» Performance

Forgetting the Words

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:00:59 +0000

I’m convinced that one of the attractions of live performance of music is to see the musicians fuck up. It’s sort of like how people go to car racing, but really they want to see a horrific crash with cars flipping, rolling, burning, and the driver crawling out of his car in flames.

I forget my lyrics pretty often. At least once per show. The more it happens, the more I deal with it better. But now and then, as at my show last night at Tommy Doyle’s Loft, I just totally crash and burn. In this case I was doing a cover of Amanda Palmer’s “The Point of It All” and just totally forgot a huge chunk of the second chorus, and kind of panicked. I finished eventually, but it felt like shit.

So I YouTube’d some videos of famous musicians forgetting their words, and they’re pretty interesting. They all deal with it differently. Some just sing gibberish, some sing about forgetting the words, others just stop completely, or ask the audience for help. Tegan and Sara seem to fuck up a lot, but rely on each other to fill in. My favorite is the recording of Bob Dylan forgetting an ENTIRE SONG, trying the whole way to play through it. And then there’s Elvis, freaking Elvis, almost having a meltdown on stage.

To the audience member, especially to people who are already fans, it is endearing. But to the performer, damn if it doesn’t feel awful.

Jason Mraz (0:36)
James Hetfield (Metallica) (0:13)
Joanna Newsome
Bob Dylan
Regina Spektor (1:00)
Tegan and Sara
Bruce Springstein (4:00)
Elvis (2:20 onwards)

Sketches by Aleksey

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:50:42 +0000

Thanks to Aleksey Nelipa for these sketches of me performing at All Asia tonight! I especially like how he captured my boot-cut jeans in the second one.

I will never play another open mic as long as I live

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:46:08 +0000

I used to think I had stage fright. Now I know: I have open-mic fright. There is something so intimidating about being in a room full of extraordinarily talented people, waiting for hours to play your two songs and then get off the stage in a rush. And when you fuck up, it hurts double, because it’s just an open mic, and nobody cares, so you care MORE because it seems twice as pathetic to fuck up there.

This was the scene at the Lizard Lounge open mic competition tonight. After making the finals last week in my first attempt, I botched my finals song, forgetting the chords, and then completely forgetting the final verse. But I went back tonight thinking I was a shoe-in. I got there at 7:00 to get an alternate slot. But tonight was no ordinary night. The place was LOADED with talent, and many of them are not newcomers to the field.

So I went on late and played a new song called “Blow” and COMPLETELY, IRREVOCABLY, UNFORGIVINGLY BOTCHED IT. I transposed lyrics, forgot others, sang it horribly, and worst of all, kept having to stop. I must have stopped four times within the course of two verses. To the audience, it probably seemed amusing. I certainly did my best to make it seem funny. But inside it felt AWFUL. It is public humiliation. It is abject, prostrating FAILURE. And coming off the stage, I felt I had the stink of disease on me — like no one wanted to touch the festering corpse.

Six hours sitting in this place feeling nervous, and I end the night with THAT. No thank you. When I play my own shows this does not happen. I have FUN.

So that’s it. Never again. No more open mics. I get too nervous. They totally wreck my confidence.

Good night.

STETSON moved to the basement

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:40:41 +0000

For anybody coming out to see me Tuesday night at Tommy Doyle’s, the “Loft” upstairs has been rented out for a Harvard party, so we’ll be in the basement. I’m not sure how I feel about this but we’ll see.

My drummer, Ariel Bernstein, will be joining me on djembe for a few numbers, so there’s that.

Stetson_Live at Tommy Doyle’s Harvard Square

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:09:57 +0000

Tommy Doyle’s Acoustic Showcase

Solo show.

Also appearing: Craig Peura

RSVP on Facebook

STETSON_LIVE tonight at Bloc 11 Somerville

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:05:38 +0000

7:00 — w/Abbie Barrett
No cover

11 Bow St.
Somerville

Google Maps

Facebook event.

The space between open mics and real shows

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:00:56 +0000

For a newish performer like myself, there exists a huge chasm between playing at open mics and playing real shows. Open mics are about getting stage time, working out kinks in your songs and your act, and for me, working through performance anxiety (and not the kind where your penis doesn’t work). But open mics don’t really help you promote yourself, nor does anybody sells CDs there, because the majority of people who come to the open mics are other struggling performers like yourself. And forget what people say about using open mics for networking. Sure you meet a person now and then, but it’s horribly inefficient for this purpose.

The best way to stop playing open mics is to stop playing them.

But playing real shows takes patience. Booking agents, even at smaller venues, often want to know the size of your mailing list, or how many people attend your show. They are protecting themselves financially, of course, and there’s no shortage of musical acts that can put butts in seats anyway, so newbies like myself probably get shuffled to the back of the deck.

I wouldn’t even know, though, because lately I can’t even get replies from the booking agents. So I’m going to guess that the secret is facetime. Go to the venues you want to play at and find somebody to talk to. Maybe the booking agent is there, or somebody who can put you in touch with them directly.

That’s the strategy I’m going to go with. Two venues I want to hit up immediately are Local 121 in Providence, the Loft at Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square (for their Acoustic Showcase). And maybe Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. I’ll report back in a month to see how it’s going.