Just wondering how it all went today?

I am not Scott but I just came back from seeing him performing on stage. The whole place is loaded with entertainers. Some full bands are separated by only one or two booths blaring full blast. One was playing fast rock style music and the next booth was singing soft oldies. Mostly chinese words though mixed with Western music.

I came right at 1:30 as scheduled but Scott was not up yet but I was able to catch the last 15 minutes or so of his performance which is very enjoyable. While he was singing, a bunch of lion dance performers passed by clanging their cymbals drowning everything else - a bit chaotic IMO. Tough place to entertain for sure. Poor Scott ! At least he is playing professionally. Scott, maybe bring some ladies singers (ad lib just to fill the stage) and percussionist might be good to compete with those "other" bands nearby.

Shook Scott's hands for the first time afterward. Still a good and fun day to be had by all.

Oh Boy.....sounds like a multiple hectic musical atmosphere but Im sure Scott did his best as a Profesional to do his part to Entertaine the audience for sure!!

The most dis- ‘Orient’- ing gig I’ve ever done !

I want to start out by saying that this was probably one of the more challenging gigs I've ever worked, perhaps because many in the audience were foreign born immigrants un-acquainted with my American style of music: classic pop standards. In fact, all the acts that preceded mine were traditional Chinese acts (ethnic dancing & Chinese acrobats). When I came on, a few of the Chinese didn't know what to make of a Chinese guy singing in English, but I'm a 4th generation American.

My show started out well, drawing a large crowd, but I barely got through my first song (Route 66), when a lion procession headed up the street past the stage, clanging bells, banging drums, and tossing firecrackers into the crowd causing my audience to disperse in terror , while I, unbelievable to even myself, continued to perform thru this din of noise, not being able to hear myself over the dissonant loud drum rhythm. I credit my ability to have endured this only to the years of having to play over loud drunks and giant projection TVs in bars, though I never thought (until now) that I'd ever encounter something more distracting than 'that!'. After pulling thru my first 2 songs, the lion dancers finally left the area and my audience was able to return and regroup (albeit smaller in number). The rest of my set went pretty smoothly, though I was no longer at the top of my game, as the earlier distraction had disrupted the focus and energy of both my audience and myself. The audience appeared to enjoy my show and clapped and cheered with enthusiasm. The stage producer later apologized profusely for the lion procession's unexpected distraction. This situation just points out the endless unpredictable things which can happen on a gig.
An essential thing to being a good entertainer is developing the ability to roll with the punches. If you can't , stay out of the entertainment biz.

A big plus at my gig today was to finally meet Synthzone member Lukitoh (for the first time) and TomTomSF (again). Thanks to both of you for coming to watch me perform in this 3 ring lion's den. Lukitoh, your suggestion of adding female backup singers, or better yet, dancers sounds great, but I guess I was a little greedy, wanting all the $ for myself. Performers are paid per act, not per person in the group, so hiring female backup singers/dancers would have taken a bite out of my pay, though I admit that I got paid more for this 1/2 hour performance than I'm typically paid for an entire evening's work. After this experience, I'm increasingly convinced that my style of one man arranger keyboard music (classic pop standards) is best suited to intimate venues which are more in proportion to a smaller audience size. I usually entertain for groups under 125 people.

Donny: Luckily, I was able to have this stage performance captured on video, as well as digital pics taken (thanks to friends in the audience). I was able to catch a quick view of the performance footage this evening and was actually surprised how well it turned out considering the problems I mentioned above. I will have it converted to Mpeg4 and post video clips and pics on my site soon (hopefully later this week). The songs I performed included: Route 66, Sway, You Can't Hurry Love, Crazy Love, On A Slow Boat To China, I Left My Heart In SF, and Grant Ave. All were played & performed live in auto accompaniment mode (utilizing custom registrations & onboard vocal harmonies). No midi backing sequences (of course). - Scott

Scott,
Your so right, sometimes ya gotta just go with the flow no matter what....I can't wait to see the pics and video....your a tough cookie but seems you handled the situation with grace & dignity!!!!!!

PS....what sound system did you use there?




[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-08-2004).]

Donny, this gig was corporate sponsored (Washington Mutual Bank) and produced by the San Francisco Chammber of Commerce, and included a full outdoor stage, sound, and lighting crew with PA, stage monitors /lighting equipment, etc to handle large crowds 'many' times the size my PA system could even attempt to cover. All I needed to take to this gig was my keyboard (Tyros), keyboard stand, and mic. The stage crew was even on hand to handle transport, setup/breakdown. Ahhh, the luxury of stage performance. It's gonna be hard going back to lugging my own equipment again now . -Scott

Hurry with the pic/videos!!

Those "other" bands nearby sounded a bit trashy IMO. But it seems to work drawing large crowds. The trashy sounding songs were pumping hard and fast. With all those cacophony going on, you need to be like that I guess, otherwise nobody can hear you.

If you fill the stage with singers, the effect would have been much greater. You looked very lonely up there. If you perform again in public place, let us know.

Lukitoh: Interesting points. First of all, I realize that this type of street fair probably not the idea venue for a one man band type kb performance. Also, my music genre specialty is neither hard, fast or trashy, and I have no interest whatsoever in playing in that style, even if it does draw larger crowds. Perhaps adding backup singers and/or adding another musician(s) would have provided more interesting & varied onstage visual interest, but as I mentioned earlier, as primarily a solo entertainer these days, I've come to expect a certain level of pay for my gigs, whereas I'm certain most (all) of the individual members of those other acts were I'm sure making far less, or perhaps even performing for free. Your point of seeing only a single (alone) person on stage vs a stage filled with a group of performers, and creating a more varied & interesting visual impact is well taken. Still, I think even one person on stage, with strong stage presence and talent can hold an audience's attention, at least a more musically sophisticated audience. - Scott

Ok Donny (and all), I posted (on my website), a couple of pics taken at yesterday's (Feb 8th) SF Chinese New Year Festival gig.

Go to: http://scottyee.com

then go to the: 'Pictures' page.

Quicktime, MPEG-4, or WMV format video clips to follow (hopefully) later this week. Still trying to determine which format is best to use. Any recommendations?

Scott