Notes from the Stage: A (Crazy) Year in Review

Notes from the Stage: A (Crazy) Year in Review

By Walter Beck

Well I hope everyone who wanted to see me live was able to, I did a personal record of thirty-one shows this year. I also set personal records in terms of set-list; until this year, I usually did a five-minute set, ten was a long set. But this year, there were several shows where I did sets of twenty, thirty, even forty minutes. My longest set of the year was my last show, the public debut of The Smell of Fear and Doughnuts, it ran all together around forty-seven minutes (I taped it, but the audio quality is too muddy to post). I also released three separate live albums this year, all with their own qualities. And of course, I did my first out-of-state show this year.

So yeah it’s been one hell of a year, let’s break it down:

Longest Set: Coffee Grounds, December 15^th, the debut of The Smell of Fear and Doughnuts

This was my last show of the year and the one I promoted the most, I mean I’m pretty shameless and relentless when it comes to promoting my own shows (I don’t have an agent or manager, I gotta do this all myself, the booking, the promotion, the works), but I plugged the hell out of this last one.

The set ended up being forty-seven minutes all together, like the work itself it was split into five different parts. I was nervous about how it would go, but the crowd ended up really enjoying the excerpts.

I did some “b-sides” during the show, I opened up with “Thad’s Story”, a campfire tale written and performed by Thad Dunn that’s partially told in Indian sign language about a man and a beautiful woman, “pay attention, something important is about to happen”. And I also told the story of how I almost got sued when Part II came out because I called my bosses “assholes”.

Smallest Crowd: ZimMarss Showbar, December 14^th

This was a last-minute show I did the night before my big Coffee Grounds gig, so I didn’t get a chance to promote it like I normally would have. It was a frustrating show because since I didn’t hear about it until the last minute; I couldn’t put together my usual set-list. I ended up doing mainly covers, poems by Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Frost and TS Eliot. I did do one original, “Gonzo Razorback”, a poem I wrote while Jimmie and I were warming up for the show at Big Shooters, another favorite bar of ours.

So since this was last minute, I ended up performing in front of three people plus the sound guy.

One note about the show, since I ended up taking the stage late (I pulled an Axl Rose, I didn’t get up there until half-hour after the scheduled time), I had a few beers in me and was fairly tipsy by the time I hit the stage and reeling from too many beers adds a certain gritty touch to performing Bukowski’s work.

Most Theatrical Show: ISU Student Lounge, May 1^st, Equality Speaks: Unplugged

This was one of my favorite shows this year, it ended up being the only public display/action of “Equality Speaks” (the group fell apart for a variety of reasons), but we had fun doing this show. It was a mix of poets and musicians and I asked Micah how crazy I could get. I have been known to push boundaries in terms of performing. He said “go for it”, I mean, this was the last show before summer break.

So I got up there in the most outrageous outfit I’ve ever worn on-stage; I had on a white lacy skirt, held up with my rainbow suspenders, red gonzo shirt, black leather jacket, I had full make-up on (lipstick, eye shadow), my hair was braided and dyed a mix of green, orange, purple and red (it looked like someone puked a bunch of Skittles on my head) and my beard was dyed green. I looked like the bastard love child of the drag queens of ZimMarss and Motley Crue.

The show itself ended up being incredible, I got an extended set and the ended it with an explosive powerhouse of three of the most hardcore poems I’ve ever written.

There were other shows where I broke out the theatrics; I brought the stage blood back at a gig in November at ISU and at camp this year at a couple of “underground” shows (staff campfires), I did one wrapped in my rainbow pride flag and another where I was shirtless with “RANSBURG SUCKS” written across my chest in red paint.

My performance at Equality Speaks: Unplugged was recorded and released as my first album Mental Cage Menstruation: Life Cycles & Blood Loss at the Sycamore Lounge.

Most Shows in One Day: Downtown Terre Haute Block Party, August 27^th

This was insane; I had three separate poetry bookings that day for the Block Party, I had one on the big stage with the Coffee Grounds Poets, one as a “street poet” where I walked around with other poets, stopping at random places and reading poetry and I had one performing at the Wabash Valley Pride tent.

I was wearing my bright pink “Gay for Ginsberg” shirt, rainbow suspenders, jean shorts and I was barefoot. Yep, spent the whole day and all the shows shoeless; by the end of the day, my soles were jet black. When I was doing the “street poet” gig, a reporter came up from the TribStar and interviewed me and yes, he noted that I was barefoot.

The one major drawback of the day was by the end of it I was exhausted, my performance at the WVP tent was less than spirited. By that point the crowds were dwindling and I was just burned out, I still got up there and performed, but it was my weakest performance of the year.

Favorite Live Album: Will Give Head for Gigs Stripped: Live at the Verve

This was probably my most unusual gig of the year for me, it was my first performance as a duo, I performed with my buddy Eli Van Sickel accompanying me on his Dobro, plucking out bluesy bits while I read poetry.

Eli had his computer with him and recorded the show; it’s the longest of my live releases (clocking in at around twenty-five minutes) and definitely has the rawest sound. It was an “audience” recording, but it captures the feel of the show perfectly.

Quick Bits:

Venue with the Most Shows:

Coffee Grounds, nine

Most Shows in One Month:
June, five

Venues Performed at for the First Time:

The Verve, ZimMarss, Halcyon Art Gallery, ISU Homecoming, Downtown Terre Haute Block Party, Printer’s Row Lit Fest (Chicago)

First Encore:

October 13^th, ISU Student Lounge, Creative Writing Society Open Mic Night

Countdown

Top Five Shows:

1. Printer’s Row Lit Fest, June 5^th, Chicago

2. Coffee Grounds, December 15^th, last show

3. Equality Speaks: Unplugged, May 1^st, ISU Student Lounge

4. Coffee Grounds, October 20^th, 3^rd Anniversary Show (I was the guest host)

5. The Verve, November 21^st, with Eli as Will Give Head for Gigs

Well thanks to everyone who came out this year and watched me perform, for those who missed it, I have a couple of live recordings out and there are live videos up online. That should give you a taste of what to expect when I’m on stage.

I’m planning on doing even more shows in 2012, breaking this personal record and maybe even hitting the road and exploring new territory.

I’ll see you on the stage…