Day 0 - Let The Games Begin...

OK... So I didn't even bother to THINK about the band last night as it was a night off. I just chatted online and got some rest. That was the point of having the night off.

TODAY... I am going to do everything to throw myself into the zone and be hyper detailed about everything!

It is now 8:30 in the morning. I am going to put on the music, with lyrics of my show. Listen to it on repeat as i clean my house. I give myself 2 hours to clean up and downstairs and 2 hours to do dishes and toss that couch out by myself.

The next hour, I will work on problem songs while I shower and shave and all that.

After that, I pick up my rental wireless microphone from B-Sharp and go do soundcheck.

Once i am finished soundcheck, I am off to my massage of which i am totally looking forward to.

After that, i will likely go back to mcnallys and finish set up.

I will go home and practice (in my head) the songs for tonight on repeat as i print out new cheat sheets and prepare some cheese trays for the evening. I will do this until 8pm ish... and then i am going to McNally's so that i can rock out hard and put on the best show ever!

I am REALLY looking forward to tonight!!

I can't wait to see who turns up at the show!

Alright... Let's fucken RAWWWWK!!
Zubazz

Day 1 - Twas The Night Before Gigmas...

So far today, I have worked at work.... and come home and slept....

I have talked to various people who have been wishing me good luck... I have slept some more.. I have watched some online lectures at http://www.ted.com/ because I like going there to expand my mind on a daily basis. And i have not really done much about the gig tomorrow just yet.

I am trying to relax a bit.

I will likely end my day by watching Goonies... however.. i have a bit of a mess to clean up if i want to have people over after the gig... and I mean a real big mess.... the upstairs and the downstair both need to be picked up.. and i still have a couch standing on its side in my kitchen which i will need to find a way to squeeze out the door.

Last nights rehearsal went well despite the fact that i had a sore throat. I warmed up to my voice pretty good during the rehearsal last night and was pulling off highs and lows pretty safely. The strategy now is not to talk or sing until the gig.

I am pretty excited... but i just dont want to think about it yet. I am going to spend my entire day tomorrow obsessing on it.... but for now... just peace...

I will blog again tomorrow hopefully... and then of course after the gig!

Zubazz

Day 2 - Caution, Sore Throat...

Ok... So my throat is trying to tell me that it has had it with me... LOL... Over the course of the day, it has gone from a little ticke to an outright sore throat... I have been babying it all day with Strepsils, liquids, Listerine and anything else i can think of... I just ate some Thai food and put extra spices on it to make me sweat a bit since I dont want any chance of a cold coming on along with my sore throat...

Now... The big strategy is to have a REALLY BIG NAP before I go to rehearsal tonite. Try to sing as little as possible and speak as little as possible tomorrow and Thursday.

I KNOW I am going to be just fine... I usually don't stress out about things... but THIS is kinda getting to me.... And of course i knew SOMETHING would this close to the show. SO... time to relax and pass out for a few hours...

NOTHING CAN GET IN THE WAY OF ME PULLING OFF THE GREATEST SHOW EVER ON THURSDAY!!!

I am confident that I will have enough rest and enough time to heal up fully before the show. I just have to not be so up tight now and relax... it honestly feels like somebody punched me in the back of the kidneys and clocked me again in my upper back...

I CANNOT WAIT FOR MY MASSAGE THURSDAY!!! I am going to need it!

OK... nap time... See You Soon!

I WILL ROCK THE CASBAH! You just watch!
Zubazz

Day 3 - Fromage Et Trois!

Tonight we got our second last rehearsal under our belt. One more rehearsal tomorrow and then Wednesday night off to ponder life... Watch Goonies... Not think about stuff... Clean my house perhaps...



Who am I Kidding, I will be ALL OVER my lyric charts... Making new ones, seeing what kind of cheater notes i can come up with. I really dont want to use cheater notes, but it is going to be hard to do it without.... I would need a couple more weeks to do the show with complete memorization... Mind you, I just might study up enough and be in the Zone...



