Countdown Entry #39   11:52 PM, Thursday, August 12th, 1999:   Thursday, August 12th, 1999 - 8:00 - 11:00 PM FATS BILLIARD EMPORIUM   SETUP   Reading these little entries, I'm not sure if any of you can imagine the stress involved. In a band when you break a string...no biggie. If you blow a speaker...you can just use your monitors for that night. If something goes down in my little makeshift computer I am 100 % screwed. Thus was the case tonight. One of the 4 units that process the video signal into 4 seperate images wouldn't turn on. It was gonna be 3 TVs. We were all set up. Set up went quickly again. Everything was wonderful and then BAM one TV GONE. It's at that moment that you realize you're doing something no one has done before on such a pitifully low level and you're a slave to it. There's no road map for it. IT BLOWS. So I took apart the computer and found the unit unplugged. Must've wiggled out in my trunk. WHEW. But for a moment it's just such lonely terror. It's the Blair-TVS Project. Without the motion sickness, just a little heart attack.   THE PERFORMANCE 13 SECOND SHOW CLIP (300K) SET 1: OPEN 1 - STRONGER - PARODY 1 SET 2: RHYTHM - UNPLUGGED - PARODY 2 SET 3: HATE - LOVE - ABBEY ROAD   What an awesome venue. I again really enjoyed the feeling of people sitting and watching a movie. And as you can see by the set list, there's rarely a low point in the whole thing. Very upbeat and comedy oriented. Which I admit I like. Abbey Road is a bit slow in places, but too damn bad. That is my one moment to be a Beatles fan. If you didn't like Abbey Road, you will not like ME doing Abbey Road. But if you didn't like Abbey Road-WOW...what was wrong with your childhood? Abuse? Disfunction? I am truly sorry. Anyway, this was every bit as good as the Shorty's show, with much better material. Lots of people showed. Overall around 20 people that I knew came, leaving only a dozen or so who said they could come and didn't make it. The ratio is usually the other way around. Voice-wise, I was still struggling without any sort of monitors. I simply couldn't afford to get them yet. The next show I'll have my lighting and monitors finished. I had a finished version of Hate set this time, and the Clinton song went over very well. Also, the very last time the OPEN 1 SET is every played. Although I might need it for a family show in case I make the new open more adult. We'll see. Kick ass night. Can't be too bummed about anything.   THE REACTION   "I had no idea what to expect, that was very cool..." and "Amazing, that must've taken you FOREVER..." Those were two really nice quotes. Though I knew most of the people, this was still their first time seeing it. I always forget that and then I'm really excited about their reactions. Jessica, Marty and I sit and talk about where the mix wasn't good, and try to be as nit-picky as humanly possible...and the audience just says wow. That's awesome. And most of the problems with sound will be fixed when I can FINALLY hear what everyone else hears. By the way, I keep mentioning monitors, and many of you think of computer monitors. Monitors are speakers that the performer can monitor the sound by. I will have tiny monitors next to the TVs so I can hear the mix of my voice over the rest of the singing. As it is, I can hardly hear it because the speakers are facing the audience. ANYWHO...got another "They'd eat this up in Vegas..." comment. (sigh) It just may happen. We'll see...

 

 

AUGUST 1999