Of Romanced Guitars and Festivals

This past weekend, after getting rained on, driving past a fatal accident, sleeping at 5 a.m after an event, waking up late, having no shower or make-up on, getting upset at Mr Man, my guitar tuner developing epilepsy and *gasp* missing sound check, I performed at my first festival, and what I believe was the biggest stage I've ever played on. This was the most terrifying experience I have ever had, but I'm glad I faced it. Firstly, I was informed that I would be playing at the event five days before the event. There's nothing I dislike more than performing when I have not had adequate preparation. Secondly, I feel that the band I was playing with still has a lot of growing and self-definition to do. Thirdly and biggest of all, the line-up of artists consisted of people I highly admire and would never ever have imagined sharing a stage with one day. I've made it. I should now retire :) (Just kidding, I will never reach a point where I think I am successful enough to relax. Unless I'll be 110 years old. Then I will shamelessly sleep in the afternoon and then go to Zanzibar.)

One of the main reasons I was mortified about playing at the Utam Festival was because it was owned by one friend, and very amazing artist named Fadhilee Itulya. The first time I saw him, I had arrived the studio early for my band rehearsals, and he was lost in his own world, playing a very beautiful guitar. I was amazed at how he was numb to his environment and just focused on his guitar, like he was romancing her. Anyone that passionate must be a genius, I thought to myself. The second time I saw him, he was performing, and he purposefully untuned one of his guitar strings to get a special sound. I have also had the honor of playing under his direction in the church band, so I had gotten to know his musical brain quite a bit, and thus and such, developed admiration for his music. With the profound admiration came profound feelings of intimidation about my own ability. I was so intimidated, that when he asked me to Facebook him, I first went and deleted all my performance posts and pictures and left zero hint of my musical past life. I also vowed that he would never see me performing aside from church - probably not the smartest of attempts given our tiny circle of musicians in Kenya. The reason I attempted to give him the perception that I don't exist as a musician, was because I was afraid that he would have expectations about my ability and would end up being disappointed. I am sure he really doesn't care whether or not I'm a good musician, but alas, I'm a woman. I'm allowed to make conclusions in my head :) So yes, today he was going to hear me play *clutters teeth*. Aside from Fadhilee, there were quite a number of great musicians in the audience. Being an instrumentalist who judges other instrumentalists' techniques at concerts, I was sure mine was also being judged *clutters teeth and violently shivers*.

Anyway, I met some of my musician friends backstage who hugged me and assured me it will go well. The audience seemed to love our performance and after the performance, I received positive feedback from my fellow instrumentalist buddies, saying that my grooving style has improved. Yaaay to added hours of practice. Among the positive "feedbackers" were the two Sams that I had said are among my top Kenyan bassists (mentioned here --> Another Sam: Another lesson on matters of the heart ). Oh, and Fadhilee did not judge me. Well, at least not overtly. The highlight of the show was a particular bassist who played his guitar held upside-down. Nope, it was not left handed. It was legitimately upside-down. Not only that, but his groove, his touch, his performance and everything was just amazing. This inspired me to challenge myself even more. So I'd say, this was quite an amazing experience. See Mr Upside-Down Bass during soundcheck below:

P.S. I was trying to figure out what he was playing, hence the side profile. I am still perfecting the art of taking a video while doing a hand-stand.