Gig

(All photos by Rich Greco)

The word "gig," in regard to music, apparently is an early jazz age contraction of "engagement," which kind of tells you how much reefer those dudes must have been smoking. No way I get "gig," out of "engagement," though I suppose "gag" wouldn't have worked ...

Um. Anyway, the Closet Musicians had another one Saturday, at the assisted living place we played last winter. Went well, we didn't screw up on anything, and most of the stuff we are happy with was tight. 

The venue was smaller than I remember it, and more of the patrons were wheelchair bound or using walkers, but the crowd was about the same size, and there were a few folks I recalled still there.

I mostly used the guitar, but played uke on a few. If I had practiced a bit more, I could have played the jumping flea on all of them. Some day ...

We played for twenty-five minutes, took a ten-minute break, then another ten songs, just under an hour altogether. Since we do only a couple of abbreviated solos, courtesy of our new banjo player, the songs tend to mostly run under three minutes. Twenty-five songs, one encore. Not like they could do a standing ovation even if they wanted ...

Most of the group went out for burgers afterward, but we bagged that, having a cat we wanted to check on, plus a dog who has to go out every 3-4 hours. We'd leave her out on a nice sunny day like it was yesterday, but she barks more or less constantly once she realizes she's alone, and since she's deaf and getting on to blind, she thinks she is alone sometimes when we are in the same room ...

I'll put up some pictures when I get 'em; the banjo-player's husband brought his mojo camera and shot a bunch, plus a couple of vids.

Set List:

1. THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT
   
2. BRAND NEW KEY
   
3. KANSAS CITY
   
4. KING OF THE ROAD
   
5. CREOLE BELLE
   
6. I CAN’T HELP FALLING....
   
7. TONIGHT YOU BELONG TO ME
   
8. A SUMMER SONG
   
9. THERE’S A KIND OF HUSH
   

10. FIVE FOOT TWO
11. YES SIR THAT’S MY BABY
12. MA
13. DON’T LET THE RAIN COME DOWN 
14. MUSTANG SALLY/ (SEQUE INTO) 15.\WAY DOWN IN THE HOLE
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16.MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
17. COUNTY ROADS
18. ST. JAMES INFIRMARY
19. SLOOP JOHN B
20. WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN 
21. ALL I HAVE TO DO IS.....
22. MICHAEL ROW....
23. BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND 
24.HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN
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25.  JAMAICA FAREWELL