HollyKing's Journal

A thought about playing music has been running through my head for a while. I used to play trumpet and enjoyed it quite a bit. Last night hollyqueen suggested I pick up an instrument and start playing again. The question is which one? The issue with my teeth knocks a trumpet out of the running but a trombone or other bass instrument might work. I've toyed with the idea of playing electric guitar or bass and keyboards. There's always the unusual but possibly highly entertaining accordion or concertina. So many choices.

So here's a question for you. Imagine me up on the stage with the band and knocking down the house during a killer set. What am I playing?

Also, I'll buy a few pints in exchange for knowledge about what I would need for a basic electric guitar or bass setup. Sure, I could buy some starter kit off of Amazon, but I fought against a bad trumpet for years and I would rather not repeat that part of the experience.

I have a craving to hear macabre music. Things along the lines of Camille Saint-Saës’ Danse Macabre. I know I have Hector Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique and the version of Night on Bare Mountain that appeared in Fantasia.

What music would you recommend in this vein?

Last night was "music" night and as part of my searching I discovered a great video. I love Africa by Toto and this is a great cover. Enjoy!

Last night princessgeek and I went to see Fractal at Big Daddy’s Place. I’m not sure if this was hosted by S.P.A.R.C. or just attended by a few members like me. It was a good show and we all had fun.

Thursday night is the “New Band Showcase” at BD’s. There is no cover charge and they give new bands a chance to play. The first band was R&B and rock and played quite a few covers. They weren’t bad and I think they could develop into a good group. The crowd was made up of a dance class there to practice. They danced to every song and looked like they were having a heck of a time.

There were five people from S.P.A.R.C. and as we sat together listening to the first band we discussed how long the dancers would last when Fractal took the stage. I’m going to give them all a high five because they tried to dance for the first couple of songs. It was entertaining to watch them try to keep in step as the time signature and key kept changing on them.

After a while the dancers left and it was five from S.P.A.R.C., princessgeek, the band’s entourage and the employees. So again we had an almost personal concert. I love the personal shows but to get more of this music being played in the area we need to get more people to the shows.

After Fractal ended their set I picked up their CDs and had them autograph one while we chatted. I love supporting the artists by buying their CDs directly from them. My collection of autographed CDs is growing and this is a good thing.

The next show is Thursday February 19th at Big Daddy’s Place. This time it will be Parallels, which is a Yes cover band, followed by Portal, a Canadian progessive rock band touring to support their new album Blood Red Tape. I’ll be there and I hope to see some of you as well.

This joins together a few of my favorite things. Music, soundtracks, John Williams compositions, a capella, geeky videos, multi-track recordings of a single performer, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind... Oh, just watch it already! ;)

Last night was a great night for me. Here is my poor attempt at capturing the events of the evening before it fades from my memory too much. I’m certain several key things will be in my head forever, but I want to capture the small things too.

I left work at 3:30 so I had time to drop the car off at home and take a cab to El Corazon. On the way I called the cab company and asked them to pick me up at 4:15. I had a few moments at home so I was chatting with a few friends online while waiting for the cab. I apologize for abandoning them while we were chatting because the cab arrived at 4:10 and I had to rush out of the house suddenly. The driver asked if I minded a bit of AC/DC, which I didn’t, and we started talking about music. I told him about the show and The Rogues’ Gallery on The Dividing Line. I think I created a new listener. :)

I arrived at the venue right on time at 4:30 and was wondering how I would get in as it was hours before the doors were supposed to open. That wasn’t an issue because the door was wide open. As I walked in I was approached and asked if I was Brendan. I had never seen his face but I recognized the voice of Frans the DJ for The Rogues’ Gallery. After our quick introduction Frans took me to meet the members of Sylvan: Jan (guitar), Sebastian (bass), Marco (vocals), Volker (keyboards) and Matthias (drums). Then the band went back to their sound check and I enjoyed a personal concert.

Dinner was supposed to start at 5:30 but at 5:15 the sound check was still underway as there was a problem with some of the equipment. I was getting a bit nervous but decided I would just relax and go with the flow. At 5:30 I called another dinner guest and asked him to pass on the message that we were running late and would join them at the restaurant as soon as we could. Sylvan finished setting up at about 5:45 and we made it to 13 Coins at 6pm. Only 30 minutes late but with plenty of time for dinner. The other guests had already found each other and had ordered, so we joined them and had dinner.

During dinner I kept my eye on the entire table, but everyone looked like they were having a good time and talking. I sat at one end next to cambler and had a good conversation with him and a couple of the other guests. I had been wanting to meet Chris for a while because I’ve followed him here on LJ and I listen to The Gates of Delirium, his show on The Dividing Line. We talked about his show, music, programming and a few other things. He posed an interesting programming problem and I’m going to think about this a bit and see if I can figure out the answer. (Which will be in a separate post.)

