Thoughts On The Preons Gig 12/4
My first impressions of this gig are colored by receiving a phone call while en route to the show. At our last band discussion on Tuesday we understood we would be the last band of the night to play, putting us on stage at around 11:00 PM. I told my bandmates I’d probably be on site by around 9:00 in order to get my gear loaded in and stored out of the way before the first band went on. At 8:40 I had finished a leisurely dinner and was having a leisurely drive to the gig when I received a message from my bandmates informing me (1) there had been a last-minute schedule change and (2) we were now playing at 9:00. Leisure be damned! I hit the warp drive, procured parking (always a challenge on Capitol Hill), sprinted my bass rig up the sidewalk and arrived at the bar at 8:55. Three minutes later I was onstage, set up and in tune.
At that point it got pretty easy.
As a bassist my main function is bridging our music’s harmonic and rhythmic structures. I’ve gotten attuned to Josh and Janie’s playing styles, and can anticipate their direction. My parts tend to develop onstage with theme / variation evolution based on lines I create during the improv and composition sessions. I set up most of my parts with “signposts” that announce certain points in the song or act as a counter melody. But within that framework I feel pretty free to move around. Onstage I listen to everyone for ideas. Brad tends to explore his parts as well, so there is always good opportunity for dialog. Sometimes I deliberately attempt to steer the band. Last night was a great gig in the sense that we were all pretty relaxed (excluding my non-leisurely commute) and onstage there was very little nervous energy.
Overall, another fine Preons show. I’m actually really pleased that we played first, since I got home at a decent hour. Usually I usually hedge my bets a little and show up 30 minutes before the first band is even theoretically supposed to begin playing. Last night I broke that rule for the first time in years, figuring there was no big reason to hurry since opening bands never start on time. Now I remember why I made up that rule… just in case the first band winds up being US! Oh.. and yes, we did start and finish on time.