Band Day.... Suzy's

So we come once again to another band day. Playing guitar and singing in a local band has its advantages. People generally think you are something more than you are, and you get free drinks. In my band Johnny Bender( www.johnnybender.com ) we have been slowly gaining a nice following. We have been playing together a long time, and there is allot of history involved that I may save for a later time. But needless to say there are no ego's, very very little drama, and we all get along and support each other. This really shows in our music and our crowd interactions.

Having said that I approach each gig with a bit of angst, excitement and apprehension. Since we are only a 4 piece and usually just 3 piece from the music side, Chris( bass ) , Bob (drums) and myself (guitar) need to really be on our game. Any screwups and you can immediately tell who it is. Not that we EVER screw up! So prior to each gig we have a setlist written up. We have a pool of around 80 songs at this point and we pick and chose some old tunes along with the staple songs of each night. Now usually I take this setlist and practice just about the whole thing for a week prior. This has been some overkill though and in the past has not helped my enthusiasm for the guitar. Practicing the same song over and over ad nauseum can have a negative effect. So this week I took a different approach and only practiced the songs the day before the gig and the day of the gig. I think it worked out fine.

I changed my strings and applied my Nut Sauce to various parts of my guitar. Yes you read that correctly and the picture at the right proves it. This is a space age lubricant for the guitar nut and the bridge that helps keeps the guitar in tune as well as prevents string breakage. Most likely its just some KY jelly or vasoline though. I prepped all of my gear, practiced the setlist for a couple hours and hit the road to Suzy's Tavern at 7pm.

Upon arriving I was greeted by Bob who is always just so full of positive energy, he could put anyone in a good mood. We all shuffled in and began setup which after all this time together takes about an hour and a 1/2. Tim was absolutely out of control and all of our moods were excellent, we knew it was going to be a good night. I never knew Tim could do such a perfect TaunTaun impression but he managed it. It was a rather Star Wars themed evening, and there were a few light saber ( tim's kids lightsabers ) battles that took place on stage and off stage throughout. Unfortunately I never snapped any pictures, but a friend of the band and the biggest AC/DC fan, Jenny, took place in one on-stage with Tim. It was wild. But I digress.

So setup went well, and we had a problem-free sound check this time. But when it got to be around 9:45 there was a very small crowd still. This happened last time we played Suzy's. It can make a musician nervous to see a pretty much empty bar, when you depend on the door fee for your pay. And just like last time we played Suzy's at 10pm the people faucet was turned and folks started pouring in. The night was a huge success and the band played with a ton of energy.

Not many bar owners are good to work with but Joe at Suzy's is just fantastic. I suppose he has a special place for us in his heart since we were the first band to play there. Im sure the fact that we pack his bar everytime helps as well : ) He walked up around 4 or 5 times and delivered shots to the band. I cant recall what these shots were but they were very tasty. You never get that type of service from a bar, let alone the owner. Joe wants us to play there exclusively in Auburn and waved a nice carrot ( cash ) in front of our faces. Stay tuned for the exciting conlusion of our descision to do that or not.

The band has been on a very nice roll lately and all of our hardwork has been paying off. People love our energy and enthusiasm and we just have fun on-stage, thats what its all about. Well that and making sure the chicks are dancing .... really ... its all about the chicks.