Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sun, 26Jun2011

So an hour after the end of the Foothill gig, I was supposed to be playing at Spectrum, but I didn't quite make it -- started about 20 minutes late, but who's counting?  I thought that playing 7 hours in a single day was gonna kill me, but it wasn't really bad at all, except that in the last hour or so, my finger muscles were so fatigued that they just weren't quite doing what I told them to do, so my playing got really sloppy.

I swore to myself that I'd quit at straight-up 8:00, no matter what, just to minimize the expected knee, back, finger, and voice damage, but at 7:50, my brother and his wife strolled in.  And, naturally, there were other people really listening by then too, so I kept going, even after my brother left, all the way to 9:35.  But frankly, I wasn't really doing anybody any favors butchering songs will my only-half-functional fingers.  And to make it worse, I (stupidly) started choosing obscure (and unrehearsed) songs to play for my brother, which I did even worse on.  I particularly botched "Copperline", by far my worst-ever performance of that one.  The very-cool guitar part has a particular clever srummy pattern and feel, and my almost-dead hands just wouldn't get into it.  Oh well -- I guess I can do about 7 hours, but not 8.  Good to know.

But overall, it went quite well. Daleen and Acacia came by and had dinner in the food court behind me. Lots of people were listening, and asking for songs, and buying CDs. A very cute little girl and her barely-mobile baby sister came and danced and danced. Sometimes it just kills me that I'm too busy to bust out a video camera and capture some of this stuff...

But the weirdest thing was the girl, looking, made-up, and dressed like a Playboy Bunny, who teetered up (with the requisite toy dog on a leash) and gushed "I'm a singer, too!". I was unable to make any comment on this revelation, since I was in the middle of a song at the time, and she was immediately distracted by a little girl who rushed over to ask if she could pet the dog. The dog wasn't hers, but belonged to her friend, but, yes, you can pet it. Then the friend came over, and the "singer" noticed my business cards, grabbed one and told her friend, "I'll email him", and off they went.  All within one song, so I didn't get to say a word...

She did email me -- a gloriously grammar-, punctuation-, spelling-, and capitalization-free message, telling me that she's looking for a guitarist, 'cuz, as noted previously, she's a singer!  I replied, as politely as I could, that I already have a singer in my "band", (me), and I'm pretty well booked up with the band in its current configuration. But, if she had some gigs lined up and wanted to hire me to be *her* band, I might have time for that.

Who knows? She might be a terrific singer, and with her looks, she might be able to get big-time gigs somewhere, though it's hard to imagine that she's looking to sing a bunch of James Taylor tunes.  So, I have a feeling that this'll go exactly where you'd expect -- nowhere. Which is pretty much all right with me.

I made $115, which, along with the $36 in tips and $100 in actual "pay" from Foothill makes just over $250 for the day, which feels pretty good to the unemployed boy. Not that it's a living...

Keith at Foothill Towne Center -- Sun, 26Jun2011

I was sitting at lunch with the guys on Thursday, and we were talking about where I'd been playing lately, and my cell phone rang, which it very seldom does.  It was the lady who books the Foothill Towne ("You can tell we're classy 'cuz we spell it with an 'e'") Center Food Court.  The girl singer that I met there and got the booking info from had had to cancel, and inexplicably suggested that they call me.  I already had a gig at Spectrum that evening, but for the $100 paycheck?  Absolutely, I'm available.

The Foothill gig is from noon to 3, and the Spectrum one is 4-8, so I could theoretically do both, but could my (in ascending order) knees, back, fingers, and voice handle it?  Only one way to find out...

It went pretty much the same as last time -- mostly empty when I get there, then the church people come in and ignore me, then later on the regular people come in and are quite nice.  One nice girl marched right up and said, "Play 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'", which isn't on The List (which she hadn't looked at), but I do have a sheet for it in The Book.  It's not on The List 'cuz it's just a bit too high for me, so I don't think i do it justice, but I was singing inexplicably high and clear, so I just said, "OK", and fired it up.  Except for a few mistakes from lack of recent practice on it, it went *really* well -- I was hitting the high notes like some kind of pop music singer.  It was delightful.  Or maybe it was just the incredible natural reverb in that place, making me *think* I sounded great -- like singing in the shower.

