Yes SZ buddies, you read it right. Geez….I had the ultimate baptism by fire tonight! HA HA. I was booked to back a female singer that I occasionally work with. She offered me a 20-minute show paying $150 – no need to take an amp or speakers, just plug the keyboard in…so I said “Great” and agreed. Then a couple days ago the rest of the details came out. There was this big benefit tonight – it was a “swing music night” outside in an upscale resort complex down here. The main entertainment was this 18-piece locals big band. She initially wanted to sing w/them but they refused to let her sing because they have their own female vocalist. But the host of the evening wanted this lady I backup to sing, so he said “OK, you and a keyboard guy can go on during the big band’s intermission”. So a couple days ago I began to realize I was going to earn the $150. Due to my horrible travel schedule, I haven’t worked w/this lady recently, but I do have all her songs in my registrations. So we did a quick rehearsal last night. She said “hey, since this is a swing thing and they are going to have swing dancers, let’s up the tempos on all the songs”. ERR… Kewl. Then because we were operating against a big band, she said “I want to make the majority of the show to sound as much as possible like a big band”. ERR…Kewl. Here are the songs we did tonight (all but 'Ballad Medley' and 'At Last' were uptempo things, and the Ballad Medley and Train Medley did not use the big band styles – all others did):

Satin Doll – Big Band @ 160

Train Medley – Cocktail combo @ 160
Chattanooga ChooChoo
Sentimental Journey
Atcheson Topeka
PA 6-5000

Ballad Medley – Slow ballad w/strings and piano @ 80
Moonlight Becomes You
Embraceable You
The Very Thought of You
I’ll be Seeing You

Don’t Get Around Much Anymore – Big Band @ 177

At Last – Big Band Ballad @ 90

All of Me – Big Band Swing @ 180

Medley – Both big band, first song @110, second @ 177
Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

OK, so I spend all day yesterday and all day today woodshedding these things. I was so worried about having it all down that I forgot to eat lunch or dinner today. I showed up at the gig location at 4:45 (had to set up before the 7:00 show to do a sound check)…too bad…the big band had already consumed the entire stage. Their keyboard player had his (Roland) board literally against the drummer’s back. I wasn’t about to put my T2 on the stage (5 feet above ground) and have it knocked off during their set, so I talked to the band members and got them to agree to vacate the keyboard area at intermission time. So then I sat and watched the crowd grow. This was a free event, it was a great night outside (very low humidity today!) and by 6:45 there were at least 500 people there and standing room only. So this was going to be the biggest gig I ever played w/my keyboard. And I was indeed sweating it. The big band starts their set late and at maybe 8:15 I noted that my stomach was telling me… “Hey, what’s up? I can deal without lunch – but dinner too?”…

Had no time to worry - they were on their last song. The vocalist came up to me and said “let’s get up there”. I took a quick gulp of water and headed to the stage. As soon as they hit the last note, I threw my song book, pedal, keyboard stand, music rack and power cable on the stage. By the time the other keyboard guy got his stand and board out of the way, I had the T2 sitting on the stage. Made my way to the keyboard “area” behind the drum set (made sure I was politically correct by complimenting the band members on the way up!). The vocalist and host are already at my side asking me “How much longer?”. The sound guys patched into their system from the T2’s mono output jack. I had no monitor other than a keyboard amp behind me that the other guy was using. I ran a rather hasty check and noted that the little keyboard amp behind me had terrible rumbling bass (blanked out all the other sounds from the T2). I elected to just go without the rumbling monitor behind me (tried adjusting it and it was either “all bass” or nothing) and rely on the singer’s monitor which was about 20 feet away from me.

OK – is anyone really still reading? Here’s probably the part that anyone who reads this post wanted to see… sorry for the lengthy setup. Somehow the adrenaline rush (I assume) helped me get through the show and the T2 sounded terrific!!! I had some friends in the audience and they said the T2 sounded better than the big band (of course I realize they were friends). During the first set the band played, I thought there was a good chance the T2 was going to hold its own in this particular environment given (a) the fact that the sound was professionally provided and they had some very large speakers up there; and (b) the polish of the Yammie styles and the realism of the instruments. I worried initially about running so many big band styles w/intros and flashy endings, but during the show, the crowd seemed to love it and not care that I was doing it all w/technology assistance. During that “fast 25 minutes” the dance floor they had set up was packed. After our performance, I received several compliments from the band members and they said the sounds on the T2 had amazing realism.

