My first regular (as in (hopefully) recurring) paying gig! This place is where we usually go to the movies, so I'd seen people playing at the food court there many times, and felt sorry for them 'cuz it looked pretty awful -- lots of being ignored and kids playing tag around the tables. My only guess as to why there were people there at all was that they were being paid. Turns out I was right, and managed to track down the lady that books the acts, and emailed her to see what it takes to get on the roster.
Amazingly, she did what no one has done before, and just listened to the videos and MP3s on my website -- usually you have to send in a CD and a bunch of "bio"-type stuff. But she went for the "virtual audition", and surprised me by emailing back that I sounded good and asked what I charge for 3 hours! I told her that I didn't really have a fixed rate, gave her the old "it depends on the venue" line, and asked what they usually pay. She said between $75 and $100, I said I'd be happy to do it for the hundie, and she offered me a date.
The place is an open patio, but with a solid roof. There are several restaurants -- pizza, tacos, Chinese, ice cream -- and lots of tables and chairs in the shared patio. But the only non-food thing nearby is the multiplex, so it's not really a hang-out like Spectrum. I didn't expect many people...
I set up on one edge, where I had found some power outlets in the bushes. Looking at the pictures, that may have been a bad choice, since I was radically back-lit, so probably hard to look at. Guess I'll have to figure something else out next time.
Worse, it turns out that the place is one big reverb chamber. With the reverb that my rig adds already, it was way way too much -- that first song was crazy-sounding. So I turned off the artificial reverb and let the place handle it -- it was probably still too much, but sounded pretty cool.
The whole first hour was entirely people who had clearly just come from the nearby Mega Church -- you don't see ladies in dresses on a Sunday otherwise. Just a guess, but I think what He Would Do is give the struggling musician a break and clap a little at the end of the songs. Just sayin'...
There was also a big birthday party over at the side for a 4 or 5 year old Japanese kid, apparently all expat families. That was pretty noisy, but my Spectrum experience has taught me how to ignore that kind of thing.
For the last hour or so, my brother and his wife were there, and a super friendly couple who sat down right in front and kept me supplied with requests. The lady was wearing a name tag that said "Judy-something, Practitioner". I'm not sure what that is, since I've only ever heard it followed by "of the Black Arts", and she didn't look like a witch to me.
The highlight for me was when the guy asked me to play "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". That song pushes my skills and concentration to their limits -- what with the three different guitar styles, two languages, and elaborate harmony box button dance needed. By the time I was done, I was so adrenalined-up that I could hardly play the next-requested quiet song. But Judy liked me so much that she's hunted me down on Facebook and is hooking me up with another musician friend of hers who plays at Downtown Disney, and she thinks might be able to get me the info on how to get booked there. I'm not holding my breath, but wouldn't *that* be cool?!?
The first half of the show, with nobody clapping or paying any attention, led me to believe that I'd end up with an empty tip jar, but I just kept on smilin' and playin' 'cuz I was "gettin' *paid*, son!" But after the church people left and the normal lunch crowd showed up, people were more demonstrative and I ended up with $37 (including two origami "bow tie bucks"). That plus the $100 is not too shabby at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment