Thursday, August 20, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
It's about fun, dammit!
I'm in the mid-west this weekend, working once again with 2 partners that I've never met before. I always look forward to this aspect of my work, as I have met some really cool people this way. The three of us are staying in a small band apartment with only 2 bedrooms, so the last one to arrive is stuck with the futon in the common area. It sucks, and it's an inadequate arrangement, but what can you do.
My one partner who arrived last is 30-something, and has been playing the gig for a long time. I think he was irritated about having to sleep on the futon, while my other partner and I got private bedrooms with proper beds. He was standoffish to me from the first introduction, and it only got worse.
On stage he demonstrated technically solid piano skills. I also found him to be just as standoffish to me on stage as he was offstage. When I would finish a song, he never once, made any reference to what I had just done, and he never once introduced me to the crowd as is standard stagecraft. He was only slightly more animated with my other partner. He appeared as though he had been in the gig much too long and was utterly dissatisfied. He rarely got up off his piano bench to support either of his partners with hand-clapping or riling up the crowd, preferring to do these things from the comfort of his seat, with an decidedly unenthusiasic bent. At one point after I missed a rather simple chord change, he shook his head back and forth in disgust sitting opposite me on-stage. I have yet to see a genuine smile or for that matter an authentic connection with his on-stage partner of the moment. It was almost as though there were two shows happening on stage, his and that of his partner and rarely did the two intersect.
I found out from my other partner, who has a strange history with this guy, that he was a serious cokehead (I didn't witness this), and that he's always been a miserable human being. I certainly sensed his unhappiness. I know that he was unhappy about the sleeping arrangements, but it ran deeper than that. He has not put together 5 complete sentences for me since we met 2 days ago. Had he not been so cold to me before we ever got onstage, I might have thought it a case an inflated sense of self. Certainly he has much more experience than me, and his piano skills reflect this. I know that there are guys in this gig that feel put-upon when they have to play with lesser experienced players, and perhaps that's part of it. But his bitterness seems to run deep, and for this, I am not taking his coldness personally. I think that what he completely misses is that equally as important (or as many would argue, more important) as keyboarding skills, is an on-stage presence that involves charisma, positive energy, a sense of humor, a skillful reparté with your partner and...FUN!! Ya have to be able to have fun!!! If you are so wrapped up in how much better you are then both your partners...um...you're not having much fun, and the audience picks up on it. You can throw out all the stock jokes and funny one-liners, but if you look bored or put-upon when you say them, you're second rate, and worse than that you are wasting the time of everyone in the club.
It miserable people like this that can't summon up an ounce of visible human kindness, that are the cold-prickly thorns in the side of this gig. The flip side of this is that my other partner is a really cool person and we've made a nice connection that will last well beyond this gig. So, all in all, this weekend was a wash.
My one partner who arrived last is 30-something, and has been playing the gig for a long time. I think he was irritated about having to sleep on the futon, while my other partner and I got private bedrooms with proper beds. He was standoffish to me from the first introduction, and it only got worse.
On stage he demonstrated technically solid piano skills. I also found him to be just as standoffish to me on stage as he was offstage. When I would finish a song, he never once, made any reference to what I had just done, and he never once introduced me to the crowd as is standard stagecraft. He was only slightly more animated with my other partner. He appeared as though he had been in the gig much too long and was utterly dissatisfied. He rarely got up off his piano bench to support either of his partners with hand-clapping or riling up the crowd, preferring to do these things from the comfort of his seat, with an decidedly unenthusiasic bent. At one point after I missed a rather simple chord change, he shook his head back and forth in disgust sitting opposite me on-stage. I have yet to see a genuine smile or for that matter an authentic connection with his on-stage partner of the moment. It was almost as though there were two shows happening on stage, his and that of his partner and rarely did the two intersect.
I found out from my other partner, who has a strange history with this guy, that he was a serious cokehead (I didn't witness this), and that he's always been a miserable human being. I certainly sensed his unhappiness. I know that he was unhappy about the sleeping arrangements, but it ran deeper than that. He has not put together 5 complete sentences for me since we met 2 days ago. Had he not been so cold to me before we ever got onstage, I might have thought it a case an inflated sense of self. Certainly he has much more experience than me, and his piano skills reflect this. I know that there are guys in this gig that feel put-upon when they have to play with lesser experienced players, and perhaps that's part of it. But his bitterness seems to run deep, and for this, I am not taking his coldness personally. I think that what he completely misses is that equally as important (or as many would argue, more important) as keyboarding skills, is an on-stage presence that involves charisma, positive energy, a sense of humor, a skillful reparté with your partner and...FUN!! Ya have to be able to have fun!!! If you are so wrapped up in how much better you are then both your partners...um...you're not having much fun, and the audience picks up on it. You can throw out all the stock jokes and funny one-liners, but if you look bored or put-upon when you say them, you're second rate, and worse than that you are wasting the time of everyone in the club.
