Moving on, I am deep in reflection about what I've done musically in the past 4-5 months and I realize now that I have exactly one month left here in Europe before I fly home. Just yesterday afternoon, I finished gigging with my band, The Nowhere Orchestra. We played three gigs and each was a great experience and I think we improved our performance every time... and yes, this is an important thing. For me, I feel like you can suck now as long as you get better each time. I realized that since being away from the marching/rudimental drumming scene that my tempo has gotten shaky and I realized this after listening to recordings I made of our rehearsals and a few performances. I decided that I can't be that drummer that rushes through songs and pushes the time out of wack. So, I sat down for maybe an hour with a metronome and refreshed my tempo control and played for at least another few hours with music.
There are a few really important things I have realized about a drummer's musicianship after playing just these three gigs with my band.
1) The drummer has control of the tempo. If the drummer has bad tempo control, it's hard for any other player to save the band, unless your lead singer's name is Dr. Beat.
2) Keeping a solid rhythm and maintaining tempo should be the main goal of the drummer. Any showy or flashy things should only be added if the solidity of the rhythm can be maintained. On the same token, performance (meaning performing for the audience) is important, but overdoing is bad if it makes you play bad.
3) The drummer should never get in the way of the singer and the lyrics... but s/he should complement what is being said in the lyrics if possible and create the proper atmosphere. What this means is that the drummer should know how to play many different styles.
As for our three gigs... Here is some detail for each one.
Gig at Vårfesten (5/16)
Our first gig was for Vårfesten. This was actually the 'fake' Vårfest because it was technically rescheduled to be on 5/23, but that conflicts with our gig at Olofshöjd so we played anyway. It was an outdoor gig and was a bit cloudy and cold. We were afraid it was going to rain but the weather held. It was good that it held, but it was still very cold and a little windy. Not that this is anything new, but brrrrr i alla fall.
Anyway, being outdoors is such a different playing situation that being in a small rehearsal room. I had to change the drumming utensil I was using for a few songs. I usually use sticks, rutes (hot rods), and brushes... but in this gig I had to use sticks for things I usually use my rutes on. This made the sound a bit different and felt different to play on a kit that was not what I was used to playing, so this really made for a new situation for me. I guess this really was my first gig playing drumset in a small ensemble (less than 10 members).
I managed to make a recording from behind my seat at the drum throne and I realized that I was pushing the tempo too much. Enough to make the music uncomfortable. That's when I decided it was time for metronome intervention.
Here's a picture of Stefano, me, and Florian before the gig.
Me: happily suffering from ICRTSOTS syndrome (i can't remember the structure of the song). Stefano: infected by my virus, but has a different strain called WWTCPA syndrome (what was that chord progression again?). Florian: happy to have a gig.
And now, some more pictures from Vårfesten:
Gig at Nyklubb (5/22)
Our second gig, which was at Nyklubb was very fun. I liked it. It was my first time playing in a club. Maybe it was good that it was so underground. It was so underground that we went to the place where it was supposed to be and our contact, who was the bouncer, said it was moved. It's funny because Nyklubb means 'new club,' and it was like... "okay, new club, new place... everytime." lol. I don't think that's really the case, but it was nice anyhow.
We got there sort of early and it didn't seem like a lot of people were going to come, but it ended up getting pretty packed. We played around midnight and it went pretty well. Much better than the last gig we played, I think. Maybe because the last gig was outdoors. Acoustics are so much different outside and it's cold too. Even if it wasn't cold at this gig, I really did have to stretch myself a bit. In what way? Well, in a good way. I'm used to playing on a drumset with four or five pieces, plus three cymbals and a hi-hat, but I was playing on a three piece set tonight with only two cymbals and a hi-hat. This is really a good idea for me, so that I can explore all of the options that are available on a very limited set-up before deciding I want more drums to bang on, ya know?
Anyways, the stage was very small and tight so our band of six member was in very close proximity to eachother. I liked this though because we were able to communicate about the music much easier. They stood blocking me from the audience, but that's okay. I don't need to show my face or show off. I'm a loyal drummer, I'm there to support the band.
In terms of the playing, I was able to hold the tempo better in place this time. Maybe it helped that the gig was indoors.
Here's the only real picture I took while I was there. This is the outside of the venue we were playing at. It was really just a soccer club house. You know painted in the traditional red color. You can't really tell in this picture and sorry that it is blurry, but this is where we played.
Olof's first annual Music Fest (5/23)
Our third and final gig was at the supposedly first annual music fest at Olofshöjd. I think that this was our best gig and I'm really thankful to the drummer who let us loan his very nice Sonor set and to the DJ who was very professional and helpful at sound check, and to the organizers of this event. I was there at Olof's the whole day (12.00 to 00.30, minus the hour I went home to grab my grill, food, and drinks). It didn't seem very long though, the day went by so quickly. Maybe because it was so nice to see my friends from the Swedish course and to greet my other friends who have waited so long to see me play. There was so much good music to listen to, so many good people to talk to, and so much food and drinks to consume. The fest was a success.
The performance was also toppen. I feel bad for saying this, but the drumset that I played on made it possible for me to at least attempt to play like I hear in my head. I have to change what I play on crappy drumsets because things just don't sound good and aren't a direct translation of the thoughts in my head. I guess I say I feel bad for saying this because a good drummer can make the worst drumset sound good. No wait, maybe what I said doesn't contradict this. A good drummer would adjust their playing.
Okay, well I'm very tired now, so I'll leave you with some pictures!! =)
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