I would not be lying if I said I was not nervous before and during the performance. I had a bit of the jitters, as I was trying my best to remember all the songs we had practiced, and if I didn't, how many of those would turn into train wrecks. I was certainly more excited than nervous, and having adrenaline mixed in with a little alcohol is a dangerous concoction in the body. Both do very well at altering your perception of time. For a drummer, being able to control those chemicals can make the difference between being a solid drummer and one who is fired.
I was solid as a rock last night, even though there were many times where I screwed up. I did miss a lot of changes, shots, pushes and pulls, and even some of my harmonies were absent. The bass player spent most of the time on stage kicking my ass, conducting with his axe, and yelling at me above the aural assault. He was just trying to help me, and I never took it personally. After we would get off the stage for breaks, he would return to his normal self, and we would be cool to one another. I really shouldn't complain about last night's show; it was the first gig, and it's only going to get better from here. Overall, the other band members were very supportive of my efforts, and were quite pleased to have me on deck with them.
Overall, we played very well last night. For a new band, were we tight. The bar was packed for much of the night, and the patrons were drunk and rowdy. In addition, a few local musicians went out of their way to catch us, and they were very supportive of our performance. I do like schmoozing with other musicians at gigs.
We managed to win the hearts of a few patrons last night and managed to sell a few signed CD's. I still feel a little weird signing my name on an album that I did not record. That will soon change, and some of the band members are pushing to have a second album out by the end of the summer. That sounds a little ambitious to me, and I am a person of the opinion that you should make your money back on the sales of the first CD before you decide to commit to a sophomore effort. I expect we will sell a bunch of CD's next weekend in Calgary.
Gawd! There's one in every bar. The shit-faced, loud geriatric who can barely stand, yet knows everything about everything. We nearly got verbally assaulted by this loudmouth who thought he knew a thing or two about music, and he would
not...
shut...
up!
After years of sluuging it out in the trenches of the Canadian music scene, I have lost all my patience for people like this, and was one of the contributing reasons why I quit playing in bars for three years. I must be a magnet for bullshitters. I get all the arrogant know-it-alls, while the other guys get all the hot babes. I'd love to tell these people to take a hike, or get out of my face, but I'm just too kind. I also learned very early on in my bar-hopping days that you can never argue with a drunk without serious repercussions.
- Never argue with a drunk.
- If you find yourself in a situation where there is no option but to argue with a drunk, see rule #1.
- Failure to comply with rule #1 or #2 will find the situation will result in a heated one-way discussion about why the drunk is right and you are dead wrong. The best advice is to smile, nod, and accept defeat.
- Failure to comply with rule #3 will likely result in a verbal assault from the opposing party. These can vary from simple name calling to crudely crafted insults. You may even be surprised that someone with a blood-alcohol level higher than Boris Yeltsen's can create new and offensive phrases in an attempt to goad you into a fight. At this point, you are on a slippery slope, and the situation will very likely escalate to #5.
- Physical conflict. No rules apply anymore at this point. The drunk will generally try to get you to throw the first punch. If you keep your cool, you might be able to get him to throw the first punch. It doesn't matter, as by this time, both of you will be ejected from the establishment.
- Never argue with a drunk.
1 Alcoholic beverage
1 Broken drumstick
1 Blister
1 Annoying drunk
No comments:
Post a Comment