What makes THE PERFECT GIG?
Thom, Eric, Ritz, Scott, and I just played yesterday at “the NIC fest” in Casper Wyoming. The three letters “NIC” are the first letters of the museum in Casper - Nicolaysen Art Museum
http://www.thenic.org/ K2 radio of Casper sponsored our group “Tambores Afrocubano”.
http://www.k2radio.com/index.phphttp://www.nicfest.org/Entertainment.htmlPhotos to come soon!!
#1 - $$$$$! We each got $400!!! for a total of $2000 paid to the whole group of 5! (not including accommodations!) That’s the most I’ve ever been paid for playing music! Our main teacher said, “Finally! It’s about time we get paid what we deserve for playing this music!”
#2 Accommodations and food/and or travel expenses are covered by the client.
We were set up in a Holiday Inn which had recently been renovated. The shower was as big as my entire bathroom, and the bed was King sized! Largest bed I’ve ever slept in! And we each got our own room! The hotel employees loved us, and we got free drinks the night before the gig with some homemade chips and an awesome seafood bisque to die for! I went down stairs for a stationary bike workout in the morning, and Scott hot-tubbed.
#3 The client is kind and supportive.
I can’t say enough how impressed I was with the locals in Casper. Everyone smiled at us! People move out of the way for you in Casper, and they’re courteous. No one is in a hurry, quite the opposite from Boulder.. Our theory for this phenomenal kindness was that people in Wyoming are much more spread out than the front range of Colorado. They look at acres and acres of untouched land, whereas we are packed in tightly like so many cities. This makes people much happier to see and interact with others of their own kind, since they don’t see them as often as people in crowded cities. I’ll buy this theory because I’ve seen it in the kids I teach. There is definitely a difference in city kids and rural kids.
#4 Nothing is required of you other than to do what you do, and enjoy yourself.
Our only requirement was to play 6 times for 30 minutes each round at one hour intervals. This was so that we would fill the sound gap between bands that played on the main stage. we had our own separate tent far enough away from the other stage that the other performers were never annoyed by our tapping, discussing, teaching passersby various drum principles, and occasional rogue rhythms. A small rain late in the day left us dry and happy with the solid tent canopy above us. We played bembes, guiros, guarapachangueos, guaguancos, Iyesas, a Mozambique, Comparsa, Yuka, Yambu, Congo, and bata llongo & Obatala. We simplified by not having to deal with microphones, speakers, and sound engineers. Everything is so much easier without all the wires and crap getting in the way.
#5 The crowd loves you.
I’ve never seen so many people stand and watch with their jaws agape in awe! Many people from each crowd that came to watch us approached the stage and made it a point to thank us. A few would come back for every performance as they were “hooked” on our sound. A cute local gal Jennelle, hired to photo-shoot the festival, really liked us and got numerous photos of us. (yes, we're supposed to get some from her) Later, it turned out that she had a huge crush on Ritz. Yeah!! The irresistible Italian Stallion - who could blame her? So, she hung out with us most of the day. We let her play shaker on a song and sing a rap at one point. She had a grand time, as we did with her and her friends. At one point we were told by a crowd member that a guy sitting out there was a percussionist. So, we let him play bell on an Iyesa, and he did great. He definitely swelled with pride when he went back out with his family!
#6 Nothing goes wrong, and no equipment loss or bodily injury.
It was sunny and beautiful on the drive up, and most Saturday when we played. Of course there are always going to be small mistakes that certain band members will make that only get noticed by the band, but beyond that, we nailed endings, played with strength and inspiration, no instrument losses or breaks, no injuries, cars made it the long journey, and no fights or complaints between us and the crowd!
The perfect gig!! I doubt if happens more than once in a lifetime!
Dave