Wednesday, October 24, 2012

WEGO: First Seamonster Open-Mic-Hosting!

Set 1 (30 megs)
Set 2 (29 megs)
Set 3 (15 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's first gig at Wallingford's Seamonster Lounge, hosting the 4th-Monday Open Mic (Monday, October 22nd)! The Orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), and Me Woods (bass and voice) … with the 3rd-set addition of Colin Higgins (acoustic guitar) and Shelita (sp? … voice).

There were some minor ups and downs with getting used to the format -- both in terms of our open-mic-hosting duties and in finding our groove with 20-minute set-times. But in the end, we did manage to squeeze in everybody who signed up (witnessing some truly inspiring singer/songwriter material from across the spectrum, and even an awkwardly-hilarious set of comedy), in addition to 3 short sets of WEGO, the 3rd of which included guest sit-ins and a spontaneous mini dance-party to close out the evening. Each of the WEGO sets went about 5 minutes over the 20-minute goal and simultanously felt constrained, but I'm thinking this can be a great learning experience if we stick with it.

Highlights abound, but are perhaps most concentrated at the very beginning and very end of the night (except for our extended introduction of "Logan" at the end of Set 2). However, the final set was certainly the most inspired. Sadly, when I looked to make sure I was recording mid way through Set 3, it turned out I had neglected to take the Edirol out of standby and so I'd like to drop a compliment here for Woody's kick-ass first-time take on Paul Simon's "Call Me Al", which happened right before I figured out I wasn't recording.

So for me, a great time overall! And I'm already looking forward to the next one. (Post your "woot!"s here for posterity, as comments to the FacePlant alert for these postings will all float away into the ignored proprietary ether.)