SVFD private party 11/5/2016

We played the keyboard player's wife's birthday party. We did not rehearse. It was ok.

Punk Xmas at Nottingham Coop, 12/19/2015

A little weird, but I was home by 10pm!

Freedom
Rascal
Came Out of a Lady
Sergio
Wallet
I Don’t Love
Somewhere
I Will Survive

SVFD LRC 10/25/2015

We played LRC

Setlist:
Grazing
Rascal
Dandy
Lem
Spider
Lost
I Will Survive

SVFD at Freq 11/3/2015

This was a last minute pickup gig at Freq with The Jukebox Romantics
The Beast of Bray Road (one of these was very loud but I don't know which, probably Beast). We were kind of wildly under-prepared...yet played great.

Setlist:
rascal
thigh high
mr smiley
sergio
somewhere
metro
lemuel
I don't love
i will survive

SVFD at Frequency 9/11/2015

Opened for Gentle Brontosaurus (who was a last minute fill in) and Tin Can Diamonds. TCD brought in a huge crowd. We took home $200. It was odd.

Setlist:
mr smiley
about a girl
i don't love
spiderwebs
superman
lost
Sergio
wallet
somewhere
i will survive
encore=metro

SVFD at Frequency 7/29/2015

Opened for Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings and Beefus. Not an empty room but not packed. Was concerts on square day. I played pretty well except biffed transition out of solo on Point

Setlist
Freedom
Came Out
About Girl
I don't Love
Spiderwebs
Lost
Point
Wallet
Mr Blue
Red Rubber
I will Survive

SVFD Feb 26 Freq

With SS and the Mood Manual.

We kicked ass. I don't know why because we haven't been rehearsing much. Low attendance, but energy was high. Performances excellent.

Setlist:
Rascal
Thigh High
Sergio
Spiderwebs
Point
Dandelions
Lost Again
Superman
Wallet
I Don't Love You
I Will Survive

SVFD Club Tavern 1/15/2015

SVFD played Club Tavern with Madpolecats.  BL was getting over losing her voice, so we cut a few tunes due to that. Stage sound and general stage setup was a bit weird...I could really only hear myself, the drums, and the vox...but since that's mostly what I needed it was ok. Hot on stage from old style lights. It is hard to see the audience from the stage.

Setlist:
Rudy (x-accord)-soundcheck
Freedom (no vox)
Rascal King (B)
Came out of a lady (J)
About a girl (J)
Sergio (B)
Wallet (J-accord)
Somewhere in the between (B-accord)
Spiderwebs (J)
Mr. Smiley (B)
Metro (J)
Lost again (J&B)
Lemuel (B)
Point-Counterpoint (B)
Grazing in the Grass (no vox)
I don't love you anymore (B)
Dandelions (J)
Red rubber ball (J&B-accord)
Mr. Blue Sky (B)
I will survive (J)

SVFD, July 2nd, Frequency

Opened for Wiseguys and Scalawags and The Bottles.  We played the same set we've played at the last two shows including encores.  All went pretty well. A small but friendly crowd. We are officially on hiatus until after the trombone player recovers from having a baby (that's a first).

Setlist:
Rascal King
About a Girl
Came Out of A Lady
Sergio
Lost Again
Spiderwebs
Rudy
Lemuel
Red Rubber Ball
I Don't Love You Anymore
Dandelions
Thigh High
Mr. Smiley
Wallet
Metro
Somewhere in the Between
I will survive

Three Gigs, 6/25 & 6/26

I played three gigs in two days.

TD, High Noon Saloon with Damsel Trash and Venus in Furs, 6/25/2014
The other bands killed it. John the sound guy was really nice to us. We brought in $53 on a Wednesday night. People danced. JP broke two strings and RS broke one string. I played okay but not great. We have played better shows, but we survived and dealt with disruptions better than normal, so I was proud of us. I may or may not have gotten my butt signed by Damsel Trash.

Setlist to come

CJ, at GRC, 6/26/2014 noon-time
We turned CJ into a KiD fronted group for the purposes of performing for little girls. It went really well. I didn't sing as well as I would have liked, but well enough. AVzang told me it was a good set, which meant a ton to me, and that she liked that we covered "Winterlong," which was nice because it means she was actually paying attention. A kid requested "Where is my mind?". The boys were swell about the whole thing. I la la luvs them.

Setlist:
Debaser
Build High
Bam Thwok (first time we ever performed in public)
I Bleed
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Gigantic
Where is My Mind (added by request)
Winterlong
Manta Ray (skipped cause we were short on time)
Into the White

SVFD, National Women's Music Festival, 6/26/2014
This was the first time I ever played a national festival and I was both excited to do so...and uneasy because all performers at the festival are supposed to be women and I don't identify as a woman. So playing the festival basically meant being in the closet about being trans and lying, which I felt shitty about.

