This went really, really well--11 paying customers, all of whom applauded my 1/2 hour noisemaking set. (Guitar, two delays, ebow, ORI sampler on the Mac.) I didn't do the showman thing yet (as in working the crowd), but they were really warm. The theremin player who was also on the bill said he was really excited about the noise stuff I'm doing, and he'd like to work with me. (I invited him up toward the end of my set for a brief duet that went well.) There was some kind of altercation during my set involving several neighborhood kids who may or may not have wanted to come in, and the other acts on the bill tried to get them to commit one way or the other--I wasn't really following it, being more concerned with the actual playing.
Sure, it wasn't tunes and it wasn't straight playing (although there was an ensemble piece where I got to play some lounge-salsa licks) but it was a blast. There's nothing like playing in front of a live audience. My grad-school-addled mind can pick it apart endlessly, but--dammit--there really is nothing like it. Verdict: a low-key artistic success.
