Thursday, June 28, 2007
Excellent. We just came back from our fifth gig, this one at the Smiling Buddah on College. It went really well, I think even better than our one at the Supermarket. The three of us biked there, and carried all our stuff on a bike trailer. I was so impressed.
All you need is a good bike, and old fluorescent orange bike trailer, and a dolly, and you can carry all your equipment. This time we had half a drumset, a guitar, my weighted 88-key keyboard (which I can barely lift) and keyboard stand. Carrying it on a bike was actually remarkably easy. Sometimes it was tricky turning corners; I had to adjust the connection to make sure the keyboard/dolly combo could swivel enough, else I'd end up in the middle of the road.
This gig was held by The Commune. We were the last of three bands that played, and people seemed to really love us. They said we were tight! It's so nice to hear that, because I always felt we were loose. So great response. A guy there called the bike trailer combo SICK! Twice.
All you need is a good bike, and old fluorescent orange bike trailer, and a dolly, and you can carry all your equipment. This time we had half a drumset, a guitar, my weighted 88-key keyboard (which I can barely lift) and keyboard stand. Carrying it on a bike was actually remarkably easy. Sometimes it was tricky turning corners; I had to adjust the connection to make sure the keyboard/dolly combo could swivel enough, else I'd end up in the middle of the road.
This gig was held by The Commune. We were the last of three bands that played, and people seemed to really love us. They said we were tight! It's so nice to hear that, because I always felt we were loose. So great response. A guy there called the bike trailer combo SICK! Twice.
Labels: bike trailer, cowboy mimes, live show, music
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Some photos of the Cowboy Mimes' last show in Alderville for the Wiersma barn fundraiser:
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| Cowboy Mimes Live Shows |
Labels: cowboy mimes, live show, music
Monday, May 21, 2007
Phew.
We just played our second show as the Cowboy Mimes! It was a good experience, but I felt a little off with my playing. I think the problem was that I could hardly hear myself, because we couldn't figure out how to properly wire up the monitor speakers so that they were at the right levels. The sound equipment they had there was very, very confusing, and there was nobody there with any technical audio experience to tell us how to use it. We managed to get a decent enough sound out of the main speakers, but the monitors were really quiet, and I could hardly tell what notes I was playing sometimes. It makes you feel a lot more nervous about playing chords if you can't tell if they're right or not! That's why we need an experienced audio professional (like my dad!) to get everything sounding right. That or someone who's paid by the club to do that sort of thing. (Supposedly there's a sound guy who will help us set up at the Supermarket, where we're playing our next gig on June 6.)
I was prepared to sing at this one, but we only have 2 stage microphones, and I believe it's not wise to use recording mikes (of which we have 2) for performance purposes. Chris thought the Concord would have provided a couple mikes, but I guess they're not quite upscale enough. We got by anyway.
The turnout was a little disappointing; for some reason I thought the place was going to be packed with friends. Plus one always hopes that people who weren't explicitly invited would find their way to the show through word of mouth, MySpace or Facebook. But I probably would have felt even weirder about my uncertain playing if there'd been more people listening to it. I think we did end the show pretty well with Calico Chromium, a song that Meta and Chris wrote together. We should record that one soon and get it up on MySpace.
We just played our second show as the Cowboy Mimes! It was a good experience, but I felt a little off with my playing. I think the problem was that I could hardly hear myself, because we couldn't figure out how to properly wire up the monitor speakers so that they were at the right levels. The sound equipment they had there was very, very confusing, and there was nobody there with any technical audio experience to tell us how to use it. We managed to get a decent enough sound out of the main speakers, but the monitors were really quiet, and I could hardly tell what notes I was playing sometimes. It makes you feel a lot more nervous about playing chords if you can't tell if they're right or not! That's why we need an experienced audio professional (like my dad!) to get everything sounding right. That or someone who's paid by the club to do that sort of thing. (Supposedly there's a sound guy who will help us set up at the Supermarket, where we're playing our next gig on June 6.)
I was prepared to sing at this one, but we only have 2 stage microphones, and I believe it's not wise to use recording mikes (of which we have 2) for performance purposes. Chris thought the Concord would have provided a couple mikes, but I guess they're not quite upscale enough. We got by anyway.
The turnout was a little disappointing; for some reason I thought the place was going to be packed with friends. Plus one always hopes that people who weren't explicitly invited would find their way to the show through word of mouth, MySpace or Facebook. But I probably would have felt even weirder about my uncertain playing if there'd been more people listening to it. I think we did end the show pretty well with Calico Chromium, a song that Meta and Chris wrote together. We should record that one soon and get it up on MySpace.
Labels: cowboy mimes, live show, music
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The Cowboy Mimes play at the Press Club!
So the three of us - Meta, Chris and myself - performed live for the first time. It wasn't the biggest turnout (damn you, maybe-sayers ;-) but that just made it all the easier for us to play (low pressure, you see). Meta played guitar and sang, Chris played snare and hi-hat and sang, and I played tambourine, shakers and triangle and sang harmonies. Many thanks go to Meta's good friend Kirsten and her partner Cameron for the ride, the wine, and the awesome support. Also thanks go to Press Club for hosting us. And to the small but supportive audience for coming out on such a chilly Easter!
Next show - rumour has it that there might be one coming up at the end of May at the Local...
 |
| Cowboy Mimes Live Shows |
So the three of us - Meta, Chris and myself - performed live for the first time. It wasn't the biggest turnout (damn you, maybe-sayers ;-) but that just made it all the easier for us to play (low pressure, you see). Meta played guitar and sang, Chris played snare and hi-hat and sang, and I played tambourine, shakers and triangle and sang harmonies. Many thanks go to Meta's good friend Kirsten and her partner Cameron for the ride, the wine, and the awesome support. Also thanks go to Press Club for hosting us. And to the small but supportive audience for coming out on such a chilly Easter!
Next show - rumour has it that there might be one coming up at the end of May at the Local...
Labels: cowboy mimes, live show, music
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