Out of the Basement

Well, my band and I finally made it out of John's (bassist extraordinaire) basement and onto an actual stage, with an actual audience. Well, it was more of a carpeted section of a coffee shop floor, and the audience was pretty much our friends and family members, but the important thing is that we played out somewhere...finally. And we had a blast! From beginning to end, we had a great time, despite the many issues that are inevitable when you first play out somewhere. We had sound difficulties, two sick singers, an array of vocal hiccups, several forgotten words, and a couple of sour notes, but we were a band and we certainly entertained our audience. To our credit (or detriment...that remains to be seen), the entire evening was caught on video. Somehow I doubt it will be for public release, but who knows? Maybe it'll make an appearance when we hit it big. There will be a VH1 special: 5th Avenue--Then and Now. (Or not.)

In any case, we learned some very valuable lessons from our first gig. (1) If the sound system isn't yours, let the person who owns it set it up. It'll go better for everyone involved, and will spare the audience's eardrums from the high-pitched feedback sound nobody likes to hear. (2) Check out the place before you show up sexily dressed to a Brownie/Cub Scout meeting. Hiding in the bathroom is not a good way to start off a night. (3) Free drinks are awesome, even if you're only getting water and hot tea. (4) Never start a gig with a song that requires one nerved up member of the band to sing by herself. The results will not be pretty. (5) Don't be afraid to cut songs, especially if it's painfully obvious that you're going to run long. (6) Take a short 15 minute break between sets, not a half hour lunch. (7) Most important, regardless of what goes wrong, have fun. The less seriously you take yourself, the better the performance will be in the long run.

All in all, it was one of the best nights I've had singing, not because I was vocally perfect ('cause I so wasn't), but because I let it all go and sang what I felt. I may have sounded like a smoker with a bad case of laryngitis the day after, but it was totally worth it. And, I can't wait to do it again!