No rehearsal time, Jake thought, not without a certain amount of sympathy. And Matt probably doesn’t trust his crew to configure his guitar correctly. A minor flub, true, but glaring enough that the audience surely noticed. It’s the little things that will get you.
Matt finally got the configuration he wanted and fired out an open chord on the low E and A strings—a common show-opener he had used ever since their first performance in Heritage all those years ago. He let that blast out and then fade almost all the way to silence before launching into a brief solo that he then transitioned into a complex power riff. Jake, as well as most of the audience, recognized the riff instantly. It was from Early Grave, Matt’s biggest hit from his latest CD. After a few reps of the primary, the drums, bass, and secondary guitar kicked in. They went through a few more reps together and then switched over to a faster tempo, with the backup guitarist playing out a more simple four-chord progression while Matt laid out a melodic solo. From there, the two of them switched to playing in unison while the drummer pounded out a complex beat. They then switched to yet another tempo, this one slow, but slowly building in intensity.
It was nearly three minutes into the tune before Matt actually started singing. This was common in Matt Tisdale solo efforts, which focused primarily on the guitar and not the vocalization. Still, his voice was solid and he knew how to use it. His range was limited to a narrow field at the high end of baritone, but he kept in time and in key and he was not unpleasant to listen to. And the lyrics of the tune were somewhat poignant and thought-provoking. True, it was a variation on the old Matt Tisdale Intemperance formula of writing about living fast and hard, but it was more dark and complex than what he had penned in the Intemperance days.
Jake nodded his head to the beat and was man enough to admit that he was enjoying the performance so far. Matt truly was a master with his guitar—particularly during solos, which he could lay down with a speed and complexity that Jake could only dream of—and watching him play was impressive. Always had been.
At the same time, however, Jake could not help but notice the flaws he was seeing. Chief among them was the sound output. It was not terrible by any means but for someone who was used to having the perfectionist Nerdlys dial him in, it grated on him a bit. The low end and the midrange were simply too loud, the high end too low. This meant that everything was overwhelmed by Matt’s guitar and the bass and that the vocals were distorted to the point that if you did not already know what the lyrics of the tune were, you would not be able to understand most of what he was singing. It also made it difficult to differentiate the distinction between the lead and rhythm guitars.
Matt, of all people, should know the value of getting the best sound people to set up your performances, Jake thought.
Another thing that was obvious to Jake was that lack of rehearsal time. They were just a little bit off up there, not quite in perfect synchronicity. That came primarily from being out of practice. True, they had been touring for months together and he could sense their camaraderie and familiarity with each other, but it did not take much of a break for all of that to start to deteriorate. Jake’s understanding was that Matt and his band had been in Rio since their last European show more than three weeks ago. It was obvious they had not found a way to do a couple of dress rehearsals before taking the stage. And, on that same note, everyone except Matt was probably using unfamiliar equipment since their primary equipment had to be in a shipping container out on the ocean currently.
He set himself up for a mediocre performance, Jake thought, part of him sad about this, but part of him actually gleeful as well.
Jake’s mental criticisms turned back to awe again, however, when Matt played out the primary solo for the piece. It was a blistering shred that lasted well over two minutes and went through three separate tempo changes and two changes of distortion level brought about by manipulation of the effects pedals.
Goddamn, Jake thought, impressed. He has done nothing but gotten better since we parted ways. His fucking fingers are moving so fast I can’t even see them.
The solo wound down to a climax in which all of the other instruments stopped playing, letting Matt finish it out as a true solo. The last note faded nearly to nothing and then the drums kicked back in, pounding out the authoritative beat of the song. The bass kicked back in and then Matt began to hammer out the primary riff once more. After a few reps of this, the secondary guitar kicked back in and took over the primary riff, allowing Matt to play out some fills while he sang out the last verse and chorus combo.
How easily he can play solo notes while singing at the same time, Jake thought. He was doing what Jake had avoided through most of his show and doing it well.
The song came to an end and the crowd cheered loudly and enthusiastically. Jake could not help but notice, however, that it was not quite as loud and enthusiastic as they had been at the end of his first number.
This gave him a certain amount of satisfaction, made him feel like he had won.
The limousine sent by Music Alive arrived just as Matt reached the halfway point in his set. Jake had stayed in the SVIP long enough to watch three numbers and drink two thirty-two-ounce beers. Now, he and the members of his band, plus Obie, Celia, and the Nerdlys, climbed in the back for the trip back to Caesars in Las Vegas. Their special guests, none of whom were interested in seeing Matt’s show, had already left to avoid the rush.
Laura was cuddled up against Jake’s right side, her eyes now red and half-lidded, a faint odor of Humboldt County skunk bud radiating off of her. She, Nerdly, Pauline and the Levensteins had shared a fatty while Jake had been watching Matt’s performance.
“I never got high with a rabbi before,” Laura said with a giggle. “Kind of a strange experience.”
“He assured me that he does not imbibe regularly,” Nerdly said. “In fact, he says tonight was the first night he has smoked cannabis since he was in college.”
“Why did he decide to fire up tonight?” Jake asked.
“I think it was kind of a when-in-Rome thing,” Pauline said.
“He was very impressed with the horticultural advances made in cannabis production since the last time he smoked some,” Nerdly said.
“He was talking some cool metaphysical shit after we burned,” Pauline said. “I think everyone should get high with a man of God at least once in their life.”
“I’m going to add that to my list,” Jake said, sorry now that he had missed out on the experience.
“How was Matt’s show?” Celia asked.
“They were a little rusty,” Jake replied. “They had a miscue at the opening and their timing was just a bit off at first. They seemed to get their shit together by the time they started the third number though.”
“His sound was atrocious,” Nerdly said righteously. “Not as bad as Pantera’s, of course, but he truly needs to provide more training to his sound engineer.”