Welcome to 2013!
We are hoping for and looking forward to a fun year. We wish you the same.
The final A chord to “Jack the Ripper” marked the end of our last performance of 2012. A couple of days later, drums, amps, and guitar were stacked behind one of the couches at the Doghouse. Weary of music, I was not sure when the gear would find its way from behind the couch. An email went out to the Pups. “No practice this week.”
Amazingly, by Thursday night, energy had replaced fatigue. Enthusiasm supplanted weariness. I for one was ready for an evening of practice and camaraderie. But . . . no practice. Drat!
The excitement could build. So when the next practice night came, I was really eager. So much so that the rugs at the Doghouse had been vacuumed, the drums were set up, instrument cords were laid out, and the battery in the wireless was replaced. All of this was done in anticipation of “band practice.”
We did not have any show scheduled which meant time to do what we pleased. Sit and talk. Gather our thoughts. But our discussion of the last show was minimal. “That wasn’t one of our best.” General agreement. “Should we work on getting something in late January?” General agreement. That was followed by “that last show wasn’t one of our best.” General agreement again. Maybe we better practice.
We plugged in. We did not have a set list. After all we were not preparing for anything specific. “Where do we start?” Sue responded, “Surf Rider.” And we were off. That established the formula for the night. She would call out a song, and we would play it. We worked on rough spots and on making the songs more of our own. We played some songs that we had not played together for months.
We joked. We laughed. Over the course of the evening, each of us raised a hand at one time or another and announced, “I screwed up!” And we all would laugh again. When we were not working on songs, we were sitting around the “living room” of the Doghouse.
As I drove home from practice, I reflected on the evening. We had had fun as a group of people playing music. We had no goal other than fun. During this practice session, we exceeded that goal. Fun plus. And we were doing it as a band which is a good omen for the upcoming year.
We are ready for 2013. Happy New Year!