that was oddly familiar, really

So I went and played! And it was damp, quite a bit more damp than I'd have liked, but we bought trash bags on the way expecting exactly that. I found out yesterday that the manager hadn't managed a tent for me - hence my posts last night about omg the rain - so the venue ended up really not so much a "venue" as "here's a place near the tents, set up and play." As a result, it was basically just like busking, only I sang, too. It was all very informal and kind of off-putting, really - I'm (semi-)used to stage performances with a stage and mics and such, and I'm used to instrumental busking, but this "pretend you have a stage and amps when you don't" pseudo-busking thing was just odd.

On the other hand, lyonesse sang with me on some stuff, and that was awesome; she's way better at this than I am, and way louder, too, which really helped catch some ears. (I think of myself as loud, but really, my instruments are loud; my voice isn't.) With her help, we even got through "My Boyfriend," which I never perform in public, and which, amusingly, a policeman later came by and asked her whether we were going to play that again. (We shoulda! But didn't. I BLAME MYSELF) rozasharn came and watched a lot of the show (such as it was), which was awesome, and I hope the weird sidewalkiness of it wasn't too much of a disappointment. (I was surprised, too.)

Oh, and now both rozasharn and lyonesse can vouch for the Led Zeppelin comments, or at least the one today.

In the end, I played for a couple of hours, we entertained some people, the of the vendors who could hear me said they really liked our music, we had some fun, and then lyonesse hauled me across the street and fed me lunch at a restaurant, which was really nice. Now I'm awfully tired and am getting ready to head west to Deerfield. That'll be interesting, too.

Lesson learned: get real specific about venue conditions, and make sure those conditions are actually going to be there. Then be better at adapting when they aren't.

ps: Thanks lyonesse for the crash space and! helping haul stuff to the site. And for lunch!

that was oddly familiar, really

So I went and played! And it was damp, quite a bit more damp than I'd have liked, but we bought trash bags on the way expecting exactly that. I found out yesterday that the manager hadn't managed a tent for me - hence my posts last night about omg the rain - so the venue ended up really not so much a "venue" as "here's a place near the tents, set up and play." As a result, it was basically just like busking, only I sang, too. It was all very informal and kind of off-putting, really - I'm (semi-)used to stage performances with a stage and mics and such, and I'm used to instrumental busking, but this "pretend you have a stage and amps when you don't" pseudo-busking thing was just odd.

On the other hand, lyonesse sang with me on some stuff, and that was awesome; she's way better at this than I am, and way louder, too, which really helped catch some ears. (I think of myself as loud, but really, my instruments are loud; my voice isn't.) With her help, we even got through "My Boyfriend," which I never perform in public, and which, amusingly, a policeman later came by and asked her whether we were going to play that again. (We shoulda! But didn't. I BLAME MYSELF) rozasharn came and watched a lot of the show (such as it was), which was awesome, and I hope the weird sidewalkiness of it wasn't too much of a disappointment. (I was surprised, too.)

Oh, and now both rozasharn and lyonesse can vouch for the Led Zeppelin comments, or at least the one today.

In the end, I played for a couple of hours, we entertained some people, the of the vendors who could hear me said they really liked our music, we had some fun, and then lyonesse hauled me across the street and fed me lunch at a restaurant, which was really nice. Now I'm awfully tired and am getting ready to head west to Deerfield. That'll be interesting, too.

Lesson learned: get real specific about venue conditions, and make sure those conditions are actually going to be there. Then be better at adapting when they aren't.

ps: Thanks lyonesse for the crash space and! helping haul stuff to the site. And for lunch!

Wow, they hit every single social conservative talking point!

Wow, I just saw the brief the Obama administration filed in Federal court supporting DOMA! It argues for every social-conservative and right-wing talking point, including queers not being discriminated against because they could marry an opposite-gender person like they damn well ought to anyway, being queer ain't like bein' black so don't even think about Loving v. Virginia, and for that matter, Lawrence v. Texas doesn't really count for much either. And it dances along theoconservative talking points by using child-rape and incest-cases as examples of why queer marriage shouldn't be recognised! Also, we cost too much money in social security that shouldn't be wasted on fags anyway!

Add in explicit references to Christianity and it could be a Focus on the Family brief. Oh, and - unsurprisingly - the pledge made by Senator Obama to work to repeal DOMA has been yanked from the White House website. People who like to talk about framing should be aware that this now frames the "liberal" position as being exactly the same as the "conservative" position on this issue; Mr. Obama is making it safe for the Democratic party to go on hatin' on the queers, just like his friends in the GOP.

FUCK YOU, BARAK. FUCK YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING PARTY. FUCK ALL OF YOU.

Man I'm glad I didn't get suckered by this self-rightous fuck.