notes for D#s

wow
now that's the way to do a show

entry fee "$5 - $10,000"
suggested $10
minimum $5

groovy opening DJ Ginger
enjoyed a nice looping affirmation
I forgot to mention that you are beautiful

D#s t shirts
a kissing booth
CDs of studio work, live shows, solo shows
silent auction of art, cakes, jewelry
Twister
massage chair
dollar raffle
coin drop

live sheet painting on stage,
also videoed, synthed and morphing with music on screen
auctioned off later

after the house DJ Toast
everyone boogied to after D#s

while they were burning CDs of the show

lots of smiles, young folks, an almost entirely new crowd
but for a few of the more fun peers of mine
the salsa bass player I just finagled a lesson with
a fun shaker from E-dance
bankruptcy attorney and friends partying with wine on the balcony
that Native American guy who is so mellow and always knows the scene
those memorable big blue eyes from E-dance
the young massage therapist I occasionally go to
that attractive petite brunette who seems to be partners with that transgender dude
all of whom consistently dance in a way I enjoy

D#s is already on a trail near to the one I am wanting to play on
a very safe, sweet, fun dance space
the loving youthful rave vibe
the scene overall reminiscent of Europe
improv yet for the sake of the dance groove rather than ego
(fully respecting the space for one another's voices and contributions in the music: how do they manage that magic?)

ridiculous turnout--hundreds of people
brilliant having an hour plus of warmup DJ
and even more a House closer for people to keep shaking to another hour--maybe even more real dancing than to the main band, and pretty pleasant and diverse for House

my D#s notes say: the main trio = drummer with borged out guitar/synth and bass/synth both looping
1) launching right into groovy afrogroove triplet, moving into anthem rock, and back, and finishing punkish
2) ambient chill kicking into fast hip-churning funk, then back and forth
3) light India groove into cliche rock into fun Dead jam (drums in and out, changing)
4) less-descript chill-ish into funk-ish again
(couple minute break and announcements, while I envision a possible collaboration with a spinner, just a little more live, jazzy and Latin)
5) space jam w/ slow drum groove into driving boring rock mess (when they try to drive their staccato into high energy chaos, but fail to find the polyrhythm, it's lame-ish anthemic...also could use another voice--horn, (affirming) vocal, violin)
6) watery into another mid tempo groove, then finding a nice poly as the guitar loop falls behind the keys who the drummer follows, with Ben bold enough to keep looping the guitar into a poly groove (maybe not always start with slush?)
7) slow into nice something groovy-disco-ish
(another anouncement, politely apologizing to plead for more support)
8) straight up energetic Afrogroove all the way through--nice
9) anthem into rock groove (where are those vocal affirmations?), driving with elements of funk and noise, drummer misses slightly and so launches into solo, which turns the song toward its sudden and crisp rhythmic ending...
"thanks for sweating with us"
"okay if we get a hundred cheers, we'll play one more"
10) minor ambient groove, into disco-ish with a slight hiphop feel, along with some noise reminiscent of the pitch of a dental drill and triggering some release work for me around an upper root canal

hit or miss, that's what I'm talking about: varying genres, all danceable, something for everyone, keeping it fun, flowing through elements, allowing shifts...

yes I did visit the kissing booth, it was very pleasant
and yes I did win one of my two silent auction bids, $20 for a three-hour video event recording, a downright steal, I imagine we will want to tip in the extreme on that project whatever it turns out to be
uh no I did not play Twister or get a massage

I did dance a whole lot

100 - 120 minute set...grateful for the "mistakes" which, because of the commitment to the grooves, ended up creating something new and fun each time...bass was fun to attend to, not overwhelming technically thank goodness...often(?) making a choice to overextend his riffs by a measure or two, to create not only poly-potential, but to work another chord into the changes...reminding me of Unit 7 Drain and the best ABQ grunge bands opening up my head to the exquisite pleasure of a non-145 harmonic texture

wow