SSW, Mickey's, 12/9/2011

Opened for Damidol and SirNoSir!

I borrowed a kit from SirNoSir's drummer...it was a nice 4 piece Gretsch...but the hardware kind of sucked. He had the left cymbal stand also supporting the "rack" tom and that made it really hard to adjust. And then that cymbal stand wouldn't hold solid so my splash kept moving and I had to tighten and adjust between every song. I brought my snare, throne, pedal, and cymbals. The cymbal stands on the right worked ok except they were reverse what I'm used to (the way I USED to play before Halloween, so I was able to adjust but it was still weird). It took forever to adjust the kit and as a result we got started way late. I was crammed against the wall in the center of the room. I was pretty distracted by the problems with the hardware and such, so really didn't have the energy to get nervous. I was sober and think that was good. The whole "increased headspace" effect of being sober more often and playing in rehearsal and out sober more often is just multiplying as time goes along. Two Pints, Too Drunk, and Suspect Device were stupid too fast and I'm not sure if that was my fault or not. I don't start any of these songs...so seems like it wouldn't be my fault...though I might have sped up too much too soon on Two Pints. I think I played well considering the circumstances...and don't feel too responsible for the mistakes that I DID make...it was circumstance not lack of ability or prep. I sang a greater number of songs at this show, in comparison to everyone else, than I ever had. Not my idea...but I suspect this will become more the case in the future...it just feels like the way that the wind is blowing.

Setlist:
Hate & War (D)
I Hate Rich (J)
Mr Suit (R)
Helicopter (D)
You Stupid Fucking Liberals (J)
I Am a Cliché (D)
New Rose (R)
You Drive Me Ape (J)
Teenaged Kicks (D)
One Track Mind (R)
Too Drunk (J)
Suspect Device (R)
Two Pints (R)
Warsaw (D)
We Are the Ones (R)
Fucked Up (J)

Lately

Have been busy of late with self-improvement exercises, travel, work, and rehearsals. Apparently not reflecting much.

Something important to stop and note. At this week's TD rehearsal I felt like I was pretty in control. I was actually able to try new things and not get totally tangled up. It was a sensation I don't recall feeling before. Like I'd internalized the beat and could good around a bit. This is where I's like to grow towards...relaxed control and independence. Maybe it was a random thing that happened. But maybe, just maybe not drinking when I play is finally starting to pay off. At first not drinking made it harder...made it feel impossible...but now that it is becoming more a normal state I feel like the payoff is pretty huge. There's more available brain space. It's kind of remarkable. It IS harder to stay out of my head now...but that too is getting easier.

I've noticed a similiar thing with the bass. Extra head space. I notice things happening around me while I'm playing...it's weird. But it makes total sense.

It's good that I'm getting those effects...because I've not had much actual practice time lately. I feel like my days are scheduled to the moment and practice time hasn't made it in. But it is good for me to be scheduled right now. With the holidays will likely come time off from rehearsals...so maybe I'll start getting real practice time again.

There's been no time to work on the Breeders recording project either...but it is still on my to do list when I can start to carve more time out. Though that kind of time will soon be hard to find because...

A month from today I start classes via Berklee online. It was a fantasy that I'd been having for a while to take classes this way...but I never thought it would happen. And then I decided there was no reason not to try. With some significant financial aid from the sweetie I'm giving it a show and taking "Fundamentals of Drumkit". Time to get all the basics I never had. In theory at the end of 12 weeks I'll even be able to play some latin beats. Maybe the class won't end up being that good or won't work out for me...but it could be the beginning of something huge...the next stage in my development as a drummer and a musician.

It'll probably overtax everyone involved and backfire (well, everyone but me...I feel like I could play CJ all night every night and never get sick of it)...but we're doing 2 days of CJ shows back to back...3 sets in all...next week. I'm pretty happy about that. And there's talk of learning the rest of Bossanova and Trompe in spring...and I'm all for that as well. I think we're all a little burned out on Halloween...there's been some talk about next year...but I think at least 3 of us are leaning away from it...though not totally closing the door. Halloween was a good experience in many ways for me...but also really stressful and time consuming...and it kind of halted all forward movement on everything else for many months. It is the kind of thing that I might like to do every OTHER year...but every year might be too much. We'll see where things lead over the next few months.

