Our first non-weekend show as PITO. We did do a Wednesday with Embers a few years ago at El Corazon. That was an interesting night.
Last night, it was us as the middle band between an artist called Tsubaki and then Knathan Ryan and his band. We had mixed feelings about playing on a Thursday, not necessarily because we think we're better than Thursdays, but more because we weren't sure if we'd have much of a draw on a weeknight.
When I got there after a 45-minute drive, I was surprised to see something like 5 guitar/bass amps on the small stage. I thought it was going to be a stripped down gig as Tsubaki, was simply playing her keyboard (albeit through a Fender Bandmaster amp). Turns out, Knathan's band had 3 guitarists and a bassist, plus Tsubaki on keys as well, so, well, there you go.
I wheeled my Avatar on stage and stuck it off to the side. No sound check for us, but would line check before playing.
Tsubaki, aka Akaiko (may have butchered that spelling), was a super talented singer/pianist. She was accompanied by a guy on trumpet, who also played acoustic and trumpet in Knathan's band. It was a quiet and cool set by her. Really excellent on piano and her vocals suited it well.
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| Tsubaki and trumpet, at sound check |
During her set, I counted about 13 people in the room, which was about 13 more than what we had. Robb was quite nervous about the turnout. Both Cass and I tried to reassure him but it ending up not being too bad.
For the show, I brought my Avatar 2x12 with my Trace head. I'd done some back and forth during the day at home with the Trace vs the Orange and I just felt like the Trace won out. The tones I got at home were pretty gnarly and I liked them. However, once I got on stage, with earplugs in, too much bottom end, not enough mids. Really boomy. I adjusted the EQ on the Trace and that seemed to help (note to self: practice at home with earplugs in to sort of emulate sound on stage)
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| The rig |
Once we started playing, there were more people in the room. I actually had 4 people come out, David and Paul from Pop Cycle, Dennis from SGs and Patrick also formerly from SGs. Knathan, who was also celebrating his birthday, had a handful of people there, so we gladly absorbed those people.
We started the night with our set closer, Darla's Song, because it's on keyboards. We pivoted that to opener as Tsubaki had done a keyboard set, so we thought that would be a good flow. It was a nice warmup for us. During the keyboard switch, I jumped on mic and worked on my stage banter. I think it's working? I just hope Cass and Robb aren't inwardly cringing. I guess it's better than dead air.
Anyway, we blew into Nomenclature from there and we were off. Unlike the last show at Tim's, I could really hear my vocals and felt good up there. We generally played quite well and had great interactions on stage.
Knathan and his band took the stage next, 6 pieces, with Aiyako on keys, Knathan on guitar and vocals, a drummer, bassist, lead guitarist and acoustic guitar/trumpet. I was not expecting them to be as powerful and tight and melodic as they were. Soundcheck wasn't super exciting, but once they unleashed, they were awesome. Knathan reminded me of the Hold Steady a bit, with lots of words, some horn and really thoughtful rock. All of us enjoyed them quite a bit and hope our paths cross again in the future.
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| Knathan Ryan and band |
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| Also, I don't know who I am any more. I wore white shoes. |
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| Drummer and yours truly. |
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| Best bathrooms in any club in town. |
