The rest of the story of our Saturday night of Summertime Fun Music at Shine concludes. Aloha Radio did get to the stage. But only after we finished.
After the restart, we hit some rough patches. Our inexperience reared its head. With early show jitters and the quality of the audience, that inexperience probably was perceptible.
Of course, we all know that stuff -- keeping it PG -- happens. Being a half-step off makes a song dissonant. But sometimes the old fingers just land in the wrong spot. This was surf music in a coffee house in Sacramento not Carnegie Hall.
Some of the happenings were just plain laughable . . . in retrospect. About the fourth song into the set, nerves seemingly were behind me. Thoughts of why on earth am I trying to perform live music at my age or that maybe an empty room would not be so bad after all had passed. We were starting to find our groove.
And then . . . .
“Here’s something by a band from the Pacific Northwest that put instrumental rock on the charts.” Robert started Perfidia. We were turning a Latin jazz number into a funeral march. Try as I might, I could not get my head around playing the song that slow. Glenn gave me the “I’m perplexed” look. After getting the attention of Robert, Glenn, and Sue, I said, “We got to speed this up. Let’s do that at the da da da da da da da da da . . . part.” We did. Stuff happens. Make light of it. Laugh. Move on.
Laughs. Brain lapses. Totally wrong phrases. Wow, we were hitting the trifecta. Then, we would nail a song. On time and all together.
After Runaway, which we almost nailed, I introduced the band. Robert kept repeating what I said in an effort to introduce me. “Is there an echo in here?” Laughs. “No, I want to introduce you.” “No need. I am notorious.” Laughs.
Hey, is this the start of some kind of schtick for us?
We finished. “Thank you to Shine. Stay around for Aloha Radio. They’re really bitchin’. Thanks to all of you for being here tonight. Without you, there would be no live music!”
On reflection, the laughable parts, the brain lapses, etc. really were few. After all, we are our own worst critics. Speaking with the audience brought the whole experience back into perspective. Nobody expects perfection. They just want to have fun. As long as almost everybody has fun and we do not take ourselves too seriously, we do what we set out to do. Entertain and share a fun time with a bunch of people.
Wasn’t that how this whole band thing started in the first place? We just have to keep that perspective.
So we relearned a lesson and might have the beginnings of a schtick for the future. Oh yeah, don’t worry, that schtick would be “is there an echo in here,” not the three-ring circus. Until next time, have fun!
After the restart, we hit some rough patches. Our inexperience reared its head. With early show jitters and the quality of the audience, that inexperience probably was perceptible.
Of course, we all know that stuff -- keeping it PG -- happens. Being a half-step off makes a song dissonant. But sometimes the old fingers just land in the wrong spot. This was surf music in a coffee house in Sacramento not Carnegie Hall.
Some of the happenings were just plain laughable . . . in retrospect. About the fourth song into the set, nerves seemingly were behind me. Thoughts of why on earth am I trying to perform live music at my age or that maybe an empty room would not be so bad after all had passed. We were starting to find our groove.
And then . . . .
“Here’s something by a band from the Pacific Northwest that put instrumental rock on the charts.” Robert started Perfidia. We were turning a Latin jazz number into a funeral march. Try as I might, I could not get my head around playing the song that slow. Glenn gave me the “I’m perplexed” look. After getting the attention of Robert, Glenn, and Sue, I said, “We got to speed this up. Let’s do that at the da da da da da da da da da . . . part.” We did. Stuff happens. Make light of it. Laugh. Move on.
Laughs. Brain lapses. Totally wrong phrases. Wow, we were hitting the trifecta. Then, we would nail a song. On time and all together.
After Runaway, which we almost nailed, I introduced the band. Robert kept repeating what I said in an effort to introduce me. “Is there an echo in here?” Laughs. “No, I want to introduce you.” “No need. I am notorious.” Laughs.
Hey, is this the start of some kind of schtick for us?
We finished. “Thank you to Shine. Stay around for Aloha Radio. They’re really bitchin’. Thanks to all of you for being here tonight. Without you, there would be no live music!”
On reflection, the laughable parts, the brain lapses, etc. really were few. After all, we are our own worst critics. Speaking with the audience brought the whole experience back into perspective. Nobody expects perfection. They just want to have fun. As long as almost everybody has fun and we do not take ourselves too seriously, we do what we set out to do. Entertain and share a fun time with a bunch of people.
Wasn’t that how this whole band thing started in the first place? We just have to keep that perspective.
So we relearned a lesson and might have the beginnings of a schtick for the future. Oh yeah, don’t worry, that schtick would be “is there an echo in here,” not the three-ring circus. Until next time, have fun!