Saturday, January 2, 2010

Steps...

Got home a few minutes ago from my first _solo_ gig post Rochester. It's... it's an interesting feeling. Overall I'm satisfied-ish with my performance. Given what's happened in the past, that's actually a good thing.

My voice wasn't *quite* where I wanted it to be. The last few numbers felt rough vocally - I'd over sung myself and my voice just ended. The first couple felt rough confidence-wise. The voice would have been okay (I think) but I just hadn't found my head/music space yet.

I think part of that was just being in a different environment than I'm used to. It was very much a house concert - someone's living room, no sound system, no phallic microphone in front of me... I really had to *think* about how I was performing. If I wasn't singing loud enough or if I was playing guitar too loudly there was no recourse - no one to boost a level.

It was what it was. It was how I did. No aid. No crutches.

That's not a bad thing, of course. For one I really like the environment it put me in. Lord only knows most of my material is on the more melancholy side. And I felt a little more at ease to perform the less-than-perky-and-upbeat stuff. Or rather a little less stress to do that perky-and-upbeat stuff.

Yay!

Interestingly it seems that "Better This Way?" is really becoming one of my 'signature' tunes. I'm just really finding it emotionally and thus vocally. I really _get_ it every time. I don't know why this strikes me as odd, but it does. I really didn't put a whole lot of emotional effort into writing it. It just sorta happened. In fact I sorta tried to keep it more bland in a manner.

"Jesus Year" also felt pretty good except that, at the end, my voice was definitely starting to lose it. I would have stopped there but it's such a downer of a tune that I didn't really want to leave on that note.

My one kinda frustration is that I had started to put together this whole line in my head of what to do and how to link it all narratively. But then I abandoned that - in part because I just simply forgot.

Oh, it's not entirely bad. You can't always just make a set-list and then stick to it - especially not when it's a new forum for you. But, at the same time, I like having a thread that ties it all together. I don't think the thread I improvised was _bad_, just not as satisfying as what I'd pre-thought.

Ah well. I got several compliments. And, if nothing else, I feel decent about it. I wish I could feel like I totally rocked the house down to its knees but... I guess first steps first.

Right?


Set list - as much as I remember it
  • I Want Someone (Dave Montana)
  • Road (the bootLICKERS)
  • Better This Way?
  • Can You?
  • So Glad...
  • Jesus Year
  • Mello Hell
  • Half Moon Bay

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