Insanely Public FAIL on stage? Maybe

Yesterday I finally accomplished my goal of singing at this really professional, top-notch music open mic in New York City! 

When I say "top-notch," I mean it; You never know what celebrities or industry professionals will stroll in during the evening.  I've now been to this open mic 4 times total, the first three only to watch and build up the courage to perform.  During my first visits, Mary Mary (gospel group) literally sat right in front of me (I bought their newest CD directly off of them), and on another occasion the R&B sensation Raheem Devaughn sat on a stool a few feet behind me.  There are tons of A&R people (talent recruiters) who frequent this venue's open mic night, so I went in this past Sunday feeling very excited, slightly nervous, but ready to rock out.

If only...

I was actually quite confident going into the performance because I was singing a song I know and love, "Everybody Knows" by John Legend.   My only concern was that the band would not know how to play the tune.  If they didn't know it, I'd be stuck on stage high and dry as they played wrong chords in an attempt to give me instrumental support.  Man oh man...that's EXACTLY what happened.

I walked up to the band director, told him my song name, and he froze in thought for a second.  He then asked me to sing a few bars of the song, so I did.  While singing, it was clear to me that this guy didn't know the song at all, let alone how to play it.  He proceeded to ask me if I had an alternate song, and while there were a few others I could have performed, I was mentally ready to sing "Everybody Knows."  Consequently, I just told the band director to follow me and we'll get through it... ...he tried, lol.

I opened my mouth to sing the first few words and right away people began cheering.  That was definitely reassuring, but then...we got to the first change in chord progression, and the band's unfamiliarity with the song was exposed.  I still drove forward and sang the song, but I completely avoided singing the bridge because it switches keys all together.  I would have sounded like a hot disaster (probably rivaling Hurricane Andrew) if I'd decided to switch keys on the already confused band... I probably would have been yanked off the stage by a long cane from the stage wings (watch "Showtime at the Apollo" to get the reference).

So in the end I sang a shorter, anti-climactic version of the song, and although the crowd was vibing to my vocals, the performance was nowhere near as successful as I'd hoped it would be.  I'm going to have to come back another night with a different song and try again.  When I left the stage on Sunday, I got a really nice audience applause and a bunch of hand pounds/high fives.  Clearly there's potential, and I can only imagine what it'll be like when I get to sing with no reservations and the band plays confidently.  

This time around was by no means an epic fail.  I was just held back by a lack of cohesion between vocals and instruments.  Next time, I might bring an old school, up-tempo jam that everybody actually knows.  I'm certain that I can rock the house.  

No matter, yesterday was still a success because I finally took my first solo live performance step, and I can only grow in competence and confidence from here.  My music demo's virtually done, and I'm starting to perform for the public - Cheers to proactively chasing dreams!

*Today I'm going to spend some time designing the CD art for my Demo!*

Be well,