Today is one of those days I don’t forget, ever. I looked for an appropriate card, one of the musical ones that must be chosen carefully lest they quickly become an annoyance in the wrong hands. I was not able to find the message I wanted so I wound up putting my chosen message onto the card with ink. It lasts longer and is somewhat quieter.
We went out for dinner last night as we were also going to attend a small venue concert.
We chose, actually, Gloria requested, a new Japanese restaurant in Johnson City, “Miyabi.” The recent renovations were effective, the staff was pleasantly attentive and the unfortunately present televisions were silenced. The menu contains all the stock items that symbolize Japanese food in Middle America. We chose favorites from the sushi menu and ordered “bento boxes” for our dinner entrees. Those selections came with soup and salad.
The white miso soup was well chosen to serve as both beverage and appetizer. The salads were crisp and fresh. For some reason I can’t recall having a salad in a Japanese restaurant the wasn’t made with iceberg lettuce. I’m really curious why a cuisine that is built around presentation and taste would include iceberg rather than some of the more nutritious salad greens that are available.
Gloria was given a dessert sushi roll made of sponge cake and a pastry cream. It arrived complete with a burning candle and the restaurant’s wish for good fortune.
The performer we saw/heard last night was Gloria’s distant cousin, Sonia Rutstein of Disappear Fear. She’s a talented singer-songwriter with presence in more than one camp. The venue, Down Home, has her in as often as possible.
Unfortunately, last night the sound was dialed in badly. Her voice was far down in the mix. For a singer with a soft voice, that’s deadly. I can’t relate what I heard her say or sing last night. Even with hearing aids, her voice simply wasn’t audible. Gloria passed the problem to her manager at set break and the 2nd set had some correction dialed in.
Note to performers: Do not allow the sound tech to have the final say on the settings. Too many of them have no idea how to mix anything that has vocals intended to be heard. Take a minute or two and go to the back of the audience area yourself to see how your voice will be presented. In a small venue, after the first song, ask the audience if you are audible. All your carefully written lyrics are for naught if they vanish in the murk of a bad mix. So is any commentary you offer between songs. Don’t trust the local sound guy.
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