Clusterflock at the Cafe

Last Wednesday our band, Clusterflock, got to play at the Minnesota Music Cafe. Not only was it awesome, but it was so awesome that I thought I would certainly get a blog post out of it....

A week later and no such luck. 

What's causing the dreaded writer's block? What are the barriers?

The most easily identifiable culprit is the fear of disseminating "alternative facts." I thought my lead would be: "OMG we played on the same stage as PRINCE!" But did we, really?! 

Yes, we all thought that the big banners around the Minnesota Music Cafe were emblazoned with the names of past performers, but is that true? Or are the banners just proudly celebrating MN music icons? I was so distracted at the time (not even drunk) that I don't know, and the interwebs information on the Minnesota Music Cafe is pretty crappy. 

So with that disclaimer out there that I don't know if Prince actually ever played the Minnesota Music Cafe or not, I will humbly say that it doesn't matter. We're not trying to intentionally deceive anyone or benefit from that deceit, but all the Flock felt like Prince could have played on the very same stage we were on...yes, probably 40 years earlier and many unnameable worlds apart. 

Different worlds, probably even different universes, but perhaps the same multiverse? The same multiverse where we are all excited to be making music and sharing it with an audience? And yes, Clusterflock was very appreciative to have an audience of 15 or so enthusiastic people we didn't know, and our friend Chris and his friend (if we ever have Clusterflock coffee mugs, Chris, you get a complimentary one!)

And we were probably WAY more excited than Prince ever was to play a venue with a stage so large that we didn't have have to worry about one of our guitarist (Chad) bumping into the lead singer (Carissa) and knocking her off the stage with his guitar.  

They probably won't be adding "Clusterflock"

 to the banner any time soon...

I was also strangely excited and moved by the chip clipper holder at the bar. As Chad summed it up, that just screams "tavern" and makes me think fondly of my rural Wisconsin childhood. 

I was in a play once where the director talked about the sacred nature of the space where we all came together to create. The experience was ephemeral and would never quite exist in the same way again, she said, which made it all the more magical. I was simultaneously cynical about and deeply moved by her words. In the years since that play, I have thought about her comments not only in relation to theater but also to playing music.

Every venue has a "vibe" (okay, I'm saying this after having only played like 4 different places, or 5 if you count out basement) that colors the experience of performing. And yes, sometimes it's a "WTF, why can't I hear X in the monitors" experience or "Hell, yeah, free booze!" vibe but it's still part of the tapestry. 

As a child of the 70's, Peter, Paul and Mary's "Wedding Song" is in my DNA, so these lyrics (loosely based on the Biblical verse Matthew 18:20) are popping into my head: "For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name. here is Love.." (and yes Chad and I did have an instrumental version of this played at our wedding). So whenever five or more of the Flock is gathered in music's names, there is ROCK!" And getting to use a provided drum set without having to haul, load-in, and set up mine definitely caused me to say "hallelujah" and was worth a 10:00 p.m. start time (and kudos to Fletch for getting up the next morning at 5:45...you get a free coffee mug, too!)

We're thankful that we got to gather at the Minnesota Music Cafe, (with or without the spirit of Prince) and look forward to wherever else we can get booked...and yes we will do weddings!