Band updates

More drummer drama

I certainly hope this isn’t a curse, but we nearly lost our (third) drummer today.
My band, the Moon Jumpers, met up for a practice session this evening. However, our drummer, J, informed me he was going to be late. So we practised using pre-programmed beats (which in a way was good because we now have ideas to make our concert more funky).
Then, after an hour, we thought it was too late to wait any more, so I gave J a call.
He sounded a bit stunned. “Didn’t I just call you 5 minutes ago to tell you I can’t make it?”

I said no. I held my phone out to the rest of the band so they could vouch that I had not made any phone calls. I told J he probably called the wrong person! J couldn’t believe it as the wrong person actually responded to him like I would have.
We were all set to tease him … but then J told me he had just been involved in a motorcycle accident (I could hear traffic noise around him). Thank God it didn’t happen on the highway, which is what we all take to get to the studio. I asked if he was OK, and he said actually he wasn’t, but that’s all he wanted to say, so I just told him to take care and that we’d continue practising without him.
As he’s the newest member in our band, we aren’t so familiar with him and vice versa, but in time I hope we can be there for each other. Any team member should be able to share their thoughts and feelings, and be listened to. At least, that’s what I’d like to have in any team I’m leading. Everyone can also suggest a way to improve our performance and it will be implemented.

Concert date confirmed!

Our school concert is on 23 June at ACS Barker Road. You can order tickets through me – just post a comment or drop me an email. Pricing has yet to be confirmed but it should be affordable – just to cover rental costs.
For those who attended the last concert 2 years ago, you may recall we used the badminton hall in a nearby community centre! The reverb there was so bad that I couldn’t hear myself play.
This time, it will be much better. I’m told the acoustics at ACS Barker are quite good. This means that we have to be really ‘tight’ and accurate – our band is the smallest and the only one playing fusion / jazz with solo improvisations. The youth bands will be playing loud, hard rock and they also sound pretty good, though they at least have safety in numbers!