In attendance: Rick McCarthy, Chris Paquette, Brad Hogg, Glenn Hughes, Alex Lahoski, and Dev Ray.
Glenn, Brad, and Rick arrive first and head up to the loft. As we're setting up the room, Chris calls Brad to let them in, as the door buzzer and bell are apparently not working.
Starting at 8 pm with some circulation to set levels. Dev hasn't arrived yet, due to a bit of day-job-related preparation, so Alex asks to review the ornamental parts for Morning Has Broken. Glenn agrees to this, and we spend roughly the next 25 minutes or so relearning the parts and rehearsing the piece. For the August 7th luau gig, it looks like the ornamentation will go to either Alex or Brad (to be decided next week). At this point, we take a bit of a break, as we prepare to dive into other luau matters; Glenn chooses to bow out, due to impending work of his own.
Dev arrives a few minutes later, and Brad heads back down to let him in. We make it back to the top to the sound of Blockhead. Alex is presenting this piece specifically for the luau team, and so we dive into it for roughly 45 minutes. At the end, we're able to run it all the way through, and have it definitely on call for the gig.
Flying Home is called next, to see how this will play out in this line-up. The leads have a high lead part that is usually played by Glenn; this might be left out for this particular gig. A few more pieces of repertoire are mentioned, and Brad requests to hear Eye of the Needle with Dev laying out. After running the piece and working in some suggestions from Dev, there's a bit more discussion of the logistics of when we play, where we meet, and other practicalities, and then we call it a night at around 10:25 p.m.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
GCNE Performance, the Cloud Club, 07-10-2010 - Improv ORG
Full circle in attendance: Dev Ray, Alex Lahoski, Glenn Hughes, Chris Paquette, Rick McCarthy, Brad Hogg, Victor McSurely.
The circle arrives in bits and pieces over the course of an hour, at Northampton Street in Boston, around 9-10 pm. A friend of Victor's has asked us to play a set at Improv ORG, a private party held at the Cloud Club in Boston. Those in the know will recognize this place as one of the mainstays in the Boston counterculture movement (our host, Mali Sastri, plays in/is Jaggery, one of the better bands in Boston). A bit of warming up in the green room on the second floor (the entire house is like one big surrealist painting), and then we find that we're about to go on. So, up the stairs with stools, guitars, and cables.
10:35 or so, we're on. The performance space is on the top floor, and is very tight. We take our space, circle up and plug in (battery amplifiers for this one). Once the incidental music comes down, a moment of silence for us, and then we're in.
35 minutes later, we finish a set that is at times wonderful and other times quite intense, and have a moment of silence in the room before enthusiastic applause from the crowd. Back down the stairs to the green room, where we complete the task for the night. Once our things are put away, Victor discusses more of the Systematics pentad as it applies to us, within the context of the circle. Then, some talk* about what our upcoming work is: upcoming gigs, gigs that have yet to be acquired, musical tasks, etc. Finally, we agree that we should take Sunday off--having two performances in a week, followed by some more work with the pentad, seems to constitute a full week's work. Most of us are gone by 11:45 or so, and a couple stay behind. A good week, and a great night.
*This talk is punctuated by consistent floor pounding from the performance space above us: Amanda Palmer, Mali Sastri, and the rest of Jaggery are playing MIA's "Paper Planes" directly above our heads.
The circle arrives in bits and pieces over the course of an hour, at Northampton Street in Boston, around 9-10 pm. A friend of Victor's has asked us to play a set at Improv ORG, a private party held at the Cloud Club in Boston. Those in the know will recognize this place as one of the mainstays in the Boston counterculture movement (our host, Mali Sastri, plays in/is Jaggery, one of the better bands in Boston). A bit of warming up in the green room on the second floor (the entire house is like one big surrealist painting), and then we find that we're about to go on. So, up the stairs with stools, guitars, and cables.
10:35 or so, we're on. The performance space is on the top floor, and is very tight. We take our space, circle up and plug in (battery amplifiers for this one). Once the incidental music comes down, a moment of silence for us, and then we're in.
35 minutes later, we finish a set that is at times wonderful and other times quite intense, and have a moment of silence in the room before enthusiastic applause from the crowd. Back down the stairs to the green room, where we complete the task for the night. Once our things are put away, Victor discusses more of the Systematics pentad as it applies to us, within the context of the circle. Then, some talk* about what our upcoming work is: upcoming gigs, gigs that have yet to be acquired, musical tasks, etc. Finally, we agree that we should take Sunday off--having two performances in a week, followed by some more work with the pentad, seems to constitute a full week's work. Most of us are gone by 11:45 or so, and a couple stay behind. A good week, and a great night.