I think finding my way to hit that "In The Zone" area where i am just ZEN with the music will be an interesting challenge on Thursday. I want to have fun with the crowd and be able to pull off the songs without crashing and burning. I love the fact that i have experienced mentors in the band to give me words of encouragement to help me through some of my limitations. They don't show too much frustration with me, so I must be doing some things right.



Back to the Zen thing though... I have a lot of things that i am going to want to remember... Like the positions and stances that put me into a solid, state. I breathe a certain way, I stand a certain way, I dance a certain way... I know I am going to fall into it... What is REALLY important to me is that my mix is right... i need to be able to hear myself really well, not have to push my voice too hard to get it out and have a decent mix of the other musicians. Other things that i will need to think about are what i can do with the freedom of a wireless microphone because i am NOT used to that. At the same time, I wont have TOO much room to mess around and just as well for the feeling of this particular room.



To be honest, my voice has been getting a little wear and tear lately because i have probably had to push it too hard to get the sound to where i wanted it to be.... I am going to be really careful in the next couple days. The back of my throat tickles... If i wasn't being so ANAL with the Listerine everytime i feel something back there, I would likely be very sick by now. I ALWAYS get sick this time of year. Just need to make it a few more days and then I can afford to get sick. My tonsil area is clear of that infected feeling, except for this one spot that is connected to my nasal passage.... But i REALLY don't feel like taking Listerine through the nose... Mind you, it ain't a bad idea to try and get rid of infection there... I bet you it is a NASTY FEELING and i would hate myself for doing it.... HA HA HA... Let's take a dare right here right now at 1am.... ALL BY MYSELF... nobody to witness this one... ok.. i am going to do it... Listerine up the nose to get that back nasal passage touching the tip of that tickling tonsil giving me trouble....



THIS IS GOING TO SUCK... (I will let you know how this goes)



Well... AS you can Imagine... Snorting Listering Sucks... It burns a bit... Not for long... and then you have a nice fresh smell....



Did it work? It kinda feels like it did... Don't sniff hard after that or you WILL cough though.... I really think that made a difference... thats fucked up.... HA HA HA HA!



SO......



I bought $90 of cheese today.... am i crazy? YA... but...



I LIKE CHEESE!



Good thing I am in THIS band... Fuck...



I bought 4 DVD's today... GOONIES being one of them... It is kind of a theme film for the band... Stand By Me.. a classic... Spinal Tap... cause i have never seen it (yes, I can hear you groaning at me.... but i WILL watch it!) and the Gene Wilder version of Willy Wonka... because i have to have both versions of course. I think it is going to be fun to watch those movies this weekend. I am looking forward to it all.



OK... i am going to shut up and go to bed now...



Me Love You Long Time!

Zubazz

Day 4 - Big Rehearsal

Last night at the Tequila Mockingbird show was great! I rocked out at the front of the stage for the whole show... It was a blast and a half. They invited me up to finish the first set off with Crazy Train... I was honored that they let me finish their set off! It was a good performance with the exception of some guy unplugging my microphone on me in the middle of verse 3... I got it back though... The crowd was fun!

I woke up around noon... listened to the set list a little and then surfed the net.. I should not allow myself on the internet to surf... i lost a few hours doing that.. I should have been clearing my house out so it is clean for after the gig.... I MAY have people over... ok.. who am I kidding, there will be an all out party... People are taking days off to hang with me... of course i am going to party!

After wasting too much time, i went to rehearsal at 4pm today and we had a five hour rehearsal without Dan and covered the entire setlist and 2 encore songs (just in case people want more that night) I tried to do most of it without looking... There were a few songs I watched the whole thing along and so I am going to have to really spend hard time on those songs. It is coming down to the wire and it is time to get REALLY serious...

I think I am getting better at giving and taking cues from the band now... It is starting to come together.... Of course the obvious worry is: Will we all pull it together in time? The answer is OF COURSE WE WILL!!

PoSiTiVe!!!! Staayyy POSSSSITIVVVVE..... Man... ha ha ha!

