Pros and Con(vention)s

Every once in awhile we get to perform in a non-traditional venue. I like the term “non-traditional venue”, it’s so descriptive, isn’t it? It could mean anything from Aunt Addy’s drawing room to a Pot Belly’s to a college lecture hall and quite a few more that I can think of and performed in or at.

In this case, I’m talking about the AHR Expo 2012 coming up Monday through Wednesday for Taco, Inc. at McCormick Place. Now you might think that’s a strange place for an a cappella quartet to sing, but it’s a great time and a great gig. We get to interact with people all day, sing for them, talk to them and just be fun and a bit goofy and we get to stretch too. We re-lyric a song and we dress in themed costumes and work the booth. We meet and greet and talk with people and then we sing for them, which is usually a surprise to the people. And the most unexpected thing is, it’s really intimate. Every performance is new and different and in the moment. It can’t be any other way, in a cavernous convention hall. The point of focus is ever changing and it’s a fun challenge to keep that focus.

What will we be dressed like this year, you ask? Well, I’ll try and get some pictures and maybe a tweet or two while at the convention. and if I don’t get any while at the convention, I’ll post some after the convention.

Better yet, if you find yourself at the convention, come and take a picture with us, we’ll be at  Taco, Inc. booth, booth 5400 and hard to miss.

Here’s a video of what last year’s Expo was like. And this year promises to be just as fun.

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Oh, one last thing.  I don’t really have an Aunt Addy and I don’t know anyone who has, so I’ve never sung in her drawing room. Just wanted to let you know.

Time to try it out Live

Well, we’re going to jump in with both feet. At our rehearsal on Wednesday we felt really good about the set and so we decided it’s time for a time honored tradition of finding a spot to try it out and see how it plays in front of a live audience. Not a full gig…But run the set as a whole. And do it as soon as possible.

That does a couple of things for us. It gives us extra motivation to work out all the tweaks we need to make now and it gives us the chance to get comfortable with the set. You know, kick the tires and see how it rides. So you might want to keep looking for us while we’re looking for the place we’ll play because it might happen pretty quickly. We’ll give you as much notice as we can, of course, but it’s likely to happen with a short turnaround time.

While you can look for us here (lets not be too obvious, Jim), you can also find us and become a fan of our Facebook page at http://band.to/4-am/ and become a fan while you’re at it. Oh and don’t forget to come up and say after any gig you attend. We’re nice…And silly…And well, I could go on for awhile, but not now.