I’m a firm believer in sound checks for ironing out bugs and preparing for the smooth delivery of ones set.  Mine went well at the New Testament Church of God National Women’s conference in Kelvin Way recently and I have worked with the monitor and front of house engineers before so everything was cool!  After my sound check I got ready and enjoyed the proceedings while waiting for my time to go on stage.  I was called.  I went up.

However… as my intro started I had a small inkling that something was not quite right, but I ignored it and continued.  I blew my first note and it went horribly wrong.   I was in one key and the mp3 in another! Aargh! I’m playing and thinking ‘Is this happening?’  At first, I couldn’t believe it was happening.  ‘What shall I do?’ I continued but adjusting my lipping and tuning of the sax to compensate… but it didn’t work.  I was still out of key because of the distance between the two sounds.  The audience? Well Kelvin Way seats 2500 (yes! two thousand five hundred people) and it was three quarters full that evening!!! Some of the faces were quizzical.  They could hear that something was wrong. Embarrassing, but I kept calm .  No diva strops here 🙂   By the second verse I had to call time, a ‘rewind and come again’ (in the reggae world) and request the front of house engineer check the pitch control setting on the CD playback.  And yes, it had been adjusted.  Correction made, I restarted and it was better. I completed the song… in key.

I have to say I felt a little embarrassed.  Why? Well…I guess, I wished, I had pulled it up sooner but it was just one of those moments where you think it will get better, just persevere… but it couldn’t.  Oh well!  It went well it turned out alright in the end with positive accolades from the audience.

One for the archives…maybe…!

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