hair

Photo by Cameron Wittig

had fun finally getting to play our loring park show last night. pins and needles for me during the 24 hours prior, watching massive storms roll through the dakotas and western minnesota. but luckily nothing came our way until later in the evening.

except a whole hell of a lot of wind. i spent the entire set trying not to choke on dust or my hair, both of which were constantly flying throughout the set. got a pretty killer rainbow out of the deal though.

the band sounded great, from what i was told. there were moments where i could hear what other people were doing, but for the most part i felt like i was performing in a vacuum. in reality, i was performing in the opposite of a vacuum– with nothing to keep sound bouncing around within earshot, anything not pointed directly at your head is pretty much lost on you when you play outdoors.

so i heard a lot of my guitar last night (good to get to turn that amp up last night- got all the way to 2 on the volume knob! who needs amps that go to 11 when 4 will melt your face!?), and my voice, which has undergone a lot of changes over the last three years. either my range has increased up into the tenor realm, or i've only recently learned how to use it. my pitch control, projection, and falsetto have solidified greatly since i made my last record, and in the recordings i've made over the last year i've noticed i've acquired, of all things, vibrato. my high school choir teacher would be proud of me.

but the mix onstage was rather uninspiring and at times (and for reasons unknown) precarious. i was really looking forward to singing out as i had been in rehearsal the last two weeks. our rehearsals had been very moving despite their novelty; marshall, nona, joanna, and ellen brought new vigor to old songs and new songs into fruition. at one point i even got choked up during a song as i drew breath to sing after hearing nona sing a solo counterpoint part she wrote for hungry ghost. but alas, this was all in rehearsal, and while there was a much appreciated element of catharsis from last night's performance, i awoke today glad that i have another opportunity in the near future to attempt to fulfill the very personal, esoteric, and at times abstract and unrealistic standards by which i define a good performance.