Father's Day

Miss You Dad!

Partial Eclipse

Three rehearsals, six performances and a new guitar.....all in about a week. That was the crazy, but awesome whirlwind experience that was playing Partial Eclipse at Signature last week. The show was part of the theater's cabaret series that they're doing this summer and was advertised as "A Rock Song Cycle by the Composer of Nevermore, Matt Connor". Basically, it was a collection of new tunes that Matt's written.

The first two rehearsals went fine. It was a lot of music and I was sight reading it, but none of it was too difficult....the most challenging part was figuring out the arrangements and the key changes.....I have a hard time modulating sometimes, but everything seemed to be going smooth.
I get to the final tech rehearsal and my bass decides to not work anymore. I had been getting some static from my volume knob the last gig I had played but did a little home repair and thought I had it fixed....obviously not. With the entire cast and production staff looking at me, I tried to figure out how to make it work but it wasn't gonna happen, so I drove down to Guitar Center in Falls Church, ran into the store, grabbed the first bass I saw and bought it. Back at the theater I plug the new one in and it makes the same farty noises that the old one had been. Turns out my cable wasn't plugged all the way in. I looked at the music director and just laughed and asked, "Do you hear that? That's the sound of God laughing at me! I hear that all the time!"
Turns out my bass did have a bunch of electronic problems which I got fixed the next day. I had been planning to return the new bass, but I figured I should have a reliable back-up, so I went back to Guitar Center and exchanged the new one for a nice, used Ibanez that only cost $30 more. It's so nice actually, that the guys in the band were trying to convince me to play it instead of my green bass. It does sound great but the feel is so different I didn't want to break it in at a gig.
Oh yeah, the gig. I really enjoyed the music. Don't hate me for saying this, Matt, but the show reminded me a little of Songs For A New World, not melodically but in it's vibe...a collection of theatrical rock songs that each tell their own story but have an underlying theme. That's not to compare the sound of the music though...Matt has a style of his own.

The voices were unbelievable!!! Nuff said!

Everyone involved with the show was way cool and I got to touch Eric Schaeffer's Tony Award! Overall, it was a great experience.

Next up.....Fringe!