Yacht Rock set sail from Andrews Upstairs last night. We did well. A good cruise. A few highlights...
I used my new reeds (the ones I'd frantically worked on yesterday) on both alto and tenor. Both worked well. Actually, I may have softened the tenor too much, because I choked off the high note in the riff for Who Can it Be Now. Oops. Got a little excited. What can I say--I was going for it.
I'd like to hear what I played on the solo for Little Jeannie. Jim Horn played the original, but he basically just plays the melody. Sometimes I do that, but last night I augmented it a little more, and it felt good. Hopefully it stands up on the recording!
In May, my EWI ran out of batteries in the middle of the gig. This month, I made it almost to the end. They're lasting almost exactly a month. I've got to be sure to switch them out before the next gig, so my rig doesn't die in the middle of the Rosanna solo or something like that.
It was packed. Insanely packed. I have a feeling this is what Ruperts went through about twenty years ago.
There was a chick fight right in front of us, but I missed it because I had my eyes closed during a solo. When I finished, guys were pulling them apart and one had a cut on the bridge of her nose. How crazy is that?
No encore last night. Maybe we've peaked?
The first load of gear to go out the door witnessed two guys being held in handcuffs for the cops. One tried to steal a bottle of vodka from the bar, and the second guy punched the bartender in pursuit of the bottle.
After I loaded out, a bouncer body slammed a guy right at the front door and held him to the ground be the throat. Excessive force? Jaco Pastorius, anyone? Brandon (one of our keyboardists) was sort of confused about what to do, as they were almost up against the side of his car.
Whatever that street is...the cross street with East Andrews...is always clogged with cabs and cars, but last night was really bad. I sat for four of five minutes in dead gridlock (at 2:30 in the morning!), watching in my rearview mirror with strange detachment as a county hoss and a frat boy tried to kill each other on the sidewalk. Another fight! Lots of wrestling involved in this one, but not many punches landed.
I'm off to Calloway Gardens tonight for a wedding reception. Hopefully there will no fighting!
