Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 12June2010

Not a lot of people out there, but I had a great time. It was a little gray out all day, so there were fewer little kids screaming in the fountain, and somehow I could hear myself noticeably better than usual for this very noisy outdoor venue. Was the amp just up louder, or the house music quieter? Dunno, but whatever it was, it sure helps.

Geneva had taken two of my cameras to her Grad Night party, and managed to leave the main one I use for the "close shot" and the audio with a friend. I found this out only an hour before the gig, of course, so I had to just forego trying to take any video this time. I was pretty unhappy with her, of course, but it turned out to be unexpectedly liberating to not have that pressure. I like to think that I'm getting immune to it, but clearly not.

To start with, it saved a lot of time in the set up and tear down. And, since I never start the cameras up right at first ('cuz it takes me a while to get warmed up and playing halfway decent), it saved me having to interrupt the show to start 'em all up. But mostly, I was just a lot more relaxed and able to just "let 'er fly". I don't know if I'm actually better that way, but it seems to me like it, and it's definitely a lot more fun.

There weren't a lot of people, but there was nearly always somebody tuned in, so I had someone to sing for (and, despite the low attendance, made $57). And my brother came by for quite a while, which is always nice. He got to hear my first, very flawed, attempt at a new arrangement of "Over the Rainbow". I worked up (that day) a ukulele-less simulation of the version that was in the season finale of "Glee", which is based on the version by Hawaiian legend Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, heard these days in dozens of movies and commercials.

It's interesting, musically, to me because "Bruddah Iz" rebuilt the chords and melody, but also rearranged (aka "butchered") the lyrics, scrambling bits and pieces of the real words as if he was simply lost but remembered some of it. The "Glee" version puts the words back where they belong, and reworks the chords to be more accurate to the original, while retaining the feeling by using the same ukulele track and rhythm pattern. This makes it far more palatable to me, because I have a hard time deliberately singing it "wrong", with the words messed up so much that the verses don't even rhyme anymore. And it's hard enough trying to remember the "new melody" after singing the original one to my very hard-earned jazz-chord version all these years.

I can play this very-simplified version on my ukulele, but that would require the hassle of (a) bringing it, and (b) amplifying it, so I'm just putting a capo up high on my guitar and strumming in a ukulele-like way. It'll have to do. And it apparently does work out, 'cuz I played it two more times, getting better each time, with good response. Late in the evening, a white-haired gent came up and, without checking the list, asked if I knew "Over the Rainbow". I told him I knew two versions, the classic one, and a new one on ukulele. He immediately asked for the ukulele one, "for [his] granddaughter - she loves that one". I guess that clinches it.