Gettin’ Ready
Posted by Musician | Filed under Performances, Photos
Tonight we’re playing the first of our 2 shows of the weekend, at the Church of the Blues, in Dewdney. There’s a lot of prep work that goes into all of our shows. Art does most of it, since he owns and maintains the band’s sound equipment.
He has recently had some repairs, maintenance, and upgrades done, and also added something, that I don’t really understand, so he’ll have to write about it. It’s an amazing addition however. The sound coming out of the PA is so different, it is incredible. The clarity, crispness, and definition have never been as good. I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before.
For me, I have regular maintenance to perform as well. Saxophones have approximately 500 parts, and when they are played, the springs, rods, keys, pads, levers, and rollers are all exposed to stresses. The harder you play: the more stress they’re exposed to, & the more you need to check everything over before a show. I play pretty hard with Deception, so before a 2-day series of shows, I have to unstick sticky pads, apply tenon oil, and check everything over. This helps avoid nasty surprises on stage.
So here’s a picture of my workhorse… My Selmer Mark VI tenor, just after it got its pre-show maintenance. I love this sax. It was built in Paris, France in around 1972. I got the horn in 1981, and it has been my favourite tenor ever since. It’s travelled a lot with me; done a lot with me; played a hell of a lot of different styles of music with me; and never let me down.
Hopefully we’ll see you at one of our shows this weekend. If you can’t make it out either tonight, or tomorrow afternoon, check out our upcoming shows page, to see when and where we’re playing next.
Deception is the Abbotsford-based blues band formed in the mid-90s by guitar player Art Panchishin.