Hey, I took every cheer and clap to heart! That's the energy I give you back on the next tune And it keeps me out of weighing things from any personal, negative evaluation---because, why the heck are you standing up in front of a crowd anyway, right? If no one's listening, it has no purpose and you could be doing it somewhere more comfortable And yet, you can assume just who IS listening when, at an event spread out like so.
Lots of folks came out. Thing is, most of the adults were there as part of a table to sell food. Not a lot of people came just to buy, but a few did come to play and I hope everyone hungry got some tasty wings and everyone thirsty tried some mango punch, as it was all homemade and outdoors to boot. Kim invited us up to sing almost as soon as we got the equipment set up for our table and, oh yeah, our film crew buddies made their first foray with the new equipment and got the first shots of the new film in the can. Children danced, played tug of war (I had a drawing request, sorry Ryan! You were the only adult on your side!), even painted their own t-shirts.
I am more self-critical when I fail to incorporate my failsafes, but it was a very loose environment and there was no need to feel bad about the three amateur mistakes I made in packing. Heh, we had all our tunes in the slipcases at Schroeder's that time, and you know what? After the lights came on, we couldn't read them! lol! There WAS one thing I noticed; three of my five channels on Wash wouldn't play thru Orange Amp. I should really learn the technical reason for that. Running a bass, acoustic guitar, or vox through it should be no problem, and next time Angela's guitar will be repaired, which will broaden the sound of some numbers and bring back some of her cool solo covers (where my left hand returns to regular size and elasticity, too---that's why we space them just so!). You could think of this as one performer comparing notes with another. My issue this year has been that I concentrate on video-making, writing, drawing, even painting, and then I have to keep my music kick-started. A public performance comes up and you try to whip your skills quickly back into shape. I can't say why I always push for at least two numbers I never performed before every time, except it's good to keep learning! I think the challenge gets my pulse going in a way similar to gambling. I had that big Ed Sheeran hit "Thinkin' Out Loud" up my sleeve, but no capo (it could've been with me; there's always one missing thing that turns out to be with you after all, right?), and Phantogram's "Fall in Love" (dependent on Angie's voice; that's hers), and I meant to incorporate "California Rolls" but wondered if it would be offensive (but even church goers smoke weed ;-D), but what I end up thinking about at these mixed events is, there's no one at our table while we're performing. I spent an hour of Killer Comics playing on the sidewalk at Imagine, which was a delight (someone made a cool panorama photo-Mo?), but I never set up my slideshow there, either, nor did I stay at my table to sell anything, as Kay didn't know any prices.
The lesson going forward will be: success will depend on the integrity of those working beside me, and even my best ideas will always work in tandem with someone else in some way. I can envision a five person touring operation where we play and display at conventions around the world, private parties, and other kinds of public dates. You keep everything alive and vibrant until circumstances change to develop the newest opportunity. It's much like the principle of seeds, only it's also like keeping a garden alive at present while waiting for the conditions to plant other things in their season. There are many possible configurations where that five-person operation could be many more, as with much larger tours-but you CAN go too big, like Bowie did with Glass Spiders. Then, you could be Black Flag or X, low ticket prices and DYI all the way. Now how all that works alongside writing books, drawing comic books, and optioning theatrical projects? I am honestly making up this life as I go along, because I can't point to one single person stuck doing it my way. Gerard Way is probably the most successful example close to what I want, and he only wrote Rainbow Academy (though he may have done thumbnails or designs), while bringing in other talents to execute the comic rather than going the painstaking auteur route (the Broke-As-A-Joke method), as he was often busy with My Chemical Romance in those same years. But this also means he has other career choices following the band's dissolution. Well...that's lots to read. Send! And have a nice day.
Oh, Umbrella Academy, lol
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