A Musical Weekend

Saturday night I parked my car on Broad Street. It drew a large crowd and a thundering ovation. That's my Volvo, center stage! I had to hold my camera way above my head to take this, so pardon the blurosity.

Oh. No one cares about my car. They came to see bands...would y'all please sit down? I can't see the stage. Thanks.

Hey! That's Fallentown's own Now Sleepyhead playing...I like that band and I enjoyed doing sound for them this weekend. They had their CD release party Saturday, drawing a good crowd. Some of NS's songs are mellow and haunting, almost ambient...others are loud and pounding, full of howling guitar noises. They switch instruments a lot too, which I enjoy. During an ethereal acoustic song, the audience actually sat down and gently swayed along...I can't recall the last time that I saw a crowd sitting on the floor at a rock show...fallen on the floor, sure...but sitting?

Times certainly have changed since I was a punk rocker. One of the opening acts- a hippie with a guitar- actually asked the audience to "please be quiet and pay attention, I am going to play some songs"...I expected boos and heckling, but the patchouli goblins obeyed, sitting down and talking in hushed whispers. WTF?

Now Sleepyhead, playing a lullabye:

Now Sleepyhead rocking:



And here they are last week,performing live in the studio at the radio station...they asked me to dim the lights, which made it difficult for the listening audience to see them, but they sounded really good. Talented band, they are.



The club that they played at occupies the first floor of the building and the radio station occupies the second floor, which is very convenient for me...there's a lot of "hurry up and wait" when you do club sound and it's nice to have a quiet, semi-private place I can dash off to when the urge strike me.

Sunday brought another show, this one featuring North Carolina's Dylan Gilbert. He's a one-man show- techno/acoustic/space-folk, I called it. Dylan liked that...he's very talented and a helluva nice guy too...go see him if you can!

All told, I did sound for eight bands/acts over the weekend and it looks like I'll be picking up some more much-needed paying work in the future- the owner told me that I was the best soundman they'd ever had (the bands were very complimentary as well) and asked if I would be available in the future...exactly what I wanted to hear.
They are willing to spend a little money improving the sound, so I'll be acting as a professional consultant as well. I need to keep moving in this direction, it's starting to take off without me doing much at all...with some effort, I might succeed in whatever it is I'm doing. As my beloved Whim has been trying to tell me, things are looking up!

It feels good to be working on my own again. I still have the day job, but having some fun, extra cash helps a lot, even if means working 7 days (or nights) a week, which it will...but there is more to life than live bands and studio recording- there is also live radio! As usual, I had an excellent time on-air Saturday afternoon, feeling calm, groovy and totally at peace with my world. I had a lot more callers than usual and that's always a good feeling. Made me feel wanted, ya know?

THE NEW BREAKFAST SNOB, JULY 26, 2008:

Jethro Tull- Sunshine Day
Ten Years After- Let the Sky Fall
Atomic Rooster- Ear in the Snow
Jimi Hendrix- Gypsy Eyes
Soft Machine- Why Am I So Short?/So Boot If At All
Moody Blues- Dear Diary
Daevid Allen & Robert Wyatt - Memories
David Lindley- You Never Knew Her
Chris Spedding- Breakout
Soft Boys- You'll Have To Go Sideways
Cursive- The Martyr
Stranglers- Nice and Sleazy
Cranberries- Close To You
Richard Thompson- Keep Your Distance
Calpurnia- Ragtop
Nick Drake- Cello Song
Wire- Surgeon's Girl
Steve Hillage - Wait One Moment
The Frames- Sideways Down
Jethro Tull- Living In The Past
Supertramp- Sister Moonshine
Horsehead- Walk it Off
Bruce Cockburn- Lovers in a Dangerous Time
Mommas & Poppas- I Call Your Name
Mitch Aitch Price- Until The Real Thing Comes Along
Leo Kottke- The Other Day (Near Santa Cruz)
Garbage- Androgny
Danielle Dax- T.N.K.
John Cale & Brian Eno- Spinning Away
Damien Dempsey- Negative Vibes

Don't touch that dial.