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The band will play on ...

My various adventures and ups and downs while trying to put together a band in Buenos Aires. Connecting with like-minded musicians, who want to play for enjoyment rather than money or ego, isn't as easy as it might seem ...

Blog posts : "concerts"

Play that funky music

Sometimes everything comes together just when you least expect it.

It had been a tense few weeks running up to the latest concert, and I wasn't the only one in the band with doubts about whether the brass section could deliver the goods. I was beginning to despair and had pretty much written off the concert before it even began. The late addition of Marisa on backing vocals had given the band a much needed boost of positive energy, but it seemed too little too late.

As the concert approached I seriously considered dispensing with the services of both Hugo and Nacho, believing that they were actually making a negative contribution to the sound of the band. Two weeks before the gig, Nac…

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Two out of three ain't bad

Last Friday - 5 days ago - the band played its final gig of this year. After the heady euphoria and enthusiasm of the previous two concerts, this felt a bit flat. Technically we probably played our best, but some of the adrenaline was missing from what felt like 'just another gig'. I don't think it helped that we were playing El Suburbano - the location of our first concert - again. 

The fact that we played this concert at all was simply down to bad planning. After the success of the first gig, back in October, the intention had been to play two more before the end of the year. But as we moved through November nothing else was on the horizon, so we decided to ask the very agreeable owner…

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Fever

Our second concert, just a couple of days ago, saw a move into the big league: Stadium venue and live television!
 
Ok, so the 'stadium' wasn't River Plate (although that was just around the corner), but an indoor basketball arena. The television was live, but mostly focused on the game not us. And as for the 'big league' ... well, I know nothing about basketball, but it was a Wednesday night and there we're plenty of empty seats. 
 
Outside the band, Tom (Tomas) is a web designer and has been working on a project with the management of a sports club, Obras de Sanitarias. Apparently the place is quite important from a sporting perspective. However, when not being used for bask…

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Hair of the dog

Vinilo Sensation
"YES! YES! YES!" - (punches sky; high-fives; etc). This first concert was an overwhelming success; now we just need to replicate the performance next time.
 
The concert was last Friday; almost 10 days ago as I write. Everything just came together at the right moment and everybody was on top form ... and thoroughly pleased with themselves afterwards. There were inevitably some issues about presentation, but no musical problems or disasters. All-in-all, better than I had hoped and by far the most personally satisfying concert I've played in ... decades.

My idea had been to make this a 'practice concert'; only very close friends w…

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