Coffee Shop Gigs

A while ago, Luke and I were preparing our Abbott Brothers set for if we ever play Abbott Brothers gigs. You see, we mainly play as a family in the Abbott Family Band but we don’t play many gigs. So, Luke and I have the Abbott Brothers band for the gigs but it’s also a branch of the Abbott Family band which is a branch of Abbott Family Music. Anyway, Luke was saying we should play at coffee shops.

Now, a few years ago, I went to a coffee shop. It was, what I thought, a classic coffee shop: Brick walls, dim lighting, coffee and above all, a musician playing in the corner that nobody listens too (in this case it was a piano player). Anyway, soi when Luke suggested playing at those kind of places, that didn’t sound too great. I was against it for quite a while, until last week! A friend of ours runs a coffee shop (or now known as an Internet Cafe) called the Ugly Mug. We were scheduled to play there and I was still against the idea of playing at any coffee shop. Anyway, for last Monday’s entertainment, they had two Shamisen players. Kevin and Masahiro Nitta. Since we were gonna play there the week after, we decided to go here them. Boy, that changed my perspective of coffee shops. For one, it was bright in there! Secondly, there was two aquariums which kinda formed a wall which was pretty neat. Then there was a lounge area.
I felt good about playing at this coffee shop!

So, next week (yesterday), we played there. It was pretty good. What was also neat is that we played sitting down! We haven’t had a sitting down gig since ‘98 when Luke and I first started playing on the mall. Ever since then, we’ve stood up while we played (since there’s a bit more vocal energy when you stand). I’ve got nothing against standing up but standing up at the coffee shop gig would feel pretty funny. It’s good to stand up stage gigs when there’s an audience who are there to hear you but when it’s at a coffee shop where people are plugged into their ‘puters, sitting was more appropriate.
I went in wearing a sweatshirt and vest (as well as long pants, yadayadayada) but since I got pretty warm, I took off my sweatshirt. Two hours later, we finished playing. I got a free delicious spiced apple cider and a $2.00 cookie (I had to pay for the cookie ’cause somebody else supplied the cookies [meaning the Ugly Mug didn't make them]). After noshin’ and chattin’, we packed up and got ready to leave. I scoped around lookin’ for my sweatshirt but didn’t see it. I figured that it was in our pack so we left. When we got in the car, I saw it wasn’t there! Some swine had taken it! . . Accidentally of course. . . I assume. Fortunately, just a few days ago, Ma got me a sweatshirt that looks just like the one I lost yesterday! What luck.
Anycase, we made $52 in tips.