rogeliocan -> Doing gigs (May 15 2013 15:42:29)
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This year, I, along with 2 dancers have begun playing at different events. My number one enemy was nervousness, something I improved by playing every week in coffee shops. Doing shows was always a goal of mine, even though I did not know if I would be able to. Originally my goals were just to do events like we do now, private parties, festivals, cafes, etc... Now that I am doing that, it has lost a lot of its, call it glamor, if you will. I find that I don't like these crowds at all. Mainly because they limit me in what I can play. Like I read in other posts, people don't want flamenco (they don't know what it is), so we end up having to rip out all serious stuff and make sure that everything is 'lively and entertaining', which is just half of what I like and a lot of what I am not interested in... playing and signing rumbas.... but that is where the crowd wakes up. So my thoughts on giving shows have changed, until we can offer dedicated flamenco shows where people pay, all this stuff is just practice and I have to make the best of it, if I ever get there. My worst show ever happened last night... we played at a home... the toughest crowd ever (and I bet there are worst). But this caught be off guard. There was one or 2 folks whistling and humming (their own unrelated tune) constantly (figured there was senility involved). That distracted my first solo, for a split second, I paused, looked up, wanting to stop and ask them to stop, then realized it was probably uncontrollable. Later, an old man walks out, walks on the stage and has the courtesy of saying 'this is not worth 5 cents'. No big deal, I understand that they would rather hear music they are used to, stuff from the 50s... but that is not why I am there....anyways, it was an experience. Way worst than playing in coffee shops. Note taken, shows at homes, 30 minutes max.
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