Did a funky pick-up Gig for the Homeless

So one of my old bands called me up last night to do a pick up gig today for a church organized lunch for the homeless.

The bassist backed out last minute so the Key player cover the bass lines , we played w/ Guitar , Keys , Drums , and Vox. All in all it went really well w/o Bass.

When we were getting started a homeless dude w/ a Conga and some Perc hooped up on stage(w/o permission) we let him stay as we were mic'd and he wasn't , turned out the guy could play so after a few tunes we got him mic'd up , after the first set I talked the organizer into paying the Conga player since we were down a man , thought they might have some extra cash.

At the end of the gig the organizer slid 50$ to the dude and he lit up like a Christmas tree.

All in all two hours of decent soft rock/oldies , a break for Burgers , too many conversations w/ Hobos about how sorry but I can't let you play my drums , one adventure into the nastiest bathroom in Eugene , and $50 in my pocket.....not a bad morning.

Also Homeless folk can really dance.

that's awesome, although he's probably going to try to make a living jumping on random stages now.

We also had a harp player (also uninvited) trying to get picked up by my overheads , he was on and off the stage the whole time , his harp was in the right key once. Couldn't understand a word he said.

I wasn't trying to get him mic'd or paid.

I'll have James the Conga player w/ his big two toothed smile , much like a 7-10 split , in my mind for awhile. "Just gonna add some sound effects" , I rarely see anyone having that much fun playing, and he thought he was doing it for free.

That's great dude! I can say, sadly, I was there myself last year (homeless). If I was given the opportunity to have a band come and play for the mission that I was in and they needed a hand, I'd've been there in a heartbeat. Good on you for swingin' payment for him! Glad it was a good time.

It was really much more fun than I thought possible.

Glad to hear that your homeless situation is in the past tense.

that's awesome. It's interesting to think about how many musicians there are out there who just aren't heard

great story Slap!

Reminds me of a recent trip to SF. My gf and I were waiting to get on the trolley, and this street guitarist comes up and asks if we had any requests. I asked for Purple Haze, and he busts into a great acoustic version (his guitar was really beat up, but he made it work) of the Hendrix tune, and we enjoyed it so much, we gave him $20. He was happy.

Great story Slap. "What goes around, comes around " man.

I was really stoked when they said they'd be willing to pay to Conga player.

I was also pretty impressed w/ how little they talked about Jesus , and when they did they weren't cramming him down anyone's throat. It was all about food and free haircuts, and of course free bibles.

I not big on religion , but the volunteers were definitely good people doing good work.

Also I've never seen so many awesome beards in one place ever.

Right on man. Good karma coming your way.

I did just sell a drum today , but I also just got the weakest paycheck to date from my teaching gig.

Kinda funny , but in the shadiest park in Eugene under a freeway overpass my drums got mic'd better than they have in a long, long time. I love Eugene , but we have lots of clubs w/ lazy soundmen and bad PA's.

Oh tell me about it hahaha.

Did you do that gig in the park under the bridge near the Wow Hall? I've done some shows there. Interesting place but yeah it can actually sound pretty good, but it's just a crazy echo chamber.

might be the same place , it's not that close to WOW hall , but it's not too far either.

I pretty sure Dateline tried to buy some heroine there a few years back.

The Washington Jefferson Bridge Park is the place I'm thinking of. Definitely seems likely that you could score heroine down there haha.

yep that's where it was , nastiest bathroom in Eugene.

Surprisingly good acoustics though , huh?

I really want to assemble a crap kit and haul it down there , just for fun.

Definitely. It would be really fun to just get a big drum jam going under there .

And yeah...the bathroom. Oh...my....god. :puke:

Edit... Why is there now "puke" avatar here? Weak.