12 hours of driving after a concert? Sign me up.

And we're back! Well, I'm back anyways and there's only one of me...

So two nights ago was our fourth of seven concerts and it started off pretty "luxurious" as tours get. Some of us got up early to head to the local Farmer's Market, a not-too-small place where we got breakfast and dinner for later. Since the hotel and theater were in a business district, there were hardly any places to eat after 6pm on the weekdays, and this was the weekEND.

In the afternoon, a couple of us went to go see a movie before having lunch, then into the theater we went at 5pm. Most of us worked on individual practice up until the house opened its doors.

As for the show itself, the first half went pretty well. The second half got a little...not clean is a good way to put it. Realize that my perceptions of the show are going to differ greatly from the audience's point of view. What I/we see goes mostly unnoticed from the viewers.

I finally flubbed the ending of the kulintang piece, which was inevitable sooner or later. I'm not being self-defeatist, it's just one of those endings that even the composer "oopses" on the ending from time to time. I'll have to figure out a way to mentally prep myself to avoid it in the future. We also had a hard time listening to each other on stage for a few of the songs in the second half. It was the difference of milliseconds; multiple people not hitting all at the same time. Again, noticeable on the stage rather than off of it.

Still, we brought it back strong by the end and the crowd of over 600 was very appreciative of the show. They warmed up by the second song and we could feel that on stage! We even had a family of three drive up from Dayton (along with the husband of our Cleveland host - a 4-hour drive) to see us. When I saw them in the lobby after the show, it was obvious they really enjoyed themselves. :)

Then came yesterday, a 12~ hour drive Eastward to Schenectady, NY. I do not recommend doing this drive after a two-hour concert the night before. But it did go without incident, although one of our members has caught a cold of some sort and it's all about preventive medicine for the rest of us.

Today should be uneventful as we tech, eat, tech, then eat. Tomorrow brings a single school show in the morning and a concert at night; my goal is to "overcome the flub" and bring it harder throughout the entire show. Game on!