Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 20Feb2010

A really great (and lucrative: $49) night. I got there really early and there was nobody in the food court at all. I started setting up and the ice cream bar dude (the store I'm right in front of) wandered out and facetiously asked "So, you gonna fill the house tonight?" I told him I doubted it, but after a while there were plenty of people to play for, and several groups who were getting pretty attached.

I was afraid that after the very bad voice I'd had the night before, that this night would certainly be terrible, but somehow I'd completely recovered and had the best voice that I can remember. Clear and high... I was easily hitting high notes that I usually strain to get to. So much so that I deliberately pulled out "Blackbird", with the high note that I usually make a passing feint at, and hope no one notices. This time, nabbed it.

I got to play my new "Strawberry Fields" several times (I'm liking it). Got a lot of good reception to "Hotel California". Lots of Beatles. And had a real live James Taylor fan to play some of the great but obscure ones for. Lots of little 2-4 year olds this time, for some reason.

Had an actual incident pretty close to heckling, though. Some high school guys were playing around in the fountain, and when I started doing "I'm Yours", the most obnoxious of them decided to "sing (or bellow) along". I just ignored him and kept going, and he gave it up before too long. I guess I'm actually pretty lucky that that's as bad as it gets around here. Good to live in a nice neighborhood.

K&W at Borders South Coast Plaza -- 19Feb2010

A pleasant, quiet, and suddenly very short, gig. It had been two weekends (i.e., three weeks) since I'd played anywhere, so I was a little rusty, but not too bad. The worse part was that I had an inexplicably scratchy throat, almost from the very beginning.

But we had some very forgiving people, apparently, because we got a reasonably warm response, even with the lousy vocals. And I had the chance to try out some of the new songs I've been working on over the hiatus.

One that was a surprise to me is "Mister Postman", which is trivial to play, but I thought it would be a fun song to have, maybe for when little kids wanted to dance. I learned it a long time ago, but it just sounded terrible -- dull and lame. But I tried it out at home with the harmony box singing up a third, and Ping! It sounds great! Makes a *huge* difference. A guy was sitting down front and asked about what was making the harmonies (it's surprising how few people do), so I played that song as a prime example of how it works.

We also had a visit by a fellow singer/player that we met at some of the Yorba Linda places, Mark Hermann. He didn't say much, but he did put in some interesting requests...

Anyway, we were going along, expecting to shut down at the usual 9:40 so the store can close at 10:00, but, between songs, I heard the manager announcing that "It's 8:40, and we'll be closing in 20 minutes. Please bring any last minute purchases..." What?!? So I played a song while Warren went to talk to her, and sure enough, they close at 9:00 now. It's that darn Economy again! We barely got in an hour and a half! She said we could start earlier next time (gee, thanks), but it's already hard to start on time (7:00) on a "work day" (we have a standing date on the third Friday). I guess we can try though, next month.

On the other hand, with as bad as my voice was behaving, it was probably a mercy just to shut me up...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 30Jan2010

It was cold again, but not as bad as last time. Lots of people at dinner time, and not quite as empty afterwards. I guess Spring really is coming.

It was pretty quiet most of the time, but I usually had someone to play to. There was an older couple who were clearly listening and enjoying the stuff, and finally came up to request "Uncle Walter", so I played it, and when they came up again later (to buy a "Bears" CD), I asked where they'd heard that song before. Turns out the guy actually had an Uncle Walter, who had died just 3 days after they'd heard the song on the radio. A friend of theirs had told them about the guy who plays that song at Spectrum on Saturdays, so they found me on the web and have been watching my cartoon version (and sending the link to their family Back East), and wanted to come hear it in person. Wow -- that was kinda fun. Actually, I could tell they had been hearing the Official Version (the one on the CD), since they were clearly surprised when I went into the new Extra Verse (the one about Aunt Matilda).

A little boy (about 12, clearly sent up by his dad) came up and, while fumbling with a five dollar bill, asked if I would play a song they requested. I said, "Sure", and he asked for "Oh Bla Di, Oh Bla Da". I guess I should have been more specific -- you can ask for *a* song, but not *any* song! So I showed him The List, which he took back to his dad, and then returned asking for "In My Life". I said, "OK", and the kid asked "How much is it?" I said "It's free!" Of course, his dad made him come back and deposit the fiver anyway. (Part of the $60 I made overall.)

Later in the evening when it was mostly empty, I decided to give a try to my latest Beatles song, "Strawberry Fields Forever", which I've been working up an arrangement for. It's hard to tell how songs will "work" in The Wild playing for real people, as opposed to how they work in the bedroom playing for the cat. I've had songs that I thought were sounding weak turn out really well, and others that seemed like they were shoe-ins go all lead ballooney on me. I'm not really done with this one, but I figured I'd give it a try now, and it if failed, I could save myself the trouble of getting it entirely together. But it sounded quite good out there, even half done, so I guess I'll keep at it.

I'm never quite sure if my stripped-down and/or peculiar arrangements of these kinds of songs (see "Lucy in the Sky") are brilliant, or if it's just that I've played them a few jillion times by the time I'm ready to show them in public and I'm brainwashed into thinking they sound good. I guess, by definition, I'll never know...