Saturday, October 16, 2004

Two Sets from a Subset

Tonight, I got to play with our usual guitarist Alex and our inaugural bassist Gordon at a new coffeehouse in Lewisville (it's in the Castle Hills development, so far southeast in Lewisville that I thought it was actually in Carrollton). The place is called Perk-N-Steep, and it was really nice, once I found it (it's in the back end of a shopping center--which Alex warned me about beforehand--but the shopping center looks like townhomes from the rear, which totally threw me; I passed it once, and poor Gordon passed it three times!). It's smaller than Ke Davi or your average Starbucks, but it's done up really nicely, with antique furniture and a separate "reading room" in the back--the very essence of a "neighborhood coffeehouse.". The stage would maybe have fit four people, tops, so it's not really a place for the full-blown TD/D to perform, but smaller groups will do nicely there.

We did two sets of mostly standards--a few staples from the TD/D book, at least the ones which can be done drum-less. The place was full most of the time, thanks to a combination of local regulars and the Alex Fan Club (he does a full-on PR blitz each time we play). The people were really nice, and the coffee drinks were quite good (I had a mocha made with Ghirardelli chocolate, and then a "Camelatte"--remember that it's in Castle Hills and you'll get the play on words), and the "medium" size was enormous, and served in an actual glass coffee cup instead of styrofoam.

This place was really not as far away as it sounds--about ten minutes from Midway and the George Bush, and the set time (7-9 p.m.) was short, so I hope to go back there soon and do some more "subset" gigs. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening.

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Tonight's Lineup

Tonight is our next Ke Davi gig, and there are a few new faces for this show. Obviously, Halfling and Dingus and I are still there--the wouldn't be under the TD/D name if it were otherwise--and Alex is on board for tonight as well. Fillling in for the ailing Gordon will be Young Heo on bass, and John Whitlow holds the drum chair for tonight.

Some of the new tunes we're hoping to add for tonight include "In Case You Missed It" and "Foosball." My "Samba de ZuachiƱu" is a possibility, but that might be tough with only one rehearsal's worth of time.

I hope a lot of people will make it out tonight; I've sent out the usual emails, but our pool is a bit shallower this time because all of my high-school students are involved in various marching contests today. One of the contests is practically within rock-throwing distance of Ke Davi (and we entertained the idea of putting a flyer on every car in the stadium parking lot *grin*), but unless the students ask off the bus ride back and come over with their parents, the logistics are a little difficult. We're hoping that friends, family, people from the college and my fraternity brothers will take up the slack this time.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to playing with this lineup tonight. The recap will follow later, of course.