We all knew this would be a bit of a rollercoaster ride... Here... Let's book a gig in one month and then we HAVE TO PULL IT TOGETHER BY THEN!! LOL... Of course i would love another month to really polish it to perfection... but that isn't as rock n roll as Riding The Ragged Edge Of Disaster! It's like our songs talk about... Riding the Razors Edge Into The DANGER ZONE!!! That is TOTALLY how I feel right now... it is nerve racking and fun all at once!

Instead of surfing the net and going to sleep like a good little boy should now... I am going to find some songs for Kevin to add to set break and then I am going to rewrite ALL of my lyric cheat sheets.... Highlighting only words that will queue me off and song endings... THAT IS IT... I am going to probably hide cheat notes everywhere.... it is my first gig... so i am allowed. But I am needing them a lot less now... I just have to get to the point where i am not relying on them for a couple songs.

Well... I have a long ways to go... So I will get goin now...

Zubazz

Days 7, 6 and 5 - Almost Tha'ere...ALLLMOST THA'ERRRRE!

FUCK... it has been hell juggling work and rehearsals and trying memorize shit in the last few days... Work was incredibly hard because of the lack of sleep i have been experiencing... in fact i reached out for the caffeine pills a bit more than usual this week so i could manage it... i didn't want to take too many though because i know that speeding up my system too much will get me sick... BEEN THERE... DONE THAT... Bought the T-shirt and all that!

We added like 3 songs to the set just this week and so that has been challenging in and of itself... one of the songs, i haven't even LISTENED TO lately..... But i don't want to listen to it now because that would ruin my version of it, whatever that would be...

Seeing the big over sized posters is awesome! I am loving it! They charge me up every time i see them...

I am stoked to hear that a lot of people are coming to this thing... i have learned a lesson though... nobody wants to buy tickets in advance when they are the same price as the door... what can i do??? So it feels like a gamble almost to see how many people show up to this thing... LOL... However, from what i hear, it will be standing room only though... NOT BAD FOR A THURSDAY NIGHT! Just people that i work with alone will fill the place up... but we have more than that coming!

This afternoon i have to go BIKINI shopping for one of our Bikini Cheese Girls.... LOL.. nice... I can get used to this BAND THING..... LOL!

One of my biggest worries this whole time has been keeping my voice in shape for the demanding set list that we have. I am pretty sure the songs go through my entire 3.5 octave range. I have been known to get sick like CLOCKWORK during fall months and again in like February... So i have been rather conscious about wearing enough clothes outside and trying to sleep as much as possible (not happening this last week) and other things... On THURSDAY night after rehearsal, I was a total DUMB DUMB and got into a conversation outside afterwords with Kev and Brad about whatever... and i was in my Shorts and a TSHIRT.... coupled with a VERY SHORT SLEEP before work, this was spelling disaster.... SURE ENOUGH i get a tickle in my throat around NOON... i was like NOOOOO!!!! and so I scoured the office for throat medicine and found some when i noticed some at a coworkers desk... that tied me over till i got home and Listerined the hell out of my throat every couple hours. I should do it again... my throat feels a little stretched now.. but that is likely from Friday night karaoke.... I still had a full range last night.... So I am just not going to talk much till tonite....

NOW.... Tonite i am going to see a great band! My friends in Tequila Mockingbird are playing out at McNally's and you should really go to check them out! It has been WAY too long since i have seen them play, but it is hard to go see them when they only play FRIDAYS lately and that is the night I work... SO.... Now I have a chance to go out and support my buddies! Can't wait!

OK... So next assignment is to find out which songs i need to work on and then mercilessly repeat them till i don't want to hear them any more and then do it some more! Listen to songs over and over till it HURTS!!! And TRUST ME... with that much repetition... IT HURTS!!! Dude... Learning this many songs in this short of a time can REALLY suck! BUT... it is TOTALLY worth it for that moment in time when it all comes together!