Bottom line: I would prefer not to do this again (going on the same stage w/a big band), but the experience not only improved my abilities, but it instilled even more confidence in me that the quality of sounds and styles in our arranger boards allow them to have a viable place in the music business.

Bottom line 2: Next time I will get more details and ask for more money.

If you read through this whole thing, first, well thanks! And second, I congratulate you – take a break – you deserve it!

Randy



[This message has been edited by saxxman (edited 08-10-2008).]

Congrats Randy!
Yes the T2 is a fantastic machine.

Roel

Hi Randy

Great story. haha It sounds like a memorable occasion Wish I could have been there.

I bet I know some of these musicians.

The Tyros 2 is one heck of a versitile instrument when you're allowed to let everything shine.

Good job, way to step up...

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Bill in Dayton

Randy,

Great post. I had a similar situation last fall when I did the opener for a 7-piece combo at a large marina in North East, Maryland. I used the PSR-3000 and the Bose L1. I performed and sang for an hour, did my usual routine, introduced the combo, and quickly moved my gear back into the van while they tuned up.

Several people asked me if I would consider staying around and performing after the combo finished. Unfortunately, I had another job just 10 minutes drive time from the marina and couldn't grant their wish. It was a neat experience, and you are right, ask for more money. The combo got $1,800 for their 3-hour performance. I picked up $100 for doing the opener.

Thanks again,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Thanks guys (for reading it all and your comments too!). I must admit that I love the sound and excitement of a live big band and direly miss being in a band like that. But one of the pitfalls of setting up 18 musicians on an outdoor stage is amplification and balancing it all. That's one of the key advantages the arranger has w/balanced styles.

Scott - yeah, you probably know several of these guys, most of whom are from Ft Walton and Santa Rosa Beach areas. I met a few of them before the show. Several of the guys are ex-military musicians like me.

Gary - thanks! So you've been there, done that, and got the T-shirt! I won't go out of my way to do this kind of thing again, but if I end up in this situation again, I will indeed request more $$ next time around. HA HA.

Randy

Good reading and thanks for the song list with tempos. I can believe your story and Gary's. I also did a 3 hour gig before a local chamber symphony took over. Some of the symph members watched me in horror (how dare you do that!) Although their arrangements were awesome and the individual talent was there, collectively they were terribly out of tune, the guest singers were a joke and I couldn't bear to hear another song. Bigger is not always better.

Randy
Great post and a story to which we can all relate. I have always said, "There is at least one surprise on every gig"...but you had a whopper.

I enjoyed reading it and was glad it didn't happen to me.

Eddie

Sure I am! I loved the detail, you described it wonderfully, I felt like I was there with you, watching you struggle with the stand, getting your gear set up while people are asking you "if it's going to take much longer" :-)

From what I make of it, you pulled it off quite nicely, congrats with that!

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- THE DUTCH KEYBOARD FORUM
http://www.keyboardforum.nl

Thanks again guys – yeah, it was quite an experience from start to end. It had all the potential for a “perfect storm”… Quickening the tempos on most of the songs the night before the gig, changing the styles to ones I was not used to doing the songs with, and then the environment and pressure of the crowd. Yikes. More than $150 worth for sure. If anything, I “overpracticed” for this by spending all day yesterday going over it to the point I didn’t need the music. I am quite confident that had I not put in the extra practice time, I could have had a disaster on my hands because of the straining I had to do to hear the singer. Had I not been comfortable w/the changes, I could have stumbled on them and possibly knocked us both off the stage. I was fully prepared for (and expecting) a “root canal” but (thanks in large part to the quality and versatility of my keyboard) I lucked out with just a cleaning! HA HA HA!!

Randy


[This message has been edited by saxxman (edited 08-10-2008).]