I’ve been enjoying the simplicity of doing some duo gigs over the past month. I love the band, but it is a heavy weight to carry. Getting people’s schedules to line up etc…has been a lot to manage over the past five years here in the Peoples Republic of Felsendom. And rock and roll years are like dog years; five glorious years can feel like 35! It exacts a heavy toll on your central nervous system. The duo has been a welcome diversion: one car, one tank of gas and just one other person. But here’s the BUT: I do very much miss the big rock and roll extravaganza that is Felsen. I'll get another crack at that this upcoming weekend.
I was recently out doing a drum gig with my pal Wesley Morgan at a dance studio on University Ave in Berkeley. Specifically this was a gig at an establishment where one goes to learn the lively art of pole dancing. Yup, you can actually study that. I think this was their graduation party and Wes was providing the music; I was their drummer du jour. Not a bad gig. (The view from behind the drums was quite nice I might add.) On the set break I wandered around University Ave and stumbled upon the Monkey House, which I've been hearing good things about for the past few years. Head monkey, Ira Marlowe, recognized me from seeing one of Felsen’s many Starry Plough gigs. He invited me in and showed me the room. It's small and only seats 54, but oh so very cool and vibey. Does size really matter? I immediately thought this would be a good place to play solo or with the Dara. So...I put together a show, invited the Dara to do her thing (which ended up being her long-overdue CD release party for her fab new CD, Skyland) and Ira did an opening set. Dara worked like the dickens promoting, single-handedly selling out the place to her growing legion of rabid east bay fans and friends. I played drums during her set. Also on board in her band that night was multi-instrumentalist, singer songwriter and all around musical loose cannon, Scarth Locke. AND the ever-lovely Joann Demars on cello and electric bass. Wow cello! Far too classy for this hoosier. Dara’s audience ate it up. Next up: Felsen duo night singing all the hits. Much of the show you could have heard a pin drop. Shivers. That’s a very flattering feeling for a songwriter, getting the rare opportunity for people to really listen to the lyrics and hear the stories. Dara sang backgrounds, wore a boa and played glockenspiel. Who could ask for more? Truth be told we employ equal parts Glock UND Spiel. (You can’t have one without the other.) Ira has a hard 10pm volume lock down to keep the litigious neighbors happy. So...at 10pm we came down into the audience sans electronic amplification. To me, this was the very best part of the evening. I loved being on stage playing drums with Dara and of course later singing my own tunes, but when we got off the stage, turned up the house lights a bit and surrounded ourselves with audience, things turned magical. The audience was so attentive, I milked it and played extra quiet at times. The quieter I got, the more focused they became. Quiet is the new loud.
It felt really, really good to reconnect with the songs; some of which I haven’t sung in a while. With the big rock and roll juggernaut that is Felsen, sometimes the really quiet, pretty stuff gets axed to accommodate rockin. (Forgive me in advance if I ever play that stupid Smoke on the Water riff again!)
I’ve been really pretty weighted down with other life stuff for the past few months and just have not had my head in the music so-to-speak. I missed the songs. They’re like my children. They’re like old friends I get to visit every now and again. "Hey I remember you! I loved you a long time ago. Do you remember me? Have you forgotten about me?" I sang Breaking up with Loneliness, a song about my then-newborn son, the vastness of the cosmos, embracing life, overcoming death, letting go of fear and anxiety. whew….that’s a lot in that 4 minute song. The real high point though for me was singing Honolulu. I think this might be the best song I’ve ever written. It’s about that magical and terrifying moment when you’re getting wheeled into the operating room for a surgery and you’re feeling like you’d rather be just about anywhere else. How bout some place tropical? (An oft-overlooked topic for a rock and roll song IMHO.) The first verse of the song. “When are you going to Honolulu? Pilot of the skies to a bluer island blow on a tailwind.” Not a bad opening line if I do say so, but the second verse…. ahhh...that’s where it gets heavy and can have a very jarring effect on an unsuspecting audience (that is, when they’re paying attention--thankyouverymuch bar room drunks). “Surgical wires, while the doctor smiles. He reassures me. Pray my soul to keep while they wheel me down to sleep on a gurney. In my dreams I’d rather be with a wave crashing over me…” Honestly, singing that on stage that night at the Monkey House in Berkeley, CA was powerful juju for me. Maybe you attentive monkeys also felt the juju? Hope so.
Guess what? We’re putting the band back together with scissors and tape. Yup. All hands on deck. All 5 of us just like old times. We’re rocking it quintet style. We’re polishing the dust off and giving a concert in the wee-sized city of Benicia, CA this weekend. It’s an all night affair. We’re playing from 9 til 1. Pretty much blowing out our entire repertoire. We’re getting it all out of our system in one fell swoop. Come join us this Friday, MMKAY? It’ll be a sweet, lovely, drunken send off as we’re taking a few months off for summer vacation, a hiatus of hibernation, a marathon of exorcism. The ever-impatient sheriff awaits!
Signing off,
AG
