Inspiring show

Last night I had the second opportunity to project images for the Wealthy Orphans. 

Rick Beerhorst, the artist/band leader, got a gig for the band at Calvin College’s campus coffee lounge, The Cave.  A couple weeks back there was an album release concert at the Pyramid Scheme, for which I created a moving backdrop of “found” film images.  It was a fair amount of work for one performance so I was happy to reprise the sceening for a second show.

When I arrived at the venue, the projector and screen had already been set up by the college AV staff.  I tested it with my DVD and all seemed to be working. The Cave was a much smaller location for the performance and the low ceilings required that the film show next to the band instead of behind them.  Not ideal, certainly.  There was not a ton of seating to begin with and half the audience would not have a clear view.

It was great to see all the band members again.  I had only met them the one other time but all remembered me by name.  They each expressed enthusiasm about showing the film.  After the sound check, we had an hour to see who would arrive to listen to the show. There were free cookies at the coffee bar.

As it turned out, college students on a weekday night either had a lot of homework or had better things to do than see a free concert.  There was a smattering of people clearly present for the music and an additional bunch there for coffee, homework or personal conversations.  The band, however, rocked it despite the limited audience.  I kept peaking over my shoulder (I was manning the projector toward the front of stage) and the few people seated in the section with a clear view of the screen were engaged in personal discussions or in some cases, their glowing laptops.  The band didn’t seem to mind.  They were having great fun on stage and clearly enjoyed playing together.  I also was enjoying myself.  The more intimate I am with the music, the more I find myself falling in love with it.  I loved the serendipity of the moments when film images matched to the music in either rhythm or theme.  It didn’t matter that it was mostly a private show, just for me.

Afterwards, no one in the band seemed at all disappointed in the lack of turnout.  It was an opportunity to play together and explore the music and that was enough.  Spirits were high. 

Walking back to my car, I looked up in the sky to see a brilliant display of the winter constellations. I realized it was my first time in a long time to see Orion and the Pleiades and they seemed liked old friends.  I’d spent my spring, summer and fall attached to a food tube that kept me inside at nights.  It was a thrill!  Driving home, a falling star streaked past my windshield view.  I felt very lucky.