I'm a worst-scenario kind of a guy. When I plan my budget, for example, I assume that the worst possible financial outcome will be the reality, and then I shave off a few hundred dollars off of that, just to be on the safe side. The result is that I am usually very pleased with the outcome, because I plan for the worst. A certain amount of pessimism can be healthy, and I proceeded with my plans for the February 10th concert with that same mentality. At least several people asked me how many people I was expecting to show at the concert, and the ball park figure I gave them was maybe 35 or so. It turned out to be about 64! Some people even showed up late and people had to scramble to find chairs.
I could describe the event in many ways, but the best way would be to label it as a learning experience -- there were last-minute changes, hangups, mishaps, misunderstandings, etc., days before the performance, but the minute the performance started at 7:00pm, it was as if everything came together perfectly. I was nervous the first couple of songs, but I finally relaxed during the third song ("Snowfall on a Light Glissade"), maybe because so far nobody had booed or thrown tomatoes at me.
The Next Adventure: September 15th!
I have to say I was really fond of that venue. The Chico Women's Club is just small enough to fit 60 to 100 people or more, but not too large that it appears intimidating or makes the audience look too dispersed. So I booked another show at the same location, which will be September 15th. It's a ways away, but it's the earliest date I was able to book it. I'm in the process of deciding on the program, and at this point mainly debating whether I want to have 10-ish songs played all the way through to the end, or do 45 minutes followed by an intermission, followed by another 45 minutes.
I've posted a video below of "Snowfall on a Light Glissade". I had written an arrangement to the original piece and included a cello, and I was able to find a cellist in Chico who agreed to play. I had also planned to perform a piece with an opera singer (which Vince Chambers had agreed to help with) but we had to forego that particular song since he had a cold the entire time we needed to rehearse the piece. He was still able to host the event though, and I'm hoping he can do both next time.
There are too many other learning experiences to list in just a short blog post like this, but there's one that's worth mentioning, which is that I sold all nine CD's at the event, at $10.00 each. I had only brought the nine, so next time I'll be bringing more. Raising the ticket price slightly will also bring the profits into the "black" instead of the "red", although I was expecting to be a little in the red during my first major concert.
I have considered putting on more casual/informal shows somewhere between now and September, but this is hard only because I work so much (including my day job in Yuba City) and it's tricky to squeeze in the time to visit the venues and set it up. Either way, more updates will become available as the date gets closer.
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| Some of my trusty helpers/supporters! (Mandalyn, Dawn, Ashley and Mindy) |
