"I can't play..."
One of the most climactic moments in the movie "Back to the Future" was when Marty McFly 'forgot how to play' guitar onstage right before he was about to disappear from existence (if his parents didn't hook up, that is). As he began to 'fade out,' his talent faded, too. Instead of strumming chords, he starts just wacking away at the strings creating some ear-shocking sounds that clashed with the slow ballad in the background...
That's how last night felt at band practice. Call it out of kilter...call it something that sucked...whatever. I hate it when that happens because we're ALL better than that. I was forgetting transitions, and the other guys were also messing up. Even Tania, who's got a voice designed for performance, was having to 'fish' a lot for notes and what to sing because of her lack of familiarity with the music. On top of this, the mix was "off" again (surprise, surprise...) So, words like "discord," "dissonance," "ear-piercing," "nauseating," and "vomitous" come to mind. Even J-mo commented afterwards that it pretty much ruined his whole day.
At one point, I wanted to scratch the entire song set and start over.
Fortunately (yes, the story gets better), everything got better towards the end. We played "My Glorious" at the appropriate tempo and it reminded us that we can do pretty good when we set our minds to it. If anything, rehearsals like that underline the need for all of us to ALWAYS prepare for practice in advance, so our individual mistakes don't throw off the whole thing. It also points out the need to make sure that we know when to 'pause' to re-focus (or re-tune, hehe) rather than just hammer ahead like Marty McFly butchering 50s music. Also, based on past 'bad' rehearsals, a lot of practice and focus can happen between rehearsal and Sunday morning, and the following Sundays have usually turned out just fine in the past.
After practice, J-mo, Stacey, Kailyn, and (eventually) Kyle went to Cracker Barrel, where we ran into Sarah again. And as usual, J-mo ran into about a dozen people he 'hadn't seen in a long time.' Dang, he runs into more people he 'hasn't seen in a while' than anyone I know. (hehe). Food was okay, but we were really tired. Kyle was practically comatose when he arrived, having had his bedtime routine interrupted by a call from Sarah, who wondered where our other eatin' companion was at.
KEY PHRASES: "I like farts that don't stink." "I need sedation."
That's how last night felt at band practice. Call it out of kilter...call it something that sucked...whatever. I hate it when that happens because we're ALL better than that. I was forgetting transitions, and the other guys were also messing up. Even Tania, who's got a voice designed for performance, was having to 'fish' a lot for notes and what to sing because of her lack of familiarity with the music. On top of this, the mix was "off" again (surprise, surprise...) So, words like "discord," "dissonance," "ear-piercing," "nauseating," and "vomitous" come to mind. Even J-mo commented afterwards that it pretty much ruined his whole day.
At one point, I wanted to scratch the entire song set and start over.
Fortunately (yes, the story gets better), everything got better towards the end. We played "My Glorious" at the appropriate tempo and it reminded us that we can do pretty good when we set our minds to it. If anything, rehearsals like that underline the need for all of us to ALWAYS prepare for practice in advance, so our individual mistakes don't throw off the whole thing. It also points out the need to make sure that we know when to 'pause' to re-focus (or re-tune, hehe) rather than just hammer ahead like Marty McFly butchering 50s music. Also, based on past 'bad' rehearsals, a lot of practice and focus can happen between rehearsal and Sunday morning, and the following Sundays have usually turned out just fine in the past.
After practice, J-mo, Stacey, Kailyn, and (eventually) Kyle went to Cracker Barrel, where we ran into Sarah again. And as usual, J-mo ran into about a dozen people he 'hadn't seen in a long time.' Dang, he runs into more people he 'hasn't seen in a while' than anyone I know. (hehe). Food was okay, but we were really tired. Kyle was practically comatose when he arrived, having had his bedtime routine interrupted by a call from Sarah, who wondered where our other eatin' companion was at.
KEY PHRASES: "I like farts that don't stink." "I need sedation."
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