Early last week, I got the set lists for the weekend's gigs. After enduring a few weeks where I felt totally directionless on stage, I decided that I was going to be very prepared. I set out practicing everything--no surprises!
Thursday: A really good night at the 10 High. Nick picked a great set list, and we were on it. We had a good mix of oldies and new stuff, and the crowd was more responsive than any other Thursday in January.
Right before we started, the little voice in my head threw me a curve ball--what if I was so prepared to play the gig, I couldn't focus on playing, and instead spaced out? Hmm. Fortunately, it never happened. I felt really good about everything. Greatest American Hero was the second song in, and I nailed the synth thing in the bridge! Woo!
Friday: We returned to 8 Traxx Disco (Andrews Upstairs). Sold it out--six hundred forty people, I think? They pre-sell five hundred and then offer a hundred tickets at the door, and they went over that. It was nuts.
I altered my set up a little bit--I got my laptop and my speaker on my left like I do for every other gig. I liked this set up a lot more. It felt a little more normal, and on a crappy stage like that where everything feels like I'm all alone, familiar is good.
Of course, the Andrews gig is (for me), a two set exam with Mark Bencuya as the proctor. Normally we are on opposite sides of the stage, and if I flub a couple of notes, I might be able to get away with it. At Andrews, he's sitting right next to me, and I know he can hear me really well--too well? Anyway, it was the best I've ever played sitting next to him. I'd give myself an A! I can't think of anything I ruined, and lots of stuff where I came through--Greatest American Hero was good again, and I finally slayed the synth build up thing in Lido Shuffle! Woo!
Since it's Buckhead, there was weirdness, though. I packed all my stuff and stacked it at the front of the stage. Upon returning from taking a load of gear out, I discovered that someone had stolen the base of my laptop table. What the hell? Some drunk idiot made off with a chrome tripod? I don't get it. Maybe it will turn up, but I am not optimistic. The base of a folding music stand will do for now, but I'd really like to get that back. So weird.
Saturday: Yacht Rock went to the 40 Watt in Athens. Probably the best sound we ever have on a gig. The 40 Watt guys are on it! I ran my sax separate from the rest of my rig so the sound guys could have a little more control (and I could have it coming out of the monitor in front of me). When the sax is only in my little powered speaker, it's really hard to hear as I walk away from it. This solution is way better. Hopefully the front line guys will put a little sax in the monitor.
Great crowd in Athens. They were nuts from the beginning. It was really fun to play. We did two encores!
Our old second keyboardist Brandon Still was at the gig. I'm glad I didn't know ahead of time. It probably would've messed me up to know he was listening.
While setting up my stuff, I noticed that my EWI had something rattling around in it! Not good! It turns out that one of the octave key rollers had come loose. I taped it into place so it wouldn't touch the roller below it (or fall out completely). The thought occurred to me that I might be able to take the thing completely apart and fix it backstage, and then I had thoughts of NOT being able to get it back together. Taping the roller in position worked fine as a band aid.
Sunday: We got back to Atlanta at 4:15 AM. I was in bed at 5, and probably asleep twenty minutes after that. I was then back up again at 7 AM so I could leave at 7:30 for my church gig. Ouch! I slept in my clothes--including my jacket and shoes. Basically, I stood up, drank a cup of coffee, and left for the next gig!
Church gig number one was normal. I tried wearing headphones like the rest of the band, but the mix was really bad (and super loud), so I decided to just without. I can hear everything fine, anyway. I could use more bass (I'm only hearing the house), but the headphones sound horrible, so I'm going to deal with it.
I was asleep again by 11:30 AM!
I got up at 4:30 PM, took a shower, ate, and left for church gig number two.
The sound was back to normal--the old spot on the main fader was the right one again, after two weeks of it sounding like we were outside the church. What the hell? It sounded pretty good. I messed around with the EQ on the piano to try and get a little more clarity out of the left hand. That was about it.
I got home, ate again, and took my EWI apart. It turns out the top and bottom rollers were BOTH loose. Not good. Two nuts rolling around inside there. I turned the thing around like a piggy bank until both came out. Reinstalling them was pretty painless. It's all back together.
Easy week ahead.
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