Guitar, Drums (gig) and Sarah McLachlan

First of all, our pitch exercise was all a big mistake. Haha! We were doing the wrong thing. We focused on timbre instead. Well I just have to read them back all over again and get it right. They are pretty important as of now.

I had my very first acoustic gig. My 2 friends, Siraaj, Luqman and myself were invited to play at this cafe and we gladly did it. The guy who did sound was a very good friend of mine, Keith from Lee Kwong Seng. I'm lucky it was him, so he and I knew what I needed in my monitor and he knew just how an acoustic gig should sound like. I am thankful for that. This was also where I practised my PR work. I used to just stay still on stage (behind the drums) or stand with my guitar and say nothing until the host asked me a question. Turns out that the crowd enjoyed what we did and I'm very glad to know that. I will work on the things that needs work. Like singing with confidence and looking at the crowd more when I'm singing. It just shows how much the audience means to me I guess. Work on it!! Argh.

Today I had another gig at Somerset Road. Youthopia Xclaim 3 it was called. The soundcheck was really pleasant. But as soon as we got on stage, my guitarist's guitar amp was giving problems. He was very frustrated, but he seemed to have just kept his cool instead of screaming. Well after he was done.. I was the one who did the screaming. Haha! I mean, I screamed at him to give support? Hope you know what I mean. We played Radiohead's Idioteque, off of their Kid A album. I used a metronome to this song. I used the Tama Rhythm Watch. It's so cool, I got it as a birthday present from my brother who always urged me to use the metronome. Anyway the gig was more like a competition and we won 3rd! Haha, I'm actually very happy and fortunate to have actually won something. Some people don't, so we gotta be thankful for the things that come along our way. Pure experience.

Right now as I'm blogging, I'm watching Sarah McLachlan's Mirrorball DVD. Oh My God! She is so amazing! She has control over her voice!! The band is also amazing!! The drummer is just groovy and the guitar players hit the right tones. Gosh, when can I get that??! Soon, but not soon enough. Work on it! I realize lighting plays a very very crucial role in many live events. Though the first quarter of Jamie Cullum's concert didn't use alot of lights as it was set in the afternoon. And he made it through the first quarter without fancy lights beautifully.

So I have to work on playing music without lighting. I'll know how to deal with the 2 situations in future so that's cool. If only I had my own lighting technician whom I can lias with. That would be so cool.