So Check THIS shit out...
So, I go to the open mic at Crush last night, and it's deadsville (I'm doing my best to work 1950's vernacular back into mainstream). Strange. But whatever. So, I'm up like 5th or something. I get up there and I'm pretty sober. I've had maybe 3 beers since 7 and it's now 9. So, yeah...no real liquid courage. Which, really, I think is a good thing. I can do all my other performing sober, so I should be able to play the damn guitar and sing damn sober. So. I decided to add to my "risking" by playing the HARDEST SONG I KNOW. "Christmas Song" by Dave Matthews. I was totally nervous. Add to that the way the guy had me set up sound-wise was funky from the beginning. I couldn't move around much. So, I start. And then I go to sing the first note... fucking big blast of feedback. Awesome. After a not-so-quick recovery by myself and the sound guys I continue. But I was already in my head and summarily doomed. I kept fucking up the guitar part-you have to understand, this song is really hard to play...especially when you have short fingers like me. And not only is it hard, but it kind of hurts. Anyway... saving grace was that my voice was pretty on. Thank God.
Ok, so, second song, I decide to go with the Christmas Theme and played "The Christians and the Pagans". La la I start playing, but... something just doesn't sound right. I look at my finger postions as I'm playing, yeah, that's ok, but there is a string that is completely out of tune... so, guess what? I'm halfway through the song and I just stop and say "Excuse me...there is something very wrong here." I step away play an E, everything's fine there. So I step back up and start again from where I left off.. and at this point I'm kind of just laughing at myself. Because I'm just mortified. It's almost all guys in there... it's dead, and a friend of mine was there. So, I just kept on playing thinking to myself "I must sound like the biggest moron up here."
Third song I go by an old standard of mine: "Come Away With Me - Norah Jones...mostly because I can sing the shit out of that song and at this point I really need something to make me feel better. So, I sang it. And still my playing sounded like shit from my perspective. I finish, and just go "I'm Done." And walked off the stage. It sucked. However, everyone was all "Wow that was great..bla bla..." but I knew better. I couldn't figure out what the hell went wrong.
Well, cut to this morning. I'm telling my story to a musician friend of mine and he's nodding like he knows something. And after I plead "Am I crazy???" He says no. What happens sometimes is the sound guy will mic the guitar in such a way that the low-end (bass frequency) is set way to high and it creates interference which in turn makes what comes out of the stage monitors sound completely out of tune. Comforting? Yes. Am I still pissed? Yeah. However... lesson learned. As in theatre when somethign goes wrong...one must just fake it and assume the audience doesn't notice.
Ok cut back to last night, and I'm talking to the bartender and I ask him why it's so dead... it's usually packed in there. And he says "Well, the guy that used to run this for me left and he emailed everyone and told them that we weren't doing this anymore." Funny part is, I ran into that guy last Saturday at Carol's and he told me that he had had a falling out with the owner and was leaving and starting another room. He seemed a little angry about it, but I never expected that he would sabotage an entire room because of it. I was absolutely appalled. So, they have to start all over from scratch. My mission next week: Hit the open mics I know of and invite a lot of people to join me on Wednesday...
So, I extend the invitation to you, my 2 or 3 readers, to come out and drink 2.50 bottles at Crush on Halsted and Diversey on Wednesday night around 9, and listen to some cool music. I have a friend who plays there who is hilarious and definitely worth the trip out.
And I'm spent...
Ok, so, second song, I decide to go with the Christmas Theme and played "The Christians and the Pagans". La la I start playing, but... something just doesn't sound right. I look at my finger postions as I'm playing, yeah, that's ok, but there is a string that is completely out of tune... so, guess what? I'm halfway through the song and I just stop and say "Excuse me...there is something very wrong here." I step away play an E, everything's fine there. So I step back up and start again from where I left off.. and at this point I'm kind of just laughing at myself. Because I'm just mortified. It's almost all guys in there... it's dead, and a friend of mine was there. So, I just kept on playing thinking to myself "I must sound like the biggest moron up here."
Third song I go by an old standard of mine: "Come Away With Me - Norah Jones...mostly because I can sing the shit out of that song and at this point I really need something to make me feel better. So, I sang it. And still my playing sounded like shit from my perspective. I finish, and just go "I'm Done." And walked off the stage. It sucked. However, everyone was all "Wow that was great..bla bla..." but I knew better. I couldn't figure out what the hell went wrong.
Well, cut to this morning. I'm telling my story to a musician friend of mine and he's nodding like he knows something. And after I plead "Am I crazy???" He says no. What happens sometimes is the sound guy will mic the guitar in such a way that the low-end (bass frequency) is set way to high and it creates interference which in turn makes what comes out of the stage monitors sound completely out of tune. Comforting? Yes. Am I still pissed? Yeah. However... lesson learned. As in theatre when somethign goes wrong...one must just fake it and assume the audience doesn't notice.
Ok cut back to last night, and I'm talking to the bartender and I ask him why it's so dead... it's usually packed in there. And he says "Well, the guy that used to run this for me left and he emailed everyone and told them that we weren't doing this anymore." Funny part is, I ran into that guy last Saturday at Carol's and he told me that he had had a falling out with the owner and was leaving and starting another room. He seemed a little angry about it, but I never expected that he would sabotage an entire room because of it. I was absolutely appalled. So, they have to start all over from scratch. My mission next week: Hit the open mics I know of and invite a lot of people to join me on Wednesday...
So, I extend the invitation to you, my 2 or 3 readers, to come out and drink 2.50 bottles at Crush on Halsted and Diversey on Wednesday night around 9, and listen to some cool music. I have a friend who plays there who is hilarious and definitely worth the trip out.
And I'm spent...
posted by LC Greenwood at 9:28 AM
1 Comments:
Because you're s cute blogger, your profile has been viewed over 800 times. From that measure alone, it is clear that you must have many more than 2 or 3 readers.
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