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eftychia at 03:31am on 2003-06-01Wound up needing migraine drugs after all, but hey, at least the drugs worked. (Problem is that they started wearing off during the drive home. Oof.) Gig went really well. Nice site, good food (though in the set we played after dinner, I seem to have burned up all the food I'd just eaten, 'cause I got really hungry again), pleasant interactions with the site staff, caterers, and photographer, and, most importantly, the bride and groom and guests seemed to have a whole lot of fun (especially when they loosed up a little and danced). I assumed the couple had seen us at a festival or something, but John said they found us on the web and hadn't seen us in person before. They said they were going to recommend us to all their friends, so I think they were happy with us. (And given the how well people coped with the waltzes versus how well they dealt with dancing to reels, I think we were the right band for most of their guests.)
Amusingly, just about the first thing anyone said to us after we arrived (an hour before the reception was supposed to start), was, "Oh, thank goodness, a Celtic band. If I have to hear 'Mustang Sally' one more time, I don't know what I'll do." I don't remember who said it (site staff, caterer, somebody else).
Broke another string. During "Jock Wilson's Ball". It blew the other five strings way out of tune when it went, so I switched to the 12-string mid-tune. Stayed on the 12-string until dinner was served and I had time to replace the broken string. Wondering whether there's something wrong with the bridge that's causing strings to break more often (but on both guitars, starting about the same time?). Most of the breaks lately have been down near the bridge.
I am very, very tired. And my head and eyes hurt. And I can't take any more Midrin for a while. So it's time for me to crash. Interestingly, my shoulders, arms, knees, and back don't hurt as much as I'd expected (especially after a four-hour gig). My right hand is kind of painful (in the fleshy part between thumb and forefinger), but the other parts, while they do hurt, don't hurt anywhere near as much as I thought they would.
Oh, one of the waltzes we played as "Edna Michael's Waltz", which Mike wrote. I really like that tune, so that made me very happy. (I think we're putting it on our second CD -- gotta go check the proposed list.)
broken strings
Re: broken strings
Maybe I'm just noticing it more because I had gigs every weekend in May, a little busier than usual, but even so, a broken string every time I play with HCB (http://www.homespunceilidh.com) is an increase even on a per-gig basis.
(I do hit pretty hard, I know. I was pretty loud on just my natural nails; with the acrylic I frequently feel one of the top three strings jump far enough to slap the palm of my left hand on a violent strum. Which is always a nervous-making feeling right after I've replaced a string. Someday I need to sit down in a good room with a good microphone and figure out at what point I stop getting louder and just change the sound. I think I'm already spending part of my time in that range. Someday I should also replace my pickguard...)