In attendance: Alex Lahoski, Rick McCarthy, Chris Paquette, Brad Hogg, Glenn Hughes, Terry Tungjunyatham.
In the circle at about 8 p.m., with some circulation to check levels. We start warming up with the 16 Bar exercise--as we're playing, Victor McSurely walks in to check on us. This is his last Sunday before flying to Italy. When Glenn asks for another calisthenic exercise, Brad suggests the 28 Bar exercise. A few are unsure on the form, so Brad begins to show it, but it becomes quickly obvious that it's alotta chords. Victor suggests approaching just the first 4 chords, for calisthenic purposes. Several people in the circle begin this exercise as 16th notes, but by the time we finish, we are all playing in 32nd notes (the tremolo part of the exercise).
Bicycling to Afghanistan, with Terry on lead, Chris on mid, and Glenn on bass. Unusually slow tempo. Some clarification on the lead part, from Victor, and a bit more of this at a more appropriate speed. Choosing to look at this, later tonight, we move to 3rd Relation. After playing this, Victor asks who in the circle was holding the tempo back, prompting a second run with attention to tempo.
Eye of the Needle. Only one person on bass, as David is not here, tonight, but well-played, with a decent balance of parts. Where's the Nurse, next. After we play this, Victor asks Brad if he's ever played bass in a band. When answered, "No," Victor advises him to play more assertively, and to listen to some bass players over the next couple of days. A second runthrough.
Askesis, next. There is a question about the clarity of "the tricky bit", which boils down to playing the parts accurately, so that the clarity becomes available. Victor also mentions how the piece was written in an hour or so, and how it was the first theme not written by RF.
Bum break. Glenn mentions that the Myspace salute didn't work, as we didn't have the entire URL of the website in the photo, and pulls out his camera. As he's arranging the shot, Victor takes a moment to ask us all to really consider what's coming up, in addition to the gig. Some form of participation at a distance with the completion course is suggested, as well as a different, less attached practice. Important words to consider.
Myspace Salute 2.0! One wonders what exactly prompted Rupert Murdoch to come up with this. With this, Victor takes his leave, for the night, with wishes for safe travels following him.
Calliope, back in the circle. There are some parts that need to be relearned in one of the leads, but otherwise, this should be good. Flying Home, next, with some clarification of both lead/mirror lead parts and bass (as well as attention to tuning).
Prelude, with Alex in pole position. One false start, due to some unintended contemporary reharmonization, and then a full run. This comes out much better than we had expected. Some discussion of arrhythmia in some parts, and another run. Intergalactic Boogie Express, next. This is a touch slower than some recordings, but the groove is much tighter--it feels like the right tempo for this circle. We address the outro chords, and then move back to Bicycling. Some more work with this.
"When ready, begin." Two parts to this, with a moment of silence in between the parts, and a longer holding of the moment after. We call it a night at about 10:15 p.m.
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