The sound check and the change-over was a little chaotic and confusing, but things mostly worked out okay. Stage sound was really poor but I'm told the sound in the house was good. I played through a borrowed sweet SWR rig with a 4x10 cab...but it might as well been a piece of shit because I could barely hear it standing right in front of it. Anyway, it was DI'ed to the house.

All that said, we played pretty well and had fun on stage. I managed to make eye contact and have a fun exchange with most of my band mates. Our sign language interpreter was really nice and fun and BL goofed with her throughout the show.

I was mostly off book except for Lemuel. Though I glanced at my notes for "Sergio" and "I Will Survive" because I was tired. I think looking at the notes might have hurt more than it helped.

Setlist:
Rascal King
About a Girl
Came Out of A Lady
Sergio
Lost Again
Spiderwebs
Rudy
Lemuel
Red Rubber Ball
I Don't Love You Anymore
Dandelions
Thigh High
Mr. Smiley (cut for time)
Wallet (cut for time)

I will survive

SVFD, 3/1/2014, HNS

SVFD played a benefit for GRC. I played okay...notably biffing the intro to Lost Again and the outro to Somewhere in the Between.

I really don't know why these things happen...messing up shit that I think that I know. Then again...I really should just practice those things into the ground. They are short segments that stick out...I should just bucket the fuck down and get them in the muscles. I'd never mess up a Pixies song I'd practiced into the ground. I have the technology.

I don't accept the argument recently posited that playing songs from memory makes the performance inherently sloppier. It just isn't true. What IS true is that playing things from memory that you don't truly have memorized yet will always be sloppy.

I just don't like having to have a music stand on stage. Others can do what they want, but it makes me feel shitty to have it up there for myself. And it makes me nervous to not know something well enough (then I can't focus on getting my shifts right and interacting with the audience and such). Some of those tunes are gonna be really tough to memorize, but I really have to try. Or at least get the notes down to a manageable size (my notes for Superman are lengthy, but acceptable if I must have notes, for instance). Two page notes written in pencil really doesn't cut it on stage. Notes should be compact and readable from the floor.

Side note: I am disappointed that my most prominent feature in gig photos is becoming my double chin. Sure would be nice to be able to grow a legitimate beard. Le sigh.

Setlist:
Red Rubber
Rudy
Mr Smiley
Spiderwebs
Superman
About a Girl
Rascal King
Somewhere
Lemuel
Thigh High
Lost Again
Came Out
I Will Survive
Wallet (forced encore)

Toasters

Just got an offer to open for The Toasters. First Mustard Plug, now this. Craziness.

It's a good niche!

SVFD 10/24/2013 Lakeland College

We played for a music appreciation class. We did a little rap about ska history, which most of us didn't know anything about prior to last night. Did not realize until 30 minutes before performance that there was no PA. I ran home and got mine, which sucked a little (only a little) cause we only played a couple of songs.  Someone at the gig said they wanted us to play at a campground for 1,000 people. This seems unlikely to pan out.

I couldn't hear myself, so made weird mistakes associated with that. Also, I have not practiced in weeks or months or I don't know how long. Probably should get back to it...after Halloween.

Setlist:
Freedom
Rudy
I Will Survive
Hope I Never Lose My Wallet
Red Rubber Ball

SVFD at Adult Swim 10/18/2013

Played two sets (of exactly 45 minutes each!) at Children's Museum Adult Swim night. In full costume:

Show went darn well and we even managed an impromptu marriage proposal sort of thing for a fan.

set one:

rascal king

came out

freedom

sergio

spiderwebs

somewhere

dandelions

i don't love u

about a girl

i will survive

set two:

mr smily

rudy ("A Message to You Halle...vamped for proposal)

superman

wallet

thigh high

grazing

metro

point counter

lost again

red rubber

SVFD, Reedsburg, 10/5/13

We played 3 sets at the Touchdown Tavern in Reedsburg. We made $200 plus food/drinks. I didn't have anything to drink. It was a typical small town bar with the kind of crowd you'd expect, but they were nice to us. I think we were kind of a weird match for the venue. There was an incident with the bar owner borrowing M's guitar and breaking a string and us not having a replacement, but our sound guy came to the rescue. We stretched all the songs with solos twice as long as normal which worked pretty well even though unrehearsed. Half way through 3rd set we were ready to quit early and head home but two guys from Chicago ran into the bar and skanked their butts off, so instead we replayed all the fast songs we'd already played and it really seemed to raise everyone's spirits.

