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Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland
Me Live
well I knew it would happen ...
Now i suddenly have a live gig ......
My wife decided to volunteer me to play ...thank you ,,,,
It is part of a charity/fundraising thing ,,, and I have been put in ..(she tells me later)
Anyway its in a small cathedral, which is one thing that is of interest .. acoustics in a place like that ... Theres an Irish harp player , piano , some choral singing ...and me ...suppose its time to clean the guitar up and change strings ... I got 1 week ...
Due to a mixed range of audience ....I was thinking of playing
An old Sevillanas by Pepe Martinez .. its very lively and i know it well ...
Also i was thinking of putting in Ricardo Marlows Cafe Sole...that comes out ok and is fairly easy listening . I hope Ricardo doesnt mind that I totally ripped off his tune and will use it .. i will of course give the composers a mention ,,,
I only have to play 2 or 3 pieces so i have a bulerias , in Aminor ..if I need it and a nice solear , but i dont think i will be needing that ,,,
wish me luck .. if it goes wrong i may have to move house ....
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I'm sure you will do just fine, Kiko. In fact, your performance will be the most exotic of the lot, from what I can tell. You had better prepare an extra piece though, as I can see the audience requesting an encore. Oh, and have a copita of jerez before the show to put you in the right frame of mind.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
If its anything like the states 99.9% of people don't know a flamenco from a flamingo so anything you play will amaze them. As everyone else said, a drink or two will do wonders but your a talented guy I'm sure you'll be fine. Go kill it Kiko!
i only have one week (less) ... its this Friday ... there really arent any other musicians near me ...except a sax player ...
I will use all my stage presence experience instead .... besides I seem to thrive under pressure ,, . it gives me focus and something happens .. dont know what but it happens ...
there is no easy ... , just do ....fear is the path to the dark side .... etc etc ....
Aw, this sounds like a good opportunity for you to develop as a player -- even if it was forced on you by the wifey.
quote:
Anyway its in a small cathedral, which is one thing that is of interest .. acoustics in a place like that ...
Curiously, will you have an opportunity to practice in the cathedral before the day of the show? If you can get that, it might help you feel more comfortable during the performance. Just a thought.
no unfortunately , i did once practice in a small church a while ago ,, and the acoustics were interesting depending on where you sit ... of course if it is full of people that changes things a bit as people absorb sound that would otherwise bounce back (early reflections).
but really i will be just happy to get through without making a(n obvious) mistake.
You know its bound to happen, you practice and practice then one day someone expects you to actually play in public! Its quite and eye opener the first time. I remember it well, an open house at a law firm of all places. Crazy, I was nervous but stuck to the basics and got an actual round of applause after 4 copla's of Sevillanas! Good luck and enjoy the moment...
well i did it and it went well (ish) ...gotta say though , that big churches and things can be really cold ,, my hands were freezin ...
but it went ok ... although i did make a mistake in a sevillanas .. of all things and a one i been playing for years .. without mistakes ..... i suppose i need to get out more again ...
a lot of people liked it afterward .. and had some unusual questions ... Like ..is flamenco guitar harder than other guitar? do you have to have been playing a long time to learn flamenco ..?
and things like that ... seemingly people regard flamenco as if it was almost a different instrument or something ..over here anyway ,,,,
ah well .....
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Nice! Congrats Kiko! Playing solo is very tough, I much prefer hiding behind dancers and even another guitarist if at all possible lol. That is the thing about flamenco though, it's so foreign to most that just about anything you play they think is awesome. And your supposed to tell them "Yes, it's the hardest in the world and yes, you have to be a studio caliber guitarist to even approach it" make yourself look good you know!
thanks guys ... someone said to me yesterday.. ''now that your out playing , you will get asked again for this and that'' .....hmmm...
Leñador...i wish i could hide behind dancers as you put it.. some complain about them a bit but its one thing i would like to do .... besides ... you put a pretty dancer on stage and who will be watching me ?... or listening ...
seemingly people regard flamenco as if it was almost a different instrument or something ..over here anyway ,,,,
Congratulations, Kiko! Regarding your observation that people seem to regard flamenco as if it were a very different instrument or form, I think that's true. I remember discovering flamenco when I was 17 (that's 55 years ago!) and first picked up an album by Carlos Montoya, and then seeing Carlos live in Phoenix, Arizona that same year, and then graduating to Sabicas. It seemed utterly exotic to me at the time.
This was the time when Martin Denny had his band, using exotic and interesting instrument to create his best-selling album "Exotica" and the hit taken from the album, "Quiet Village." It was sort of exotic lounge music that conjured up visions of the South Pacific with a hint of Asia (or so it seemed to us at the time, with our as yet unformed but vague intimations of adventure and forbidden fruit). In any case, flamenco had the same effect on me.
I think that because we have made flamenco a passion, learn it, play it, listen to it, and at times almost live it, we tend to take it for granted and forget how utterly different and exotic it sounds to most people. In pursuing this interest, we have been granted a gift, even those, like me, who are at best mediocre players.
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
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Just have a glass or 2 red wine to get relaxed, and rip them off 
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