Putting on the Chopin Complete Piano Works to help me write this one.
We played a show on Friday at the Tiki Bar.
Watson played first.
We were originally going to play last, but Molly (a band I help play guitar in) said it was be a good thing if they got the headlining spot. Having arranged the show and worked out the setlist order with the other bands over the course of months, I said “alright.”
And the other bands were furious. A man from Emerson Void (another of the bands) held his lit cigarette to our bassist's cheek. The police were called but we waved them away. The show hadn't even begun yet.
Watson took the stage, our first show with our new lineup. There was Alyssa, my beautiful gf, on drums. And Wes, a phenomenal bassist and great guy, on bass. A 3-piece. Nirvana style. Modest Mouse style. We even covered Trucker's Atlas… though that was the one that forced the venue to cut our set short (we didn't get to play Karma Chameleon).
The show was fun. I remembered how fun it is to be the frontman of a man. Guitar and vocals, that was my job. And I sang the songs as we'd rehearsed and danced about a bit and looked over at Alyssa for the cues. I didn't look over to Wes much. Later I found out some evil local psycho had dosed him against his will (sending him hurtling towards a land where his physical form could not “function” in the traditional sense) with those gas station mushrooms they now sell. So he bailed silently and I did not notice he had dipped til the next day when he texted me to explain the situation.
But his bassage was solid. And Alyssa was amazing on the drums. She didn't make a single mistake. She hit all the cues, she just nailed it.
So what's next for the Watson LIVE thing??? I have no idea. I really do like this lineup and I feel like we could get it to sound really good if we put the work in. This new craigslist guy John wants to play guitar with us but I'm not sure. He's a cool guy but do I want to commit to having a full on BAND and regularly playing shows when we are at this LEVEL? I mean, I really think I can get us to a higher level through promoting the studio recordings on Tiktok and then, when we will actually draw FANS beyond our friends and family, THEN we put together a killer band.
The other bands were cool too. Mad Menace was especially energetic. I watched their whole set. But MOLLY my other band didn't watch any of the other bands and sat out back drinking the whole time. I just don't think they understand how important it is to build relationships if we want to be a part of a SCENE. but then again, they just don't care. And to tell you the truth I don't much either. I just figured if I was already there at the show, I might as well meet some cool people and witness their music.
So overall the show was good. People loved “Leave Your Husband.” My brother Andrew drove down from Simi Valley and he even said “I thought that was a cover.” Compliment received.
No shows planned right now but a LOT of studio stuff coming this summer. I'd like to do a whole separate blog post about that. Maybe I will after this. I was thinking it would be cool to get some room mics in the backroom of my house and just record our covers of Karma Chameleon and Surfin' USA. Just for fun. Just to have. Maybe I'll pick a weekend and do that…
WATSON BACKROOM RECORDING SESSIONS
Call it the Backroom Sessions
Pick a weekend
-set up mics in the back room and record covers of KARMA and SURFIN’ and TRUCKERS (or second half of truckers which is a jam and make it into its own song) or even like that cool live version of O VEGAS or GRANTED.
We did have a very cool version of O Vegas that we didn't get to play. Cut for time. The sound guy said to us over the monitors “one more song.” So we asked the audience and they wanted “Leave Your Husband.” Can you believe that? Anyway live show was cool. Let me make a separate blog post about the studio songs.