First gig with new band

Last summer my friend and I wrote a couple of songs and unofficially formed a band. This year we've been writing and recording a lot more and decided to start playing. Right now it's just me on guitar and Reed singing, and Reed was throwing a party on Saturday so we decided that was the perfect time to debut.

The party got off to a slow start around 9 but by 10:30 it was really jumping, with a great mix of people and a good energy. Around 11:30 or so we decided we were going to play, and announced it to everyone.

It's been a long time since I've performed anywhere, and I was pretty nervous leading up to it. I realized that 'stage fright' is just a variation on the 'fight or flight' response all animals get, which basically means "pay CLOSE attention, this is important!" Not life threatening in this case, but important nonetheless.

That gave me a great perspective and we went on to play a really fun set. It was very simple, just three acoustic songs, "Sylvia", "Heartbreaker", and "Potential", all of which I've posted here on the Hear Here forum. The audience was all friends and well-disposed towards us but I was surprised by just how effusive they were, clapping and laughing and cheering at all kinds of great places. They really seemed to connect with the songs and it went great. Reed has excellent stage personality and had a good rapport with the group.

After a while a new batch of people had arrived, and a bunch of the folks who'd heard us play already insisted we do an encore for those who had missed it! So we played another set, this time a bit looser and more intoxicated. It was a lot of fun too. During "Potential", a bossa-nova jazz tune, a girl in the audience started tapping out a groovy drumbeat on a tabletop. Turns out she's a drummer and has been wanting to play some jazz, so I got her number! Also talked to some potential backup singers too!

Anyway, it was a great time. Reed posted about it on our Myspace page:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=226194661&blogID=301326589

We're planning to find an open mic to go to sometime in September, and Reed throws a Halloween party every year where we're bound to play again. The crowd definitely could've handled a longer set, and we've been working on new songs. The main thing I learned was that I REALLY have to work on my rhythm, and just practice more. Rhythm and Timing has always been an issue for me, and I don't want to sound sloppy in front of people. But I can't wait to play out again!

Jeff