Anatomy of a Band: Debut Performance

My classic rock band, LeStrange, made its debut performance last night. Three of us met in a seven piece band called Zeus and the Lesser Gods. We're now a lean mean four piece with  traditional instrumentation; Guitar, bass, drums, vocals. The departure of three members means we all get a raise when it's time to split up the take too.

Every gig starts in my closet. What to wear. I went with Buffalo Jeans, John Fluevog shoes and A DKNY shirt. Then the hair products; There is no plugging in until I have my wide toothed comb and bottle of zero frizz.

Its been a steep learning curve for the new bassist and myself. Ex band members included a rhythm guitarist and some of them sang as well. I went from singing a couple songs to singing 40% of them over night as well as having to handle all guitar duties. We threw out most of our old set list so the majority of the sets were new and by no means "polished" yet.

8:00pm, Aptos, California. We arrive at the Windjammer. A charmingly divey bar  with a nautical theme. There is no stage manager, make up or wardrobe personnel. I had to dress myself and put on my own eyeliner! Though I have left my spandex and leopard print T shirts in the past, I still sound and feel more rock and roll with eyeliner on. It works, ask Keith Richards.

There is no stage. We set up between the front door and the pool table. Its down home. A dart board hangs near the drummer's head. I wonder what the dart policy is while a band is playing. This leads me to the larger conclusion that darts and alcohol are never a good idea and should be banned from drinking establishments altogether.

A pile of PA mains, monitors, amps, drums, instruments, and a rat's nest of black cables and orange extension cords quickly accumulates on the floor and we get started assembling it into an entertainment vehicle.

 You hope for the best at these things. There's no "sound check" in the traditional sense. You plug in everything, annoy people with PA feedback and make sure sound is coming from your amp. When you play a concert, everything is mic'd and you have a sound guy, you get a sound check and EQ adjustments to each instrument, then you play a song or two and the level of each element is evaluated by professional ears out in the front of the house. In a bar you just set up and go. You suffer with what you've got for the first few tunes and try to make adjustments on the fly. Major changes have to wait till intermission.

 Though we had a lot of friends present, most of the patrons came because this is their local bar, not specifically to see us. We kicked off with Tom Petty's I Need to Know, a song Donna sings. My guitar sounded a little boomy in this room. I reduced the mids and bass a bit. It was a good rendition and the crowd looked relieved. You never know if the band is going to make your night miserable or make it a good time till you hear them play. People want you to do well but there's always the chance the band is going to suck. Fortunately we were on our game.

 No one threw bras or lifted up their shirt. The standard by which I guage a truly successful gig. But it went well in spite of this. We'd had a ton of songs to learn. Rehearsals are effective up to a point but nothing whips a band into shape like laying it on the line live. Its scary and fun.

We made some mistakes. Most of which were only known to us. Missing a chorus, going to the bridge at the wrong place. When you take the wrong exit, you do it as a group and just play your way back to the onramp that leads to the rest of the song. The rhythm section hung me out to dry on the intro to Tumbling Dice. I launched into it and no one joined me. I turned around to glare into their big eyed innocent faces. "Oh, were you starting?" ha ha. Those jokers!

Donna and I both blew a couple lyrics, we mumbled a couple and made up some others. Mick Jagger was right. No one cares what the words in the verses are,  as long as you know the chorus you're OK. I wrote the names of the songs in each set with a marker so I could see it on the floor. Most titles had a few cheater notes next to them. The first word of a song for instance. There is nothing like the feeling of desperation when you are in the ten seconds of intro before a lyric and you can't remember what it is.

Our singer girl is personable and engaging. She has a great sound and can whack the daylight out of a cowbell. For some reason, watching a woman vigorously strike a cowbell is hot. I don't think I'm alone on this. I'd feel the same way about pinatas I imagine. I like to see a woman beat something with a stick.

                               In addition to what the gig pays, we have a tip jar. I get elected to panhandle the crowd. So I thank those who gave and tell them my daughter can now get the operation she needs. If they continue to be generous she might even be able to afford anaethesia. While I'm on the mic I remind folks all of our performances are clothing optional and to make themselves at home.

 The bar comps musicians a pint of beer per set. Not bad. I make mine Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I'm too busy to drink it. At the end of every set I have 3/4 of it left. At every break, I polish off the lukewarm brew and get a new one.

Among the highlights of the evening; Werewolves of London, a nutty and eccentric little tune for sure but it got people on the dance floor. Ahoooooo! Stranglehold got a lot of "hell yeah's!" and fist pumping from the patrons. The Otis Rush song, Homework got people out of their seats as well. The Go Go's We Got the Beat produced a lot of jumping around and shouting along and country fans approved of our Johnny and June Carter Cash duet, Jackson. The Ramone's I Wanna Be Sedated is a song I love playing and it really lit a fire under people.

As I feared, putting my wife in charge of the camera meant there were no pics of us actually playing, just setting up. Grrr! She's easily distracted. I need to give the camera to a stranger and have them take some live shots next time. I'd hoped to have a few pics for our upcoming myspace page. Luckily, she has other skills that warrant her sticking around so I'll keep her.

At this weeks practice, we'll be comparing post game notes, working on the weakest links and arguing over what songs to replace with what. I have some original material and and a boogie blues arrangement of Zeppelin's Black Dog I'd like to work in. We'll also decide what songs to use on our new demo. The one we're using now has had the ex members parts excised and replaced with my own.  We need a new one. We rehearse at our drummer's commercial recording suite so everything we need is right there. I'll get a myspace page started for us too. When it's done I'll throw a couple clips on there as well as on my gather page.

The booking agent should be getting a positive report from the bartender so I'm confident of more referrals and an enhanced position in her contact list.