The Fourth Music Party

Then it was weekend again, and this was the weekend of the fourth music party!
This music party was promising to be the biggest one yet, but I must admit that I was a little less prepared for it than I should have been. Everything was arranged last minute, but this was done a bit defensively after the last time, when I tried to plan and a bunch of people fell through/changed their plans, and left me a bit in the lurch and unprepared anyway. Anyway, there wasn't really much to prepare, the alcohol was all purchased (we sold this time) and it seemed like there was a good amount of buzz to draw people out.
Jim and I headed there a couple of hours early to get everything set up, and thank goodness we did. I thought that paying $100 for the use of a place meant that you would receive some assistance, and even though we did, the language barrier proved a real obstacle and meant that it often took too long to solve simple problems. One major problem was that one set-up involved two wireless mics set up through a single channel on the mixer. The problem? He didn't tell me that that was what had been done! So I didn't know how to isolate the mics to turn one or the other up or down! It was a big hassle. It took me three or four acts to figure out that they were controlled from a separate mixer.
Another big problem was that I had my set-up ready to go, with a single output for my guitar and microphone (pre-mixed through my system). And the old guy who was helping us out kept trying to turn one instrument up or down by adjusting the channel that controlled both! gah! There were a few instances of ear-damaging of feedback, but once I got control and figured out what the hell was happening (he disappeared to the store without communicating which channel was which!) I think that things got better.
But, other than that, there were no problems. And those were actually pretty small problems. The sale of the alcohol went very very smoothly, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the show. Of course, with the introduction of alcohol, some people got to enjoy the show a lot more (and a lot more loudly) than others.
I was really happy with the calibre of the performers who came out. I'll do a blow by blow of the performances when I listen to the audio, but I was absolutely blown away with Noel Moes' country arrangements, Kip Jones' incredible viola/violin (which?) playing and I was moved almost to tears by Ian Reid from Yeosu. He really reminded me of Fionn Regan, who I have been a little obsessed with for the last few months, so that's quite a compliment.
The night wound down around 12:30 or so, with Ian Reid ending, and then I took the stage to do a couple. For something that started out as a venue for me and Darren to perform, it has really evolved me right out of it. I'm honestly content to just watch though, I really miss seeing folk-y type stuff just being done by people who love it. I love to see a rock band too, but this is a completely different experience, and I miss it from an audience perspective. I played "The Origin of Love" and then "Almost a Full Moon", and then started part of the night. it was a bit of a stretch even for me to do that much, I've been so busy with other things that I could barely make my way through those songs, and I felt like if I kept going, it would have been more of a public practice than a performance.
Now unfortunately, one of the ways that the night could have been much better would have been if I had announced some jam songs in advance so that we all had some common ground to go on... but I didn't. So I fell back on "I will survive", because I know it, and it's not exactly difficult to teach to people if they don't. It went pretty well, and I got in a little bit of looping, which was neat, I think. We all took a turn soloing if we wanted, and Ian surprised everyone by getting up on the stage with his harmonica.
Then, of course, someone (I think Jim) started "All Along the Watchtower", and that went for a while. It was a little embarrassing, I was the only one with an electric guitar, but it had been a couple of weeks since I had been practising so I felt a little out of shape, and a little loose, but not in the good way. But I think everyone had fun anyway, and I was impressed with what a few of the others brought to the table, improvisation-wise.
After it was all over, we gave the place a quick clean-up, and were about to get into the nitty gritty when the owner insisted that we call it a night, and come back tomorrow. Which was fine, because I know myself, and I know that I would not be able to stop cleaning until it was finished once I had started. So we picked up all the valuables, and headed home to bed.
When Vanessa and I went back the next day, I expected to be there for a few hours, mopping, picking up garbage, all that kind of stuff (kindly she had offered to help). But when we got there, he ushered us towards the left-over alcohol, told us to pick it up, and then called us a taxi. He was going to clean up for us! I guess that the $100 rental fee was worth it after all!
Anyway, I was pretty happy with the event on the whole, but I feel like the vibe has really changed from how it started out. While I really liked the venue overall, I found that it just wasn't as homey as Sajik had been. Now I have the problem of wanting a homey place like Sajik with a great sound system that can accommodate upwards of 80 or so people... it's going to be tough.
Fortunately I have already found a pretty cool looking live club with a very cool owner (his business card says he is a trained "saw violinist"). There's a lot of couches, a groovy atmosphere. Unfortunately, they sell alcohol, so our main means of income for the orphans will be gone. So there will be one more in November, and then when I return in the new year, we will see about having one in the spring, but for now, I'm not sure. I really want to put together an art festival, so I may focus my efforts on that.