Day 190 - September 18th 2009
Friday
For most it means the end of the week, for me it means the start of what will probably a pretty physical weekend for me and the crew. Tonight we have a show at Lickety Split, tomorrow the Jefferson Square Music Festival and Sunday, the ING Philadelphia Distance Run.
The afternoon was spent trying to solve an issue with the festivals second stage. Apparently we didn’t have a stage, apparently we didn’t have a sound system. So after a back and forth with the sound team, we decided that it would be best to use my PA, it’s small but it should be fine for the second stage acts most of whom are acoustic or track acts. I have to say I’m very excited about doing this festival tomorrow. Ever since I started booking shows I’ve always wanted to put a festival together. Small fire to put out but now that that’s solved I can focus on Lickety Split.
We had a very interesting lineup for tonight’s show, Sugar Hi, a smoking hot all girl band, Joe Zaz an acoustic singer/songwriter, The Inverse a Very talented Funk Jazz 5 Piece, and then me and my crew. I wondered exactly what was going to happen never working with these bands before. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived on the scene…the place was packed and Sugar Hi was playing really well. I met the singers dad as I sat in the back and watched the girls get down. Definitely looking forward to the next time we can have them here. I’m not sure if this is a band I can have there every month or not.
Joe Zaz did his thing no doubt. I jammed with him on Red House again. The Inverse were very, very, good and as I look for solid jazzy type bands for Saturday Nights they are definitely on the short list.
The time had come for us to start playing. As we were setting up I saw a liquid of some kind run across the front of the staging area and I joked that someone had peed themselves thinking there was a beer spill. Then Jake (Bass player extraordinaire) taps me on my shoulder.
Jake: That girl pissed herself
Me: What?
Jake: That girl over there.
Me: You’re playin with me.
Jake: Unfortunately nah.
Me: Great
Turns out someone did piss on the floor, a girl no less. I had to track someone down to clean the floor, the chair and to throw this girl out of here. That’s gross. I’ve officially seen it all now.
We started on time which has been a bit difficult when I’ve played there on Third Fridays and we were pretty much ready to get in and start playing.
Set 1
Ain’t No Sunshine
Godess
Michelle
El Train
Only You
Always Givn Me The Blues
Daylight
Destiny
I’ve always been a fan of really easing into a night light this, not to blow our top right away, with the Phillies game on no one’s paying that much attention anyway. It was surprisingly solid though. By the time we get to Always Givin Me The Blues we’re startin to get goin the place is still packed from the previous acts and new people are coming in all the time. It’s quickly turning into a place where it’s packed on a consistent basis. I really love this place and if I can share that with people that’s even better.
Set 2
Electric Love
What's My name
Dick in a Box
Whiplash
Private School Girl
Bitch
Demolition Man
Beautiful
We pick it up a notch here cause this is when the crowd changes over. We played Dick in a Box nice and early. It’s a tune we’re known for here, I’ll move it up to the first set before long. I’d like to get it out of the way so I don’t have to worry about people screaming for it while I’m playing. Once we past that we hit the heavy rock songs, trying to get them in before noise becomes an issue. It’s a nice trip down memory lane. Never have I had a band that has had such a mastery of the back catalogue. It’s also got me thinking about the future, which could be a power trio record.
Set 3
Hoochie Coochie Man
Stranger
Billie Jean
Love Affair
Body
Walking on The Moon
3000 Miles Away
(I Think We Should) Breakup
This is when we really start to open it up. Billie Jean really kicked ass tonight. This was probably the best set as the crowd peaked around this time. We were getting into the groove and the people were loving us. (I Think We Should) Breakup was extremely tight and still probably my favorite song.
Set 4
Superhero
(Oh) I Wish I Loved You
The Way You Make Me Feel
How Can This Be Love
Feels So Good
Wasted
Walking on The Moon
Leavin
It’s 1am at this point. We’re all fatigued to some degree so the last break we take before the last set is crucial. This is the set we’ll most likely be playing for this 3 show road trip we’re doing in the Midwest so I wanted to work on getting that nice and tight. No better way to do that than in front of a crowd. These are the songs we play the most so it was probably the tightest overall, which I was really happy about. The crowd was still pretty sizeable at this point which I was also happy about. Around 1:30 a whole new crew of people came in to check the music out.
I got into the house at about 3AM. Long night and it’s gonna be even longer tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment