tfabris: (Default)
tfabris ([personal profile] tfabris) wrote2009-03-29 11:24 pm

"Packed" doesn't even begin to describe it...

I've spent the entire day in a mostly vegetative state. But in the good way.

Saturday night I played about three hours' worth of concert. The Vixy & Tony opening set went fantastically, with Betsy and Sunnie absolutely oudoing themselves and blowing everyone away with their awesomeness. Vixy, despite the fact that she's still recovering from a cold that recently settled in her lungs, sang wonderfully, the consummate professional that she is. I think my favorite part was Betsy and Sunnie's chamber-music intro to our cover of re: Your Brains. We'd actually rehearsed that a couple of weeks ago, but I'd completely forgotten they were going to do it until the moment they began playing it, so it was almost like I'd gotten to hear it for the first time myself.

Then I got to play another two hours with Marian Call, which is always a privilege, but having Sunnie also playing with Marian made it just amazing. If that weren't enough, her drummer, Colter Lemons, was pure hammered awesome, and put the energy of the show right through the roof, with his precise playing and hilarious antics with hand bells. (By the way, did I mention, that's the very first time I've ever played with Colter?) Then, as icing on the cake, Marian's friend David George Gordon joined us on harmonica, adding to the awesome.

The end of the set list came, and we didn't have anything ready for an encore, so Marian just came up with something on the spot. We did an impromptu call-and-response cover of what I think she said was "Honeyed Out" by Kris Delmhorst. All it required of me was one chord, so that was easy. Between Colter's antics and the improvisational fiddle and harmonica work, it just blew the doors off the place. I loved it.

One of the best parts of the show was the fact that so many people got to see it. About half an hour before the show, I tweeted that Wayward was packed. It turns out, that at its peak, the number of people in the place was literally double what it had been when I'd said that. There were more people in Wayward that night than I'd ever seen before. It was amazing. For everyone who came: Thank you for helping make it such a magical evening.

I'm a little sorry that I didn't get to spend as much time talking to everyone as I would have liked. There were so many people, and so much for me to do, that I barely had time to do more than wave at some friends. Some people were stuck back near the entrance and couldn't even get up close to the stage, it was that crowded. Betsy had to leave before the end of the evening and I didn't get a chance to say good night to her. I hope everyone had a good time, regardless.

Here are some pictures of the night: (1), (2), and here is Sunnie's account of the evening. If anyone has any other pictures, video footage, or blog entries, please let me know so I can link them here.

Coming up this week, our beloved Sooj returns to us, and she will be doing some Palimpsest-related shows in the area this week and next week, as well joining us for my birthday Kitten Sundae show at DanceWorks Studio this coming Saturday. Have a look at her calendar for all of the dates and times.

And now... I crash.
ext_3294: Tux (Default)

[identity profile] technoshaman.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 02:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Woo! Chamber music intro? Did somebody get audio or video?

I keep kicking myself for missing shows, although my feet would probably have kicked me had I had to stand for three hours... with DanceWorks there's a lot more places to *sit*... (Or dance! :)

[identity profile] damiana-swan.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
It was a WONDERFUL concert! I'm so glad we went.

My friend Graham ([livejournal.com profile] 3smallishmagi) took some great pictures and has them up here.

[identity profile] tfabris.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 04:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, those really are great pictures! Thanks! (Linked.)

[identity profile] solcita.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 06:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh good, I'm glad Sandi gave you the link -- I was going to do that this morning. (I'm also planning on emailing it to Marian.)

[identity profile] tfabris.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 06:05 pm (UTC)(link)
I emailed the link to Marian this morning. :-)

[identity profile] solcita.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
*laugh* Yeah, I thought you might have. Good!

[identity profile] aerynvale.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Aww man, I missed a Jonathan Coulton cover? Woe is me! That's the only JoCo song I've learned all the way through, too. I would have loved to see you guys do it.

ps, I was the dude who came up and talked to you about your guitar and pickups and sound and stuff. Unless there was more than one person who did that, then I was at least one dude who did.

[identity profile] tfabris.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, it was great meeting you! The story about the pickup on my guitar that we discussed can be found here.

I cover a lot of Coulton's songs, and most of the Vixy & Tony shows feature at least one Coulton cover.

[identity profile] aerynvale.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh wow, you guys really do tell the whole story behind the song, don't you? I dig it.

Ducks being trampled. I think that's a pretty apt description of what a piezo pickup can sound like, yeah. I'll have to listen to the track and see if I can pick out the ducks. That's a very cool story, too, from both you and Vixy. Also I think it really illustrates Sting's point about how you never know what's going to happen next when you work in the music business.

Re: Ducks. I once dated a girl who was a trained opera singer. I sat her down to listen to Cream's White Room, which I was really into at the time. She said that Clapton's riffs with the wah pedal sounded like someone was choking a duck. I should have known right then that things wouldn't work out between us...

Anyway, nice to meet another JoCo fan. I'll have to see if I can make it to your and Vixy's next show. :D

[identity profile] tfabris.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 08:10 pm (UTC)(link)
That'd be this coming Saturday, then, in Redmond. Or, will you be at Norwescon on Friday evening?

[identity profile] aerynvale.livejournal.com 2009-03-30 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh, might not be able to make that one. I didn't even know there was a con going on, either. I'll keep it in mind, though!

Also I hear there's an open mic at Wayward on Sunday evenings, though I couldn't find anything about it on their site's calendar. If there is, I'm gonna try to hit that up.