Spiderman, Iron Maiden and the Banjo

Summer seems to be aligning me more with the mainstream in my day to day and professional life. I suppose it is partly because I have kids and they are connected to the mainstream in many ways. What is the mainstream? I guess I was referring to things like seeing the new Spiderman flick or taking my son to see Iron Maiden tonight. I love that we are biking down the street to hear them. I kind of regret passing on some backstage passes. Our friend's company is representing the lead singer and we would have had a small group of us (maybe 6) given a little tour by him. Oh well. I thought it was going to be the usual lame meet and greet, hurry up and wait, you are holier than us vibe...I guess I blew that. (still kind of glad to avoid the hassle and just head down to enjoy the show) Spiderman was wicked. It was my first 3D film. I was totally sold. I got caught up in it. I loved the story and the music and effects were great. I really felt like I got my money's worth. I guess it was about $16 each. This is making me wonder how I can give an audience there money's worth. For example, if I charge $10 to get in, what will make it worth there while. My early thoughts on this topic include; tight band, good sound, good venue, good stories in between songs, new songs, and make sure the break between sets is a good length (ie. not too long, not too short) I am going to put more thought in to this. I really want to give people there money's worth. Another visit to the mainstream is a nice short interview with me about jazz, bluegrasss and Sorry Cousins that was posted today on CBC's music website. You can read it here.