Played Mojo Acoustic again last night with Matt Reading guesting with me for his first full set, bar one track.This Old House
Do It Right
The Old Man & The Sea
Together, Forever
I Remember
I'll Wait For You
Stones In My Passway (Robert Johnson)
Heaven's Above
Do It Right
The Old Man & The Sea
Together, Forever
I Remember
I'll Wait For You
Stones In My Passway (Robert Johnson)
Heaven's Above
This was a tough show. Matt & I practiced pretty extensively leading up to it but unfortunately it just didn't go our way. I had a funny feeling leading up to it that it could turn into a forgettable gig, the setlist I chose was ballad heavy and that's never a good thing. There's only really three tracks of the eight that have any kick: Do it right, I Remember & Stones in my passway but by the time I realised the set was so wussy it was too late, we were too far into practicing for me to throw some new tracks on Matt to learn. I tried to cover it up by pacing the set as best I could, we broke the ballad's up so the tempo of the set never got to dull by always having a slow song followed by something with a bit more kick but in the end none of that mattered because the sound dominated everything.
Unfortunately Alan set up his massive Bose P.A in the tiny mojo acoustic room & it was just too much for the small venue. We had to stop twice mid-song due to feedback, and onstage Matt and I couldn't hear anything at all. We couldn't tell if it was too loud or not loud enough, I could feel the power of the p.a everytime I leaned into the mic so I never felt like I could actually sing with any purpose without completely going over the top. In the end Matt stopped singing and playing his shaker, two things that we had practiced heavily, and resorted to just sitting still and playing guitar on a couple of tracks. Needless to say it was a very frustrating set. As always there were a couple of songs that I thought went well, Stones in my passway, which was my first time playing one of Robert Johnson's songs was pretty awesome to play live (even though most people had given up on us by then), we played 'together, forever' and 'Heaven's above' well too, but by then it was too late. The audience had moved on to their beers and chatting.
Still, there's always good things to come out of these nights. I learned that I need to get bigger, Mojo acoustic is too small & I need the challenge of a bigger stage. Also that I need to control the sound of my shows or find a reliable sound man that I trust.
I give the gig a 3/10. A couple of nice moments for Matt & I personally but overall a forgettable show.
Unfortunately Alan set up his massive Bose P.A in the tiny mojo acoustic room & it was just too much for the small venue. We had to stop twice mid-song due to feedback, and onstage Matt and I couldn't hear anything at all. We couldn't tell if it was too loud or not loud enough, I could feel the power of the p.a everytime I leaned into the mic so I never felt like I could actually sing with any purpose without completely going over the top. In the end Matt stopped singing and playing his shaker, two things that we had practiced heavily, and resorted to just sitting still and playing guitar on a couple of tracks. Needless to say it was a very frustrating set. As always there were a couple of songs that I thought went well, Stones in my passway, which was my first time playing one of Robert Johnson's songs was pretty awesome to play live (even though most people had given up on us by then), we played 'together, forever' and 'Heaven's above' well too, but by then it was too late. The audience had moved on to their beers and chatting.
Still, there's always good things to come out of these nights. I learned that I need to get bigger, Mojo acoustic is too small & I need the challenge of a bigger stage. Also that I need to control the sound of my shows or find a reliable sound man that I trust.
I give the gig a 3/10. A couple of nice moments for Matt & I personally but overall a forgettable show.
