First Gig

Finally the night has come.

We played at a venue called The Backstage, in Bath St. I'm so glad I insisted on a soundcheck when I found Stu our sound guy would be available after all. I had to bunk off from work and it took some effort to score enough mics and sus the PA, but we would have sounded like crap if we hadn't. The venue is a pretty good space and stage, although the sound's a little on the bright side.

It was a wickedly cold and drizzly night, being the winter solstice. Bob's other band Dragonfly warmed up for us, to a pretty small crowd, but they were good. Nice original rock that reminded me a little of Fur Patrol. I missed the middle of their set and went for a walk. I hate hanging around the venue making small talk before a gig. The anticipation distracts me horribly. I think it used to make me power drink, but I'm too old for that shit. Most of the time anyway.

A bunch of family and friends had arrived by ten thirty, when we got up to start. I had two new additions to my gear. A tambourine, and a set of earplugs. Boy I am getting old. We opened with some comfortable blues tunes that Mike and I have been playing for years and jamming with Anders for months. I was pretty pleased with my harp sound, I had my amp mic'd though the PA.

Then I strapped on my strat and played "Curious George", a tune I wrote for my daughter and dad. That was weird. Mike asked me to play lead in the middle, which was scary, and I actually had to fight the tears towards the end. I think it went down okay. We've been adjusting the structure of the tune all week. It'll be great to fill the set with more originals. I'm losing my fear of not being a strictly blues band. We'll be what we'll be.

I started Rufus Thomas's '"Walking the Dog" on guitar, and played some more lead. It felt great, and was scary to stretch myself on another instument, but I don't think I sucked too bad.

Then in the middle of the set, we played some other new material, including some covers of Bigbang, a Norwegian band. I really don't know how to describe their material. Folky, bluesy rock I guess. It's a stretch, but a lot of fun. Mike's stepdaughter Kauia joined us to sing a great version of Junior Wells's "Little by Little", and did a fantastic job of bv's on some other stuff, along with Anders' girlfriend Geva. One of the gang from work video'd Kauia's spell, so I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.

Boog, the guitarist from White Hot and Blue also showed up. It was good to see him again, and hear of his recent adventures in his new band The Boogiemen. Sounds like he's enjoying the band leader thing too. It's a lot of work, but rewarding. He got up and played harp on Little Charlie and the Nightcats' "Thinking With The Wrong Head".

It was all really well received by the crowd, even though they were mainly family and friends. Among the band, there was a feeling that the set softened around half way, then firmed up again, but after all, it was a 90 minute set! We were really stoked by it all, especially since Crosseyed Cat has only been together for three weeks.

New band, new intruments, new material. How could it not be a buzz? It was a great night, and augurs well for the future.