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Re: Scary Situations
Someone on this thread mentioned how they get audience members coming
up to talk to them while doing looping/ambient gigs, while it doesn't
happen at band gigs. Whenever our DJ sets up at the front of the stage,
he gets people coming up and asking him questions, making requests,
etc, even though he's playing. They'll even set their drinks on the
tables that hold his decks. Unbelievable.
On a similar note, he was asked to DJ at a coffeshop in Portland the
day after our last gig there. We all went, and our horn players were
planning to sit in for a tune or two. We were informed by the
management that their ASCAP/BMI agreements didn't allow the playing of
musical instruments at the shop. But turntables are OK. That was the
final proof that we needed to show that turntables are not instruments!
I mean, if ASCAP says so...
Actually, I don't believe this in the least, I pretty much believe that
anything anyone uses to create cool sounds can be considered a musical
instrument, and any person making those sounds a musician. And I think
our DJ is a pretty musical guy. But this incident just gave us an
excuse to give him an endless raft of sh*t, always a good thing in any
band.
BTW, we have a gig tonight opening for one of my favorite musicians on
the planet, Wayne Horvitz. Seeing him in 1989 in his trio with Bobby
Previte and Butch Morris was one of those life-changing,
career-changing musical moments. We're opening for his group Sweeter
than the Day, his piano-based quartet. Also, it's a chance for us to
play in a concert hall, listener-friendly setting. I'm seriously
intimidated, in the best possible way, by this gig.