April 2, 2009 Rehearsal Recap: Acoustified Concert in the Basement

Due to scheduling conflicts, only Mark and Andy were able to rehearse last night in Brighton. We had dinner at Lu & Carl's, and watched an acoustic performer there for about an hour. We discussed the fact that we might want to sit down as a group to determine the direction of song selection (primarily - do we want to focus our set list selections to a certain crowd?). Mark mentioned the idea of dividing set lists into 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's music. This is just an idea, and we can brainstorm on other or similar alternatives if we'd like. Andy mentioned the thought that we would build up a complete gig's worth of songs (40 or 50?) and then continue adding to the catalog to build up our diversity and ability to cater to requests (as we see fit).

Afterwards we did an amplified acoustic jam session in the basement for a couple hours, playing through assorted songs. We also learned that many of our set list songs don't seem conducive to an acoustic guitar and vocals, so we did not attempt to play through a large majority of songs on the set list. Below is a list of the tunes that we did play last night.

• The Lemonheads - It's a Shame About Ray
• Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fall Down (including some harmony work)
• REM - Texarkana
• Poison - Talk Dirty to Me
• Several original songs from back in the "Profound Existence" days

Rehearsal for the following 2 weeks is up in the air, due to other commitments for half of the band. We may attempt 2- or 3-man rehearsals if we can work scheduling out to go over vocal harmonies, song structures, and keep the momentum alive. If not, we will resume rehearsal the week of April 20th. Also, we are planning to give Anthony a go on the drums for a rehearsal or two. We'll have to figure out the exact details about that when we are more concrete on rehearsal dates for the next couple of weeks or so.

Mark also suggested the following songs for the Wish List. Note - these are songs that I used to play back in my band during college at MSU (in other words, they should be easier to learn the 2nd time around).

1. Cracker - Low
2. Barenaked Ladies - Brian Wilson
   

-Andy