Happy New Year...
So what happened with this one then? I've not spoken all that kindly of the Maverick in the past. I'll confide the reasons why to almost anyone in person, but since the remark is quite spiteful, when I'm online I tend to explain it away as being the only venue I've played so far where I've actually felt out of my depth. However, with no gig booked this week, not returning from Amy's until Tuesday and Sam having moved the Hartley Arms open mic to Mondays, this was basically the only option left that I was aware of. With starting off at DPA again, and work to do for Coady Consultants, this was not the time to start looking for a new gig. So, I spent the preceding week trying to learn some old covers, including Because The Night and Do The Strand, more on that later, to play at a venue that appreciates it's old rock.
I got there to find an old friend, Pete, and a couple of other people. He was looking forward to going up and having a jam and asked me if I'd like to come up and play with him, and I agreed after finding out he loved Because The Night and reasoning that we should be able to come up with another couple of songs to play. When our turn came around, we put a band together of myself on guitar and vocals, Pete on the drums, Steve on bass, my DPA colleague Al on eletric mandolin and Josh on guitar (a young guy with a Les Paul, and also the only member of the 'band' I'd never met before.) Having to teach them all the songs we eventually played was not a trivial task, but...
We began with Because The Night. Of all the ones we did, this one probably went down the best because of the time in which it was realeased, and probably the one we played the best as well! I've not long learned the song so I don't know if I got all the lyrics right, but to be honest it was hard enough making sure all the band knew what they were doing without worrying about what I was doing. Pete knowing the song helped as well, Steve was following the chords well and I imagine Josh was following Steve because he was stood behind me and wouldn't have been able to see what I was doing. Al... Well, Al I know as a drummer. When he plays stringed instruments, it's either the mandolin (I've never played one but I'm told they're tuned similarly to the violin,) or slide guitar in open tuning. He seems to have refined his technique on both of those instruments to the point where you can just say 'it's in B minor,' and he'll come up with something convincing, and this was no exception. Well done.
After some discussion we elected to play Losing My Religion by REM next. This one actually has a mandolin part, however I didn't help the band by playing it in the wrong key. I was halfway through the song before I realised it should have been in A minor, not E minor. I'm not sure how, if at all, it affected my delivery of the song, because I didn't struggle with the singing and I knew all the words, but if any of the band new it, it would very likely have confused them! But the punters seemed to recognise it and appreciate it.
Then I fell back on the one song I do that never fails to please, A Little Respect. Pete seemed to know it, but I reckon Steve and the others needed to listen to what I was doing to make any sense - not an easy thing to do since my guitar was plugged in to the PA, and there was no foldback monitors meaning that it was hard to hear what the PA was doing on stage. They actually did really well all things considered.
So, for all my trepidations about playing The Maverick, tonight wasn't too bad at all. Pete suggested to me afterwards, and not for the first time, that he and I should do a band. The idea of putting together a band to play my songs live is something I'd quite like to do, however I barely have time for the 3 bands that I'm in so it's not going to happen yet. I'm not ruling it out, and if what is happening with the other bands allows time for me to put the project together I might consider it, but right now I'll stick with the acoustic gigs as this is something I can handle myself without any need for other musicians.
See you next week...
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