A"good" show & the audience that I could see were enthusiastic. But something wasn't quite firing.
A young man at the front had obviously been brought by a friend. At the end, he stood up and clapped generously, so he wasn't there to have a bad time in the English fashion, as per the simian audient from Hartford.
The theatre crew & catering staff shared the same space as the band. That is, we were allowed room within their space. One of the catering persons never stopped talking, at least within my hearing range. This was an unending, intrusive presence of voluble absence. They also threw away the cheesecake into the rubbish bin after the show! Possibly, they felt that they had entitlement to the space & Crimson were intruding upon it.
My view is very different: band space is band space. Many years of experience suggests that whenever band space is violated, the performance suffers. This is especially true of the stage area. This space is always vulnerable, from a number of parties for a number of reasons, and needs to be protected. The first rule when entering a performance area is: define your space. The second rule: demarcate your space. The third rule: protect your space.
The damage done by uncontrolled talking is difficult to exaggerate. It is possible to determine the character of a person by their behaviour relating to sex, money, their use of time, and their talking. Of these, talking is usually the most immediately available behaviour.
At lunchtime we had a band meeting called by Laurie Small, our tour manager, to address details in our touring situation.
23.36
Josh the sound mixer has left the tour & returned to San Francisco. Scotty, who test-mixed KC at Hartford, mixed tonight & is mixing the remaining 2 dates in Canada.
The second Berkeley show: it began well, we appeared to "play well", but the energy seemed very soggy to me. During the encores, the energy began to return. There was a significant presence of women, most of whom appeared to have more fun than their earnest male partners. I hazard the guess that this Crim will appeal less & less to earnest young men & more & more to people who would like to have some fun with Crim. A likeable Crim? Surely not!
The helpless talker from the catering staff has been mostly exiled from band backstage space. They returned to hover after the show, and were despatched once more.
"We pay our own tab."
