Hella Stella

I guess after the monumental high that was the Vinyl Cafe show, it's good to be reminded that not all gigs run smoothly.

Last night's show was a good example of how things can go awry, even when the people organizing things are lovely. Can I blather on for a while? M'kay.

I only tend to take unpaid gigs when the benefits seem to outweigh the lack of cash. I need to feel that there will be a good crowd, good publicity, a good cause, or free drinks at the bar... Something to make it worthwhile. I also pay the people in my band, so if there is nothing good coming from a free gig, then I'm simply out cash. I can't afford that.

This gig last night was a freebie, because it was a benefit, and also because it looked like it would be good exposure for me. I hoped I could sell a few CDs to cover the cost of paying Brian, and maybe help cover the cab ride home with all our gear.

Now I can tell you about how things went wrong:

First, we got lost getting there. Terribly lost. We knew the name of the building, and the room number, but that didn't seem to help. As with most campuses, U of O is confusing and badly designed. We finally found the right building and hopped in the elevator. Do you know where it took us? OUTSIDE. We took an elevator to nowhere and had to go back to where we started.

Anyway. We finally found the bar. It was a sports bar, and the hockey game was playing. There were tables full of drunk jocks. I've got nothing against jocks, but have you ever played a gig when a hockey game was on in the background? I have. I don't recommend it. Not only will nobody listen to you, but you will also get the shit scared out of you when the whole bar shouts "YEEEEEAH!!!! GOOOOAL!!!!" in the middle of your chorus.

So we sound check, and people start showing up for the benefit. We're still at about 80% jocks, 20% feminist philosophy students. The sound is very basic, but I'm assured it sounds great out in the bar. I have no idea, because there are no monitors. The bar is still pretty tame at this point, so I don't think the lack of monitors will be a problem.

I was wrong about that. Once we started our set, the jocks got loud. Really loud. With no monitors, I couldn't really hear myself play, and I had no idea if Brian was managing or not. The feminist philosophy students were hiding out near the back, but I think they were listening.

I guess someone scored in the hockey game, because all of a sudden, the tables erupted with a cheer so loud that I jumped a bit and moved my hand too quickly against the banjo strings. Ow. I looked down, mid-song, and noticed that I had stuck myself with the end of a string and was spouting blood.

Greeeeat.

I finished the song, but just barely. Thankfully I was able to keep the blood off the banjo. I wiped my hand on my set list.

We finished our set, and I bought both of us a beer. I was really hoping to sell a CD at this point, because the night had been a bit of a crap shoot. No such luck. I got a lot of shy smiles from the people who were listening, but they were obviously too scared to come say hi in person. I don't bite! Come say hi, please! Okay, maybe I bite, but not if I'm meeting you for the first time....

By this point I'm out the beer money, the money I used to pay Brian, and the money for the cab we just called. Plus I'm bleeding.

Two good things came from last night, other than being able to meet some nice people and support a good cause.

1. I was given a chocolate pussy pop by someone from the women's centre. As I've mentioned here before, I love those.

2. On our way out, we were invited to play a gig at Cafe Nostalgica, paid and everything. So somebody must have been listening.

I know these things balance out... I've had it happen before. I've certainly played worse gigs. I think I'm just tired and wondering how I managed to come out the other side poorer and more exhausted.

Tonight I'm supposed to go dancing, and I hope for the sake of my friends that I can squeeze in a nap first. This weekend promises to be much more pleasant than this past week, so here's to looking forward!

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On a separate and painful note, my leg/foot/hip problems are getting so bad that I'm going to make a doctor's appointment to see if I need physio. My hip was so sore yesterday that I actually limped to the bus stop. Fucking hell.