Front Man Training continued - list of things I am not allowed to do...
To illustrate my point, here's a current list of Things The Boys In The Band Won't Let Me Do:
1. No dropping the word 'pimp' out of Shake'em Down Mama (hey, cant we just say something 'nice'??)
2. No singing in a Scottish, Indian or Elvis accent
3. No breaking out into George Michaels 'Faith' during 'Parchment Farm' (hey, its got the same beat!)
4. No 'Jazz' timings during '7 days' (with apologies to Freddy Wilson for teaching me Jazz Timing)
5. No singing the song 'Cowboy Tansvestite Blues' (awwww...I like that song)
6. No changing lyrics to something more amusing
7. No puppets on stage
8. No shorts on stage
9. No wearing my industrial ear muffs on stage (hmmm...)
10.No mentioning 'Gary Moore' or 'Copperhead Road'
11. No mentioning of 'Tacos' during 'Texas Rosie' (although I think that one's for Paul)
12. No announcing Band Members for their curtain call while they are changing guitar straps
13. No playing 'Sesame Street' on the harmonica before 'Little Big Bird'
14. No changing the lyrics from 'One night in Memphis' to 'one night in Wagga' during 'She Keeps You Moving On'
15. No singing 'he wants you, he wants you' like Count Dracula during 'Swamp Monster'
16. No 'my girl lollipop' ringtones
17. No random Spanish requests for beer in the intro of Texas Rosie.
Awww..these guys just dont want to let me have any fun.
I thought I had all sorts of latitude, turns out, I am playing in a band with 'Serious' musicians and that sort of freewheeling behaviour is not tolerated.
Now I cant promise that I will adhere to all these requests, or for that matter, any of them, but in fairness to my band mates, I am making an effort to not have so much fun. From now on, its all Serious Looks and Tight Pants for me! Or maybe Serious Pants and tight looks!
On the other hand, I think the occasional puppet and random references to Enthusiasts for Modern Dance is simply part of my nature and despite my best efforts to be serious, I think irreverence has got the better of me :-)
If you come to a gig and see the boys throwing stuff at me, you'll know why!