At the show

I recently played a gig at The Rave. I’ve played there two times previously, once with Bluefire as pre-show entertainment for Collective Soul and once with Tankapillars in a Battle of the Bands (which we took 2nd place). This time I played a solo show, just me and my guitar. The set list was as follows;

1. Broken Glass Slippers – Chris Koterba/Spendthrift Sai
2. Long Black Veil – Lefty Frizzel
3. In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins
4. Tattoo of a Killer – Chris Koterba/Spendthrift Sai
5. Old – Chris Koterba/Bluefire
6. Living Life – Daniel Johnston

The show went well aside from some difficulties with the sound. I was having a good time. And I got some good response from the audience.

When I perform, I can only concentrate on the song a certain amount or I will screw up the song. My mind is of the sort that often during the song I will daydream or plan the next bit of improve between tunes or something in the room will catch my attention. As it happened I was distracted by the sound from the P.A. and monitors during most of the set but it occurred to me that I actually performed the song “Old” with Bluefire when we played there. “Old” is a heavy song in its original form. There are lots of pounding drums and overdriven guitars and anger emanating from this song about a man who finds his wife cheating on him and flies into a murderous rampage. It is one of the better tunes I have written and, performed in its original form, can be quite a memorable song.

I look back at the Bluefire gig at The Rave and smile. It seemed every song we played lasted for about 167 years and yet the performance was over in about 3.5 seconds flat. It was such an intense gig because everyone in the band had always come to The Rave to see bands we loved and now here we were, playing in the same building that many of our hero’s had played. I briefly attempted to share this with the audience but quickly realized that it would take considerable more time than I had left on stage and that, moreover, most of the people there wouldn’t care.

I finished the gig and was happy I got through it with out too much hassle. I like playing shows. I like getting a set together. I like playing the gig and seeing people react to something I’m doing and I like it when it ends. I walk off stage or set my guitar down one last time and I have a new set of memories and some potential new stories to share. It is something I look forward to doing as long as I can.

Photo by Mel Vyvyan