Thoughts On The 1 Uppers Gig 3/8
The 1 Uppers had a great gig last night, easily our best yet. Sunday shows can be random. It’s hard to predict whether people will actually come to hear music on those night, and the intermittent snowfall this weekend probably didn’t help. This was one of those surprising gigs where (1) we had a sold out room (2) we had some great guest vocalists and (3) the entire band played their cabooses off. We ran through a 50 minute set of material, highlighting nine new originals which really sounded good. Friends and regulars provided positive feedback on the new songs.
The stage at the Rendezvous is small. I’d describe it as “intimate”. Given the size of the room we usually don’t put anything in the PA except the vocals, which means we’re mixing ourselves from the stage using our amp volumes. In my opinion this is ideal. It allows us to have the same experience on stage that we have during rehearsal. My amp has been de-ghosted, and is now acting normal again. Many thanks to Brian at Hyatt Studios for the quick turnaround on this crucial repair. The issue did turn out to be that pair of +/- 16v resistors in the primary voltage circuit, which explains all the random op-amp behavior. Brian also went throught the circuit and make a few minor improvements, adding jumpers to areas where the intermittent signal flow seems to occur in this model amp.
David and Jon are really sounding great together on harmony vocals. Their blend of voices is becoming part of the band’s trademark, along with Jon’s fearsome pedal steel and Kris’ stellar guitar work. Those guys blow the doors of the rest of the band every night. It definitely raises my game playing with them. I am looking forward to the next gig.