Last year P.C., we were booked to play at a local wine room and of course, that got sidelined. The owner of the wine room is a huge PJ fan and got acquainted with us as our guitar player is a close friend of one of the PJ guitarists. Long story short, the gig was still on the table all this time later and we played yesterday.
The show was sold out and SRO as it is not a traditional music venue, but a tasting room. As a result, when I showed up for load in, there was a solitary sound guy setting up the PA. But what the room lacked in amenities (sound baffling, carpet, free drinks, lighting, multiple monitor speakers), it made up for in heart and kindness and support.
It was a 2 band bill and 120 tickets were sold. For many of the people, it was their second night out in as many nights as there was another shindig the night before just up the street. Many of our fans are huge fans of music and they go wherever there is music playing. That said, it was wonderful to see them all.
Performance-wise, I think we did well. Admittedly, I was sort of in my own space as I was processing so many things:
- The physicality of playing. We have had 6 rehearsals or so the past few weeks and at sound check, I felt great. Muscle memory is back and the tunes were sounding on point. However, there's nothing in rehearsal that simulates playing for 100 people in a tight space. Movement, guitar moves, dodging/weaving with other bandmates all become a thing and must be handled. Luckily, no falls, clunks or otherwise.
- The emotion of playing. During said sound check, I was watching my guitarist and I started getting a little choked up. Realizing it had been 20 months since a large part of my identity and life had been put on pause sort of caught up with me. I thought I might lose it when we played for more people, but I didn't.
- The logistics of playing. Since the pandemic, I have acquired a new bass (Reverend Thundergun), new DI (Aguilar Tone Hammer DI) and new compressor (MXR M87). Also, I started to learn how to play with a pick and brought some to the show. All 4 components made their debuts last night. I will have to learn how to use the compressor as it does make things sound more "present" but I felt like the sustain was too long and boosted during our quieter moments.
- The return of playing. Just being on the floor (there was no stage, just the drummer's carpet) and multi-tasking on the live element was enough to make me not actively listen to my mates. I knew what we were all doing as a whole, but I can't remember any points in the songs that jumped out at me as WOW moments because I was so focused on myself/not focused on them. And then, to top it all off, my old TE GP-12 decided to start buzzing/shrieking intermittently during the second half of the set. At first, I thought it might have been power related, so I tried a different outlet. No dice. Then, maybe my phone causing interference (I had placed it in my gig bag on the floor behind my amp), so I moved that. No dice.
Anyway, there was food (lousy pizza) and drink (a wine room, after all, but water for me (don't drink)), and most importantly, friends, family and lovers of music.
It's good to be back... and we get to do it all again next weekend!
my POV before people started coming in.
my office and supplies for the night.
