conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

mandodoxy: last night's fun

The ideal space for traditional music is a room...
- Ciarran Carson, Last Night's Fun

One gig down and three more to go. Last night was fun, but I am a little wiped and a little frustrated. But first with the fun...

The Red Line Tap is a great venue for what we do. The usual Tuesday night band, Sexfist (a.k.a. The Henhouse Prowlers) are great fun and really gifted players. Serving as their opening act was a little heady, actually. I totally dug it. The sound guy (Yes, a sound guy! Thank you, Jesus!) kept everything working perfectly. The small (Thanks be to friends!) Tuesday night crowd was kind and even enthusiastic on occasion. And we got to try out two new tunes. That's a good thing. We added "The Orange and the Green" and "Whiskey in the Jar" to our list of tunes. There are a few more in the hopper, but they aren't ready for public consumption quite yet.

The 9:00 show started right on time. That is to say that it started at 9:30. In Mandodoxy, nothing is ever on time. Chronos is out of a job when the band is supposed to play. Kairos, on the other hand, is the way anything happens in Mandodoxy. We live in between. Even the crowd must know that music is sound and silence...and waiting for just the right moment. I was so excited. I found kairos to be a struggle. But the moment came and we played our set to open the evening's frivolity. Lovely.

Sadly, we did not play as well as I would have hoped. Somehow our rehearsals did not knock off the rust as much as I had thought. There was much rust last evening. I'm told that we sounded good and that people enjoyed themselves. This is all that matters. I know. But I am still wallowing in the rustiness...my own and the band's together.

These things happen.

I borrowed this quotation from Last Night's Fun for a reason. I wanted to remind myself of what it takes to make good traditional Irish music. A room. The beer, the whiskey, and the people all come with the room, of course. But all you need is a room. I have to get past the stage and into the room. This is the spacial equivalent to chronos and kairos. I was stuck on stage. I need to remember the room.

Sexfist asked us to stick around and play a tune or two with them. So, up on this tiny stage were 10 guys playing away. Tom, our singer, stood up at the mic and just let the sound (enormous sound) just wash right through him. He could not stop moving...marching in every tune. I hope we get a chance to play with them again. That was quite remarkable.

We play again this Friday at Duke's. I hope you'll come out to hear us. It should be a good time. Duke's is a small place, intimate. I think it is a great room. Saturday we'll be at the Town Hall Pub. Now that is a fine room. Last St. Pat's the place was swaying with pints uplifted to God in a slurred salute to life and all it's glory. I hope to see you there.

Sexfist

Posted by tripp at March 12, 2008 08:25 AM