A little moody, baby

One more night like last night and I'll quit.

My day job, that is. Because one more rehearsal on par with last night is all it would take; I'd never want to leave!

We had rehearsal last night for Washed in Black and Stargazer. About thirty minutes before practice started, an accident elsewhere in the power grid knocked out the electricity to about 160 homes and establishments in the area, and we were one of the lucky few.

So that was a bummer, but barely slowed us down. First, there's a wood-burning stove that keeps the place warm and smelling nice. Second, our next show is an unplugged concert, so we had all brought acoustic instruments. No electricity needed. About the only hardship was that it was dark. No big: we had candles from previous shows. It was dark, but we could see well enough to walk around the room (with only minor injuries).

Practice went long. Instead of bifurcating the night into "WiB then SG," the night was "WiB/SG," and we'd do a couple of each before changing gears again. Steve and I accompanied each other and the rest of the band harmonized with us.

Something about scarcity increases value. Without light, we had to listen harder. We focused in. Our entire sound tightened up. We found harmonies and textures in songs we had only glossed over or nodded at in passing before. We came away with a deeper appreciation and a renewed sense of purpose in the music.

We came away better musicians, however slight the increase. All because the electricity went out and we didn't let it slow us down!