We played our biggest gig last night. It was an evening gala and we played for 2 hours while everyone showed up and found their seats and ate dinner. We've played mostly small bars, weddings, a running race, etc. Nothing that big as we've only been playing together 7 months. (Wow...it feels much longer than that!) There were over a thousand people there, and it was formal dress. We're a mostly traditional BG band who throw in a few newgrass covers for good measure.
I just wanted to share my thoughts on how the gig went; what went well, and what can be improved upon. Writing helps me situate my thoughts...
The Backstory:
I am a runner by trade and I raced a 100 miler on Saturday so I'm still not fully recovered. I also work one or two days per week as an ER nurse. I worked yesterday before the gig until 4 and I was pretty tired and also came down with a sinus infection that had me knocked out feeling sluggish. I made sure the day before the gig to rest all day on the couch and I tried my best to be fresh.
After leaving work a few minutes early I fought traffic to make it there in time and of course there was two accidents en route to the venue: Millionaires row @ Churchill Downs in Louisville.
I like my band-mates and I'm very comfortable with them. I was really excited about this gig because we had put together a good set-list prior to the gig and actually rehearsed it. We're trying to practice more regularly and be more "professional" which is awesome. I was keyed up and tense however from the busy day and car ride to the venue. I wanted to play really well, and the tension in my body and excitement to play really well was counter-productive. TENSION KILLS SPEED and clean tone. The rest of the band was playing strong, powerful. I was very happy with them. The sound quality not great and it was hard to hear my breaks, and in retrospect, I should have taken a few moments to do a slow breathing mediation before the gig to free the stress and tension of the day. It showed in my playing. I played ok, but not great. I wanted to really shine, but the tightness in my shoulders and forearms resulted in less than perfect breaks.
So...
Notes for next time. I made sure to rest on the couch the entire day before since I was sick and knew I needed to bolster my energy stores. That was good. The gig forced us to get together and rehearse our actual set. That was good! I did my best to recover. That was good.
I was too anxious and should have forced myself to chill out and not care as much. I tried to really release all tension, and got through some tunes like Cherokee Shuffle at the fastest tempo we've ever played.
I think in retrospect one reason I was not totally elated with my individual breaks, is that my best breaks are on fiddle tunes, and due to time constraints we cut some of those tunes out, like Bill Cheatham and Pike County Breakdown.
I've learned my fiddle tunes from others, but my vocal tune breaks are all stuff I've created on my own and they aren't up to snuff. I need to learn better breaks to our vocal tunes. I built some OK breaks but need to learn other peoples breaks that really shine.
Anyways...
I'm just getting this out in writing. Sharing my thoughts, getting them in order. Pick on, mandolin lovers! Maybe this will help some other new folk get used to performing and play better with others.
I'm just glad we had the chance, and honestly, I'd say it was a really successful gig. I'm being critical for improvements sake. it was good!
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