Elbo Room was a great early opportunity for Fight Nice. We were surprised and excited when Brian booked the show, and were impressed with the detailed information the venue sent use. We practiced and prepared well, and made some great posters and promotional material.

The day of the show, I was rushed, which was probably good because it used up a lot of mental energy and kept me from getting nervous. But I was on time as usual, loaded in my gear (they actually have a decent space for everyone’s gear), and starting chit-chatting. The sound man, was laid back, cool, and on top of things (bearded and laid-back seems to be a theme with sound men). The other bands were very friendly and I made some nice connections. In fact, Tommy from The Choons has another band in Madison, and booked us for a show there in a couple weeks. Tim is especially excited since he went to school in Madison. One of his connections from there is even a fan of The Choons. Small world.

Eventually we settled in to watch the other bands. The Choons had a knack for engaging the crowd; definitely some things for us to learn from about that. Brandon James and the Middle City Sound blew us away with their musicianship and top-notch performance. Something special to keep on eye on ther, and Boyang — their bassist –was very friendly throughout, a joy to talk shop with. The last band — Fox DeLuxe — while they were quite friendly and played spot on, wasn’t my cup of tea. The fact that they weren’t sure how to pronounce their own band name should have clued me in to the variety-show sort of banter and irony they would incorporate into their show. But they played well, had a lot of fans, so all’s good.

I am not happy with my own performance. While I wasn’t nervous, I felt wooden and tight the whole time, and never loosened up. It affected my singing, my timing, my interaction with the guys, my movement, my perception of everything. My (background) vocals were too loud, louder than Tim’s lead vocals, and out of tune. I think the hi-hat on the drumset was falling apart. Our soundcheck took too long, and I didn’t know what to ask SoundMan for in the monitors. I couldn’t hear my bass. Tim’s mic stand kept drooping, and he was correcting it between songs, the creaking of which sounded like belching to me, very confusing until SoundMan told us to stop moving the mic stand and tighten the boom. And I knew it was all being video taped. I purposely didn’t tell Tim and Brian that.

I talked with SoundMan afterwards, and he thought it went ok, and helped me figure out a bit more etiquette for the live sound. I’d love to play there again, perhaps with some more performance practice under our belt. It can go so well in rehearsal, but it takes some skill translating that comfortable energy to the stage. Which is why we are trying to play so many shows. We want to be at the top of our game, with no excuses for being otherwise.