Impromptu Performance

Hello my darlings!

Sorry it's been so long, but I've been uber-busy lately. Yesterday (Friday April 15th, 2001), I woke up at 5am, was at school by 8am, we loaded up the bus and went to the school by 9:30, had a show at 10:30, performed and got to the school by 12pm. We do shows with opera, musical theater, operetta scenes, etc., and we tour on Friday mornings to help bring music to the children. It was a really long morning, but as I was driving home, my friend texted me.

We were going to a concert (a fundraiser event) at my old college at 6pm. He said the lead singer from one (of many bands) had to back out and if I wanted to fill her place. I was super excited! I'm so used to singing opera and what not, and now I got to let loose and sing Heart's "Crazy On You" with a band!!!

I said yes, and as soon as I got home, I studied the pants off of that song. I've always loved Heart. My mom used to play them in our van as she drove my brother and I to junior high school, so I had a vague understanding of the song, but I didn't know the lyrics or the form of the piece. I printed out the lyrics (in purple because my printer suddenly ran out of black ink) and memorized them while I got ready.

When I got to the college, the two guitarists were there, but the drummer and the bassist were both MIA. I was really nervous, but I said that I was willing to sing even if it was just with the both of them, and they agreed. As we rehearsed the piece ( just the second time through from the refrain), Kris stopped playing. I looked him and said "Don't we go to the chorus there?" but my sentence trailed off as I saw his face. He looked sad, like a little boy who broke his toy helicopter, so I looked down. His string had burst.

We all had an unofficial moment of silence. Javier was the first to speak "C'mon, there's a Guitar Center a few blocks from here. Let's go!" So Javier and Kris ventured forth into the land of guitars while I stood behind with Chris (the one who texted me in the first place) and memorized the lyrics some more.

During this time, we had a little impromptu photo shoot (Shameless plug, I know). Here was what I looked like.

I couldn't dress uber-Goth and I wanted to be safe because I didn't know the venue or the band, but I still wanted to incorporate some goth-y elements. I wore my blood red front lace-up bodice, my black velvet jacket, all my silver rings and my black wrist rosary. Then, I incorporated some "casual" elements like skinny blue jeans and studded high heeled boots. Also, my studded belt with a black cross belt buckle and a feather in my hair. Tres "rockstar."

That's just outside the venue I performed at. There were a lot of performers from different bands playing and they all wanted THEIR amp, so this is the graveyard of amps that they constructed.

I really loved the skull on this amp.

The boys came back and Kris worked on his guitar, trying to tune it up before the concert. After about 30 minutes or so, it was 6pm and the show was about to begin. Everyone filed in the room, so I decided to take a few obligatory photos with these Classical musicians.

This should be our first CD cover.

The drummer and bassist were kinda MIA until after 6 when the show began. I was a little nervous, but we did it anyway. With little in the way of a rehearsal and reeeally coming down the last second, I think we did pretty good. It was nice to do something fun like this, like my hobby job on Friday nights after dark. XD

It was hard to hear myself over the graveyard of amps and right beside the drummer, but I somehow made it through without making a fool of myself. Here's the video, I hope you like it.