Weekend Of Musical Goodness (WOMG)
This past weekend was a great example of why being a musician doesn't get old. For me anyway. One of my mantras (not claiming ownership) is "I GET to do this." A nice little performance anxiety tactic or uplifting phrase to remind you that you get to play music for a living. it's not always peachy, but still. Sometimes when things get a little crazy, overwhelming (lots of schlepping!), tired, sick of people, sore, whatever it is...it always comes down to perspective and attitude. I GET to do this. Not a lot of people get to. Lucky and grateful. That mantra applied more significantly during the 2016 US Navy Band Tour. I was performing Golden Age of the Xylophone, a tour de force, a million notes of familiar, tonal melodies, right in front of everyone (never mind the encore duet of Frivolity, which also has a million notes) and while waiting in the wings before my time, THAT was when I started getting nervous (some nerves are good, though...). But being your own worst critic and all the self talk that can happen to a musician, it's easy to get caught up in the things that the audience most likely will never notice. They WILL love it and...I GET to entertain them. Whatever might happen technically on my part or between me and the ensemble, the audience will eat it up no matter what. And they did! Give it a shot and see if something changes.
Friday started with my Iron Maiden tribute band, Eyes of the Nile, at Villain and Saint in Bethesda, MD. We played about an hour and a half set of songs Maiden rarely or has never played live. It was a blast and a massive workout as usual. It's one of the few drumset gigs where my mind doesn't wander hardly at all and I'm as focused on the music as much as possible. The crowd ate it up and really appreciated the deep cuts. It's been a different experience playing in this band in that the people that come see us are there to see us. Might sound strange, but some bands play in places that have built in crowds and most probably aren't there for you-even if they dance the night away when you're playing. Each person, whether it's 30 or 300 have really shown a lot of support at these EOTN shows and it's a great energy to thrive off of. Can't imagine playing to 10,000 fans!
Saturday night, my Beatles acoustic tribute, Nowhere Men, played our second gig at Kilroys in Springfield, VA. Since I sing lead vocals in this group (WHAT?), I have to actually think about how my voice feels the day of. And before. And eat right (no dairy, gluten, lots of room temp water, etc). It's crazy. I don't know how real singers do it. But I'm no pro singer so I need to do whatever I can to make sure I hit the notes I need to hit, since there's some high register stuff. You can't really hide and if things aren't working...it's going to be really bad. I didn't feel that great during the day but things came together and it went great.
More importantly, we turned the night into a fundraiser for Harvey Relief. We donated $700 to the Greater Houston Community Foundation and hope it makes a dent in all that's needed down there!
Sunday, me and the boys in Dr.FU debuted at the Washington Nationals Bullpen. Not that bullpen. It's across the street in an outdoor quad area reserved for post game drinkin' and eatin'. We normally play at the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk, but this year we were asked to play after the game or when things are winding down and people are leaving. After all was said and done, things went off without a hitch and the boys played all the hits while the Nats clinched the NL East!
Iron Maiden, Beatles, Dr.FU. That's a weekend of music that's hard to beat!