(Originally posted on the website Heron Flight)

Yesterday I had an opportunity to play drums at a party with my good buddy Landon. It was a rather informal affair. Some friends of Lanny’s friends were having a party and asked if he would play. He had played the week before with some other guys at another party. This weekend the drummer couldn’t make it. So, despite being sick, I said I would join them.

Arissa and Joel came with me. It’s was a bit awkward for all of us. We didn’t know anyone other than Landon. Even though people invited us to eat, we felt too strange to do so. We felt very much like outsiders. Although, Landon’s friend Melissa made us feel very welcome.

When we arrived we were told that we would be playing under the deck on the patio behind the house. The top of the deck had been covered with a tarp as the sky was threatening rain. We were nearly set up when it started to rain and we realized that we were still going to get wet. So, we moved into the garage, which turned out to be more spacious than the patio.

We were expecting to be a three piece band with myself on drums, Landon on guitar and a guy named Dan on bass. We were happily joined by Melissa’s brother Chris on percussion. This was the first time I played in a band that had someone on percussion. And he was fantastic! Later in the evening we were joined by Alan on keyboard and trumpet.

Sometimes these playing arrangements cause me a lot of anxiety. There was a long, 18 year gap in my playing experience from the time Joel was born in 1984 until just a few years ago. Therefore, the number of songs I know is somewhat limited. I have been in open mic situations over the past few years in which someone calls out a song, the rest of the band launches into it and I find myself stumbling to catch. I’m a quick learner and good at improvising. But it is rather disconcerting when other guys in the band turn around and just shake their heads. One night I actually had a singer yell at me on stage! I was playing songs I never heard of that night, songs that were in styles that I hadn’t had much experience playing before. This guy was actually angry at me. When he wasn’t yelling he was glaring at me. He acted like we were playing Madison Square Garden. The truth was there were only five people in a tiny room watching us that night.

It quickly became apparent that no one was of the mindset to yell at anyone last night. Everyone was friendly and casual. We laughed at ourselves many times through the night. It’s not so easy to go through a song which only one out of four guys knows and get everything exactly right. We had a few very humorous song endings. Once I didn’t realize that everyone else had stopped and I played on for an extra measure. A few times Landon and Dan couldn’t remember lyrics in the middle of a song. But overall we did a great job, had a lot of fun, and received many compliments from the people watching us.

We played songs from many different bands: Allman Brothers, AC/DC, Sublime, Bob Marley, Tom Petty, Steve Miller, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more. There was a big interest in reggae among the crowd. Though not my forte, I soon caught on and had lots of fun with it. Although, I did mess up in parts of “I Shot the Sheriff” until I finally got it right half way through the song.

We ended up playing until 10 PM or so. All the while there were lots of people drinking beer, playing beer pong and knocking over cups of beer as they tried to make their way around the band to get to the bathroom. Beer and electrical wires do not mingle well. But everyone who needed to make it the bathroom managed to without anyone in the band getting electrocuted.

It was a good time all in all, though rather boring for Arissa and Joel since they didn’t know anyone. The band sounded good. We were happy. The audience was happy. And Melissa sent us all home with hugs.

We never did find out what the occasion for the party was. I guess these people just needed to hear us play!