Just wondering how it all went today?

I am not Scott but I just came back from seeing him performing on stage. The whole place is loaded with entertainers. Some full bands are separated by only one or two booths blaring full blast. One was playing fast rock style music and the next booth was singing soft oldies. Mostly chinese words though mixed with Western music.

I came right at 1:30 as scheduled but Scott was not up yet but I was able to catch the last 15 minutes or so of his performance which is very enjoyable. While he was singing, a bunch of lion dance performers passed by clanging their cymbals drowning everything else - a bit chaotic IMO. Tough place to entertain for sure. Poor Scott ! At least he is playing professionally. Scott, maybe bring some ladies singers (ad lib just to fill the stage) and percussionist might be good to compete with those "other" bands nearby.

Shook Scott's hands for the first time afterward. Still a good and fun day to be had by all.

Oh Boy.....sounds like a multiple hectic musical atmosphere but Im sure Scott did his best as a Profesional to do his part to Entertaine the audience for sure!!

The most dis- ‘Orient’- ing gig I’ve ever done !

I want to start out by saying that this was probably one of the more challenging gigs I've ever worked, perhaps because many in the audience were foreign born immigrants un-acquainted with my American style of music: classic pop standards. In fact, all the acts that preceded mine were traditional Chinese acts (ethnic dancing & Chinese acrobats). When I came on, a few of the Chinese didn't know what to make of a Chinese guy singing in English, but I'm a 4th generation American.

My show started out well, drawing a large crowd, but I barely got through my first song (Route 66), when a lion procession headed up the street past the stage, clanging bells, banging drums, and tossing firecrackers into the crowd causing my audience to disperse in terror , while I, unbelievable to even myself, continued to perform thru this din of noise, not being able to hear myself over the dissonant loud drum rhythm. I credit my ability to have endured this only to the years of having to play over loud drunks and giant projection TVs in bars, though I never thought (until now) that I'd ever encounter something more distracting than 'that!'. After pulling thru my first 2 songs, the lion dancers finally left the area and my audience was able to return and regroup (albeit smaller in number). The rest of my set went pretty smoothly, though I was no longer at the top of my game, as the earlier distraction had disrupted the focus and energy of both my audience and myself. The audience appeared to enjoy my show and clapped and cheered with enthusiasm. The stage producer later apologized profusely for the lion procession's unexpected distraction. This situation just points out the endless unpredictable things which can happen on a gig.
An essential thing to being a good entertainer is developing the ability to roll with the punches. If you can't , stay out of the entertainment biz.

A big plus at my gig today was to finally meet Synthzone member Lukitoh (for the first time) and TomTomSF (again). Thanks to both of you for coming to watch me perform in this 3 ring lion's den. Lukitoh, your suggestion of adding female backup singers, or better yet, dancers sounds great, but I guess I was a little greedy, wanting all the $ for myself. Performers are paid per act, not per person in the group, so hiring female backup singers/dancers would have taken a bite out of my pay, though I admit that I got paid more for this 1/2 hour performance than I'm typically paid for an entire evening's work. After this experience, I'm increasingly convinced that my style of one man arranger keyboard music (classic pop standards) is best suited to intimate venues which are more in proportion to a smaller audience size. I usually entertain for groups under 125 people.

Donny: Luckily, I was able to have this stage performance captured on video, as well as digital pics taken (thanks to friends in the audience). I was able to catch a quick view of the performance footage this evening and was actually surprised how well it turned out considering the problems I mentioned above. I will have it converted to Mpeg4 and post video clips and pics on my site soon (hopefully later this week). The songs I performed included: Route 66, Sway, You Can't Hurry Love, Crazy Love, On A Slow Boat To China, I Left My Heart In SF, and Grant Ave. All were played & performed live in auto accompaniment mode (utilizing custom registrations & onboard vocal harmonies). No midi backing sequences (of course). - Scott

Scott,
Your so right, sometimes ya gotta just go with the flow no matter what....I can't wait to see the pics and video....your a tough cookie but seems you handled the situation with grace & dignity!!!!!!

PS....what sound system did you use there?




[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-08-2004).]

