| THURSDAY
07.30.98
too many people
The gig at The Catamaran tonight was unbelievably packed! I mean most of the time you couldn't walk anywhere without traffic jams. I thought to myself, man, they're making a lot of money off of us tonight because we're getting a flat fee, which is a very decent amount for a Thursday night gig, but with all the people that came tonight we could have made out with a percentage at the door! They alternated our swing band with a DJ playing rap music! Unbelievable... not a good combination. I think our swing fans were not happy, and we had to compete with a rap crowd. Not cool! I just hope this doesn't happen again, or I might refuse to play. My solo tonight on Sing, Sing, Sing was a piece of trash. I was not happy with it at all. I guess after all the adrenaline had worn out from the Arizona tour, I just struggled with my performance pretty much the whole night. My drum solo on Bugle Call Rag was a bit better, but the solo on Jump, Jive and Wail was even better still. Sometimes it's so hard to play the same music over and over again. Just two years ago I was "joe freelance" drummer. I struggled with having to play in seven different band situations playing Latin-Jazz, Acid-Jazz, Funk, Standards, Country, Polkas, Blues, etc. It was a rewarding experience in the sense that I was well-rounded and played a variety of different musical styles. The challenge now with the swing band is to maintain a freshness in the music everytime we perform. It's hard. But that's why I'm glad we're going on tours to Arizona, Colorado, Las Vegas and Northern California because then I know the music is fresh with the crowd. Our local fan base has heard all our tunes, so it's more challenging to keep the music fresh with them. After tonight's gig at The Catamaran, we had to get to the KUSI Channel 9 Television Studio to set up for tomorrow's morning show which would be live. Actually, after The Catamaran gig it was already the next morning. I didn't get home til 3:30am and slept for a couple of hours before waking up and getting ready for the TV show. CDs Played Today:
Somewhere In Time - Original Soundtrack Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert
Carl Sandburg - Selected Poems
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