Its Live, Baby!

Sometimes, when you perform in front of audiences every night and become accustomed to that stability, you forget that everything is live, depending on each musician moment to moment. Everything you play WILL be heard, no ifs ands or buts about it. There is no backing off and playing it safe, you have to fully commit to what you are doing, and sell it even if you only saw the music for the first time that day. "Live" means there is always the possibility that someone will make a big mistake that affects the whole show. I've gotten used to everything going smooth and sounding good, night after night, and I don't get nervous about how we will sound anymore. But, last week when we performed with the "motown and more" group Horizon, I was reminded of the fragility of any performance. During one medley, the rhythm section missed a tempo change, the bottom completely fell out, and the whole show very nearly ground to a mortifying halt. Luckily with the help of our director we were able to pull everything back together, after a very uncomfortable 8 measures (a LONG time in showbiz!) of confusion and the headline entertainers looking back at us with "what the #$@% is going on?!" looks on their faces, though it was already obvious to the audience that something had gone wrong. It's been a long time since something that serious has happened to us in a show, but it really could happen at any time. We have to always trust that the rhythm section and especially the drummer are going to be in the right place, with the right tempos and tempo change transitions, dependable, every time. If they get off, the whole thing is out the window. But the truth is, that is a lot of responsibility, and no-one is going to get everything perfect every time. Our drummer is the best I've ever worked with on ships, truly talented and an incredibly experienced musician - he is always on top of things. And yet one little mistake on his part almost ruined an entire show. Its a wonder drummers aren't all stressed-out nervous wrecks. But if you ask me, the uncertainty is more than worth it. I would take the risk of a trainwreck any day in exchange for the superiority of live music. Long live LIVE!