Donny, this gig was corporate sponsored (Washington Mutual Bank) and produced by the San Francisco Chammber of Commerce, and included a full outdoor stage, sound, and lighting crew with PA, stage monitors /lighting equipment, etc to handle large crowds 'many' times the size my PA system could even attempt to cover. All I needed to take to this gig was my keyboard (Tyros), keyboard stand, and mic. The stage crew was even on hand to handle transport, setup/breakdown. Ahhh, the luxury of stage performance. It's gonna be hard going back to lugging my own equipment again now . -Scott

Hurry with the pic/videos!!

Those "other" bands nearby sounded a bit trashy IMO. But it seems to work drawing large crowds. The trashy sounding songs were pumping hard and fast. With all those cacophony going on, you need to be like that I guess, otherwise nobody can hear you.

If you fill the stage with singers, the effect would have been much greater. You looked very lonely up there. If you perform again in public place, let us know.

Lukitoh: Interesting points. First of all, I realize that this type of street fair probably not the idea venue for a one man band type kb performance. Also, my music genre specialty is neither hard, fast or trashy, and I have no interest whatsoever in playing in that style, even if it does draw larger crowds. Perhaps adding backup singers and/or adding another musician(s) would have provided more interesting & varied onstage visual interest, but as I mentioned earlier, as primarily a solo entertainer these days, I've come to expect a certain level of pay for my gigs, whereas I'm certain most (all) of the individual members of those other acts were I'm sure making far less, or perhaps even performing for free. Your point of seeing only a single (alone) person on stage vs a stage filled with a group of performers, and creating a more varied & interesting visual impact is well taken. Still, I think even one person on stage, with strong stage presence and talent can hold an audience's attention, at least a more musically sophisticated audience. - Scott

Ok Donny (and all), I posted (on my website), a couple of pics taken at yesterday's (Feb 8th) SF Chinese New Year Festival gig.

Go to: http://scottyee.com

then go to the: 'Pictures' page.

Quicktime, MPEG-4, or WMV format video clips to follow (hopefully) later this week. Still trying to determine which format is best to use. Any recommendations?

Scott

Scott.....

great pics...
I dig the kool lookin sign too

thanx

Scott,

Looks like you had a great time and obviously were able to overcome all the pitfalls of a large, outdoor performance. Especially liked the set's backdrop with the Great Wall and flowers in the foreground. Really gave it a nice air of attraction.

Instead of the dancing girls or other musicians, the stage crew could have added a few items to the stage that would have made a big difference as well. Potted plants, Chinese sculptures, etc, would have made a huge difference and really added to the overall appearance.

Looks like you need to work on the wiring harness a bit. Granted, most of the wires are tucked in behind the front drape, but it sure looks like you have a lot to hook up and lots of wires on the floor. Hard to tell, through, with the photos.

I'm really looking forward to seeing those videos sometime in the near future.

Cheers,

Gary

Hey - nice "Great Wall" backdrop! That's a keeper (assuming it was "keepable"). I love how the delicate coloring of the red flowers in the picture perfectly complimented your red audio cables.

Perhaps throwing in a few rare ming vases, a couple of 8 foot high jade statues and a huge 24 karat gold plated gong placed center stage would have helped too. Seriously though, I don't think it would have made a difference, as this gig was an outdoor festival casual event, and not intended as a formal concert, so the stage props (or lack of) itself seemed fitting for this type of venue.



Actually, 7 inputs (cords) into the Tyros:

* Foot Pedal 1 (sustain)
* Foot Pedal 2 (fill to self)
* Foot Pedal 3 (Registration Advance)
* Audio Out R
* Audio Out L
* Mic In
* Power Cord

Well, to be honest, seeing cords strung about the stage floor is often more 'the norm' (rather than the exception) in many of the music performance stage venues I've performed on, especially with multiple acts/performers coming on/off stage. The orange (red?) audio (L/R) cables were supplied by the stage crew to connect to their huge house PA system. The sound engineer was positioned in a booth out in the audience to monitor & adjust the sound levels & EQ mix. I basically left it to the real pro stage, sound, and lighting crew for getting my equipment set up & on/off stage. I suppose the excess cords strewn on the floor wouldn't win the Emily Post award, but what the heck. - Scott



Yeah, 'great' wall alright, I bet they'll use it again 'next' year.

Scott

Hi Scott

Just a quick note to let you know that I enjoyed your performance at the Festival. I already told you in person, but I wanted to let everyone know that you did a great job under some pretty unusual circumstances. Your professionalism really shown through!

