Bro A-Bomb in Concert

I stopped by the Depot last night around 9 to catch UF's performance. I was surprised at his set-up, as I thought he would play a lot of uke and a little guitar-with perhaps one of those other funky stringed instruments he plays. He had his keyboard there as well and was playing some Randy Newman and some song with a riff of "Piano Man" thrown in. It was a fine performance. A rotating crew of teenagers cheered him on, as did several folk who came in and out who seemed to know him. I guess there was one kid who had even downloaded about 30 of John's tunes off of the internet. He actually has a fan base.

Hans and Dana were there, drinking froo-froo coffee beverages, fortified by a hidden flask of Bailey's they shared-she pouring while he pretended he didn't see.

Towards the end of the evening, he invited me up to play some tunes. At that time several former students from Rancho showed up and watched from outside.

I started with the Jungle Book song. All total, I played five songs. It was not my best performance as I had not rehearsed many of the songs for quite some time. What I learned is I need to rehearse my ouvre more often. I felt like I nailed "Times Like These" and was ok on "Fisherman's Blues." But the others were pretty sloppy. I just went blank a couple of times.

Probably the other thing I need to do is work on beginnings and endings of songs. I often just start and then quit, unless the arrangement already has a beginning and ending worked in. Much of what I play comes from internet tabs, which either don't include intros and outros, or are intended for guitar and assumes the player has a certain level of prowess.

It was fun, anyways.

I decided that the Depot would be a good place for a Ukulele Sunday group. The area from which UF performed, when not being used as a performance space, is an ideal fit for a small circle of uke players.