It miserable people like this that can't summon up an ounce of visible human kindness, that are the cold-prickly thorns in the side of this gig. The flip side of this is that my other partner is a really cool person and we've made a nice connection that will last well beyond this gig. So, all in all, this weekend was a wash.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
I pissed her off good
There was some customer drama in our show last night. There was a request slip on my piano with $25 attached asking for me to call down Jenny who was celebrating her bachelorette party. Over the microphone I asked for Jenny to come to the stage where I began to roast her. After 3 minutes into it, one of her friends whispered in my ear that her name was not Jenny, it was Ashley. I quickly realized that Ashley was another bachelorette roast request that I also had on my piano and was only accompanied by $7. Now you must realize that part of format of the show with every partner I have ever worked for is that we do the calldowns with the most money first. This is part of the education process with all of our audiences that encourages them to tip higher. And seven dollar Ashley had clearly cut the line, so to speak, usurping Jenny’s rightful place. So over the microphone I say, “Well if this is Ashley, then where is Jenny?” Ashley is looking pissed now, but I said to her, no, it’s ok, I want you to stay onstage too. She must not have heard me, because she came over to my piano and grabbed my mic and angrily yells something about not being able to get called down unless you tip the piano players a lot of money. I tried to calm Ashley down, and as Jenny came to the stage, I told her to go over to my partner’s piano, and I asked Ashley to sit with me. I then set up a roast for the two of them, where me and my partner would trade rude knock-knock jokes at the girls’ expense. But only 30 seconds into it, Ashley gets up off the piano bench, grabs her request slip with her $7, and her and her 6 friends march out of the bar, indignant. She was pissed that she had to share the stage during “her” calldown, except that it wasn’t her calldown at all. It was Jenny’s call down, and when I asked for “Jenny”, Ashley came to the stage. So of course, I had to go through all of this with the entertainment director who was one of my partners that night, but not onstage at that moment. He had seen it all and absolved me of any wrongdoing, which was good, since he could have chosen to be a prick about it.
When I went back into the employee break room, there was a big drama happening because one of the waitresses' wallet was stolen out of her purse she had stored in the break room. She was out $300, and the management was taking it pretty serious. They eventually found the wallet but the money was missing. The cops were called, and from what I could gather, they actually did pin down who did it. Turns out the culprit (who had worked for the club for 6 month) had a couple prior arrests for petty theft.
When I went back into the employee break room, there was a big drama happening because one of the waitresses' wallet was stolen out of her purse she had stored in the break room. She was out $300, and the management was taking it pretty serious. They eventually found the wallet but the money was missing. The cops were called, and from what I could gather, they actually did pin down who did it. Turns out the culprit (who had worked for the club for 6 month) had a couple prior arrests for petty theft.
Connections
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated you. Life as a traveling minstrel continues to treat me well. Last weekend I had off and enjoyed a relaxed schedule knowing I didn’t have to deal with airports and carry-ons. I spent lots of time with the people important to me, and always seemed to make time to travel uptown and visit my piano every day. I finished up two critical and arduous projects: the memorization of both Bohemian Rhapsody and Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. This weekend I traveled out to the Chi-town area where I played for 2 nights. As I type this, I am flying over Lake Michigan, headed back to New York.
GOOD: I was inexplicably upgraded to business class, which I was pleasantly surprised and happy about, until...
BAD: the young woman who was to be my seat-mate arrived with her little 2 year-old bundle of joy. The baby is a very active child and expresses himself very loudly. But as the plane took off,
GOOD: the child feel asleep. It seems that the Lord givith and the Lord taketh away, and givith yet again. I’ll update if anything changes during the time it takes me to finish this entry.
The last time I worked in this city, I went onto the community section of Craigslist and posted an ad to see if I could find anyone that wanted to show me the city, or just hang out and socialize. It worked out famously. I met a 44 year old married guy whose wife was working out of town, and he had nothing to do for the weekend. He called me as he pulled up to my hotel and I came down and hopped into his BMW convertible and he drove me to this street festival where we walked and talked and sat and drank and ate the afternoon away in comfortable conversation. So this weekend when I arrived, I texted him to see if he was around, and sure enough his wife was out of town, and he had the entire weekend free. We met for a seafood dinner a couple hours before I started my show next door. The following day (yesterday) he picked me up at 2, and we drove out to the Wisconson state fair. What a great time that was. We watched pigs being judged; we saw every kind of prize sheep, rabbit, pig and heifer in the state; we ate cheese, creampuffs, pork chops on a stick, ice-cream smothered with fresh local cherries; we listened to some great bands and just had a great day. I love the fact that I am able to make such a great connection with a total stranger in a strange city.
Well, the little bundle of still sleeping. VERY GOOD!
GOOD: I was inexplicably upgraded to business class, which I was pleasantly surprised and happy about, until...
BAD: the young woman who was to be my seat-mate arrived with her little 2 year-old bundle of joy. The baby is a very active child and expresses himself very loudly. But as the plane took off,
GOOD: the child feel asleep. It seems that the Lord givith and the Lord taketh away, and givith yet again. I’ll update if anything changes during the time it takes me to finish this entry.
The last time I worked in this city, I went onto the community section of Craigslist and posted an ad to see if I could find anyone that wanted to show me the city, or just hang out and socialize. It worked out famously. I met a 44 year old married guy whose wife was working out of town, and he had nothing to do for the weekend. He called me as he pulled up to my hotel and I came down and hopped into his BMW convertible and he drove me to this street festival where we walked and talked and sat and drank and ate the afternoon away in comfortable conversation. So this weekend when I arrived, I texted him to see if he was around, and sure enough his wife was out of town, and he had the entire weekend free. We met for a seafood dinner a couple hours before I started my show next door. The following day (yesterday) he picked me up at 2, and we drove out to the Wisconson state fair. What a great time that was. We watched pigs being judged; we saw every kind of prize sheep, rabbit, pig and heifer in the state; we ate cheese, creampuffs, pork chops on a stick, ice-cream smothered with fresh local cherries; we listened to some great bands and just had a great day. I love the fact that I am able to make such a great connection with a total stranger in a strange city.
Well, the little bundle of still sleeping. VERY GOOD!
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