UPDATE: Gigs to Date

Here's the updated gig-ography. I've included all dates scheduled through the end of 2011 as well.

Seven Stone Weaklings
2011
12/9 Mickey's
6/16 WORT
4/14 Mr Roberts
3/10 Mr Roberts
2/13 Harmony
1/8 Crystal Corner Bar

2010
12/11 WYOU Fundraiser
11/5 Wisco
10/7 Mr. Roberts
8/17 Frequency
7/25 High Noon Saloon
4/24 Frequency
3/30 High Noon Saloon
2/25 Great Dane
2/14 Harmony Bar
1/22 Mickey's
1/8 Frequency

2009
12/19 High Noon
12/12 Mickey's
9/6 Slackfest private party
July Private party at my house (first show with RS)
5/14 Frequency
4/4 Glass Nickel


The Drain
2011
11/10 WORT
11/9 High Noon
9/22 Great Dane
8/26 The Wisco
7/9 Legend's
6/14 The Wisco
4/4 High Noon
2/25 Beaver Dam Best Western,
2/3 Great Dane

2010
12/31 Mickey's
11/4 Great Dane

Note: TD played many years of shows before I joined them.

Crackity Jones
2011
12/16 Frequency
12/15 Mr Roberts
10/28 High Noon as The Flaming Lips
9/9 Mickey's
5/27 Mr Roberts
5/21 Inferno
4/16 Mickey's
3/21 High Noon Saloon

2010
12/4 High Noon Saloon
10/30 Mickey's
8/28 Mickey's
8/4 Frequency
7/8 Great Dane
6/4 Mickey's
5/19 High Noon Saloon
4/24 Frequency

Other Bands
10/28 Peroxide at High Noon
10/1 Peroxide at Ladies Rock Camp at Madison Music Foundry
See also here for older, now defunct bands.

Lately

CJ practiced for the first time in a long time last night. Since May we've only had one Pixies show and only practiced Pixies once or twice. The rest of the time it has been all Flaming Lips.

Last night we played all of Doolittle, including Silver (which is new to us), and about 15 or so other songs. The plan is to play Doolittle on Dec 16th and a mostly different set on Dec 15th. It is unclear if the set on Dec 15th needs to be 45 minutes, an hour, or longer. It could be as much as two 45 minute sets.

Overall I think we sounded great. I don't feel too proud to say that I sounded the best out of everyone. I think I've practiced more in the interium, including over the last couple of weeks...and I was once again stone cold sober while everyone else had at least one beer last night. Where being sober has felt hard for playing in recent weeks...if I can sustain it in the end it will certainly ultimately improve my playing (if not my feeling of being relaxed). I actually felt myself under utilizing my brain last night...I could wander off and read things on the wall while playing for instance. I guess it makes sense. If you can play a bass line after having drunk 5 beers...surely sober you'll have significantly more free brain space to play it and not totally have to focus on it.

Anyway, I'm happy to be back at the Pixies stuff and happy that everyone seems to have a new sense of dedication. A month ago I think we were all ready to go live under rocks for a while. I'm more optimistic about the future of the band now than I've been in a while. There was talk of learning Bossanova last night...which no one has ever been all that interested in. And three of us played "Distance" on a whim for the first time with no prior prep (while Paco was in the john) and nearly ran right into "Lovely Day" before realizing that we ought to refocus on the tunes at hand. I think that we're all ready to get back at this thing.

TD, WORT, 11/10/2011

It is yet another tail of two gigs. You'll (the universal "you" because I know that I'm the only one who reads this) recall my morbid dissatisfaction with the Wednesday gig. Well we played the exact same set the very next day on WORT for Psychoacoustics(in a different order because of curse words and "Safe Harbor" beginning at 10pm). It went great on Thursday. I was still stone cold sober. I am still hanging up a bit on Bodies R Burnin, One is for Man, and in a few other little spots in songs...but on balance it was perfectly presentable. And the feel amongst us all was just better too. J's tempos were better. Twan could hear. It was just better. Made a great new contact with the guy running sound too.

