Pay Included

            Last nights gig was a first for me. We were asks via email by the leader of the band to play at a lower volume. Of course the engine room didn’t take kindly to the suggestion. It had more to do with the tone of the email than anything else. I figured I’d turn down. I like playing load, too load at times.

            We played the first song, and the drummer was barely hitting his skins, and Eichenbaum the guitar player looked like he was playing air guitar.  I played accordingly, at a hushed tone.

The first set was like a funeral it was so quiet. The singers didn’t start asking questions until after the second set.

            “Why are you playing so quiet?” they asked.

            They usually ask us to turn down, now all of a sudden they were concerned about us not being load enough. All their vocal imperfections were audible, more than usual. 

            The third set was the same, whenever Eichenbaum went in for solo you could see his fingers move, but there was no real sound coming from his amp.

            I turned up my bass for the fourth set and the drummer started to hit his skins, but Eichenbaum remained defiant and refused to turn up his guitar. The gig was a total loss, pay included.