Tonight the members of the Yacht Rock Revue had the band version of an office party. We gave up our usual 10 High gig to the Schooner so we could attend the "Dukes of September" concert--Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald, and Donald Fagen--at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.
The concert was pretty good. With those three guys, you'd think you'd hear more of classic songs. Instead, it was about half covers--maybe more than half. For instance, the only Steely Dan song Fagen did was Reelin' in the Years. Michael McDonald did I Keep Forgetting, What a Fool Believes, and Takin' it to the Streets (and on that one he only sang the first verse and chorus before turning it over to a background singer). Boz Scaggs did Lowdown; maybe he did one other that I can't think of right now. The rest were covers. It was cool hearing Walt Weiskopf again. He's awesome.
Immediately following the concert, somebody had the terrific idea that we would go crash the 10 High, presumably to show up the B band. I drove like a wild man back to my house to get my saxophones and flute, and then flew down to Virginia Highland. When we got there, the Schooner was playing and sounding great. We got up there on their break and tried to play What a Fool Believes, I Want a New Drug, and Lido Shuffle. It was not pretty.
I played my keyboard parts on What a Fool Believes that I've been working on. Disaster. I couldn't hear very well what I was doing, and I wasn't comfortable with the setup of the keyboards. I could go on with an excuse for every wrong note I played. I Want a New Drug was fine because it was my usual sax part. Lido Shuffle was really bad--I usually play the brass part on EWI, so I f...fumbled it. Over and over, I might add. Even worse, with the usual keyboard wizard, Eric Frampton, close enough that he could spit on me in disgust. Mercifully, we finished with that one and I could leave.
I drove home as fast as I drove down there, furious and embarrassed. I know it's my fault--if I was better and more consistent in my keyboard playing, I wouldn't have made such a fool of myself. I really looked like an amateur in front of a room full of people, and with the entire band and the Schooner watching. This cannot happen ever again, but I'm sure it will.
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