One year ago today: April 15, 2017, remember ‘where’s george’?
Five years ago today: April 15, 2013, silver never did panic.
Nine years ago today: April 15, 2009, ‘yob’ training.
Random years ago today: April 15, 2008, that gawdawful sign.
Admit it, you want to hear how gig number three went. Bands are complicated business, not to be confused with how simple music alone can be. That was this afternoon, so keep reading. To test drive the car with the new battery, I wound up in Winter Haven, I guess I should have moved there instead. But that would have involved borrowing money. Too late now but the game isn’t over yet. I stopped repeatedly to connect the load tester and charging system. I cannot find any reason that other battery died. One noted change is the new batteries these days measure exactly on spec. They are not a little over when new like they used to be.
By 9:00 AM I was back at the coffee shop waiting for a scheduled appointment. I waited two hours for a no-show. Mind you, I was reading the tiresome liberal rags, the only papers available around here. And working the Sunday crosswords, a staple for me. That gal who wants to get into nursing was there, man, if there was only one reason to hate getting old, it is the loss of dating women like that. Mind you, I’m more inclined to blame the shitty attitude of our society that people cannot just date whomever they please. It’s difficult enough to find compatible souls without all these uninvited busybodies getting involved.
New York at night.
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By now you have correctly guessed the important event was gig number three at the pavilion. So, how did it go? I hope you like this blog because it gives you the real story and lets you decide on your own. Again, the crowd was small, less than twenty people. And Lady Nik is definitely going to need the full 100 hours on stage, minimum, to get things presentable. But the show brought down the house. We got a standing ovation. And for the first time, we managed three full hours of material. Total time on stage with this band is at the 8 hour mark.
To the audience, it seems like a random event. No need to tell them the show was designed from the ground up to have this effect. We cleared out the bar up front and had all the patrons out back despite some pretty inclement weather. As usual, the women first and the men will follow. The high percentage of chick songs in my repertoire has nothing to do with bravery, it is hard-bitten common sense. The bar was vacant until after the gig, when some pool players showed up. Today’s topic was changed at the last moment to, “Give me some time on that one.”
Tips? More than I made in your average year with the Hippie. That’s correct, you can look it up here if you care to do that much reading. You’d find that $50 would be enough to best what he paid. Here’s a picture of the view from the stage. At the extreme right is Lady Nik and beneath the bass tuning pegs is her cousin. In between is that overly-photogenic actor that keeps bombing all my best shots, but he’s like a fixture by now.
Once more, we had the crowd singing along for a good portion of each set. It is geared for that, the songs are custom chosen to encourage such behavior. What would surprise you is the number of women singing, well, actually, that should not surprise you. But no need to tell them anything. In another few gigs I’ll have a trained audience. It looks like we will be there a while more. I don’t mind because it substitutes for rehearsals which was draining me. Physically and financially. Lady Nik’s guitar has improved to the point where it actually sounds smooth, but she is still comping at times and tending to copy what I do.
But I don’t think there is any turning back now. I would like to take over another night at this location. They have Karaoke twice a week, meaning I probably know whoever is running the show. Central Florida Karaoke is terrible. Did I ever mention, after guitar acts, Karaoke was my secondary target? The music tonight was tighter and more balanced, yet not at all where it should be after 15 weeks. I dropped lyrics and made the usual number of bass boo-boos. This is a good place to note that it is the “inverted” songs we play that bring the best crowd responses. Where I play the “lead breaks” on the bass. I told everyone who would listen that this was a winning idea. Events seem poised to show just how right I was about that.
One thing Lady Nik can count on is the full support of her family. They are there to cheer things on and are entirely supportive of the venture. Let me think, did any of my family ever come to my gigs? Not that I can recall, although when I was 10 through 13 years of age, my mother did attend the annual piano recitals where I was the only boy in the second half. Then again, the event was right across the street from our house. Years later, when I was 17, my brother began showing up at my band gigs, but with the express purpose of sabotaging the group.
I don’t know if you can tell by the photo, but there is a considerable rainstorm just outside. Imagine the noise on that tarp. But it must be nothing compared to the noise of insane jealousy that to this day rattles around inside the head of my brother.
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