First the Granada, then New York City

Part Two:
The Mood Swings Hit the Stage:
First the Granada, then New York City

“Soak it in, gals, it’ll never be this good again.” Diane, the veteran performer in our new band of five women rock n’ roll musicians, spoke from experience. “They have a stage, they have lights, they have pro sound guys -- we probably won’t see this great a setup again, so enjoy!”

It was easy for her to say. I was jittery. I had changed my clothes five times before leaving the house -- what, in my closetful of office clothes and sweats, did I have to wear that even approached a rock n’ roll look? I settled on a black, white and red jacket I had picked up at a thrift shop the previous week. Hey, guy bands wear grungy T-shirts and Keds, how bad could a thrift store jacket be?

Arriving at the Granada Theater for our first gig, a birthday bash for local entertainer Jerry Haynes (host of the long-running “Peppermint Place” TV show) did nothing to calm my nerves. This was going to be a full house. We had to play for 30 minutes, and one of the songs, a special arrangement we made up to the “Mr. Peppermint” theme song, was barely out of the oven before we had to serve it up on stage. Musicians -- established musicians, namely the Grammy-winning Brave Combo, would be waiting in the wings. Not only that, the drum kit the event coordinator set up for our band had only one tom, and our never-performed-before fledgling drummer Martha was used to two toms. I had a sense of dread -- just how awful would we be?

I barely remember the comedian who was on before us. All I knew is that we were on, and we started playing, kicking off with a version of “Peter Gunn” threaded with 1960s TV show themes (“Twilight Zone,” “Beverly Hillbillies,” and a crystalline-voiced version of the “Star Trek” aria). I was flooded with relief -- people clapped for us! I began to relax and look around. Hey, there are some friends from the office! By the time it was my turn to sing “Stormy Monday,” all nervousness was gone and I sang to the crowd. There near the front row I spotted a woman with her eyes closed, singing along, gently swaying to the beat. I’d never seen anything so wonderful in my life.

Other than losing sound on my amplifier during our cover of Everclear’s “Local God,” our set went smoothly. I was ecstatic for Martha, who played on her shortchanged drum kit like a champ. I could barely contain myself after the show. In a singsong voice I hadn’t used since I was 15, I waggled up to my husband and gushed, “THAT was FUNNNN!” I couldn’t wait for the next gig.

Which was rapidly approaching. The band was due to play in New York City for the annual Mamapalooza, a month-long fest showcasing performers who also happened to be mothers. Four out of five Mood Swings are veteran moms, so, we headed to the Big Apple to The Cutting Room, a venue in the Chelsea district featuring entertainers such as Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow and Joan Rivers.

New York was fantastic, a real bonding experience for our new band. Mamapalooza was an education. During an ASCAP seminar, a mousey-looking woman with big glasses and sloped shoulders leaned over and meekly offered how she was looking forward to hearing our band later that night. I nodded, said something nice to her just to be polite, and made a mental note to be sure and clap for this poor gal and her band when they got on stage -- surely they were going to need a lot of encouragement.

Later that night, her band not only hit the stage, they throttled it. Mousey-girl was front and center ripping it up with her guitar, with a voice that rocked like Gibraltar.

Clearly I had a lot to learn.

Next: Building the Band
www.merryandthemoodswings.com
Copyright 2008 Mary Guthrie