Just played a great gig with Bradley & The Charlatans. It's an exciting feeling when a band starts to hit it's stride on stage. All the rehearsal in the world doesn't make you great. Don't get me wrong, it is necessary, but what really has to happen is the cohesion and chemistry amongst the band members during a show. Maybe I'm just getting better, or maybe I'm playing with better people it's hard to say. But both the John O'Mara band and The Charlatans are really starting to go off.
With Bradley, we record all of the shows to video. I have beaten this drum in every band I've played with, so I'm glad to have finally found one that will listen. The acoustics on stage differ greatly from venue to venue. And no venue sounds like our practice space. Consequently, the feel and the dynamic can be tricky. Such was the case last week when we played at Kelly's Olympian. Kelly's is a very loud, very rock and roll sounding room. High ceilings, hardwood floors, loud PA, very live. The tendency for bands is to start basking in the loudness of their own sound and stop listening to each other. I think we all felt that to a certain degree after the show. Maybe we hadn't played as tight as we could've. Fortunately in this band, we follow the golden rule of not over analyzing every note right after the show. Instead, we talk about the good things, mingle with fans and sell CDs, and call it a night. Then, when we watch the tape, re realize that the gig was much better than it sounded on stage. So, even though we weren't necessarily listening to each other as well as we could have, all that rehearsal payed off and we played a great show anyhow.
Setlist:
Drive All Night
Dance With Me
To Hell With You - watch it here
Johnny And Mary
Back To Brooklyn
Friday Night - watch it here
I Got You (Wilco cover)
Midwest Winters - watch it here
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