Earspray-Octopus Literary Salon, Oakland CA; 7/25/15

Earspray was collectively very excited to play a new spot in Oakland, so much so that we ended up outside of Octopus Literary Salon's downtown Oakland store front quite a bit early and had to loiter out front for a good long while. Still, our punctuality made it possible to get set up and even sound check (generally a rarity for us), which proved to be beneficial, as we were able to overcome a few technical issues.
As for our actual set, things seemed to kick off nicely, with an initial blast of intensity that I found compelling. The energy level dipped a bit after that, and I found myself trying to push things back up towards those first energetic highs. It can be really challenging to coax a ton of sounds from limited amounts of equipment, and I essentially only used the waterphone, djembe, and some small shakers. I suspect that I may have done a bit too much rolling on the djembe head. Still, trying to work within such limitations can be fun, if a bit daunting.
Hopefully we sounded OK! I can't say, as I was a bit too much "in my head" as the set transpired.
It was most definitely enjoyable to dig the sounds of Duchess Hotplate, Uffizi, and The Blues, all of whom played killer sets.

Below: Carlos and Ann set up

Above:the limits of my gear
Below: video!