Wednesday, June 8, 2011

WEGO: Two Books Enter, One Book Leaves!

Set 1 (42 megs)
Set 2 (62 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's June 2nd performance at the Richard Hugo House for their annual event, "Two Books Enter, One Book Leaves". What a cool space this was to play in! A modest but fully-equipped stage in front of an open sun-bathed room of tables was sized perfectly for the 6 of us to squeeze in a gentle arc and do our thing while the event took place in front of us.

Given the early weekday start time of 5:30 and other assorted adventures and obstacles, the music built rather gradually from just Dennis and me to the gradual arrivals of Jenny, Ian, Woody, and finally Jesse. I may include the steady climb as a bonus clip here soon, but for now the first-set clip picks up with the arrival of Woody and the commencement of full-blown WEGO-style shenanigans. Since the intent was mostly to serve as background entertainment, we planned for a low-volume mostly-acoustic format. A few times during crescendos, I'm sure Woody would've appreciated the dynamic flexibility of having his guitar plugged into the PA, but the open-air vocals actually work pretty well here! I'm a little nervous that we'd tend to turn up past shouting-range at some gigs, but the rootsy -- and occasionally choral -- feel of harmonies sung straight-to-the-room make me want to try this at the Enlighten Cafe some time.

Wow, I'm really liking what we did for this one! The sound is energetic but responsive throughout. There's a tone of whole-hearted celebration that nevertheless apparently left space for small groups of people who had never heard us before to comfortably settle themselves at tables near the stage and peripherally enjoy the vibes. Would people dance at this volume? I'm not sure … but it seemed to work perfectly for this particular event.

At the time, I felt like the first set had been much stronger than the second, but while Set 1 may be a bit more coherent and seems to have the tightest lyrical-standard-interpretations of the evening, the second set has an undeniable bacchanalian charm, even in its roughest moments (the mid-set instrument swap ;)).

Thanks to Dennis (missing in this next one) for the photos!


And just in case you happen to see this right after I post it (hopefully Weds night), don't forget to come to our monthly Cafe Enlighten gig tomorrow, Thursday, June 9th, 2011! I'll be doing the opening set at 8pm, followed by as much WEGO as we can fit in by 10:00.

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