Thoughts On The Preons Gig 4/4/2008
The Rendezvous is one of Seattle’s classic downtown bars. It’s gone through phases of being something of a dive, but lately it’s been returned to its rightful place as a cool live music venue. I always enjoy playing there, and the staff is great. Last night’s gig was a late one, with three bands on the bill. We started playing at around midnight, which meant the audience was suitably “prepared” for our show 🙂
Josh showed up all dressed in white, perhaps a yin to my yang. I was wearing all black, but just as I left the house I decided to grab a green shirt. I should have gone all-black in keeping with tradition. Josh also arrived with a newly-purchased fog machine and some stage lights. Through providence or poor planning, the fog machine’s controls were placed on top of my bass amp, thus providing me with some degree of weather control. Last night’s forecast was: fog.
This was the first gig where I used the PodLiveXT to dramatically process my bass tone. The addition of more aggressive compression helped the low B string punch through a little more, and I think a short reverb also helps smooth out the overall sound – especially on songs like Ghosts of the Dalles which calls for a slightly more somber tone.
My friend David arrived early to help run sound, but alas… he didn’t do at this gig. I’m really looking forward to having him run our sound at the next opportunity. He’s got great ears and really understands how music production works. It’ll be a huge step forward for us to have his help. Also in attendance was Paul, who is a fine local musician. At some point we’ll be inviting him to join us on a double bill.
Overall, a fun evening. I’m looking forward to the next gig.