When I got there, the maintenance guys had apparently given up on me and were about to cover the stage with a plastic tarp, but when they saw me, they consented to let me give it a go. I told them to forego the usual light tree and table cloth, which, it turned out, allowed me to go way past the usual shutoff time, 'cuz they had no stuff to come take away. I had my own heater and "spotlight", and the table they bring is just stored flattened up under the stage, so I could "put it away" myself.
But it was frightfully cold. I had my "going to the snow" clothes and my heater so I did OK, except for my fingers, which have been worse. It did keep the "crowds" down a lot, of course, but there was almost always somebody listening in, and the usual intermittent group of teens wanting to hear my 3 or 4 "less than 5 years old" songs. Had one group of very young teens, all decked out in lenses-poked-out 3D "geek glasses", who insisted that I play some Justin Bieber songs. I promised that I'd learn some for next time (but my fingers were crossed).
Just after 8:00, it started to hail. Yes, hail. I had been worrying about rain, but surely didn't expect hail. Of course, hail isn't exactly "wet", so it was actually OK, but after a few minutes, it dissolved into light rain, so I had to unplug the electronics and take cover (with my guitar) under the awning in front of the Starbucks. It was polite enough to rain lightly, and straight down, so I figured the amp and speaker would be OK, and I hastily slid the shouldn't-get-wet stuff up underneath the table.
It rained for 25 minutes or so, and I used the time under the awning to work out a passable version of the Beatles' "Rain", which, when it finally tapered off and convincingly stopped, I played at length to the wry smiles of the people hustling by. It took a while for people to decide that it was safe to stay and hang out, and I'd almost decided to call it a night after my empty-plaza Rain Medley ("Rain", "Rhythm of the Rain" and "Shower the People" (which I hadn't actually "thought" of, but fatefully accidentally flipped to in the book)). But I'm glad I stayed, 'cuz when the crowds started to reform, they were the most appreciative of the night. And since I had no forced shutdown time, I kept on playing 'til after 11. The last hour is always the best, so why not stretch it to two?
Had one young lady, while reading through the Song List, give an audible squeal of delight at some song-discovery. I had to wait until the end of the song in progress to find out it was "To Make You Feel My Love", which I haven't played in probably two years. It's not even on the list anymore, but it was on the ancient version that I happened to have a few plastic-protected copies of and dug out after the current ones got soaked. Fortunately, the chord sheet is still in The Book, so I played it reasonably well, despite barely remembering how the tune even goes. Great song -- maybe I'll put it back on the List...
First time out for the newly-resurrected "Wonderful World", which sounds great now, thanks to the Harmony Box. There's also been a sudden and inexplicable resurgence in the popularity of "Blackbird". I had started out the evening with a cruddy throat, but by the third time through, I was cleared out, singing quite well, and hitting even the way-too-high notes in it.
I had brought a new "big salad bowl" tip jar that I got at the dollar store. When it started to rain, I figured that the money would be fine, but I'd failed to realize that the bowl would collect lots of water, and the $41 "take" was a soggy lump when I went to collect it. When I got home, I laid it out on the floor to dry, and next morning the cat was making sure it was well protected (and killed). Thanks, Zadi.
2 comments:
Another mighty fine tale, with even more dark and stormy drama than usual... not a a bad haul either, considering how many people must have stayed home that night.
Good thing you have mil-spec guitar! The demonstrators in Tripoli say that their Ovations are just the thing to stop rubber bullets. Hey, it sounds like you're about ready to convert your song book to an iPad app. Been looking at OnSong?
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