At The Tinderbox in a Thunder Storm

Charlie and I played a Tweak gig at The Tinderbox this past Monday. We opened for Michael Jordan Touchdown Pass, Wingnut Dishwasher's Union, and Defiance Ohio. We were invited to join the first half of MJTP's set; the band asked us to lay down a bed of D minor drone and texture for a half an hour with electronics and acoustic instruments, as a prelude to their first song.

This summer has been marked by dramatic thunder storms, as cold fronts move in swiftly over the day's heat. Monday night provided one more. When we headed inside and up the stairs to start our set, the twilight sky turned dark grey-black, and drops of rain began to fall. By the time we were 10 minutes into our set, the storm was in full swing.

Our bed of D minor was created with an Oddity soft synth, a Roland SH-32, and two looper pedals. We were wandering through the audience, Charlie and I playing long tones, Charlie on a Tibetan conch trumpet, and I on a Turkish sipsi. Thunderclaps broke, lightning flashed, rain poured. Loading our gear into the trunk of Charlie's car after the show, we discussed this moment, and learned that we both had the same impression: the storm was playing us, and we were playing the storm. Of course, that wasn't reality, but that's how it felt. Our music turned tensely elemental, and the energy of the storm seemed to feed into it.

Photo credit: Tweak by Scott Link