Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- 06Feb2012

Finally a great night at Spectrum!  After the last few not-much-fun gigs here, I was frankly starting to think it might just not be worth the trouble anymore.  But the weather was warm and the friendly people were out, and I had a great time.  Looks like the warmer it gets, the funner it'll be...

I was determined to try to talk in-between songs, whether I felt like it or not, but there almost always seemed to be people involved so I didn't have any trouble just talking to them.  That probably helped bring in more people, too.  At one point, I had 30 or 40 people standing around me, dragged in by the dancing kids, and the phalanx of parents watching them.

In addition to all the attention, it was apparently Unusual Request night -- one guy half-jokingly asked for Jimi Hendrix, but I had just run through my acoustic version of "The Wind Cries Mary" earlier in the week, so I up and played it for him (and he was clearly impressed).  The rest of the requestors had a lot less luck -- a guy asked for some Alison Krause, and failing there, for some Don Williams.  I've never heard of Don Williams, so the guy promised to send me some links, which he actually did.  Don is an old-school country crooner, with lots of references to "the blood of the lamb" and such.  Sorry, dude, not exactly my style.

Later on a guy came up with a fiver and asked for some Bee Gees or Andy Gibb.  Oddly specific, and a complete strikeout.  I offered some Beatles as a substitute, but he didn't seem interested at all.  How can you like the Bee Gees and *not* like the Beatles?  Vice versa: OK, but...?

He kind of gave up and went back to his girlfriend, and I played some stuff that seemed to be at least in the same ballpark, and then he came back up, with another dollar, and asked for some ELO, with, of course, similar non-results.  Really?  ELO?!?  I guess I should be flattered that folks think I'm that good/versatile, but I'm mainly baffled.  I always wonder if I should go home and learn at least one song by these unusual-requested artists, but then I think: One request in 10 years of doing this?  A statistically losing bet, no doubt.

Anyway, I had the best gig there for a while (which, frankly, my lately-badly-bruised ego really needed), and took home $96 to boot.  The iPad Songbook is really working out well, speed and versatility-wise, and I may have solved the clipping-distorted vocals problem I've been having, too.  I even picked up two new "Likes" on my "Keith Comer, Good Music" Facebook page.  A good night, all around.