It was nice to get out of town.

We played everything we know and a few things we didn't. Some things twice.

SVFD, 9/7/2013 private party

We played for B's wedding reception party thing.  We played almost everything we know (no setlist provided here cause we just called songs).  About 5 or 6 tunes into the set, the cops showed up. We were playing amplified outdoors in the middle of a residential neighborhood starting at 9pm...so really it was warranted.  They waited for us to finish Je's ska arrangement of "I Will Survive" and then asked us to go acoustic or go inside. So inside we went.  We regrouped and played until 11pm. I was shocked that the small crowd stuck around, stood in the house with us, and danced their asses off.

Only blip of the night for me was that I thought we were playing "Spiderwebs" for the encore, but the bride apparently yelled "Came Out of a Lady" right before we started to play and the front line called an audible without consultation. Unfortunately I am a lynch pin in the start of the song and wasn't ready. I should have just gone with it, but instead tried to get my bandmates to start over, which of course they didn't because they are professionals and know how to roll with the punches. I regret not being able to go with the flow and not have a reaction disproportionate to the confusion in the moment. But I can't really control a reflex so I should get over it. Still, it bothers me that I couldn't just jump into it without hesitation, and further, that I made a big deal out of it. Alas.

The calling of the cops was fun though, and we all clucked about it on the internet for hours after the show was over.

SVFD, HNS, 8/27/2013

I have two shows this week, both in same time slot and at same venue on two consecutive days. Gig #1 was last night. SVFD opened for Something To Do. It was our first double ska bill.

It was a good turnout and we brought in $127, which I feel like is good for a happy hour gig. I think that we could have played better but the audience insisted it was great. Beverages were had. Too many. But it did not affect my performance. Still, tis a trend I'd like to reverse soon. Had the guitar in the monitor, making it the first time I've really heard what she plays. It kind of threw me off a bit.

Setlist
Rascal King
Came Out of a Lady
Metro
Sergio
Mr. Smiley
About a Girl
Thigh High Nylongs
I Don't Love You Anymore
Lost Again
Red Rubber Ball

SVFD, 7/19/2013, RSR

We were part of a 6 band lineup celebrating female vocalists. The show was put together by "a promoter"...which is my least favorite thing to hear. The venue had just been sold and failed to list show in any local papers (nor did "the promoter"). Also, venue had perhaps 14 bottles of liquor in whole joint and a mere few cases of beer. Looked like they'd been looted. 

Shocker...no one came to the show.

The day after the gig I got an email message from a photog saying they would be on hand to take pro shots and for $20 would give them to us. The message was likely sent between noon and 8pm on Friday. I wrote back (on Saturday I think) and said I'd seen them taking pics at show and sure we'd love them.  Photog said..."oh I erased them because you never got back to me".  That's about right.

And also... YOU WERE STANDING IN FRONT OF ME TAKING MY PICTURE...WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK ME THEN IF I WANTED IT TAKEN?

I was in a foul mood due to interpersonal conflict that happened less than an hour before we took the stage and due to general exhaustion from a week of hard, hard work. Long before alcohol was ingested, I tripped and dropped my amp but it seemed to still work just fine (my shin is less fine). Then proceeded to drink all 14 bottles of liquor at the show and didn't even get tipsy. Not one bit. Played the gig nearly perfectly (not kidding) in a complete mental fog of anger (see interpersonal conflict). Total muscle memory. Amazing.

All in all the show ran better than I could have hoped for.  We had the city's grumpiest sound guy but he made us sound silky smooth.

Setlist:
rascal king
came out of a lady
metro
sergio
about a girl
i don't love you anymore
lost again
red rubber ball
xtra---wallet (we didn't play it cause of the packed lineup)

I'm on a recording...

Hizzah! Ska demo is done! Miracles really do happen.

Crap. So professional.

SVFD 6/9/2013 Inferno

We played the SheShe showcase on a Sunday afternoon. The plan for the afternoon (times and setlist) changed no less than 4 times.  My new policy is to never expect anything to turn out as planned. The food was good. I guess we were on the radio (internet radio anyway). A dozen or so people showed up, mostly our friends. We made $40. I played pretty well...the usual random brain farts. Lost Again went really well for me and the wood floor with my Chucks worked well to facilitate dancing. I played the new KiD-inspired bass and it did well (though the metal pickguard tends to reflect and blind people a bit). Overall it feels like it is quieter than my others, but cuts through pretty well, especially on high notes.

Setlist? Maybe.