Kristos Pics

Have I ever mentioned how "blue" Kristos Eastlake is? I'm sure I have. But you may not have believed me. Well, here be the proof: more blue than you can shake a stick at (whatever that means). These are some shots from our second show (in July), taken by the low-light loving Tom Wallace (click on the pics for a larger view):

Marta & mantone

Zanbaka getting down
with some alegrias footwork

Dani + fan

And Marta and a hat?
Oh yes--props rock!

Zanbaka's Solea

Todos . . . and are those castanets I see?
Indeed, I believe they are!

And speaking of Kristos Eastlake, if you haven't been yet to see a show (and you happen to live in the area, I guess) you really should drop by. We'll be back there on the 16th of August with two brand new songs, more props, and all the blue you could ever want (and more!).

Until then: play, I say, play!

~A

Kristos Eastlake: Round II

That's right: even after Zanbaka's inexplicable "lampshade incident" at the first Kristos show, the resident powers-that-be asked us back for a second round!

And good fun it was: lots of folks came out to support us and helped make for quite the lively evening. I never did get a head count, but by my best estimate I would say the place was about 90% full--which, given that it was a Sunday night, I find not the least bit disappointing.

Set-wise, we were able to add two new songs and rotate in some material that we hadn't gotten to last month. There are some staple dances that we did repeat (how can you not do a soleá, after all?), but overall I think we switched things up enough that folks who had come to both nights weren't overwhelmed by déjà-vu.

Performance-wise, I found that this time around was less stressful than the first night. I suspect having played the space once before helped that. Also (and I know this is going to sound all patchouli-hippie, so just skip ahead if you're not feeling the tie-dye), I've been trying out some new "pre-show" mental ablutions and this one seems to be working:

About 20 minutes before going on, I tune and warm up with some rasgueado and scales. After about 10 minutes, though, (i.e. 10 minutes until I go on) the ol' nervous system starts to wig out. Like it or not, I start thinking about all the train-wrecks possible, my hands start to get cold, my stomach goes ape-shit (all of this, being, of course, the much villainized (because very villainous) 'fight-or-flight' response of which I've written in previous posts).

The cold hands, of course, have nothing to do with being warmed up; they're just a result of my nervous system plotting against me. At this point, continuing to "warm up" will do precisely nothing. I'm as warm as I need to be--the problem is I'm also neurologically in fifth gear. So I rest my guitar on my leg and just chill: I take some deep breaths; I visualize myself on stage, relaxed, playing well and enjoying myself (hey--is that sandalwood I smell?).

And it seems to work. My hands still don't truly get "warm" until usually halfway through the first set, but at least they're not useless flippers, embarrassing me out there on the ends of my arms. I'm still wary about putting anything super-technical in the first song or two, but this can usually be managed.

Might all this be the result of simply playing out more often? That's entirely possible. But if you were to tell me that doing handstands before a show would put me in a state of utter chill, I'd be willing to try it out.

Especially if you were also to tell me that they would discourage a certain dancer's fascination with the aerodynamics of lighting accessories.

But that's a story for another post--now you: go play!

~A

Fiesta del Verano 2009

If my count is correct (and I think it is), this makes my fourth bi-annual show with the Peña: two full nights of song, dance, much nerves, the odd shot of Irish whiskey, and--yes!--even a guitar duet!

But details on all of this will follow. I know this is not my normal modus operandi, but how about we start off with some pics? These we have thanks to Drew Shinn:

And now for those details I promised. Where to begin? How about with nerves? Those of you who follow my musings here with any kind of regularity will know that I've been playing "out" more and more frequently these days. This has definitely helped (I think) to calm the general and widespread rebellion that tends to occur in my central nervous system just before a big show.

Of course more performing time also corresponds to more practice time. One of the things I found with this show was simply that I had played these song so many times that I didn't know how I could forget or otherwise screw them up.

This isn't to say that my playing was 100% perfect--there are certainly things I would have liked to have done better. But the one thing I live in mortal fear of is a "train wreck": some error so monumental that it brings everything to a grinding halt. Luckily (knocking on wood like crazy right now), I've never had one of these.

I mentioned above that Markus Kolb and I performed a guitar duet (with Steve on cajon). This was an arrangement of Paco de Lucia's total kick-ass rumba "Rio Ancho." This was also the first time I had performed a flamenco guitar "solo" in front of that many people (on Saturday the theater was probably, by my best guess, 95% full).

Right up until the opening chords, I was suspicious. Would my nervous system fail me? Would my hands turn into useless flippers on the ends of my forearms? Fortunately for me, it only took about four bars to put these questions to rest: like the other material, I've played this song so many times, it would be amazing if I hadn't been able to pull it off.

In fact, my nerves behaved pretty well throughout this show. Which meant that I was actually able (at times) to relax enough to actually enjoy performing. Who knew that was possible? This isn't complacency you're hearing (reading), though: if I've learned one thing in the few years I've been performing it's that my nervous system is a capricious beast at best. I've got a show coming up at Kristos Eastlake with Zamani Flamenco in about a week and a half (on July 12th, actually), so we'll find out soon enough if I'm actually making "progress" or if I just got lucky.

I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, you know what to do . . . .

~A