The last couple of shows were great, what more can I say? Some reflections....
Surplus 1980-The Uptown Nightclub, Oakland; 5/9/19
As requested, I got to the Uptown really early. It was definitely a "hurry up and wait" type situation, as Surplus 1980 got no soundcheck. So, I had some time to walk around the Broadway/Telegraph area of downtown Oakland. It's changing so much. The Oakland that I knew, 2004-13, is changed forever. That's life, though, obviously.
Surplus 1980 got to play a nice 45 minute set on Uptown's great stage. How nice to get a good vocal monitor mix for once! It seemed to me that we played really well, maybe a few sour notes and slightly missed cues here and there, but on the whole, solid. Cool to have a pretty sizable audience to play for as well.
I know that video footage was taken, so hopefully I'll be able to post it soon.
Free Salamander Exhibit, what a great, tight band. Yowza!
Below: Moe! and Surplus 1980 hitting at the Uptown
The Percussion Pit-KFJC, 5/13/19
One thing that I do know: percussion players show up on time and work together. As I arrived at KFJC on the beautiful Foothill College campus, pretty much everyone was doing the same. Tatsuya Nakatani, Karen Stackpole, Jordan Glenn, Patrick Telesfore Jr., and myself all managed to get our various percussion rigs set up with a minimum of fuss and great flexibility within the Pit. Such a humbling experience to share a space with some of the best drummers that I can think of! We proceeded to do one whole group piece which was followed by smaller groupings, solo sets, and interviews. KFJC host Max Level was nice enough to allow me to plug my upcoming shows along with various recordings, along with a brief solo percussion set. The latter felt really nice: I was able to use the small set up that I had (waterphone, snare drum, slide whistle, box of rocks) to make what felt like a coherent statement. Tough to do after Tatsuya's incredible statement! I was happy to have tried, though. As usual, KFJC's staff were incredible. What a solid group of people. Such a grand afternoon spent among people that I admire.
Below: my small rig; setting up with Jordan (photo by Karen Stackpole), the crack KFJC staff
Coming up, a new digital release and Crow Crash Radio in Sacramento!
As requested, I got to the Uptown really early. It was definitely a "hurry up and wait" type situation, as Surplus 1980 got no soundcheck. So, I had some time to walk around the Broadway/Telegraph area of downtown Oakland. It's changing so much. The Oakland that I knew, 2004-13, is changed forever. That's life, though, obviously.
Surplus 1980 got to play a nice 45 minute set on Uptown's great stage. How nice to get a good vocal monitor mix for once! It seemed to me that we played really well, maybe a few sour notes and slightly missed cues here and there, but on the whole, solid. Cool to have a pretty sizable audience to play for as well.
I know that video footage was taken, so hopefully I'll be able to post it soon.
Free Salamander Exhibit, what a great, tight band. Yowza!
Below: Moe! and Surplus 1980 hitting at the Uptown
One thing that I do know: percussion players show up on time and work together. As I arrived at KFJC on the beautiful Foothill College campus, pretty much everyone was doing the same. Tatsuya Nakatani, Karen Stackpole, Jordan Glenn, Patrick Telesfore Jr., and myself all managed to get our various percussion rigs set up with a minimum of fuss and great flexibility within the Pit. Such a humbling experience to share a space with some of the best drummers that I can think of! We proceeded to do one whole group piece which was followed by smaller groupings, solo sets, and interviews. KFJC host Max Level was nice enough to allow me to plug my upcoming shows along with various recordings, along with a brief solo percussion set. The latter felt really nice: I was able to use the small set up that I had (waterphone, snare drum, slide whistle, box of rocks) to make what felt like a coherent statement. Tough to do after Tatsuya's incredible statement! I was happy to have tried, though. As usual, KFJC's staff were incredible. What a solid group of people. Such a grand afternoon spent among people that I admire.
Below: my small rig; setting up with Jordan (photo by Karen Stackpole), the crack KFJC staff
Coming up, a new digital release and Crow Crash Radio in Sacramento!
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