*This talk is punctuated by consistent floor pounding from the performance space above us: Amanda Palmer, Mali Sastri, and the rest of Jaggery are playing MIA's "Paper Planes" directly above our heads.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
GCNE Performance, at the Midway Cafe, 07-07-2010
Full circle in attendance: Victor McSurely, Rick McCarthy, Chris Paquette, Brad Hogg, Glenn Hughes, Alex Lahoski, Dev Ray.
The night begins with a warm-up at Brad's place, which is conveniently located three blocks from the venue. Victor, Chris, Rick and Brad spend roughly an hour playing and running repertoire, in order to get the hands working correctly. After this, a walk (and drive) down the street, for load in at 7 pm. Sound check at roughly a quarter of 8, to make sure that everything works, and a little more repertoire with the full group. Once we're finished with this, Victor and Randy Wooten set up for their opening slot (an ambient/looping project with Randy on drums), amidst a small amount of heckling from some of the bar regulars ("Aw, man, where's the eighth guitah playah? The sign says eight! Hey, you should do some covahs, you know, like 'In the Jungle', and have one guy doin' chords, and annuddah doin' the lead, you know, like 'ah-wheeee'. I'm just sayin'. . .")
Victor and Randy begin their set a bit before 9 pm. Great music, and the first time that they've played out in this format. Once they've finished their set, we strike the stage and reset for the circle. There's a bit of consternation between the house sound man and the circle, with regards to how the house mixer should be set, but it seems to be resolved simply, within a few minutes.
A bit of circulation, and then addressing a technical issue. And, at about 9:45, we're off!
No set list--this seems to be a good way for us to work, and really lets us gauge the momentum of the show. Opening with Flying Home, and closing with Asturias, with a fair amount of improvisation and repertoire in between. Intergalactic Boogie Express gets called in the middle of the set; we haven't played this in rehearsal in about 4 months, so some tricky spots are a little trickier, but it is surprisingly well played. Thrak is LOUD, the way that it should be
Once we finish the set at about 11 pm, we unplug, leave the stage and circle up. As we do so, the house sound man immediately turns up the house music to a slightly uncomfortable level, which is a little distressing, but we're able to finish and complete, regardless. The show is well-received, and everyone that is there (granted, not many, but it is a Wednesday night) is vocally impressed and pleased.
We fully strike the stage, enjoy a beer or two, and call it a night. Over all, a good performance.
The night begins with a warm-up at Brad's place, which is conveniently located three blocks from the venue. Victor, Chris, Rick and Brad spend roughly an hour playing and running repertoire, in order to get the hands working correctly. After this, a walk (and drive) down the street, for load in at 7 pm. Sound check at roughly a quarter of 8, to make sure that everything works, and a little more repertoire with the full group. Once we're finished with this, Victor and Randy Wooten set up for their opening slot (an ambient/looping project with Randy on drums), amidst a small amount of heckling from some of the bar regulars ("Aw, man, where's the eighth guitah playah? The sign says eight! Hey, you should do some covahs, you know, like 'In the Jungle', and have one guy doin' chords, and annuddah doin' the lead, you know, like 'ah-wheeee'. I'm just sayin'. . .")
Victor and Randy begin their set a bit before 9 pm. Great music, and the first time that they've played out in this format. Once they've finished their set, we strike the stage and reset for the circle. There's a bit of consternation between the house sound man and the circle, with regards to how the house mixer should be set, but it seems to be resolved simply, within a few minutes.
A bit of circulation, and then addressing a technical issue. And, at about 9:45, we're off!
No set list--this seems to be a good way for us to work, and really lets us gauge the momentum of the show. Opening with Flying Home, and closing with Asturias, with a fair amount of improvisation and repertoire in between. Intergalactic Boogie Express gets called in the middle of the set; we haven't played this in rehearsal in about 4 months, so some tricky spots are a little trickier, but it is surprisingly well played. Thrak is LOUD, the way that it should be
Once we finish the set at about 11 pm, we unplug, leave the stage and circle up. As we do so, the house sound man immediately turns up the house music to a slightly uncomfortable level, which is a little distressing, but we're able to finish and complete, regardless. The show is well-received, and everyone that is there (granted, not many, but it is a Wednesday night) is vocally impressed and pleased.
We fully strike the stage, enjoy a beer or two, and call it a night. Over all, a good performance.
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