I play a lot of shows, but I don’t play a lot of shows where I’m the leader and songwriter and front man.  I was nervous for 2 reasons,

A) I’m bad with mustering the enthusiasm to even want to play my songs and

B) I’m even worse with remembering words (especially when they’re my own). 

The only shows JJ and I have been in together were where we were backing up Eric.  So Eric’s opening for us was an obvious way to start, though it seemed to have the air of a distorted socialized “right of passage” even if such a passage is unseemly and unjustified in this situation, but it just had that air.

Mostly I felt that air because Eric was nostalgic in his set, inviting the many former band-mates, and current band-mates, in the audience to play along (this included in the “former category” JJ and myself).  For one more, potentially last, time we played those songs together.  Eric ended his set with his current band lineup.

 
I fell nonconfident in my approach to my set, my guitar, my unlearned songs, as my set start approached.
 
Philip Shaw Bova is my brother.  We have that innate chemistry that finishes each other sandwiches…sentences…  

He was joining me on drums, he has before, he will again.
 
Phil Victor Bova is our father, a looney charmer on the flirt with insanity, a bass player who gets it (read: rare), and a wizard without the hat.  I am excited by how Phil gets excited to play musicball.
 

The three of us have played together for other artists enough times that I knew in my head how they approach songs and I know very intimately how they play.  So I could hear in my head “our sound” before beat 1, and whatever nervous feelings I had during beat 1 were quickly dismissed by beat 2.  Game on.
 
We started and we stopped.  That’s how I felt the show went but we’d played for an hour, no rehearsal, all joy, no bummers, no train wrecks, acceptable banter and great musical moments.

Plus I WANTED to play every song AND I remembered almost all of the words, almost… 
 
Sure there were little mistakes, we never practiced, but they were easily offset by our cooperative charismatic musicianship.  Three dudes just playing the songs, no noodling, no ego, just songs, I felt great because the Phil’s had my back the whole time, I can’t thank them enough for that.

JJ Ipsen, Eric Vieweg @Cafe Dekcuf

JJ’s band is cool.  I disagree with a statement Eric prefaced the show with “they are all so good at their instruments, you’ll be sick”.  I observed them being regular sort of players, nothing fancy, no virtuosos or mind blowing solos, nor stunning technical precision; I feel they appear to be masterful because their best collective musical asset is clever orchestration (compliments of JJ). 

They knew their parts, when not to play, and when to push it home, basically copying what JJ did on his “dirty laundry” CD and bringing it live and to a bar near you (lucky you by the way).
 
The loosest guy in JJ’s band was J.J, you could tell he felt confident in his preparation of his band-mates enough to relax and let the band support him, relying on them to lead the songs, and never once did he take the amateurish position of pulling the band along by leading too forcefully, he let it happen because he knew it would happen right. 
 
I think a few touring nights of maturity will be a great asset for these dudes, they’re right at that cusp of being a “cool little band from just outside Toronto” to being “a Stylish Band from Toronto”, and just a little time will decide that advent.
 
I can’t wait to play musicball again.

Matt Ouimet’s Music can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/mattouimet

JJ Ipsen is here: http://www.myspace.com/jjipsen

Eric Vieweg on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ericvieweg