By the way, I mentioned I took a bunch of pics and was planning on sending you the best. Forget it! None of my shots are anywhere near as good as the ones on your web page. I seemed to be stuck behind various parking signs, large headed people, and the occasional balloon passing by! So even your pics are real pro! Thanks again for a fun day.

Tom G.

Great pictures Scott! Will look forward to seeing the video clips... sounds like you did exceptionally well under exceptional circumstances!

Scott where did you get the Kool sign made up?

Thanks Rich! Hope to get the video clips up later this week. In the meantime, I'm still torn over what computer video format I should have them converted to. Quicktime, WMV, or MPEG2 AVI or? Somebody, please offer some guidance & advice with this.

Btw folks, just in case some of you may have missed it, I STRONGLY recommend listening to Rich Child's excellent music on his website: http://richmusic.co.uk
Fantastic vocals and terrific instrumental arrangements. Really looking forward to hearing more music from you Rich. - Scott



Donny , had it made at a local Banner/Sign shop. Custom size Vinyl sign. Cost me about $65 to have it made up (with pockets for copper rods (upper & lower), and it easily attaches to the top and bottom of my keyboard stand. Well worth the expense as with my web address clearly displayed, insures increased website hits and gig booking inquiries. Hits to my website have shot up dramtically following the Sunday Street fair gig. - Scott

Hi Scott,
In looking at that nice photo, I noted that you evidently performed without lead sheets or written lyrics. I remember not too long ago you were saying that your goal was to do your performances without those items. Good for you. Are you doing that on all of your gigs now?
Paul C.

Scott great idea, it looks very kool, how does it attach to the X stand? Also something to definitly look into....especially since my new CD "Shall We Dance" is coming out soon & could use the increased website traffic myself in a few weeks. My stage sign dosn't have my website address, only my busines cards do.

Thanx

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www.donnypesce.com

Kool. Curious what some of the featured tunes are going to be. Can't wait to hear it. - Scott

Hi Paul. Right, I used no lead sheets on that gig. For casual parties & restaurant/bar type venues where you're more or less providing background music, I still keep a fakebook handy, especially to accomodate offbeat audience song requests, but when performing on stage as a 'featured performer', leadsheets & charts are a definite NO NO ! They act only as a distraction, guaranteed to give the audience the clear impression you're not fully prepared. Only after you've fully memorized the music & lyrics do you really own the song & can then make it yours. - Scott

Two rods, one slipped into the top and the other into the bottom pocket of the banner. The top rod sits on top of the X and is secured to the stand (all four corners) with O rings (plumbing part found at the hardware store). Very secure in the wind, yet quick ez install/removal. - Scott

Check your mail



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www.donnypesce.com

Donny, great looking CD cover art (big city at night skyline) and fittingly impressive song selection. I'm really looking forward to hearing your album:

Go Away Little Girl
Let Me Try Again
Mack the Knife
Last Waltz
Love is In the Air
Everybody Loves Somebody
My Way
Quando Quando
Spanish Eyes
The Wanderer
Where or When

Scott..I figure around two weeks more to get the CD ready for the public listening....nothing too fancy.
....I would love to see a CD project fom you also in the near future ...
how about it your fans await you?
Now that you have a new HD
recorder......common ...I know you can do it!!!

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-11-2004).]

Hey, thanks Scott!

Regarding video formats, I watched that Tyros blues video Eric mentioned the other day which was in WMV format and that played fine (on my low spec machine). That said, my DVD player accepts MPEG video files burnt to a data CD which is handy. Swings and roundabouts...

Donny, my kind of music... looking forward to it!

It was a real pleasure chatting with Scott on MSN Messenger earlier today... first time chatting with a fellow musician 'live' online actually

Scott....how's the Videos coming along...I'm dying to see them on your site!!!

Ditto the last post!

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The old Newb

Donny & OldNewb: Ran into a few roadblocks. I received the video footage (from my friend), as a

1) Quicktime 6 MOV file (454 megabytes)
2) AVI file (500 megabytes)
3) MPeg4 File (210 megabytes)

Obviously the scene footage of the above files will need to be trimmed down (edited), as well as compressed to a much smaller file size when converted to WMV format. Since I don't own PC video editing/conversion software myself, I'll have to go back to my friend and work together with him to edit down the footage to a more manageable size (hopefully this next weekend). Hope to have the clips up early next week. Thanks for your interest. - Scott

Ok Scott we're eagerly awaiting!!