This made for the third time that week that we played this set all the way through...Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I was exhausted by Thursday from staying up late two nights in a row and moving our shit both nights. Touring, especially unsupported touring, must just be brutal. That said...one does gain confidence with repeated playing of the same set. Those bands must be air tight at the end of a tour.

There is a Realplayer playlist of the entire show at https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/dsward2/web/tunes/TheDrain/WORTpsychoacousticsNov102011/wort_Nov102011.pls (our performance starts around 1 hour 30 minutes and runs for just under an hour).

Setlist:
Sent It
Going Down Drain
At the Door
Better N Better
Gun in Your Grave
Bodies R Burnin
Jack
One is for Man
Gotta Tell U
It's Alright
HSUL

Memo to Myself About Gloom and Doom

I just looked and on Oct 18th I was totally happy with my drumming. Today I am pretty much the opposite. Today is the 10th of November. I am reminded that I have a personal monthly hormonal cycle, despite the fact that there is no obvious manifestation of that any longer. Typically, around the 10th of the month I get irritated, depressed, and down on myself.

Today is the 10th.

Three weeks ago I felt great.

And, once again, I effectively stopped practicing my drums around late August because I was hurting myself going too hard too fast. And I was depressed. So where as I used to sit down at the drums almost every single day and practice...and in the very least for many hours on the weekends...I haven't played them at all except in rehearsals since August. That's almost three months now. Duh.

TD, High Noon, 11/9/2011

We played a Rock Against Walker benefit with The Type, Barristacide, and some dude with a guitar. It was sparsely attended. I was stone cold sober.

I struggled. Things that used to be easy feel hard now. Stuff that used to come instictually are hard to pull off at all. I don't know if it is lack of practice, the fact that I only play these songs once a week, sobriety, or what. I feel out of sorts and uncoordinated. It's been like this about since about a week before the Halloween gig. I've been thinking it's been nerves, but it happened at rehearsal lately a few times too.

I suppose it went alright as far as the audience could tell. It wasn't an unmitigated disaster or anything on my end. Just not smooth. Not polished. Not good. I felt like I didn't match up to the other drummers. The stage sound was weird too...the guitars were fuzzy. Twan agreed it was hard to hear. I guess that I should have asked to adjust my monitor. I don't know. J was all over the place on starting tempos too...slow songs played fast...fast songs played slow. I struggled to adjust the tempos and was kinda inconsistent.

We play the exact same set tonight on the radio. It'll be the third time I've played it this week. I'm dreading it. I don't feel like it is gonna get better. I'm sure that I just need to go back to the woodshed. But damn.

Sidenote from the cool/weird files:
The dude with the guitar who opened played Where Is My Mind and then after his set and after spotting me and RS in the crowd yells "Crackity Jones!" in a woo-hoo kind of way at us. "We're famous" I say to RS who says back "Yes, to roughly 100 people" to which I reply "just like the real Pixies back in the day". It was kinda cool. I kind of forget about all this until about 30 minutes later the guy comes up to me. He's got that overly enthusiastic look. He's moony-eyes. He's over the moon. He's got that "I can't believe I'm actually talking to you, you're my hero" look. he starts babbling about Crackity Jones. Now it was weird.

And then there was a kind of "oh I thought maybe Crackity Jones was playing cause I saw the band here (even though only two of us were there, which makes me wonder if he would even recognize Paco and Pico) and I was all excited but I guess you guys have another band and I'm excited to hear that too." But he wasn't really. In the span of 10 minutes I had the full experience of what it is like to be Kim Deal and have someone be so excited to meet you...and how strange that is (especially since I'm not even actually her)...followed by the full Joey/David experience that no one would recognize you on the street because you aren't one of the more visible members of the band...followed by the full Frank Black experience of "I do lots of music stuff but all these fuckers care about is the Pixies". Truly, truly surreal. That people (including me) react to celebrities (who actually are just other human beings) in this way is so strange and interesting. That people then further carry over those feelings and reactions to proxy celebrities is truly fascinating. I mean this guy was playing at the same gig as me. He did a Pixies cover...that's all that Crackity Jones does. He and I aren't any different. SO WEIRD.

Setlist:
Sent It
Going Down Drain
At the Door
Gotta Tell U
It's Alright
Jack
One is for Man
HSUL
Better N Better
Bodies R Burnin
Gun in Your Grave