The only problems with my planning and dinner was one of the guests didn’t understand that we were covering the band’s dinner and I mixed up two credit cards and the wrong amounts were charged to them. Both people were understanding as I explained the situation so it wasn’t a big problem. Still I should have kept better track of the cards so that didn’t happen.

Next we all walked from the restaurant back to the venue. I noticed that there was a full moon last night which is a good omen for completing projects. At the venue I met up with esurient1 and omg_teh_funnay who were enjoying the opening act. The name on the poster was “Still Water,” but I was told that’s just a temporary name. I had heard that the guitarist, who used to be in Lyranthe, was excellent and what I did hear rocked the house. I’ll have to pay attention to them in the future.

While Sylvan was setting up esurient1 was ill and had to leave. omg_tey_funnay, being a gentleman, escorted her home. I guess there were about 50 people in the venue who had bought tickets. The sign by the door said the capacity was 807, which I can’t imagine, so there was tons of room for everyone. Some people held back or sat on the few benches. I was right up front just to the left of center. The entire show I had an unobstructed view of the entire band and wasn’t crowded. The extra time taken during the sound check was worth every second as the sound was awesome. I was told it was fuzzy in the back but right by the stage was a sweet spot. I only owned one Sylvan album so there were quite a few new songs. You’ll have to find someone who knows more about the band to say if it was a great performance for them, but I can’t see how it was anything else.

After the show I bought the CD and DVD that was for sale. There was a bit of CF because everyone wanted to get their CDs autographed and there weren’t enough pens. In the end we all got our autographs and I think everyone who loaned out a pen got them back. As the crowd thinned I went to each band member and told them I hoped they had a good dinner. Each one thanked my for the dinner and for taking the time to organizing it. Mattias wanted to give everyone who helped organize the show a CD but I had already bought the one he had with them. He offered to give me back my money but I wouldn’t accept it. I enjoyed planning the dinner and wanted to support the band by buying the CD and DVD. He kept asking me what they could give me and eventually I agreed to give him my address so he could mail me something when they got back to Germany. I’m floored and flattered that he wanted to do this, but really it was no trouble and I enjoyed myself. (As you all might have noticed.)

I had brought a few of my calling cards to hand out but I don’t look like the picture on them anymore. So I talked to cambler about getting a few head shots to make new cards and I’ll be getting with him as soon as we both have time available. (Damn, I look good now!) I also talked with Frans about helping out with events like this in the future. Sylvan was the first concert that Frans is planning and I volunteered to help out with them all. Planning dinner, ferrying band members, promotions… I have a new project which I’ll talk about more once it becomes more solid.

Far too soon it was time to take the band back to the hotel and as it was way down in Kent I decided to head home. Called up a cab and chatted with everyone for a few minutes. I was able to use my small amount of German to talk to Sebastian and tell him that I only spoke a little German. Before I was ready to leave the cab showed up and I took off. Everyone in the band waved as I rode away to head home.

At home I was much too wound up to sleep. I read email and ripped the new CD so that I could listen to it today. At 2AM I finally forced myself to lay down and before I knew it the thing what makes the noise was blaring at me. Here I am at Noon and I’m still buzzed about last night. Damn that was a lot of fun.

Notes for the future: Bring post-it notes to write amounts on cards as I collect them to keep from mixing up how much to put on each. Bring plenty of current calling cards to hand out. Include all my contact information on them so I can get stuff by mail as well as phone. Bring a few Sharpies to get autographs from band members. Instead of people trying to find pens give them to the band to use while signing.

Avast! It being Talk Like a Pirate Day I brings you this here little video. Watch it or be keelhauled you lubber!

I met him in a pub one night
In a crowd of Well-to-do's
He had a claudagh (sp?)on each finger
And a shamrock on each shoe.
And when he said Top o' the Mornin'
My heart was filled with dread.
Well he said his name was Danny Boy
So I shot him in the head.

Raise up a cheer and lift your pints
and hold them way up high.
And sing a song of tragedy beneath the irish sky.
From the glen the pipes are calling,
But he never will reply.
For I buried Danny Boy beneath
the fields of Athenry.

Tu-ra-lu
Tu-ra-lu
Tu-ra-lay
Tu-ra-Lay
I thought I might drop him in Gallway Bay.
Tu-ra-lu
Tu-ra-lu
Tu-ra-lye
Tu-ra-Lye
Well I buried Danny Boy beneath
the fields of Athenry.

Well the guarda, they fell upon me
And they took away my gun.
And a hush fell o'er the crowd
When they saw what I had done.
Said the guardah, "God forgive me,
For I'm sure in hell to burn."
Then he shot poor Danny once again
To make sure he won't return.

Chorus

Well, some call me a hero
And some call me a fiend.
But they still sing his sad ol' song
While drinking beer dyed toxic green.
But my sentence, it was commuted.
It seems I'm off scott free.
Well, I think I'll have another pint
And wait for Michael Flatly.

Chorus

Copyrighted 1998 Shay Vino
The Clare Voyants