The great experiment lifted off on Wednesday – Dave’ Night Out.  It turned out much better than I had imagined, thanks to my friends Dick Boak and Craig Thatcher, and a very curious and interactive crowd.  We also got to video and audio record the evening for further use.  But, that’s part of the exponential growth of this project.

 

The concept dawned on me about a month ago – to host an evening amongst three musicians, playing, improvising, talking philosophy and life experiences, and establishing a real dialogue with the audience. I had a feeling that it was unique, and that an audience would enjoy the format.  It worked beyond my expectations.

 

I started out with Green Green Rocky Road to warm us up, and introduce Dick and Craig during the song.  Nice.  Dick did a Dylan tune on the autoharp, Craig a picking blues tune and I got out Jelly in the Dish.  We mixed chatter, banter, guitar talk, Martin stuff, and folks in the audience had some great questions.  The thing I liked, as a personal aside, I learned some new and cool stuff about my friends.  Dick’s right side / left side brain, and Craig’s stint as a code breaker in Panama.  We all laughed and smiled a whole lot…

 

Both gentlemen are pros.  Dick impressed me with his storytelling skills, and Craig with his relaxed stage manner and his rapidly excelling fingerpicking.  (Craig is a killer electric player who has ‘seen the light’ acoustically, and made some very interesting comments on the change).  And there were no egos in the way. Friends.

 

It was a nice mix of audiences from all of our ‘fan’ bases, so each person in the room got to know one or more of the guys on stage for the first time. … and in depth.  And I genuinely think that many will come back for the format, regardless of the players. I guess that’s what I’m hoping.

 

We played longer than I had envisioned because we were having too much fun. We finished with Pay Bo Diddley that was a  nice jam, and it offered itself as a great vehicle to reintroduce the lads during the song (rather professional on my part, I must say), and we left the stage with roomful of appreciative folks.

 

Extremely satisfying.