TD, Mr Roberts, 11/14/2013

We played with Tween Wolf and The Type. I used TS's kit from The Type and it was great. Pedal (a DW5000) was set exactly the way I like and the heights on all of the cymbal stands were good and in the right place. I only used my own throne, cymbals, and snare. His kit was tuned higher than mine, which was a little weird sounding for the tom heavy tunes, but it was okay. He showed up super early to set it up too. One of the best kit sharing experiences that I've had.

Despite the kit being great...the evening was...well...

Sometimes shows are just weird.  The whole thing feels like a blur now. I wasn't getting any lead vocal in my monitor. What's weird is...we've played shows with WAY worse sound. I thought I could push past it...sing along in my head...but no, I kept messing up the transitions.  A contributing factor could have been that I also couldn't really hear the bass, which I probably key off of a bunch too. Later on someone told me that it wasn't me messing up the transitions, it was the lead singer. In retrospect, this makes a lot of sense. If he wasn't getting the transitions right and I couldn't hear him...than I couldn't adjust to his mistakes. Still, I guess it felt shocking to realize that without the lead vocal...I get a little lost in the song and can't tell where I am. Again...duh...if you go "boom-chick" 5,000 times in a row you are going to get lost without sign posts.  Anyway, I feel like I played well technically...but was unhappy with the performance because I was getting lost so much. I'm sure that, aside from us all grumbling about it audibly, the audience was none the wiser that there were problems happening. That's the way audiences are generally.

There was other stuff too. Interpersonal stuff related to the above. Lots of stuff. But happily no one seemed to find me at general fault...but more a victim of technical and ...stuff. There are just behavior patterns and ways of relating at play that get tiresome over the long haul. And even when things seem to be getting a little better as time passes...people really never change at a fundamental level, or if they do they change painfully slowly and sometimes, often, revert to past behavior. Bands = drama. It has always been so and I suppose it always will be so. 'Nuff said.

We have another show in a week...a 90 minute set...which is probably the longest show we've ever played. I have a feeling last night will be talked to death during load in. Hopefully it'll mean things go better...but it could very well mean things will go worse. Who knows?  I know that I will make damn sure that I can hear the vocals and the bass.

We brought down $50 per band.

Setlist:
HSUL
Better
At Door
Easy
Some D
Bodies
Jack
Hold U Under
Gun
Gotta Tell U