The concert...

Rhythmic Movement was a great success! Tania's concert received a pretty big turnout considering the size of the venue. We even spotted a few reviewers in the crowd! In addition, I had the premier of my work, "Moon, Tides, Cycles" and I couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. Actually, that's not true. I could have been way more pleased but after a certain point you just have to accept outcomes and embrace them.

The performance itself went over really well and the piece was very well received. But the venue had limitations. Nevermind a few misunderstandings with the main sound guy (who wasn't even there that night), when we arrived for our sound check we met Ted who was much more accommodating. However, I was to find out that a crucial aspect of my piece was going to be impossible to achieve. The panning. Yes, even though I told the sound guys that I was giving them stereo outs from my laptop, I forgot to mention that I would need to be able to pan my mix left and right. There was nothing to be done in a pinch though. The house system was set up to sub both stereo channels to one output. The speakers were just a cluster over the stage pointed out in three directions at the seating area. So, no panning for me, and thus a crucial part of the piece was not heard. Well, no one knew the difference but me anyway. And when it comes down to it, it's not wholly essential for the piece to come across. And I still did the panning while on stage mixing because he told us that the recording could have two distinct channels of stereo. So, at least we'll be able to hear the whole piece at some point.

Leading up to the performance, I felt that familiar thrill of nerves (yes, I know I was just twiddling knobs up there but there's a performance element even in that!) and had to meditate to not let it overwhelm me. I then realized that it had to be compounded by the amount of caffeine I inadvertently ingested throughout the day (cup of green tea, two cups of mate and a ginseng black and green tea that had mate in it as well!). The nice part about performing though is that all this energy gets to be channeled into something you're creating. And the release of it all is the best part of the act. If you've ever performed you know what I'm talking about.

The most exciting part of the evening for me, aside from actually performing, was spotting the reviewers out in the crowd. I saw at least two gentleman sitting by themselves and writing on their programs in the dark and I figured them immediately for press.

The response afterward was nice, too. I met so many people who enjoyed my piece and heard some very nice compliments. One of my co workers, actually, the gentleman who introduced me to Tania and effectively made this collaboration possible, Asa was there with his wife as well (he showed me some photos he took of us today at work). And both of my parents came as well. They had been spending the weekend up in Athens, NY with my aunt and just took the train down Tuesday evening to Grand Central, where I met them. I spent some time up there as well over the weekend and I never got around to blogging about it!

After I met my parents at Grand Central, we took our time getting back to 25th Street in Brooklyn, stopping at my favorite GF pizza joint in the Flatiron district (an area I'd be spending a lot of time in over the next few days) and went and ate in Madison Square Park. Then we stopped by one of my favorite bars in Cobble Hill, Local 61. We tucked in relatively early because we had designs on getting up early and biking. I dragged my bike through the turnstiles and carted it all the way to Whitehall Street while Mom and dad rented bikes in Battery Park city at Bike and Roll. Mom wanted to get from Battery Park all the way to the George Washington Bridge and we just about did it. I think we turned around at 165th Street and rode back down to 44th Street near the USS Intrepid where we could drop their bikes off. From there I walked my bike back to 8th Avenue and 34th Street to get the A train back to Brooklyn.

All in all, it was a great experience and one I intend to repeat soon with a biking buddy. There are parts of the greenway on the west side that are absolutely gorgeous. There's a causeway at around the 70s and 80s that takes you out over the Hudson River a little ways. Beyond that there's a lane of cherry trees and a fairly wooded stretch. We reached a spot around the 150s where we had a clear view of the bridge (which is actually around 178th Street) and stopped for a series of pictures.

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Additionally, in this album is a shot of our reward which waited for us at 4th Avenue Pub, and me, all suited up back in the Flatiron District before the show last night. There are also a few pictures of the Irish Hunger Memorial that we stumbled on while trying to snake through all the downtown bike lane detours in place from all the construction. You'll even see a pic or two of the new world trade tower.

Yeah, I figured out what I could delete to get a little more storage space on my SD card for my phone so I was actually taking pictures yesterday!

There'll be more on the aftermath of the concert pretty soon as I hear about it. Meanwhile, I have a deadline now with the film score and next Wednesday is mine and Lacy's show at Bar 82.