Happy New Year!
Prior to the show, I was talking with Heath at load in, asking about when the last time we played live was. It had only been around 3 weeks, but it seemed like forever. There has been a lot going on between that last show and now.
Probably most noteworthy is our new drummer, Tony. Technically, he's only been with us for about a week or so. So, when I say new drummer, I mean NEW drummer. We spent much of the time prepping material for him. Then, there's year end wrap-ups, getting plans in place for 2014, Christmas, New Years (which we spent rehearsing)... it's been busy.
Onto our first show of the year. It went ok. Our setup is currently a little more advanced than your average garage band. I, obviously, use a lot of sequencing from the keyboards and, to keep that in sync with the drums, I send a click (1 2 3 4) over to the drummer to follow. This is very tough for a drummer to get used to - he gets that 1 2 3 4 through the whole song and has to follow it and hold the whole thing together. That being said, it was not the greatest/tightest we've ever been, for sure. But, considering the circumstances, I am ok with it. One really cool thing was the dynamic that happened when we got out of sync a few times - when it gets off like that, I cut the sequencing altogether and we just finish the song without it - the farther the drummer and sequencer get off from each other, the farther the rest of the band get off - it's just better to kill the sequencer. While I missed the sequencing, it was very liberating to able to finish the songs without the electronic leash around our necks. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a new keyboard player on stage (not me) before too long - the freedom to flow without the sequencing was fun and exciting.
Aside from that freedom mentioned above, no real highlights of the night for me. I think Heath, Brian and I were pretty much focused on trying to keep things together since it was Tony's first gig. There was also kind of an odd mood among us. Obviously, nerves over a new drummer. Lots of nervous energy on stage. But, also, Brian was/is sick. Heath's Aunt had passed away and the funeral was just hours before. Aside from me, my guys had a tough day all around. I wish we would have had the luxury of changing the date, but the live music industry doesn't work that way - we either suck it up or we don't get paid.
Oh wait, I know a highlight - Brian did some quick recovery on Sing Along. We were off with the sequencers. So, I cut them. That means no "na na, na na" part from the vocoder. Brian played it on bass and it worked - Thanks for the quick thinking, Brian!
Where to we go from here? Well, Heath and I are playing an acoustic radio show mid-month, then our next full band show is in February. We'll spend the bulk of January rehearsing and getting ready for the Spring schedule to kick in.
Stay tuned... and stay gold,
RH
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