A guy came in and brought his lunch right to the table in front of me and asked for a bunch of Cat Stevens songs, and a dapper gent and his wife listened well past finishing theirs.  At some point, after "Wild World", he came up to look at The List, but also came up and said, "Cat Stevens ain't gait *nothing* on you!".  And when they finally did get up to leave, he came up, stood at attention in front of me, and gave me a long formal salute.  Odd, but nice.

On top of the $100 they'll pay me, I made $36 in tips, which is not bad for a Food Court.  The booking lady told me that they're already booked through the end of August, but she's got me down (and owes me a favor?) as wanting another gig sometime in September.  And hopefully, she'll think of me for any other cancellations she gets.

But for this one, fortunately, by 3:00 it was almost empty, except for a few new "fans". Sorry guys, I gotta pack up and get to another gig...

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Fri, 24Jun2011

Yet another great night at Spectrum. Lots of little kids (and their families) right at first, since today was the opening day of "Cars 2".  And Daleen and a couple of her dog-therapy friends came by with various dogs in tow, and Acacia with one of her friends.  That's always nice.

I've been working up "The Only Exception" by Paramour, and it's starting to sound pretty good.  I can't sing it in the same key as the female original, so I had to work up a guitar part that retains the original "carried-through" descant note to make sure it had "That Sound".  The "How to play it" videos and tabs on the Internet don't get it, but I do.

Later on, there was a cute 2-year-old girl named Jamie (one of my favorite names for a girl) who just immediately became my best friend, asking me for "Twinkle Twinkle", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and "another one" again and again, all in her completely unintelligible babble language.  I had to get her mom to translate, 'cuz I just don't speak 2-year-old anymore.  But she was very sweet, and too cute.

I've been specifically setting up with the cables laid away from the front edge of the stage, just so I can go sit down on the edge and talk to the little ones if the opportunity came up, which it hadn't until now.  I let her strum across the guitar a few times, which visibly thrilled her (and, in turn, me).

And I'm really beginning to like doing "House at Pooh Corner" these days.  My voice has been cooperatively high lately, and the high notes that used to be unattractively strained come out nice and clear now.  That, plus the addition of the harmony box, is making this one sound really good to me.

I made $76, and 14 CDs were missing.  That's some kind of record, and either flattering or disturbing, depending if you want to believe that they were all paid for, or if this is the first case of someone snagging CDs while my attention was diverted.  I can keep a half-eye on the table while I'm singing, but I can't claim to have round-the-clock surveillance.  On the other hand, if this is the first time I've been taken advantage of, I'm probably OK.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sat, 18Jun2011

Another terrific night -- no wonder all the bands are vying for dates at Spectrum, here in the Spring/Summer, especially Saturdays.

These days, people see me setting up and sit down to wait for me to start up! It's a good thing that I'm getting much faster at setting up the stuff, what with all the practice. So I had people listening the whole time, start to finish (at, again, 11pm), sometimes *lots* of people. They were generous people, too -- I made $138.

The same pack of kids that parked in front of me the night before were there again, parked in the same spot. I guess they like me, even though they mostly ignore me.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Fri, 17Jun2011

A really great night -- terrific weather, and lots of people out enjoying it, and me.  I had lots of people listening the whole time, and I ended up running an hour over, and only quit then because I knew I needed to save some strength for the next night.  (This was a "pick-up" gig that I got because someone else cancelled -- I don't normally book two Spectrum gigs in a row (nor do they let me, anyway).)

They've installed a new stage; a nice, solid, professional one.  It's a little less rickety, but the surface is hard plastic, instead of carpet, so my harmony box slides around easier.  That's sometimes a good thing, and sometimes a problem, but I'll get used to it.

