Big Hand Dave

We had a really good practice last night. We don’t usually practice on Wednesday, but circumstances made it so. By the time I arrived, Rodney, Dave, and PJ were already warming up and sounding good. It was a harbinger of things to come. We had a great practice.

I would just like to interject here that the little squeaks from the strings of a guitar that the fingers make when changing chords is one of my favorite sounds.

Kudos to PJ and Rodney for re-charting all the songs, making sure we’re all on the same page at the same time as far as number of measures, intros, bridges, solos, endings, etc. Most excellent. Now they face the greater challenge of teaching Dave to count.

We warmed up with “Louie, Louie” and it’s all Louie, Louie anyway. It sounded great and we did a good ending. Next we played “All Along The Watchtower” and it was a little fast. We did it again to tempo and it sounded really good.

We followed that with “All Right Now” Where I messed up the first verse. Fortunately, we got it back in line. Next we played “Signs” which benefited from the new arrangement. I just have to remember to listen to Rodney for my cues. Then we played “C.C. Rider” and despite Dave saying he was going to ‘funk that one up’ his drums were kickin’ on that one. That song is simply fun to play and I’m going to have to take some lessons from PJ on how to end that one.

Then we played “Can’t Find My Way Home” which is my new favorite that we do. PJ snuck a little power chord in there that really adds to the song and Rodney’s bass eighths rock! “What I Like About You” came next and I got so excited I cut the harmonica solo in half. I have to remember NOT to do that! And apparently sometime after the end of that song, Dave became a ninja.

“Fire Woman” was up next and it sounded pretty good. We played “Dancing In The Moonlight” and it caught us by surprise at how good it is. Especially now that we’ve figured out how to do the background vocals. That’s a sweet song and we nailed it. Next we played “867-5309/Jenny” which sounded really good, especially the background vocals. After that we played “Tainted Love” where we thought Dave was rushing the tempo, but as it turns out he was right on. The evening came to a close with an odd number that could only be described as the “Glenda the Good Witch Punk Jam.” Party on, Garth.

Sadly, my hymnal/lyric-chart book exploded, so I was very concerned about getting all the pages together and forgot my pepper seeds that Dave was so gracious as to give me. And speaking of hymnals, Dave’s new hymnal/lyric-chart book is quite fancy. One might think it’s even a little too fancy and sassy for a drummer. But that’s how Big Hand rolls. And if he keeps playing as well as he does, we don’t even care how he dresses.

There were far too many quotes to capture all of them, and I’m certain some of the best got away. If there was a secret word, it eluded me.

“Your sheet is now protected.” ~PJ

“He won’t let me touch it.” ~Rodney

“Hey, what’s this button do?” ~PJ

“I’m not a parent, but I know shit!” ~Dave

“Let me borrow your car and your girlfriend. I’ll throw a rod in both of ‘em.” ~PJ
(sadly, Dave missed the perfect opportunity for a rim shot here)

“He had that in the way back of his head.” ~Rodney

“But you don’t play harmonica.” ~Wes

“OK!” ~Dave’s drums

“That’s so Donnie and Marie.” ~JD

“‘Buh bluh buh bluh bluh buh bluh bluh bluh!’ That’s all I hear from over there.” ~PJ

“My fingers are getting tired.” ~Rodney

“My head is heavy.” ~Wes

“Whaddaya got back there, kibble?” ~JD

“We sound better when we’re not recording!” ~ Rodney

“I think we should perform the Bongo Maneuver.” ~JD

“He still wants to hit it.” ~Wes

“That echo fucked my shit up.” ~Dave

“That’s a nice stick.” ~Rodney

“That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen a human move!” ~PJ

“Ah, the lost measures.” ~JD

“I found ’em!” ~Rodney

“Rubber fish!” ~Wes

“Don’t you just have a button that is for number 1?” ~PJ

“It sounds like number 2.” ~Wes

“Where’s the fire? ~Rodney

“There’s a comb inside. You might want this.” ~Dave

“I’ve just been served.” ~JD

“You didn’t do the ‘bee boop boop boop boop boop boop boo.’” ~Rodney

“If it’s 4/4 time, I’ll trust it.” ~Wes

“I really want to write that down, but I just can’t.” ~JD

“You were standing on my cord.” ~Rodney

“It’s either 4 or 8.” ~Wes

“And there you have it!” ~Dave

“I would’ve preferred ‘Hawkeye.’” ~PJ

And the best quote of the night:

“Did you turn it up again? I’m just asking.” ~Rodney