One more thing before I go though... I am really liking the attention that I am getting lately... Case in point, last night... Now usually girls ask me if i am in a band every night at karaoke... Usually I say "well, not really" or "I am between bands right now" or just "no". They get this kind of disappointed look and then they walk away... LAST NIGHT, i get the same shtick.... "Are you in a band?" and i am like "YA... We are playing on Thursday, you should come check us out!" and NOW they are clambering for my attention... ALL NIGHT... I never paid for any of the 10 drinks I had... Girls bringing ME shooters for no reason... THAT is what it is ALL about! I know that it is so cliche and stuff, but it is like suddenly... You are a significant person when you are in a band. I mean, it is just interesting to me how that works on SO many levels... but it is one of my biggest draws to music... I am SOMEBODY when I am an active participant in music... ESPECIALLY with a band... THIS is a subject I can go on and on about though, and instead i am going to stop so that i can execute my master plan for this weekend...

Thanx for tuning in... See ya tomorrow!! (Or Tonite at McNally's)
Zubazz

Day 8 - I FINISHED THE POSTER!

RIGHT ON!!

Now i have more work to do before rehearsal at 10pm tonite...

See ya!
Zubazz

Day 9 - LIVE from Karaoke...

So I am writing this blog while I am at Karaoke at McNally's... I had run out of time to actually do this blog at home... and in fact... the first thing i did after work was eat stuff and take a nap.... The NAP happened to go way longer than I expected... So i had to edit the band poster while i was at Karaoke tonite.. it looks not too bad... i just have to add the logos and dates now and it should be golden.

Rehearsal last night was good... we went over some more new songs... then at about one AM we went to my house and did a photoshoot for the band... we finished that all up around 3:30 am... I would have been fine if i didn't have my alarm clock in the same room as me. You see i had to move it into my room when i created the photo studio in the other room. So i turned the alarm off as soon as it hit and then i slept in... I got to work about a half hour late (SORRY BOUT THAT!) So ya...

In OTHER NEWS... i got like 5 free dvds in the mail today.... as part of my "how many free DVD's can i score off of the internet project". You have to have a lot of patience and spare time to fill out the forms on the internet to score all of these free DVDs... they are not necessarily the coolest DVDs too... Travel DVDs, Science DVDs, and DVDs punting some product that you either dont really want or one that is too cool for you to afford... but I think it is fun, so i am going to continue wasting the money of these companies so i have some weird dvds to fall asleep to. See, I dont have cable and this is the next best thing to wasting my time with INFOMERCIALS!

I had to interrupt typing to go up and sing Mr Big - To Be With You. That was fun...

Now i am going to take off so I can get to bed.

Catch ya on the Flipside!

Zubazz

Day 10 - Crackin' Down

It is about 9pm right now... and so far, I have worked all day at my day job and then came home and worked some more on band stuff... In about an hour, I will need to leave my house and go rehearse for like 2 hours i am guessing and then we gotta come back here so we can do some band photos.

One of the things I did tonight was transform my other bedroom into a photo studio. It is really funny because i have a couch standing on end in the kitchen up against the cupboards... FUNNY SHIT! But oh well... it is all for a good cause! I need band photos so that I can make posters to hype the show.

The whole time tonite, I have been listening to the entire setlist for the gig on repeat and singing along. I figure i cannot afford to sit in silence right now when i can be practicing.

I might keep that room like that for the winter so that i can do more shoots too... Now that i have my camera, I can likely line up some models and learn that art better. I really seem to be getting better at this photography thing now.

The only problem with tonights photography is not having another person to play photographer... i mean... where are you going to get somebody to do that at midnight? Ah what the hell... it will be fun anyways... as long as people are patient enough to give me like a half an hour to get things right. I will give it a shot anyhow...

oh ya... i gotta shave... dammit!! ok... gotta go!

Have fun!

Zubazz

Days 12 and 11 - Shop Till You Drop!

Saturday - Kev and I went shopping for as much of the remaining gear we need for our show to do it right. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE THAT WE COULD GET, but we got just what we need to do it proper the first night... IT IS GOING TO LOOK SO COOL!! Man... I am just stoked for this...

I spent some quality time with some songs on Saturday....

Sunday - I had to fix my computer today so that I can be ready to do up the graphics when it comes time to do the band Photos... I am thinking that we will likely do some tomorrow night after practice... so like Midnight... I think that is going to hurt, but whatever... Work and rehearsals and everything will be a blur for me the next 10 days..

