Hey Steemians! The working weekend is now over for me and it was fantastic. Two great gigs with the Jenn B band and now a nice day off to catch up on all the work I want to get done for the week (It's not work if you love it though). There were lot's of beautiful pictures and even some film clips taken from the performance on Friday. Lots of photos taken of the Saturday gig too but nothing posted yet so I'll review that one tomorrow for a more visual experience.
Let's Begin
I left off the last blog post with my feelings and thoughts on the gig. I have to say I feel ok about the gig as a whole. Hometown gigs are always a little harder as it's your friends and family you are playing for. I always feel even more exposed as a musician but I will say that this time, with this band, I had little trouble finding that zone of letting music flow from me naturally. I think some of the photos display that.
I felt like I was grooving hard at this gig. I felt at one with my drum kit for many songs. Not every song mind you, but nearly every song. Sometimes even the littlest thing can bring me out of zone of transferring my thoughts and ideas into music instantly. The more I play and the older I get, the better I get at staying in that beautiful creative place but it's not easy. The grooves were there and the people danced with us. It makes you feel alive man.
I could feel the love in the room as we played. I could feel the good vibes that music brings and creates when we cruised through our two sets. It's always an extreme honour to sit behind the drum kit and conduct the band, the groove and the feel of the night. It's a big responsibility. My Dutch parents were there, my wife was there, it was a really personal experience for me. That those people who I love so much will come and see me play is still special to me, and I will always keep it that way.
( a fun photo of my wife and Dutch parents!)
One great thing about having your family there is I feel like I can let go of my technicality and play more emotionally. Technique is the key to letting go of your frustrations and letting the emotion speak volumes about what you're trying to say as a musician, but too much technique can limit your emotional. impact on an audience.
I think on some level if you're a professional and you give a damn about what you're doing, you will become frustrated at yourself. In music, I believe this doesn't help. I believe you need discipline mixed with motivation to achieve what you want, not dissatisfaction with yourself. I have my moments on stage, as does everyone else. I think this photo below captured a moment I was frustrated with myself. It's hard for me to post or see a photo like this but I think it's important for me to share it and for my story.
I will say that I was disappointed with how we ended the night. It was beyond our control, but knowing what we could have done it was a bit of a let down. We have a great finale number, but because the bass player had bad cramps in his hand, he requested we finish with 'Mojo Working' and end the show. Nothing wrong with this or our rendition of the song, we just do such a great boogie tune to finish our shows it was hard knowing what could have been. We had been building to that crescendo of the night and to top it off would have been spectacular. Still a great night thought! Gotta let that stuff slide as best you can.
As we walked off stage we were congratulated by friends, family and general audience members alike. It's just a great feeling to come off stage and be thanked for making music. Music means so much to so many, especially myself! To be thanked and have the energy transfer come full circle is always a beautiful moment to be had.
Huge, massive and incredible thanks to Marcel Markus for all the incredible pictures he took of me. Marcel is such an artist with the camera and also a really nice guy. I love talking with him and being in his pictures is like being framed in a painting.
Big thanks to Rene from Art Visuals for this great video and for the black and white picture of me looking frustrated! Rene is a great guy as well and a good friend
The second gig and part two of my weekend to follow, thanks for reading!
-Joel
PS if you read this far and you're wondering, that absolutely was an Undertale reference in the title
