K&W at Borders Mission Viejo -- 11Dec2010

That was pretty fun. Due to various complications, I haven't played at the Mission Viejo Borders since May. When I got there, I was reminded of one of the downsides of playing in these no-stage bookshop venues: a lady was completely camped out in the corner where we need to set up, and was steadfastly impervious to my setting up of amps, stands, cables, etc. all around her. We get the same situation at South Coast Plaza, too, where someone is parked there, and we have to gently dislodge them. Awkward.

Anyway, we managed to get going eventually, but I had a lot of trouble getting the sound right. I guess the adjustments that get it working outdoors don't work so well indoors. And it's complicated since there's a tone knob in the guitar, on the pre-amp on the ground, and on the amp itself, all fighting/enhancing each other.

We did get some decent response, and I managed to goad several people into requesting songs. The good part was that, due to the "holiday hours", the store was open an hour longer than usual, so we had time to do more stuff. I sprinkled in several of my more pop-like Christmas songs, and Warren didn't complain too much about it. And, later in the evening, when the requests tapered off, I played through some unusual stuff: "Waiting", "People's Parties", "Landslide", and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", which I've recently figured out how to use the harmony box on, and worked far better than I'd expected/hoped. Demands a bit of fancy footwork, but I guess I'm getting the hang of it. Next up: "The Weight", which requires some really complicated foot-button pressing but sounds great, if I hit it.

We pulled in $19 in tips, which is pretty good for this place. I have a busy week coming up -- The Mission Viejo Santa Claus line on Wednesday and Sunday, Spectrum on Saturday, and the South Coast Plaza Borders on Friday with Warren again. 'Tis the season, I guess...