- I hope my accent on "La Bamba" isn't too atrocious.
But finally, after almost three and a half hours of near-total apathy, four high-school kids showed up and (re)made my night. It was just a shame that they showed up so late. I told them that I didn't have much time left, but we could play until the guys showed up to chase me out of there. They sat down and listened for a while, and then asked if I knew "any *popular* songs". I was taken aback by this sudden turn, until they clarified that they had said "Bob Dylan" not "popular". Whew!
I said that, yes, I knew "Don't Think Twice", and one of the girls said "Oh! That's my favorite song ever!", to which I said (without thinking), "Then get up here and sing it with me." She (Brianna) was flustered, but came on up and sang along, quietly, even when I leaned over so she could sing into the mic. Not choir kids, then.
So I did several songs they wanted, and while they were thinking about what to ask for next, I launched into "Don't Stop Believing", which they totally dug, and which also roped in another set of high-schoolers who were hanging out farther back, out of range. This Party was definitely Started. Unfortunately, it was getting pretty far after 10:00, but Brianna asked, at exactly the right time, for "Golden Slumbers", which wrapped it up just as the maintenance guys appeared.
(Half and hour later, as I was walking out with my guitar on my back and the amp in tow, some of the further-back girls sang out "Just a small town girl..." (from "Don't Stop Believing") at me from across the patio. Nice.)
An odd but maybe not surprising thing happened halfway through the evening. A kid, maybe 15, came up and asked how much the CDs were. I told him "Whatever you want to put in the jar", but pointed out (on mic, since it's stuck to my head) that the ones on the left are for kids, and the ones on the right are for grownups. He thought about that for a while, and took a grownup one. 10 minutes later he was back to apologize and swap it for a kids' one -- apparently he doesn't know right from left yet. But the more remarkable thing is that, clearly because of the accidental "announcement", other people started coming up to see what this was all about, and ended up buying out all the kids' CDs (OK, there were only three of them -- but I've been carrying those three around for months without selling them). I even had someone ask me if I had any more -- but they looked familiar so I told them that I'd get some more for next week, and that seemed OK with them.
I've been under the (apparently quite wrong) impression that if people can see me, they can see the table and sign, but I guess that's overly optimistic. I'll have to try to mention the CDs earlier in the night, perhaps as an "educational" announcement like this accidental one was, so that people know about them. Sales will undoubtedly go up, if this was any indication. There is a rule against "aggressive solicitation", and another about "You may not direct attention to the tip jar before, during, or after your performance", so I'll have to be careful, but I'm probably not the "aggressive solicitation" type. Maybe an unobtrusive solution is just to mention that "this song is on our CD" when I'm introducing them.
Anyway, I had a great time for some reason, and my knees were OK, and my voice was OK, and I made 47 bucks. You shoulda been there...
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