The Park Tavern series has begun for the Yacht Rock Revue, our monthly local gig that continues from now until the fall. The first one up is a thing we call the Reagan Rock Prom, which concentrates our setlist on the 80s side of things.
A full crew for this one! Kip on front of house (who mentioned to me afterwards that this was one of his best shows at this venue), Zac on monitors at the side of the stage (good for emergency adjustments), and Liz helping with set up and tear down. They make it as painless as possible.
Due to our scattered schedules, our only rehearsal for this gig was a week ago; I think it showed in some places. I practiced a lot for this one, but I could have used more time hearing my parts in the context of the group.
No alto on this one, just tenor (on six in the first set), and I only played EWI on PYT and Africa. The rest of it was keyboards. Strange how that worked out--I could've packed those up on the break.
So, tune by tune...I had the solo on Head Over Heels; I flipped the last little phrase and the middle phrase, and then made my way back to the end of it, so I played all the right notes, but maybe not in the original order...Maneater, Only the Good Die Young, and You Can Do Magic were fine...I had some stumbling fingers in Raspberry Beret--I'd skipped ahead on the set list, and jumped back to this at the last second...Who Can it Be Now was fine...Hello was solid, as were Everything She Wants, I Keep Forgetting (except that my string note was too damn loud)...I played some pads in Careless Whisper two octaves too high (where I'd set the keyboard for the previous song)...Let's Dance was pretty close (I only have a three possible things to play, I think I put them all in the correct spots...All I Need is a Miracle was good--I had another synth solo in this one (which I played correctly, but holding on tight)...I Want a New Drug, PYT, Africa, and I Wanna Dance were no big deal.
Second set...what the hell happened in the beginning of Let's Go Crazy? I wasn't playing--just listening, but we were all over the place...later I skipped a section and crashed through the part right before the guitar solo...Power of Love was easy...Everybody Have Fun was good, though I'm not sure I could definitively say how to get to the end--our ending is still too new, but we did it (fairly successfully) anyway...Sledgehammer was fine, though I always think it's going to end eight measures before it does...You Make My Dreams and Call Me Al are fine...Things Can Only Get Better was pretty good, though I have my sounds on two presets, and I forgot to move to the second one for the first prechorus, so when I tried to play, there was no sound...stupid...Footloose is easy...Take On Me bit me in the ass--I swung and missed on too much of this one...Don't You Forget About Me was cool...we did no rehearsal for Any Way You Want It, but it still sounded really good...how'd that happen?
Some crazy routing this week, with a gig in San Diego and then a public show at a casino in Niagara Falls. Robbie Dupree will be with us for that one.
