"Woke up on the bus in Frankfurt feeling a bit rough. Oh dear. Not good at all. With a bit of extra rest, an Aspirin, a walk to get some fresh air and a shower I felt much better and all was fine in time for the soundcheck. Phew. There was a bit of extra pressure on this gig as Steven had decided to film it with a full film crew, not for anything in particular and certainly no plans for a DVD to be released so soon after the last one, but just to have 'in the can'. So we needed to get it right and also sound check a bit longer just to make sure that the recording equipment was all functioning 100%.
Anyway, some interesting things happened on the gig. First of all, I have found hearing myself in the monitors quite difficult for my sax solo in 'No Part of Me'. It is during the loud part at the end of the song and there are heavy guitar riffs and the drums go crazy. So although I need to hear myself more, instead of turning me up, we tried turning my whole monitor mix of everything down and hey presto, much better. I could I hear everything more clearly and when we played that song tonight (one of my personal favourites), it felt better than it had done in a while.
The soprano sax solo in Raider 2 went fine and during it Steven came over, stood right in front of me and started pointing at the ceiling and around the room with a sort of 'explore the space' kind of gesture. Now I did not mind this at all and in fact looked him in the eye and started improvising following his gestures a little. He smiled back and it took the solo somewhere new and fresh. Then it occurred to me that maybe that is the difference between an improviser and a soloist. The soloist will often have their solo ideas largely prepared, a vocabulary of their 'licks' and favourite patterns and deliver them in a musical way that creates the finished product of 'the solo'. The improviser on the other hand is always open to immediate stimuli and will respond to whatever is going on around them - more like a boxer who has to be 100% alert at all times and change direction on a fraction of a moment's notice. I think that I, like many, am a combination of both but it is interesting how different musicians will clearly tend towards one or other approach and respond in different ways when a curve ball is thrown while they are soloing.
Some amusing heckles and shouts tonight by the audience I think Steven responded well and appropriately too. That is quite an art being able to deal with all that stuff on the fly and in the moment and doing it well.
Incidentally, there was a guest of one member of the band who came to a gig a few days ago but who had not seen him for several years. When he asked what they thought of the gig, they responded in luke warm terms. Not 'it was great', not ' I really appreciate the amazing playing and music', not even ' it is not my thing but it was well done '. More just "...meh" and a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. The musician concerned was taken aback and most unimpressed. We all thought this was v. poor and rude - especially with having had a guest ticket. So '....meh' has become a regular band comment and response - applicable in all situations! What was dinner like '....meh' etc. So while hanging around in the dressing room before the gig today I wrote and recorded this little ditty, with extra production input by Guthrie...the 'Meh song'".
Theo Travis
