Yesterday, 7/12/2009, I played my first "real" (i.e. non-church) gig. It was part of the Come Together Concert Series in Clinton, NJ. This is a summer series that has musicians on the streets of town on every Friday and select Sundays. Yesterday was also the annual Ducky Race so it got to be one of the Sunday events. I played with Jeanne Resua (vocals) and Wayne Dubansky (guitar). They have been playing together for about a year. They both are in the church choir I play in and asked me to play with them to add a little depth. As my faithful readers will know, I started playing drums at church about 18 months ago, first on djembe then on set. I never figured to play anywhere but Mass, but figured Why Not?For yesterday's gig, we were told we would be playing at the corner of Leigh and Center Street, Nate and I went down on Friday night to scope out the location and it seemed pretty nice. When I arrived on Sunday, after parking in the Community Center about a 1/2 mile away (thank you Ducky Race!), another band was setting up. They said they were playing at that location. We straighten things out with Annie at Rock The World Cafe, who runs the event and ended up in a great location - across the street from Hallmark, right on Main Street. They provided a tent and extension cords and we got setup in time to start at 2:30.
I don't think I realized how nervous I was - it took me a while to relax and get comfortable. Once I relaxed, I had a great time - I just played. It's certainly different than playing at church - rarely have I not been able to hear the choir due to a motorcycle passing by. The crowd was pretty good, especially early, right after the Ducky Race. We did about 40 minutes and then let the kids from Don't Fret and Take to the Sky do a set. By the time they finished, the crowd was pretty thin. We played until 4:30 and at times we were playing to the cars on Main Street. It was a great day weather-wise and, as I told Nate when I got home, "Nobody died". All in all, I had a great time and would love to do it again.
