Happy Saturday, Happy Fall!
So, as you might have read on my last post, Cisco had some family issues and, as things turned, he was not going to be able to perform with us last night. We were all pretty bummed at the thought of having to play without him. We're really starting to get a good chemistry between us and don't want to revert back to a fully sequenced show. But, we also didn't want to cancel the show and leave the venue hanging. So, I did my thing with the drum machines earlier in the week and put together a temporary drummer for the night.
It's fair to say that we were concerned about how it would turn out. Heath and I used to play this way before we brought on Cisco & Brian. But, it's been a long time since we've done things that way and none of us had rehearsed it all together. With the short notice of Cisco having to go to Minnesota, though, we decided to it was the only option and we'd make the best of it.
This was our first time playing at Chubby's. The show was booked quite a while back and none of us really had any idea what to expect from the place. Was it a restaurant? A concert hall? Dive bar? We didn't really know anything other than that they claim a mean burger.
We were pleasantly surprised to find it was kind of all of the above. Yes, they serve food.and a good portion of the place is a bar. Outside they have, as I read on their website, "the big stage." They had an incredibly friendly staff that took more than good care of us all night.
We started our set without an intro and just went directly into Postcard. I didn't want to address the absent drummer issue until we had played the first song.
I'm always amazed at how people perceive "bands." With my musical past, having worked in primarily electronic bands my whole career, it's no issue for me to go see a band with 2 people on stage. I understand how it works. For the average Joe, it's almost like you're screwing with their minds. They want to like it. You see them tap their feet, groove to the beat. Then, they look at the stage and get this confused look on their face, kind of like when a dog cocks his head and looks at you funny - you know the look. You can tell they're trying to grasp how that much sound comes out of so few people. I've noticed this being the case more in Texas than anywhere. I think it's because we've been playing country friendly venues that have just never seen this before. Anyway, I wanted to see how the crowd was going to react before we delivered the whole story about our drummer situation for the night. My thoughts were that, if they didn't give that confused look, we don't mention it and keep playing without putting any downer thoughts in peoples minds. If we get the look, we tell them what's going on.
Well, it's Fort Worth... and, yes, I saw the look. No big deal, we explained the situation, told them we didn't want to leave them hanging without a show and then we tore into the rest of set.
It was so funny - after the quick explanation, no more confused looks. Folks were dancing and having a good time. Mission accomplished.
We received quite a few nice compliments about our music throughout the night from both the staff and crowd. Especially on the originals. I had a man pull me aside while I was walking through and he told me that What Happens Now was the highlight for him and that the song was a "money maker." I was flattered. On a side note: That song sounds about a thousand times better live than it does on the recording. It was a challenge in the studio and I never felt that we captured the mix like it should have been captured. Additionally, when I'm able to set it up and explain what it's about, people really pay attention to the lyrics and it's neat for me to watch their reactions. Who knows, live album? We'll see. If so, maybe we'll give it another shot then.
So, once again, it all worked out. Yay!
Oh, and you should have been there for a super duper rare performance... Heath's daughter, Fernie, was having a birthday! I can honestly say that I've never played "Happy Birthday To You" live before. But, I knew about it before hand and learned it on guitar. So, what the heck, we did it!
Interesting things and highlights of the night: Birthday cake, chicken fried hamburgers, kind words from the audience. Oh, and birthday cake. Did I say cake? I seriously love cake. Thanks, Allyson!
Ok, so that was last night. Below is a picture I stole from someone's Facebook page. Until next time...
Stay gold,
RH
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| Sand Dollar Rodeo @ Chubby's - Fort Worth, TX |
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