in which I party somewhat hearty
So I went to that thing, and it was pretty cool. (Removed courtesy cut for length - I am shameless.) I'd been making myself nervous all last week, and when I showed up my stepmother said so had my father! 1 But we had fun practicing that night (I got in at 10pm on Thurs), and then the next day, before the party started (at the ridiculous hour of 7pm, though nobody showed until 8) we took some Inderal, and then I had three Cosmo's on an empty stomach2 and I was rollin'.
The hired band was pretty decent, though for a "blues band" they didn't know some pretty basic standards - "Bring It On Home", "If You Need Me", for example. I sang bkp on "Do Right Woman", "Come On In My Kitchen", "Bright Lights, Big City", and "Any Way You Want Me" as planned. Then I also sang on "Josephine" (hadn't practiced that one at all, though I'd listened to it a bit - I made up the harmony on the spot, which in retrospect was easy3) and tried to sing lead on "Before You 'Cuse Me" but Dad had other ideas and commandeered it, so essentially we sang separate solo leads on it 4. Sadly no one taped it (lame - the guy didn't have any recording gear on him), but overall reaction was positive.5 Stevie said he couldn't hear me, but I could hear myself when I really swallowed the mic6.
I met some of my brother's friends, among them a charming elf named Lizzie, who I forced to smoke up in front of her father. Then I had to go on stage for 30 mins or so. By the time I came back she had exacted her revenge by disappearing with my lighter. I had other smoking issues that night - walked to the tienda during sound check/hanging around to buy a pack, smoked them ALL by like 9:30, convinced Will's friend Matt to drive me to get more7, then my sister arrived and spilled white wine all over the new pack. Like ruined them. This resulted in my having to ride home with she and Stephen so she could get me another pack. Then we hung out a bit - Dad having come home and playing by himself with his little loop-making pedal in the living room - and went to bed around 3.
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1 - She'd just spent the entire car ride home from the airport convincing me that I didn't even have to go up if I didn't want to.
2 - I'd had nothing but a paltry piece of Kringle in the morning.
3 - the harmonies on 3 out of the 4 songs above are all the same in relation to the lead, similar melodic structure and even same keys - I just applied the same formula and AFAICT it didn't sound horrible.
4 - Which is pretty much what Stan and I do, come to think of it, about 9 times out of 10.
5 - I found myself responding with "Oh, pshaw - how you do go on!"
6 - TWSS - which *I* said at least 3 times during the course of the evening, BTW. They gave me so many great lead-ins! (Lady making housecleaning app't with a dude: "I only have one opening." Stevie upon seeing the main course (BBQ): "That pulled pork is making my mouth water.")
7 I used the $10 Will had given me to buy him some7a by accident and didn't even buy him any! (Too drunk, totally forgot.)
7a - Camel Turkish Royals, if you can believe that shit. I realize not everyone has the good taste to smoke Marlboro menthol lights, but c'mon, man. Because today's his bday I am cutting him some slack.
The hired band was pretty decent, though for a "blues band" they didn't know some pretty basic standards - "Bring It On Home", "If You Need Me", for example. I sang bkp on "Do Right Woman", "Come On In My Kitchen", "Bright Lights, Big City", and "Any Way You Want Me" as planned. Then I also sang on "Josephine" (hadn't practiced that one at all, though I'd listened to it a bit - I made up the harmony on the spot, which in retrospect was easy3) and tried to sing lead on "Before You 'Cuse Me" but Dad had other ideas and commandeered it, so essentially we sang separate solo leads on it 4. Sadly no one taped it (lame - the guy didn't have any recording gear on him), but overall reaction was positive.5 Stevie said he couldn't hear me, but I could hear myself when I really swallowed the mic6.
I met some of my brother's friends, among them a charming elf named Lizzie, who I forced to smoke up in front of her father. Then I had to go on stage for 30 mins or so. By the time I came back she had exacted her revenge by disappearing with my lighter. I had other smoking issues that night - walked to the tienda during sound check/hanging around to buy a pack, smoked them ALL by like 9:30, convinced Will's friend Matt to drive me to get more7, then my sister arrived and spilled white wine all over the new pack. Like ruined them. This resulted in my having to ride home with she and Stephen so she could get me another pack. Then we hung out a bit - Dad having come home and playing by himself with his little loop-making pedal in the living room - and went to bed around 3.
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1 - She'd just spent the entire car ride home from the airport convincing me that I didn't even have to go up if I didn't want to.
2 - I'd had nothing but a paltry piece of Kringle in the morning.
3 - the harmonies on 3 out of the 4 songs above are all the same in relation to the lead, similar melodic structure and even same keys - I just applied the same formula and AFAICT it didn't sound horrible.
4 - Which is pretty much what Stan and I do, come to think of it, about 9 times out of 10.
5 - I found myself responding with "Oh, pshaw - how you do go on!"
6 - TWSS - which *I* said at least 3 times during the course of the evening, BTW. They gave me so many great lead-ins! (Lady making housecleaning app't with a dude: "I only have one opening." Stevie upon seeing the main course (BBQ): "That pulled pork is making my mouth water.")
7 I used the $10 Will had given me to buy him some7a by accident and didn't even buy him any! (Too drunk, totally forgot.)
7a - Camel Turkish Royals, if you can believe that shit. I realize not everyone has the good taste to smoke Marlboro menthol lights, but c'mon, man. Because today's his bday I am cutting him some slack.