Mix Feelings

I'm continually surprised at how stage volume can affect me as a peformer. Last night, I went to an open mike that I don't normally frequent, and four (technically, three and a quarter) songs later, I was really, really annoyed.

Some of this was my own damn fault. First off, I'm losing my voice, and shouldn't have tried anything that would tax it. All Tom Waits and Everlast, all the time! Second, at my friend Ally's urging, I decided to throw some originals in the mix. Which isn't bad of it's own accord, except that I hadn't played "Not This Time" in at least a couple of weeks (and have never played it in public), and it's new enough that I sorta spaced the chorus the first time around. Got the bridge right, though.

Finally, I didn't bring a tuner, yet decided to close with Michael Hedges' version of "All Along The Watchtower," which requires an alternate tuning that needs to be dead-on to work. Making all of this even more difficult was an insanely loud pair of monitors that made every little out-of-tune note or string practically knock me out the garage-style door behind the stage.

So no, I wasn't too happy when I finished up, and was subsequently chastised by Ally for being all dark and shit, but hey, it happens. It probably sounded worse to me on stage than it did in the audience, but it did sound pretty bad on stage, and that's really all I have to go on.