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Last Night with Silent Muse
May. 21st, 2004 09:49 amA last minute show with the band. Actually, I think we knew about it a week ago, but that's not a lot of warning. An interesting time, for which I have mixed feelings. Earlier yesterday the homunculus who operates the controls inside my head decided to push the No Multi Tasking button, while work decided to force me to multi task. So, I was well and truly irritated before the show.
We were the opening opening band, playing first before No Gods No Monsters and In Tenebris. So while there were people there to see us, we definitely had the young opening band vibe going on. The event was really not our event, like our solo shows. There were a bunch of dudes at the bar watching a hockey game. There was a giant dead moose head on the wall. And this night was dubbed the hard rock night, or something (we have our heavy moments, but I'm not sure that label fits us). Never played here before. The vibe was weird. Felt a little out of my element.
So, the show for me felt a little like I was just doing my job. It didn't feel as much like a special event as previous shows. I enjoy pointing out my mistakes to laugh at myself. This is a good one. I accidentally had the tip of my foot on the sustain pedal during a string part. So the notes kept holding and playing on top of each other. Oops. Didn't take me too long to figure that out. But that was a dumb. Otherwise, I was just responsible for making Silent Muse 1/3 jam band, 2/3 gothic rock, by doing my typical...oops, mistake, time to improvise until I get back on track. That actually keeps the playing fresh for me anyway, when I can deviate from the "written" song and play something new each time.
But I hear we did well. Although the audience looked a little sleepy, I received positive feedback from all the people that count. The sound was well mixed and we performed well, even if I wasn't in a particularly groovy mood.
Other highlights include our vocalist's microphone falling apart a few times. No duct tape for him. And I think we had our first official hecklers. At least this is the first I'd heard. I dubbed them the Professional Peanut Gallery. Some older dudes hanging out near the bar would yell at us. I didn't take it personally, especially after I noticed them heckling and aping at the other two bands (who were quite awesome, I should add). The one guy looked like a 400lb walking beard. Probably not a gothic rock fan. He was just one example of the odd mix of people there.
Overall, I think I had the most fun outside of the actual performance. I enjoyed sound checking at a new place. Talked with a lot of people. Talked shop with some of the other musicians. If anything, that's one reason I got into this band thing--the community aspect of participating in a local scene.
We were the opening opening band, playing first before No Gods No Monsters and In Tenebris. So while there were people there to see us, we definitely had the young opening band vibe going on. The event was really not our event, like our solo shows. There were a bunch of dudes at the bar watching a hockey game. There was a giant dead moose head on the wall. And this night was dubbed the hard rock night, or something (we have our heavy moments, but I'm not sure that label fits us). Never played here before. The vibe was weird. Felt a little out of my element.
So, the show for me felt a little like I was just doing my job. It didn't feel as much like a special event as previous shows. I enjoy pointing out my mistakes to laugh at myself. This is a good one. I accidentally had the tip of my foot on the sustain pedal during a string part. So the notes kept holding and playing on top of each other. Oops. Didn't take me too long to figure that out. But that was a dumb. Otherwise, I was just responsible for making Silent Muse 1/3 jam band, 2/3 gothic rock, by doing my typical...oops, mistake, time to improvise until I get back on track. That actually keeps the playing fresh for me anyway, when I can deviate from the "written" song and play something new each time.
But I hear we did well. Although the audience looked a little sleepy, I received positive feedback from all the people that count. The sound was well mixed and we performed well, even if I wasn't in a particularly groovy mood.
Other highlights include our vocalist's microphone falling apart a few times. No duct tape for him. And I think we had our first official hecklers. At least this is the first I'd heard. I dubbed them the Professional Peanut Gallery. Some older dudes hanging out near the bar would yell at us. I didn't take it personally, especially after I noticed them heckling and aping at the other two bands (who were quite awesome, I should add). The one guy looked like a 400lb walking beard. Probably not a gothic rock fan. He was just one example of the odd mix of people there.
Overall, I think I had the most fun outside of the actual performance. I enjoyed sound checking at a new place. Talked with a lot of people. Talked shop with some of the other musicians. If anything, that's one reason I got into this band thing--the community aspect of participating in a local scene.
