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Miguel de Maria -> The Gig from Hell (almost!) (Mar. 17 2005 15:23:44)
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I've been busy lately--4 gigs in 5 days, and all of them at least 3 hours. Last night I pulled up to the Royal Palms, a resort so close to my house, very convenient, to set up for a 3-hour gig. It was to be outside and a fairly large group, so I bought both speakers.
They had me set up on a "stage" area that overlooked the main courtyard, and I quickly got to it. I did so in a bit of minor panic. You see, as I was unloading my equipment, my index finger nail popped off. I found it on the ground but I didn't have any superglue on me and the AV guys were looking for some.
The captain (that is, the person in charge of this particular event) told me that she didn't like the cord that led from speaker to speaker. Is there any way you can not have that cord there? Well, the cord has to go from speaker to speaker. Or else there's no sound. Will the cord reach down the bushes, across the stairs, back up the bushes on the other side, and to the other speaker? No...
She got into her walkie talkie--I'll send the AV guys down to connect your speakers for you! It's just that this client--I know her--she's really unpleasant and picky, so I'm teling you this so that she won't yell at me later!
So I set up, get my gear together. Now I've added another element to my chain--guitar, Zoom 504 acoustic box, then PA. Thanks to Jon for the tip on the Zoom. If you use piezo and aren't happy with your sound, this is a very cost-effective solution.
Well, the AV guys did connect my speakers, but they didn't have any superglue. What was I going to do? I didn't have an index finger nail! That seemed to be important. The client arrived and came over. She was much nicer than the captain. So you play music kind of like--I hope this isn't the wrong thing to say--Esteban? Sure, just like that! Oh, great! Well, just make sure you adjust the volume, if the people get loud, add a little so that it doesn't get drowned out.
I did a litle sound check--she wanted it louder, no louder, a little louder--perfect! Now it was blaring in my ears. It was geting close to play time,and I frantically dug in my bag for my earplugs. For some reason, I couldn't find them! This was going to be a painful gig, I could tell already!
Well, I started playing and for some reason it didn't seem to bother me that my index fingernail was missing. Maybe because the amp was blaring in my ear and I was playing so lightly anyway! It started to get cold, but luckily I had brought my small portable heater. Those things are lifesavers.
Well, the gig itself went fine! Everyone liked me, a lot of foot traffic stopped and listened. Because of my position above the fray, it felt like givign a concert, so I kind of fuzzed my eyes and pretended I was Vicente playing to an adoring crowd. That was fun! On a break a couple of ladies requested my card and said they would hire me for a party someday. Another couple wanted to know the name of a song I was playing. The client said it sounded great, and a lot of the people at the function said thanks or said they liked the music.
Toward the end, I saw Kurt, another flamenco guitarist, walking along the path with his guitar. We nodded at each other, but curiously, he didn't say hi. Must have been meeting someone in a room, I guess. :) it got pretty cold toward the end, and as I was gathering my gear, my wedding ring slipped off. ****! When it gets cold, it tends to do that, and it's a bit too loose. I recovered it, and got back to closing up shop. As I was winding some cord fairly rapidly, I felt a funny sensation and realized that my wedding ring was missing again. But I hadn' heard the telltale sound of tinkle on concrete! The fountain!
I was standig next to a huge, fountain, perhaps 80' X 30'. The ring must have flown into the water! I searched it frantically (with my eyes), but didnt find anything. Arrggg!
In a burst of inspiration I looked inside my bag (I had been fiddling around there recently), and there it was, sitting safe in the bag.
I slipped it into my pocket and finished packing my gear.
My nail flew off, but it was okay. The captain was harassing me, but it turned out okay. The client was needy, she liked me. I came this close to losing my wedding ring, but found it.
You know, Mercury is retrograding.
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