Squeezing Out One More Song

Want to strike fear into my heart while playing a gig? Recommend a "jam" or something similar to round out a set at the end of the night.

It's not near as bad as one gig where I basically had to follow the shouts of the band leader to learn Heart's "Crazy On You" on the spot. Turns out that we started early for a gig in Nashville and hadn't factored in the time change. The bar owner didn't have sympathy, though, and demanded we play to the end of the hour. We ended up getting shorted on some pay, too, but that's another story.

But yeah, the freeform jam at the end of the night is a dicey proposition at best. Even for jam bands. It's my personal opinion that even the staunchest fan of endless noodling can only take so much before the mind wanders, and not in an ascension-to-a-higher-plane way, either. More of a I-have-to-get-cheese-at-the-store-for-that-lasagna-I'm-going-to-make-Thursday way. There's something to be said for a sense of purpose. As long as the sense of purpose is there, you can create symphonies that make people sit their butts on wooden benches in Bayreuth for hours at a time. But not everybody can or should do that. And usually, it's the former case and not the latter.

I think the Playboy Psychonauts pulled it off okay last Thursday night (they kept dancing, after all, and we kept it short). But I won't be adding it to the set list yet. We're probably going to just have to write more songs. Or learn some more covers. Any requests?