Rehearsal was good tonite... we are getting there on a lot of songs... but there is so much that is not done... So much that I wish i could say i was confident on with the lyrics, but when you put me in a live setting I suddenly don't have many of the musical cues or sounds that i am used to to actually remember what verse goes in that spot. THIS MAKES ME WORRY because I ONLY have 10 days to not only get it right, but get it to the point of mastery so that I can play with a busy crowd and make it all look good at the same time.

Rebooting my computer, I forgot to save my lyrics file somewhere else. I actually see this as a good thing because I want to redo all of the lyrics from scratch... There are a lot of things that we have done to the songs that are slightly different from the original recordings that i need to put in print... and HOPEFULLY I won't need to look at them too much after this week is out... BUT I will have them for reference right away and create the lyrics in my minds eye so i can see them properly.

We have our 2 sets in the order that we want them now... Should make for some high energy playing all night... I think the way we put it all together is going to make people go nuts with the energy we are creating.

Ok... These next two weeks are going to be tough... LET'S JUST DO IT!

Crank it up!

Zubazz

Day 13 - And A Friday At That!

THE NEW BAND CLOTHES ARE IN!

HA HA HA HA HA!!

Funny as hell... Ok... I am not wearing the top hat... or am I? Who knows... but it is fucking funny as hell... I love the new band clothes... Things are coming together...

Tonite I work at the Pump... I look forward to getting on stage and singing!

That is all i have... I am going to go back to laughing at my new band wear!

Luv,
Zubazz

Days 15-14 - ONLY 2 Weeks!!!

Wednesday - OK... So Tuesday night, right after karaoke I offered Dan a ride home from Karaoke... That was cool... he offered me a beer for the trouble and I took it... So ya... He got into a very interesting discussion with Kevin and we didn't leave the bar till about 4:30 am... The trouble with that is that I had to work at 7 am... LOL... I probably could have left, but the nature of the conversation interested me completely...

ANYWAYS... I got home, put the next days clothes in the wash and went straight to bed and was asleep in less that probably 50 seconds... My first alarm goes off at 5:30 to get me ready for the idea that I have to be up and running in an hour. My alarm is in the next room because I have a real problem with turning the alarm off in my sleep and sleeping in... I hit the alarm, throw my clothes in the dryer and go back to bed... Wake up at 6:30 and into the shower I go. Out I come... Get in the car and arrive at work nicely at 6:58 am. FUCKING DEAD! What was I thinking... FUCK THAT... Because of my irresponsibility, I did not want to go to the cafeteria just yet to get a drink. Instead I work in zombie mode until my first break at 8:45. That was when things got interesting... I went into my desk and popped 3 caffeine pills and drank a Rockstar.... WOW! 15 minutes later, you'd think I was a different person...

The come down from that was pretty interesting... I was quite sketched out... It was like confusing, giddy, funny, depressing, awake and tired and horrible all at once... It was fucked up... Let that be a lesson! It probably won't be though, next time i show up all burnt out.

After work, I had plans for the night... Instead I slept SOLID.... OOps... oh well.

Thursday - OK... So after work today, I decide to clean the house a little like i was going to do last night.... I shower and stuff.... ALL while trying to practice my songs for the show while listening to the karaoke tracks... Standard time.... And THEN.... I found my fucking camera that I thought somebody had stolen from my house like a month ago! WHAT THE FUCK!?!?! Where the fuck was it? I will tell you where... In a dresser drawer that i NEVER EVER go in... FUCK! You mean to tell me that i have been accusing people and shit of stealing and it was in my house... that is fucked up... i feel bad... i had like motives for people all drawn out in my head and stuff... that is just all dramatic and shit... You know how many fuckin cool photo shoots i could have done over the summer? FUCK!! HOWEVER.... Now i can use this camera for my own band's photo shoot coming up and any shaved monkey can take the pictures after i design the lighting for this thing.... AWESOME!!! That was what inspired me to blog right now... and so there it is... FUCKING RIGHTS!!!

