Brett who plays guitar in Anger Buddy (the band I'm in now) has a keg party every year and we set up in his garage to provide a little entertainment. I guess this is our third year of doing it. When I was breaking down the studio this year to move everything over I was really considering if this was worth it, there aren't that many people at this party and not many of those in attendance really pay attention to us. I don't say that to be negative, but its the reality of this party.
While I think all of us in the band would like to play more gigs, we are also all realistic about what kind of gigs we would want to play. We all have kids and day jobs so we're really not interested in doing bar gigs where we get out at 3:00AM or something. I did that a bit with a band called Version Larry I was in 10 years ago. I hate to say I'm too old for that, let's just say I'm wise enough to know what's in store for me if I stay up that late (if I can stay up that late).
All that reality aside, it was amazingly fun. I really enjoyed it more than I should have. We have kind of evolved from a 50/50 covers to original ratio to where we play almost exclusively originals now. We played almost exclusively originals in Version Larry, so I know what that means - most people in the audience don't have the patience to listen to something they've never heard before. I had a couple people come up to me during the party and say how much they enjoyed a few of the songs we played, which felt really great.
I linked to three videos of us playing below - I am kind of disappointed with the selection of songs that ended up being recorded, (and I know they should all be linked in one post, but I'm too lazy to figure that out). I think there were songs we played better than these. Of the four songs, I think "A Revenge Play" is probably the best - despite the fact that we just started playing that song probably a month or so ago. "Find a Reason" is of the same vintage, but it hasn't quite jelled yet, its getting there. I think I have only gotten through it two or three times without messing up - its a relatively hard song to sing and play at the same time. I have to get to the point where my fingers know what to do without my brain paying attention to them so I can concentrate on singing. The other two songs are good, but I am not happy with the energy level in either.
That's the Bass of Case in the video, man I love that bass, it really cuts through nicely too!
We have gotten pretty good at the non-verbal communication when playing - this takes a long time to develop and its not something you can talk about or "work on", it just happens as you get familiar with people and their playing. I wish I could see Brett's expression better in the video, at the end of "A Revenge Play" I can see him trying to will me to stop jamming and end the song, that non-verbal communication doesn't always work :-D
Anyway, playing the keg party was a lot of fun, and makes me want to find some other places to play, where maybe there would be more people.
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