OK, that turned out to be a pretty bad idea. I guess it at least breaks up the monotonous streak of "great" gigs at Spectrum...
With the booking lady limiting the number of "prime" gigs I can get per month, I decided to give the Saturday afternoon shift a try, as opposed to having nothing at all. I probably should have noticed that I was signing up to play in the blazing sun in early July, but it was my only option, working around other stuff and against what was available.
Anyway, as you can imagine, it was hot. Really hot. And I'm right out in the middle of the plaza, where there's no shade. Luckily, and amazingly, they had bought out a white canvas sun umbrella, so I thought it might be OK. Nope. The canvas creates shade, but it was only barely taller than me, and the canvas itself was getting hot and radiating heat onto my head. At least the rest of me (and my guitar) was in the shade.
But the whole time, my voice was scratchy, and I couldn't seem to get enough breath to sing a whole line. I've never encountered this before -- is it hard to breathe hot air?
Of course, I kept trying anyway. I actually managed to capture a few people who were loyal or tough enough to brave the heat for a while. My best audience was a pair of 5-year-old girls who were playing in the fountain behind me and impervious to the heat as only little kids are. One was a big Ariel fan, and the other was partial to the new Rapunzel. I played my "Toy Story" song, and the one from "Aladdin", and they decided that I must know every song, ever. Flattering, but not *quite* true.
The Ariel fan wanted the song from "The Little Mermaid", which I kind of learned once, but it's far too "girl-singer" so I don't to it. I did play the beginning of it, but couldn't remember much. So then the other one wanted a song from "Tangled", none of which I know, yet. They seemed to be genuinely mystified that I couldn't (wouldn't?) play the songs they wanted, but we compromised with the Winnie the Pooh song, and some Chuck Berry so they could run around, "dancing".
But it was a terrific (if inadvertent) suggestion, so I dug up and am learning the love-song duet from "Tangled". It's really pretty, and actually played on a guitar until it gets swallowed up by the orchestra after the second or third bar. Since the movie is out on DVD now, all little kids will have it well memorized by now, so it's sure to be a hit next Saturday (evening!)
Since I wasn't getting any response anyway, I got the chance to try out some other new songs I've been working on. I've been learning Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now", which has been really tricky, 'cuz I'm letting the harmony box take the high (girl) melody, while I have to sing the lower harmony, hitting just the right notes to make it hit its notes right. It's been a brain teaser, but I guess I've got it down finally, 'cuz I managed to get it all right.
And just an hour before I left for the gig, Geneva came in and suggested that I learn "Mad World" -- a hit from the 80's for "Tears for Fears", recently revived as a slow ballad. I fired up the YouTube videos, found it to be pretty trivial to play, and quickly worked up a song sheet for it. I tried it out when nobody was listening anyway, and it's do-able, but a slow moody downer -- more of which I need on my list like a hole in the head. It might be usable in a quieter, mellower setting, but it was pretty out of place in the harsh light of day.
After a while, I was pretty wiped out, and found myself watching the clock wind down to 4:00. It was getting a little cooler, and people were starting to show up, so it was probably about to get at least a little better, but I'd had enough. I played my last song and signed off, and as I was starting to tear down, a guy from the next band showed up with some equipment, and said, "Take your time -- we don't start until six." Wait, 'six'?!? Oh, right, I'm actually supposed to play until *five*! Whoops -- but too late now...
Since it was pretty empty, I only made $44, which would have only been $24, except for the guy who came up after my last song, "Let It Be", and asked if that song was on any of the CDs. It is, and he asked how much they were, to which I gave my usual "However much you want to put in the jar" line, and he left a twenty! He really must have liked my rendition!
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