The London Palladium

2/22: Played the famous London Palladium last night; an old and quite impressive concert hall that has been host to some of the most famous names in music. As I mentioned in one of my previous entries, this was a big gig for Engelbert as it was where it all began for him.
I know the band sensed how personal it was for Humpy and each member I’m sure tried to dig just a little deeper to make it better in their own way. Jeff Sturges (our musical director, for those of you just getting acquainted), again provided terrific arrangements to frame the tunes & Engelbert’s voice. I dare say I want to play well as much for him as I do Engelbert.

Now, about the show...

Did the audience love it? Yes. Did the band rise to the occasion? Yes. Was E-Hump magic, as always? Yes. Then why did I come away feeling less than satisfied? One reason I think is that the hype surrounding the whole thing created false expectations. It was, in the end and after the personal implications for Engelbert, no different than previous engagements. In fact, I thought the audience was quite tame compared to the other shows we’ve done. The other reason is that I believe a band loses it’s edge when it arrives at the gig 6 hours before showtime. Whether this is a logistical requirement or a matter of the proverbial dotting “i”s and crossing “t”s, I can only speculate. Nevertheless, it has been the standard operating prodedure sinced we’ve arrived and I can see the toll it’s taking.

It’s 4:24am and I managed to put in about 4 hours of sleep tonight (11pm - 2:20am) so I’m feeling pretty good. I may be getting closer to getting my inner clock readjusted. Having this journal to keep up has been fun and a great tool to help pass the time.

Tomorrow I understand we have about a 3-4 hour bus ride ahead of us with another show upon our arrival. I’m already looking forward to playing and seeing if I can improve on previous shows and bring just a little more to the table. Though there is little variation in the set list from night to night, I find I’m still uncovering new layers to the music. There’s also a band introduction number where everyone gets a brief solo spot. It’s a pumping old-style rock and roll number (think late 60’s/early 70’s Elvis) which, interestingly enough, has presented me with a challenge of doing something both creative & exciting during my solo. Tempo-wise, it’s too slow to go with the 8th-note pulse of the tune - it sounds like you’re just playing a dressed up bass line - and it’s almost (notice I emphasized “almost” - I never admit defeat!) too fast to double-time it (sixteenth notes). I’m finding a mixture of both approaches is most effective and striving to eventually get to being able to complete a nice little “painting” each time.

That’s it for now music fans!

Cheers,
--Adam