Keith at Irvine Spectrum -- Saturday, 31May2014

It was a nice sunny summer Saturday, and lots of people and their kids were out. I must have played "Let It Go" a dozen or fifteen times. Frequently, someone would hear the music and come down, and check the list, and, of course, ask for "Let It Go". I'd get a laugh from the already-there parents by saying, "Sure, it's been ten minutes since the last time..."

For the middle hour or two, it got into this strange mode where a lot of people were hanging around and listening, but they were being all quiet and, it seemed like, (overly) respectful. I couldn't get anyone to come up and even look at the list, much less pick a song. They were acting like they didn't want to interfere with the show, even when I begged them to. It felt really weird to be so much in charge that no one was willing to even talk to me. Never had that before...

Fortunately, that wore off and I had lots of friendly people and lots of requests, so I ended up playing until 11:30. It's a shame that the last hour or two are the best part -- it's both quieter and the late night mood suits my material better. Not to mention that I'd finally figured out why the sound was so muffled all night -- I'd closed and moved the sun umbrella that they brought out for me so it was right between me and the speaker that I get most of my "monitor" sound from. Once I moved it out of the way, the sound was clear and bright again. What an idiot I am sometimes.

But even better was that my voice was so warmed up that I could hit all the high notes that I usually strain for, clear and easy, so I feel like I can sing anything, and I do. It was my big chance to sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and not hurt myself...