CJ, 7/8/10, Great Dane

Played Great Dane Brew Pub downtown pool hall for the first time last night with CJ. We had 30 songs (set list to follow) in two sets. Sadly, the show start got delayed and we had to cut three songs for time (I've Been Tired, Levitate Me, and Bone Machine)...but we at least had enough presence of mind to cut the three weakest songs rather than the last three.

We had a good rehearsal the night before and then I had gone to a show but still managed to get to bed by 11pm. Had dinner at Coop annual membership meeting around 4:30pm and took a nap for a few hours. I had two Great Dane beers before the show (starting around 9:30pm), one during, and two after. I was drinking shorties, though, rather than pints, and didn't feel drunk at any point. Drank 2 cups of coffee around 8pm...and most of a 32 ounce bottle of water. Also had, I think, three more glasses of water. I ran through some vocal warm ups from my class in the car on the way to load in.

Met the boys at 8:30pm. The opening act, Sunshine for the Blind, went on probably around 10:45pm (we'd meant them to start no later than 10:15pm). It was largely an issue of setting up the mis-mash PA and also that one of the members of SFTB had to run home to get something he'd forgotten. I'm not sure when we took the stage, but it might have been around 11:45pm. We were supposed to finish before 1am...but we started the next to last song (after dropping 3 from the second set) at 5 minutes to 1am. So I'm sure we went over time. I gave a friend a drive home and by the time I got back to the Dane around 2am to help with load out the boys were already gone. Was home in bed by 2:30am.

The performance went pretty well. The sound at the Dane was really weird. Super loud on stage. The monitor wasn't very adjustable, so RS and my vocals were both about equal in the monitor...both loud. I was pretty disoriented until about the 3rd song when I finally got used to the sound and was fine after that. I don't think EH could hear the instruments, particularly the bass, very well, which made the first few songs a little rough...but I think he got used to it too. For the 2nd set I turned my amp towards him a bit. I had the amp pretty much maxed out. KS said the bass amp sounded fine in the audience (and I really trust his judgement)...but the boys said I needed to be louder. At some point in the future I may need a more powerful amp...but I really think it's actually fine. Most venues I will run DI anyway...and for the ones that we have to run our own sound I kinda feel like we ought to not be so fucking loud anyway. I think it's kind of just a pitfall of not having the amps running through the monitors...not being able to hear ourselves when the amps are pointed at the audience.

The bar cleared out a bit when the music started. It was a Thursday night and REALLY busy in town. There had been a free concert early on the square and Fete de Marquette and a couple of other high profile shows going on. The people who stayed seem to enjoy the music. I thought we did a good job. I felt pretty good about my performance, though I'm still not totally happy with the verses on Into the White.

We got paid, though I don't know how much cause I left before cashout. Also free beer. EDIT: Opening band got $100. Main act got $300. This means I personally brought home $75. Pretty sure that's the most I've ever made at a bar and second most I've ever made (got $300 for The Lollards, a 3 piece band, to play final fiesta in 2007).

Kind of a side note...EH said something about that it would be nice if we could fill an entire bill at the Dane at some point in the future...which essentially means three sets...or about 2 hours and 15 minutes...and probably about 45 songs. I've also thought that being able to fill an entire night at Mickey's would be great. Prior to CJ, the most songs a band I've been in has ever had is about 22 (about two sets), and that took about a year to work up. CJ has worked up the current setlist of 30 songs in a little over 3 months...and it's as tight as any group I've ever played with. The Pixies only had about 90 songs that they ever recorded...so at the current pace we totally could learn the entire catalog in less than a year. Not that we are going to maintain the current pace...because it's been pretty intense (though not as intense as the 2 a weeks that went on for a year with The Lollards) and I think we're all getting a little tired. Plus, there's really no urgency now that we have two sets of material to add songs (because the situations in which more than 2 sets are required is pretty limited). That said, adding 5 or so songs per show when we have a month between gigs doesn't seem like too crazy a charge...and that still means it would only take about another 12 months to finish the catalog...and only about 3 months to get to a third set. I guess I'm just shocked at our ability to bang out these tunes...shocked as much as anything at my own ability to remember bass parts and lyrics. I really didn't think I had that much capacity for memorization. The songs are practically on autopilot now...and that's just weird to learn that I'm capable of such a thing.

Setlist:
Set #1
Broken Face
Isla de Encanta
Tony's Theme
River Euphrates
Cactus
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Hey
Oh My Golly!
Nimrod's Son
Ed is Dead
Debaser
I'm Amazed
Brick is Red
U-Mass
Into the White

Set #2:
Wave of Mutilation
Something Against You
The Holiday Song
Here Comes Your Man
Down to the Well
I've Been Tired
Levitate Me (skipped for time)
Break My Body
Caribou
Gigantic
Bone Machine (skipped for time)
Crackity Jones
Vamos
Where Is My Mind?