…can have such different atmospheres.
11 day ago we played in Neuchâtel at the port, with the lake right behind us and the occasional boat blaring its horn. I got there early (17h00) hoping to have more time to get the sound adjusted. We though we were playing on a boat but the place turned out to be a small bar “shack” with a terrace and we had to wait until the tables were moved to give us room so it was past 18h30 by the time we were able to start installing our equipment… The usual rush… Plus we’re interrupted and served sausage and fries before it was all set up.
Meanwhile, just 50 meters away was the tent of the Swiss Circus Knie and apparently they, the circus folks, had complained that the band playing the evening before had been too loud so we were asked to not play until 21h30 which was apparently the time of their intermission. I can’t say I grasped the logic in that but there it was, or at least almost because at 21h00 we did a sound check having not had time to do it before and basically were launched; Dave didn’t feel like waiting any longer and neither did Denis or I. Our harmonica player was off playing with friends so it was the three of us besides a couple of songs during which Dave’s son joined in on his harmonica. As always it took a bit to warm up but the evening weather was perfect and we had a nice crowd by then. I’ll take the opportunity here to list just a few of the songs we do:
Stones in my passway – Keep your hands off her – Nobody’s fault but mine – Keep your lamp trimmed and burning – Bulldog mixed with Jitterbug Swing, Pony Blues – Women Be Wise – Chauffeur Blues – Broke down engine blues – Ragged and dirty too – Me and my baby – Nobody’s dirty business… and many, many more
So it was past 22h30 when we decided to take a break, but just as we sat down for a drink the circus spilled it’s crowd and the area really became jammed with people. Too much of an occasion to lose, so back to the instruments it was for a second set that lasted until past 1AM. I admit that not only we had to play three or four songs twice to last that long, but that my poor joints weren’t going to last much longer. Still it was hard to stop with the remaining 40-50 people asking for more! As for the circus, if someone complained I never heard about it…
Last Saturday was another lakeside concert although not quite as close to the water edge. Denis was the missing member and neighborhood peace obliged an early concert with an obligatory 22h00 end. We got there at 15:00 since there was a tent to install as well as the normal mess of wires and sound stuff and I really wanted to see if we could get a decent sound from our equipment if we really tried to. Blaise had invited some musician friends of his but apparently most of them didn’t show up. We did have a guest singer and bass player however, which was fun, kind of like a different spice mixture.
Dave, and it’s one reason I really love playing with him, shares my passion for early blues. For this reason we rarely have the same references as most of the Swiss musicians we occasionally jam with so when we play even a well known blues standard like Sweet Home Chicago, it seems they’re thinking Blues Brothers while Dave is thinking Robert Johnson. On that subject the first album I owned with that melody is a James Arnold’s LP with his Old Original Kokomo Blues (1934) and dare I mention the great Scrapper Blackwell’s version also called Kokomo Blues (1928)…
Anyway, sometime last winter Dave added a Gibson Les Paul to his collection of acoustic guitars and for the first time he brought it along so the evening was unusually electric and there were many moment of total improvisation. A few major squawks here and there too… Gotta be truthful here!
We pushed it to 22h30!
:-)