NOW, I better get back to learning my songs... I only have HOLY FUCK, 2 weeks! I have a LOT of work to do... but it is going to look SOOO good! We have some great surprises in store for everyone that shows up to this thing!

GET YOUR TICKETS BY THE WAY!!
ONLY $5
September 18th at McNally's Pub

HAPPY AS HELL that I have my camera back now....
Zubazz

Days 20 through 16 - What A Weekend...

Friday - Worked at Staples all day... Went for drinks with my coworkers and good buddies after work... Worked the karaoke at the Pump. The crowd seemed tame for a Friday night. I knew that they were trying to pace themselves through the weekend though. Sure enough... I was right...

Saturday - Woke up late... Started piecing together what I needed to do to go to Brad & Whitney's wedding. Called up the troops and we all met together at my house. Went to the ceremony... What a great preacher man! Full of jokes and everything during the ceremony! HA HA HA.... However, you could just feel it the moment we walked into the church... EVERYONE turned heads... We weren't really even doing anything... YET... And not to disrespect Brad and Whitney, we were just ourselves that day... The "Disfunctional Rock N Roll Family"... Much crazy fun was had at the wedding... I decided that we were all going to start drinking immediately after the ceremony... We did.... We drank right up until it was time to go to the supper. At the supper... There was a distinct feeling that we were being considered "THAT TABLE"... Hell, that was our MISSION at that point... We had fun... We meant no harm... Although some people were quite shocked at our tables antics... A lot of it was Chris... but he wasn't the only one going off... Gradually our group disappearred slowly from the reception. I managed to hold out until the midnight lunch was served... at which point i grabbed a MOUNTAIN of cheese from the cheese tray and ate it! Once that was through, JJ and I each got a nice chop across the chest from Plum Loco and then we were off to walk to the Pump (from the Victorian club) in our drunken stupor to find what other trouble we could get into. I found myself singing Fight For Your Right To Party at karaoke there and then I found myself upstairs making out with some chick... After that, I decided it was time to go, so I attempted to walk to my home near the Pasqua Hospital from the Pump Roadhouse... HA HA HA... I got about as far as the fire station and then I was discovered by some friends and they gave me a ride most of the way home! PASS OUT...

Sunday - Wake up with a hangover... Recieve phone call from friends who left booze at my house the day before... THEY WANT TO START DRINKING... Oh my aching head... "Can I come get you when the painkillers have kicked in?" "Ya, that's fair" Soon enough I was drinking with my friends again... And of COURSE we should be drinking... it is the day of the big football game... The Labour Day football game is like the most important game/party of the entire football season (with exception only to the Grey Cup). Drink... Win Football game... Drink... And everyone seems to be passed out after a while... Once again, I find myself walking home... THIS time, I walked the entire distance from Chris's house to my own. Just enough time to take a one hour break before going to work at the Pump.... Start work early for the victory party already in progress... BOY was THAT a crazy night... There were wall to wall party animals in there ALL NIGHT LONG... it was something to behold. I had a few nice musical moments that meant a lot to me... Starting off with Chris and Kent when i was singing INXS with them... We Are The Champions gave me goosebumps when I got the crowd going on it... and FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO PARTY again this night it was way better with crowd participation... I had so much fun! SLEEP.....

Monday..... SLEEP ALL DAY... Practice at night.... Hammered out 4 tunes only because practice was shortened by unforseen circumstances. AND then we went to O'Hanlons as a band to talk about some band ideas and eat some 'ZZA... All was good... Made for a great day...

Tuesday... I worked all day today and now I am going to take a nap so that I can do the Karaoke thing without dying tomorrow morning. Tonight an old friend, Dee Dee is coming out to see what the rage is about with Karaoke off of a laptop computer. He wonders if the quality of sound from a laptop is as good as the karaoke cd's that he has (also made on a laptop by the way). Some people think records sound better than CD's too... They feel that you can get frequencies with a record that you cannot get with a CD... I have a lot that i can say how i feel on that, but I won't say it this time... I would like our friend to come to his own conclusions. I am sure you all have an opinion on how this should end, however... Let's let this one be though...