I did my usual two church gigs yesterday.
The first gig was even more chaotic than usual. The band accompanied a group of adults called "Triumph" (they sounded like an amateur theatre group) and a children's choir. On top of that we had our own usual stuff to do. The first song was kind of a wreck--it was one of those songs where the meter of the song changes with the words (basically it was in three with an occasional bar of four), and the drummer kept turning the beat around because he couldn't get a clear answer about where on the lead sheet the phantom bar of four was located. The bass player transcribed the audio for the song earlier in the week, only to find out that we weren't using that version. It got pretty tense there for a minute. I laughed it all off--good thing I'd gotten plenty of sleep for a change!
I hate to be apathetic about the gig, but I figured out a while ago not to put too much preparation into this gig--they mp3s they email out earlier in the week are usually more of a reference for the vocalists than the band, and I have yet to play a Sunday where (at the least) chord sheets weren't provided.
One of the singers asked if we had rehearsals. "No." "Don't you get stressed about it?" "About what?"
The Triumph thing was kind of amusing. I asked which instrument to play (choices being soprano sax, tenor sax, or clarinet) and the director said "whatever will make it sound country." Thirty seconds later we were into it--a gospel blues thing. Ahh, tenor! Country? Huh?
One of the singers bitched that all she could hear was saxophone. What's wrong with that?
The bass player asked if the audio for the children's choir matched the chart he'd just been given, and the choir director said, "I never heard a recording of this." Jeez!
So...it went like that.
The second gig was the usual. Not much to report. I spent a fair amount of the gig hitting "update" on the ESPN gamecast of the Cowboys game. They won. I was able to provide up to the minute updates to the guitarist.
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