Brian Bergeron

Last night had all the ingredients to be a disaster. I was playing at a college I had never played before out in Springfield, MA (just shy of two horus away). I had sent flyers but playing in a pub at a college during a weekday is always a spotty occassion. The worst thing working against me was that it was Game 1 of the World Series at Fenway Park. When I arrived to AIC and set up, I was all ready thinking of the title for my blog entry “Playing To An Empty Room.”

Things, however, turned out differently. Sure, there was a small crowd (at no point did the number get over 15 people) but they were appreciative it seemed. There was a handful of people who talked to me between songs, which is how I scale to see if people are ‘involved’ and a couple of girls there were especially active. I believe now that I can play and enjoy ANY show in which there are two people who are involved and enjoying it. There have definitely been plenty of frustrating shows that started off like this one (low and uncertain expectations) but this one did a nice 180.

Still, it was not the best show I’ve ever played and I wonder if I would have regarded it so nicely if I didn’t have such low expectations. That’s not the point though. I played and sang pretty well and positioned myself so I could move between looking at the audience and watching the Red Sox on a big screen TV (for those of you who live under a rock, we won 13-1 with a particularly strong performance by…The whole team). I’m just flattered that people left their dorms to come listen to music rather than watch Game 1 (which is what I probably would have been doing if I wasn’t working).

That being said, I hope I get the opportunity to play at AIC again. I think I can grow on the success of this show and find other ways to promote and make it more of an ‘event.’

I was out of there by 11 and had to make the trip back to Cambridge. I was lucky enough to catch innings 6-9 of the game (playoff games run soooooo slow) and hear us cap off our victory. I was starving because I didn’t get to eat dinner before coming to Springfield so I stopped at a rest stop and got McDonald’s, which I haven’t gotten in forever (and for good reason). I got home just a hair earlier than I did last week coming home from Farmington but I didn’t almost fall asleep at the wheel like I did when coming home from Farmington. I did all right.

We have a show tomorrow (full band) at Northeastern. We’re playing a mix of covers and originals at an alumni event. We’ve been prepping for it for the last two weeks and I’m looking forward to finishing the event because I’m anxious to turn my attention towards pre-production for the new EP and the December 13th Paradise Lounge show (which I haven’t thought about AT ALL yet). I’ve spent a lot of time over the last week writing and re-writing and I hope to devote a whole bulletin entry soon to the subject of songwriting. I’m re-arranging some of our songs and I look forward to making this release the best yet.

For now, I’ve got to go and get back to playing and writing, which I neglected yesterday. Hurrah.