This was the second time that I have played Shrine with Ross Byron. Though I like the club, their booking was a little unconventional. The last time we played there, we were the only artists on the bill. This time, we were between two other groups.

To my surprise, I knew the bass player in the band before us, Darren Lipper. It was good to see him, and he sounded great, as usual. The group he was with was Leslie Casey & Company.

After us was the Umoja Orchestra. They were a huge group, horns, keys, bass, percussion, vocals, etc… They spilled from the stage onto the floor. Very nice.

It was odd to be a straight-ahead rock band amidst two groups that leaned towards funk, afro-beat, and soul. Nevertheless, there was a nice turnout and I believe that some of the crowd appreciated how we sounded.

As will happen with many gigs, there was an interesting technical malfunction. For the first few songs, I was aware of some form or deep buzz and rattle. At first, I wondered if my rig was too loud and rattling some fixtures behind me. Later, I found out that the microphone on Vinnie’s floor tom had fallen off and was giving off the hum. When something like this occurs, the only thing you can do is bear with it and keep playing. No crowd will stand for the band milling about trying to solve technical problems. All that can be done is hope that the noise does not take away from the music you are attempting to play.

Here are some photos from the show:

Created with flickr slideshow.