June 7th, 2021. It’s HAWT.

ilyAIMY performing at the Stage of Musical Traditions, which is the back porch of the House of Musical Traditions, presented by the Institute of Musical Traditions. It’s a pretty great space that SOUNDS great from the park across the street, had great distancing, LOOKS great and HAPPENS to be a perfect 16:9 ratio!
Dave Eisner introducing us to the world. Should really invest in something that can give a shallower depth of field… OR clean up the spider webs… but that would mean I’M the ONLY THING eating the gnats!

I’m taking the night off. I can do that, right? I deserve it? It’s okay? Yesterday we played in the BILLION DEGREE heat, fending off cicadas and gnats (and by “fending off” I sort of mean “watching them get eaten” and “eating them”), and though the performance was mostly pretty good, there were extenuating chaotic circumstances that made me feel so very, very, very glad to be home. Takoma Park, MD is a weird sort of second home to ilyAIMY, and it was good to be there, but I sure wish they kept the place air conditioned!

It’s going to be a long summer. A long HOT summer. And we’re going to be outdoors for the vast majority of it since gigs in-doors are still a gigantic question mark.

It’s absurd how not too long ago, after a festival where the brutal heat had obviously taken its toll on both performers and audience (as it did yesterday) I actually had this vague thought that outdoor festivals might become a thing of the past as global warming / climate change creates more and more extreme heat events. And then a pandemic comes along and forces us right back into the sun.

Sharif’s kids : Finn watching as Lex plays in the foreground of the camera. It’s all very odd.
Hehehe. Kristen’s sweeping for bugs.

Still, it was worth it. Worth it to see friends. Worth it to get a couple of hugs. Worth it because we’re working and not everyone can say that (though more and more people can – and competition for these gigs is getting more and more stiff). Worth it because I’m playing with my friends and if nothing else there’s the concept of not just cicadas and gnats but of BUGs: Band Unity Gigs.

In any case, it was hot. But that wasn’t enough. I broke a string. Internet was intermittent for unknown reasons (despite being able to run a cable down through the window from House of Musical Traditions). We lost power because Sharif stepped on a thing. Which broke a thing. Which caused a little sizzle. Which caused a little fire. I ate 6 gnats. Heather got bit by a cicada. I sweated my nails off. Sharif sweated his balls off. I stuck to my guitar. Sweat stung my eyes. The cameras overheated and started to flicker. My pedal board fritzed out (fritzing might’ve been a product of the sizzling, but I’m unsure) and generally there was a LOT going on.

It’s a beautiful day, if too hot – so it’s a beautiful day to walk down a narrow alleyway to a hidden spot to eat raw fish. Umi Sushi in Ellicott City, MD. Yum.

Still (and way to bury the lede) it was a successful and joyous first-attempt at a true “hybrid” show. Not a webcast and not a performance – and NOT just a performance that was webcast – but a performance in which we had a Live audience but were also able to see and reply to comments. I don’t think that’s probably TOO groundbreaking – but it was something different from what I’ve generally seen before. Parts of it were ABSOLUTELY distracting – but I think solely because I was I was also responsible for the webcast and had to scan for anything about problems with the stream. I think if the engineer had also been able to see comments and I didn’t have to worry about anything else, that would’ve been really awesome.

Well. In any case. A good time was had. An even better cold shower was had. And Dave’s going to install a new 20 amp circuit outside so that whatever gave me the HOT spark shower earlier doesn’t do that again. Sharif and I BOTH took some 120 yesterday and … there’s limits to how much of that shit I enjoy.

AND SO – I’m taking the day off. I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning which mean I got up early. A Level III Phlebotomist took my precious fluids and I feel weaker for the experience. It’s STILL darn hot and I just don’t wanna AND I didn’t write a new song despite some half-assed efforts. AND SO… Rowan and Chris shall host and Kristen and I shall go get sushi because WE CAN DO THAT AND WE DESERVE IT and IT’S OKAY!!!!

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