Hickoids Vs Sex Pistols
We were asked to "be" the Sex Pistols at a show celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Pistols SA show at Randy's Roadhouse. We worked a dozen songs up for about a month. Mostly hits from the "Bollocks" album and two B-sides.
Generally it's a lot of fun to learn a new set. At home I have a binder full of notes from various bands I played in/ subbed for. I take a certain amount of pride in being able to learn a set and being able to play it, with a decent level of skill in very little time. These notes cover a bunch bands including Bigfoot Chester, South Filthy, a couple of pages from when I first joined the Hickoids and four from when I joined the Ideals (Jones was workin my ass off). I've not only gotten good at reading them on stage, but I can get "off the page" pretty quick as well.
Then there was this Sex Pistols set.
I've liked the Pistols at various points in my life. I know they are supposed to be angry punks but the songs sounded dumb and fun to me. They always got a little abrasive at some point so I'd listen for a while them put them away for a couple of years. We start learning them and they start invading my head. I'd be walking around the house and suddenly I'm singing "Fuck this and Fuck that..." It's pretty normal behavior when your submerging yourself in new material.
And then during the next week it started to multiply. More and more every day until the Pistols had taken over my brain.
Before our last rehearsal I had rewritten my notes to make them easier to read and I was thinking I'd play them twice more (one at rehearsal and once for the show) and that would be it. It was a good plan until we hit "Liar" and I realized I'd left out a couple of parts in the rewrite... I am an idiot. I went home, grabbed the cd and straightened out my notes. I even hit them again the next night.
When I got to the club (Backstage Live!) I realized this was it! I only have to play them once more and I'd be finished forever!
We set up and get going. We are actually holding our own and not screwing up too much. The crowd is on fire. A pile of people screaming the lyrics and jumping around. Beer cans were tossed and beer cans were crushed and we kept playing. Pretty soon I turn to my second page of notes and I'm ecstatic. Five more songs and it's over. We play three and we are told "One more"! It was a midnight call from the governor. Saving me from two minutes of extended peril. Thank you soundman!
I think I'm finished with the pistols for a while. I've grown some appreciation for the songs. A few of them are fairly complex, especially for "punk" rock, but since I didn't get to put them down when I was tired of it. I'll be taking an extended break from them.
Breakdown
Zero free beer. Pretty lame considering how many people were there. We should have gotten something for learning all of that shit.
We were asked to "be" the Sex Pistols at a show celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Pistols SA show at Randy's Roadhouse. We worked a dozen songs up for about a month. Mostly hits from the "Bollocks" album and two B-sides.
Generally it's a lot of fun to learn a new set. At home I have a binder full of notes from various bands I played in/ subbed for. I take a certain amount of pride in being able to learn a set and being able to play it, with a decent level of skill in very little time. These notes cover a bunch bands including Bigfoot Chester, South Filthy, a couple of pages from when I first joined the Hickoids and four from when I joined the Ideals (Jones was workin my ass off). I've not only gotten good at reading them on stage, but I can get "off the page" pretty quick as well.
Then there was this Sex Pistols set.
I've liked the Pistols at various points in my life. I know they are supposed to be angry punks but the songs sounded dumb and fun to me. They always got a little abrasive at some point so I'd listen for a while them put them away for a couple of years. We start learning them and they start invading my head. I'd be walking around the house and suddenly I'm singing "Fuck this and Fuck that..." It's pretty normal behavior when your submerging yourself in new material.
And then during the next week it started to multiply. More and more every day until the Pistols had taken over my brain.
Before our last rehearsal I had rewritten my notes to make them easier to read and I was thinking I'd play them twice more (one at rehearsal and once for the show) and that would be it. It was a good plan until we hit "Liar" and I realized I'd left out a couple of parts in the rewrite... I am an idiot. I went home, grabbed the cd and straightened out my notes. I even hit them again the next night.
When I got to the club (Backstage Live!) I realized this was it! I only have to play them once more and I'd be finished forever!
We set up and get going. We are actually holding our own and not screwing up too much. The crowd is on fire. A pile of people screaming the lyrics and jumping around. Beer cans were tossed and beer cans were crushed and we kept playing. Pretty soon I turn to my second page of notes and I'm ecstatic. Five more songs and it's over. We play three and we are told "One more"! It was a midnight call from the governor. Saving me from two minutes of extended peril. Thank you soundman!
I think I'm finished with the pistols for a while. I've grown some appreciation for the songs. A few of them are fairly complex, especially for "punk" rock, but since I didn't get to put them down when I was tired of it. I'll be taking an extended break from them.
Breakdown
Zero free beer. Pretty lame considering how many people were there. We should have gotten something for learning all of that shit.
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