Brian Bergeron

We had a full band gig yesterday at NU’s alumni Fan Fest event. I’m and alumni for Northeastern and every once and a while I’ll get called in to do an event and they seem to like the work we do, which is great. We have to play a blend of covers and originals, which for the longest time I fought against and did not enjoy but I’ve learned to accept. During this past summer, we had a ‘residency’ at Hookslide Kelly’s in downtown Lowell, which means we had a consistent weekly (though it wasn’t always wekly…) gig. There was an expectation that we play a good blend of covers and originals, which totally makes sense in that setting. In a bar, people can get drunk and listen and sing along to their favorite songs and a band provides an energy that a jukebox can’t…Still, the artist in me doesn’t want to get wrapped up in being known for my versions of cover song but I’ve learned to accept that sometimes it’s a thing I’m going to have to do to help pay the bills…Yesterday’s gig was fun though.

We left my Cambridge apartment at 3:30. I drove my equipment and Andy’s and Andy and Anthony drove in Anthony’s car with the drums. Driving through the city at that time is a pain so it took us a half-hour to move like three miles to NU. We arrived, however, and there was this confusion as to how we were going to load our stuff into the building and up to the sixth floor, which was where the event was. We ended up finding a freight elevator in the back of the building and were able to move our stuff upstairs.

The gig itself was kind of snazzy. The alumni center, where the event was held, reminded Anthony of a cruise ship, which was an incredibly accurate description. We played two sets for about an hour each. The music we played had a lounge feel to it. Everything was kind of restrained and we had a good time with it. Some of the new covers we unveiled included: “Jenny (867-5309)” by Tommy TuTone, “Start Me Up” by The Rolling Stones, and the often and over covered “All Along The Watchtower” by Bob Dylan. Our version of Watchtower was definitely a new take on the song with Anthony banging away on the tom toms and it was not based on the Dave Matthews Band version, which seems to be where everyone is basing their version now-a-days.

After the gig, we ate LOTS of food. The event was catered and we were allowed to finish off the food and we were all in food coma mood after. Packing up was slow and we still had a practice to attend. We’ve made a better push lately to try and practice. We have the studio at the end of November and a big headlining show in mid-December that we are getting ready for. First priority is the studio, however, and it showed in this practice. We spent an hour-and-a-half working on one song, “Cavity” that’s on the list of songs we’ll probably record. We were working on pre-production and arrangements for the song, picking apart things that we have issue with. It is probably the most in-depth we have been in picking apart a song since we first got together. I was happy with the results and part of the song was re-written and definitely drives it a lot better. We also worked on our song “Sisters” and didn’t have to tweak it much but I’m super excited to record that tune. It’s kind of epic and the way I put it yesterday, it’s a “repressed rocker.” There are constant times during the song when it wants to bust out of its shell but doesn’t get there to the end, which is important for the build. At all times it’s slow, to mid-tempo though so it’s just a constant pulse and I enjoy the heck out of it. It’s extremely difficult juggling three schedules to get practices to happen (when mine seems to be the most ‘open’) and I am not looking forward to doing the same for when we expand to a five-piece but so be it! I’m looking forward to BEING a five-piece but coordination will be a real pain, I’m sure.

Also, yesterday I got 13 resumes for potential interns for next semester. I have one intern this semester and he’s worked out great but I think with 2 interns, things will be able to work out great and am excited. I invited I think 7 people for an interview and they all have a little more experience this year than the potential interns did last semester, so I’m excited.

Well, got to roll.