6 gigs :: 1 weekend

thank God i had 'em. and thank God it's over. here's the rundown:

#1 - friday night at a christian coffeehouse in Phoenix called Sweet Daddy's. the overall vibe was like an open mic night. i think that when Tim (dumbek and djembe), Kurt (acoustic) and I got up to play, the timid musicians and supportive crowd of 10 were a bit blown away by how loud it was. we played hard and loud. a quick, solid set - but almost no crowd. i recorded the show on my new handheld digital recorder.

#2 - saturday afternoon i led 4 worship songs with DJ cre one backing me up. he and i totally gelled! it was so much fun, except.... the church we were playing for essentially had a split in the weeks leading up to the event. we ended up playing for the few remaining members of the church (fewer than 10) and a couple of the other MC's who were playing later. everything got started late because only a few people came to help set up. our 12:30 gig didn't start till 1:45, almost making us late for...

#3 - late saturday afternoon at a mostly African American megachurch. they were having an outdoor non-halloween festival. this thing was decked out. at least 10 big inflating slides/obstacle courses, games, a mini-ferris-wheel. the whole night from 5:30 - 10:30pm was booked with rappers, dance troupes, and multi-ethnic shows on the stage. but who was there to open the show? wahba and the white boys. sound was rough - lots of feedback, no guitars in the mains or monitors. but who's whining? we had a chance to play and got decent comments from a few people. but not many since we had to grab a quick bite and head down to...

#4 - tucson, AZ - a christian bookstore who were doing something so cool. every saturday, they stay open late (midnight) and only let youth in. they give like a 25% discount on everything in the store and have live bands all night long. it's free to get in and did they ever get a turn out. there were probably 50 kids in that little bookstore when we rolled in about 8:45. josh (bongos/percussion) and I were supposed to be the middle band, starting at 9pm. but since the first band ended early, the third band set up and started by the time we got there. we lost at least half the crowd of kids by the time we started at 10. but the vibe was great - the kids rocked - and we got some wahba fans out in tucson. got to bed at 1:30am and was up by 6:30 for...

#5 - played bass at church. i love playing bass. it's my secret obsession. dan, jesse and kurt rocked on sunday morning.

#6 - i was the acoustic backdrop for crosspointe's Trick or Trunk. an outreach where we set up in the community with candy and games out of the trunks of our vehicles. a little sketchy ("come 'ere kid, i got somethin' ta show ya in my trunk") but it worked. lotsa kids.

now i'm a bit run down for work this morning. have a little cold. have a wife who's mad at me for setting up one of the clowns to freak her out last night. alas, we press on.