Rocking the Cathedral
I just had to blog about yesterday cause it was one of those "what else could happen" kind of things.
Faith on Fire was playing a ceremony where high school seniors were being awarded the Hands of Christ award for service. The Bishop was presiding and we were playing in the Cathedral in front of our largest crowd yet. I was very much looking forward to this yesterday and was psyched about the whole thing. I was planning to leave work at 4 pm to have time to have dinner with the family and spend a little time with the Wife and kids before getting out there. We were starting at 7:30 and I wanted to get there between 6 and 6:30.
Well, I got out of work about 4:15. A little later than I wanted, but no biggie. I get out to the car and put my laptop in the passenger side when I see it: the passenger side front tire was flat nearly to the rim. Can you say "oh fuck". So I call the Wife and get the number for the tire place. They're open till 6 and think it will only take maybe a half hour or so to get it done. So I put the spare on while amazingly not getting my work pants dirty, and head off to the tire shop.
I get there about 10 minutes to 5, they close at 6, and I don't need to be at the gig til 6:30, so I'm still good, right? So I ask the guy about how long to get to my car. He says about an hour. Shit. So I start making calls. First I call our bass player to let him know I'm going to be late. He gets there, let's the rest of the group know, and I get a call from our piano player. Do I think I can make it? I'm thinking I still can. Cool. I let the Wife know what's going on, go to Wendy's to grab a bite, and wait.
About a half hour later, I get a call from our piano player again. What's the status? It's like 5:45 and my car isn't even in the shop yet. So she tells me our drummer's dad is there (our drummer's 16) and he plays guitar and can fill in, so don't worry about missing the gig. They got it covered. I'm a little dissapointed, but all right, now no rush, right?
So I call the Wife and update her. As I'm finishing talking to her, my phone is beeping. I get the other line and it's our singer. She's like, Vince, you can't miss the gig! Do you want us to come pick you up? We need you here! So I tell her I'm sure I can make it. She says they'll have everything ready so I just plug into an amp and play. So they finish my car about 6:15. I run home to throw my gear in. Even though they said an amp would be ready for me, I decided that since I didn't know the quality of the amp, I better grab mine. It's now about 6:30, it's 20 minutes to the Cathedral, so I should be cool. On my way to the cathedral, I get a call from our piano player asking, by the way, one of the amps we have isn't that good. Can you bring yours? I replied it's in my trunk. I was told the Holy Spirit was working in me.
I got to the Cathedral just before 7, quick set up and tune, with about 10 minutes to spare to start the gig! We had a few minor technical issues which we worked out during the prelude, but after that it all went smooth. It was a great gig and a very nice ceremony. Probably the worst part for us as musicians was the part where the seniors recieved the Hands of Christ award. There were over 1oo recipients and each got thier name announced and their hands blessed by the Bishop. We were playing quiet music during this time. We'd planned on doing just one number, but after playing it for 2o minutes with no end in site, we had to go to a different song. That's when we got a little goofy. Although we were only supposed to play music, myself, the bassist, and the drummer (who NEVER sings) were quietly singing the lyrics. We had to vamp for about 40 minutes total. OMG I had trouble staying professional during that. The urge to do something wild and crazy was strong!
After the gig they had really good cookies for everyone! Nothing like some sugar after a 2 hour gig! All told it went off very well. I managed to stay calm throughout the entire ordeal, from flat to cookie.
Faith on Fire was playing a ceremony where high school seniors were being awarded the Hands of Christ award for service. The Bishop was presiding and we were playing in the Cathedral in front of our largest crowd yet. I was very much looking forward to this yesterday and was psyched about the whole thing. I was planning to leave work at 4 pm to have time to have dinner with the family and spend a little time with the Wife and kids before getting out there. We were starting at 7:30 and I wanted to get there between 6 and 6:30.
Well, I got out of work about 4:15. A little later than I wanted, but no biggie. I get out to the car and put my laptop in the passenger side when I see it: the passenger side front tire was flat nearly to the rim. Can you say "oh fuck". So I call the Wife and get the number for the tire place. They're open till 6 and think it will only take maybe a half hour or so to get it done. So I put the spare on while amazingly not getting my work pants dirty, and head off to the tire shop.
I get there about 10 minutes to 5, they close at 6, and I don't need to be at the gig til 6:30, so I'm still good, right? So I ask the guy about how long to get to my car. He says about an hour. Shit. So I start making calls. First I call our bass player to let him know I'm going to be late. He gets there, let's the rest of the group know, and I get a call from our piano player. Do I think I can make it? I'm thinking I still can. Cool. I let the Wife know what's going on, go to Wendy's to grab a bite, and wait.
About a half hour later, I get a call from our piano player again. What's the status? It's like 5:45 and my car isn't even in the shop yet. So she tells me our drummer's dad is there (our drummer's 16) and he plays guitar and can fill in, so don't worry about missing the gig. They got it covered. I'm a little dissapointed, but all right, now no rush, right?
So I call the Wife and update her. As I'm finishing talking to her, my phone is beeping. I get the other line and it's our singer. She's like, Vince, you can't miss the gig! Do you want us to come pick you up? We need you here! So I tell her I'm sure I can make it. She says they'll have everything ready so I just plug into an amp and play. So they finish my car about 6:15. I run home to throw my gear in. Even though they said an amp would be ready for me, I decided that since I didn't know the quality of the amp, I better grab mine. It's now about 6:30, it's 20 minutes to the Cathedral, so I should be cool. On my way to the cathedral, I get a call from our piano player asking, by the way, one of the amps we have isn't that good. Can you bring yours? I replied it's in my trunk. I was told the Holy Spirit was working in me.
I got to the Cathedral just before 7, quick set up and tune, with about 10 minutes to spare to start the gig! We had a few minor technical issues which we worked out during the prelude, but after that it all went smooth. It was a great gig and a very nice ceremony. Probably the worst part for us as musicians was the part where the seniors recieved the Hands of Christ award. There were over 1oo recipients and each got thier name announced and their hands blessed by the Bishop. We were playing quiet music during this time. We'd planned on doing just one number, but after playing it for 2o minutes with no end in site, we had to go to a different song. That's when we got a little goofy. Although we were only supposed to play music, myself, the bassist, and the drummer (who NEVER sings) were quietly singing the lyrics. We had to vamp for about 40 minutes total. OMG I had trouble staying professional during that. The urge to do something wild and crazy was strong!
After the gig they had really good cookies for everyone! Nothing like some sugar after a 2 hour gig! All told it went off very well. I managed to stay calm throughout the entire ordeal, from flat to cookie.
Comments