The highlight was when five women came out of the movies and stopped by on their apparent "Ladies' Night Out".  Clearly my Target Market. They loved my stuff, danced, requested, laughed at my jokes, and generally were out for a good time. I need more like that.

And there was a pack of 8 or 10 high-school kids that listened for a while, requested a few songs, and then just sat down in a bunch right out in front of me.  They weren't really even paying attention to me after a while, so I wonder why they'd want to sit in such a noisy area, but who can tell with kids?

I did pretty good for a Friday -- $82 in tips. But more importantly, it was a great night, all the way through.

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Sun, 12Jun2011

Pretty slow at first, but got good towards the end. I wish I could figure out how to have the final hour of a gig last for the whole four...

I had come by the night before, just to see who was playing, and the guy there did a several Original tunes (to zero response), and then did "The Only Exception", which visibly drew in a batch of teenage girls. I've been meaning to learn it, so I worked it out Sunday morning, but I've only heard it a few times, so I'm a little shaky on the tune and how it fits to the chords. I did OK the first time through, but by the time I did it again later, I had completely forgotten how the bridge part goes, and just stumbled through it. Ouch. Good thing nobody was listening... I've been working on it some more, and I think I have it down for next time, though. Hopefully.

There was a guy there with a box of something that he'd bought (dishes maybe?), looking kind of frantic, apparently waiting for someone who wasn't coming. He finally came up and asked if he could use my cell phone, 'cuz his was dead. Really?!? Out of all the people here, you decide the guy up on the stage is the one to ask for a favor? But, whatever -- I let him use my phone. Twice. All part of the service, I guess.

And I had a family show up with a tiny little girl, couldn't have been more than two, who apparently knows the entire Disney music catalog already. Usually at her age, they only know "Twinkle, Twinkle", but she lit up with recognition for all the Disney songs I had. I was impressed.

Not a lot of response for most of the time, but there was a while around 6:30 where a bunch of people were hanging out and actually competing for Request turns. And despite the apparent apathy, I made $98, including one attached to a pipe-cleaner "dog?".

Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Fri, 10Jun2011

Whoops.  I seem to have run a little long again.  The "shift" is supposed to be from 6-10pm, and I usually run over, but this time it got all quiet and mellow, and there were lots of friendly people listening, so I kept on playing.  But after a while, I was getting pretty hungry, and I figured it must be getting pretty close to 11, so I checked the clock, and it was *midnight*!  Six hours straight with no break -- no wonder my fingertips were starting to hurt and my voice was getting scratchy...

But actually, I'd had a short break at 6:30.  A lady came up and told me that they had scheduled a Flash Mob there, and could I stop playing for the length of their song.  I said, of course, and offered to help with the sound system.  They'd expected to be able to hear their dance number ("Dynamite") through a bookshelf iPod boombox.  Noobs.  "It's pretty loud", the guy said, but, no way --  they'd have been completely screwed if I hadn't been there.  We stuck my mic in front of his boombox, and were able to fill the place.

After that, I had the usual rush of little dancing kids for a while, and Daleen and Acacia came by with the dogs (and "guest dog" Macy) just at the right time, so my little dancing crowd of kids got to meet them, too.  And two of my Indian Princess dad friends showed up.  That's always fun.

It was a little like last time -- appreciative people, tip-wise, but not much clapping.  On the other hand, several people came up and told me outright that I was "terrific", "really good", etc., and I sold 3 CDs.  I guess it really is just the layout/distance that makes applause difficult at this place.

I guess it's officially Summer, 'cuz there were lots of people out, even on a Friday.  I made $177 -- pretty close to a record, and certainly the best Friday ever.  Can't wait to see how it is on a Saturday!  Next week!

But wait!  I'm also playing there this Sunday afternoon! I wonder if my feet, back, fingers, and voice can handle it.  Maybe I'll try to keep it down to just 4 hours...