:: My Divided Soul ::

I know that this is the third entry in a row that has something to do with drumming. That fact probably accurately reflects how important drumming is in my life. Something has happened in my drumming life that I have wanted for many, many years: I got to play rock songs in front of people.

I now play in a band with Dexter and Joel. They have been playing music together for many years, most recently in the band The Burning Sensations. Their drummer left and now we’ve started jamming together, getting through a number of songs pretty quickly.

Our first gig happened last week, at a fraternity. However, the show was for a bunch of lovely ladies from the vet school…and they were in togas. Playing some of my favorite songs in front of a bunch of women in togas. Can life get any better? We ran through a bunch of awesome songs including “Rearviewmirror” by Pearl Jam, “Inside Out” by Eve 6, and “I Alone” by Live. The songs that really got the crowd jumping were “Vertigo” by U2 and the originals that The Burning Sensations had written. It was my first time being exposed to the latter songs, so I had to fake my way through them.

For my first rock show in front of people in eight years, I’d say it went very well. I remember messing up a few times to the point that Dexter looked at me with a confused look on his face. I doubt many in the audience noticed, as a number of them had consumed a significant amount of alcohol. Nevertheless, I was rockin’ out with my head banging and my sticks twirling. As we were doing “sound check” Joel comments that I would probably have to play more quietly but, yeah, that didn’t happen. I played the church show with Dexter using brushes, so I wanted to take full advantage of the fact that I had my drumsticks in my hands for this show. One simply cannot play a song like “Rearviewmirror” quietly! This is why I wear earplugs. I think I left some of the audience and Dexter and Joel wishing they had done the same.

We played for more than two hours and had a number of sing-alongs with the members of the audience. The next morning, my arms hurt, my neck hurt, and my back hurt. It is the kind of pain that comes with the satisfaction of having had a lot of fun fulfilling a lifelong dream. I can’t wait until we get the opportunity to play again. We just practiced again tonight, learning a couple new tunes. We are looking to play some gigs that will be open to the public so those of you in I-Town can come rock out with us!