We had a RockRoots in Northern NJ at a nice ES in Ridgewood. It was quite interesting in that our bass player called the day before to say he was doubled-booked. Hmmm. Seems the gig was on the schedule for months, but somehow he missed it. Hmmm.
Well, Donny, Kevin and I did it as a trio and we pulled it off with several sleight of hands. First of all, the show is a solid piece of writing and the education aspects are good. The material, the presentation and the musicianship holds up well, and we have had experience in doing it as a trio.
Sonically, we decided to play it like it were an acoustic show where often the instruments are sparse and un-rockband. Kevin played heavy on the toms, I leaned on the acoustic guitar to fill the holes and Donny maintain a simple electric sound. It was interesting in that we played well and had our ears open and in tune with each other, covering what we could in the overall tone. It worked and none were the wiser, though we couldn’t have done it for a middle school.
It was a 10 am show and then a 1 pm show, so the break in between is long. We managed to catch some good breakfast in town and cooked for the second show. The school loved it.
One teacher caught us as we were packing up. She said it was great, and that she just happened to be a sub today. We said that she was a lucky teacher to sub and get the show in, too. She agreed.
Long day with 7 am lift-off and 4 pm landing, all without a bass.