Sunday, November 1, 2009

Halloween Gig

I played a Halloween show at the Riverview last night. In the spirit of the holiday I wore zombie make-up. I wanted to wear a costume that allowed me to sing and play, so a mask or anything that interfered with my guitar playing was out. So I got some liquid latex, nose putty, and some make-up and created my zombie look. It turned out pretty good, and it was easy to perform. And I got used to the tightness of the latex on my face after a while.

The gig itself was pretty good--started slow but the place filled up in time. It was a solo gig--I never got an answer from Conor about playing, and I didn't even bother asking Dennis because I knew he'd be out trick-or-treating with Ruby. I like the freedom of playing a solo gig--I can do whatever I feel like doing. I had some fun with the looping pedal, layering sounds, starting with a bass line using the octave pedal, add an acoustic guitar, then a little shaker, then switch to the strat for another part, then play a little harmonica solo on top of that.

And I debuted a new "tool"--I bought a Shadow stombbox--which is a small wooden box with a pickup in it that you play with your foot. You plug it right into the PA, and it adds a kick drum effect to your sound. I ran it through a gated reverb on some songs--sounded pretty cool. It was a little fatiguing to play though. You always had to be in one place tapping it with your foot. I found it better to turn it around and hit it with my heal, which feels more natural for me. "Wow, that's really boring, Jim" I hear you saying.

But the gig was fun--Kelly kept bringing me beers before I finished the one I was on, so I had two going most of the night. Nothing wrong with that.

By the way, wearing liquid latex, nose putty, and make-up for seven hours is not that great of an idea. This morning my face is all red--looks and feels just like a sunburn.