It was pretty awesome.

We debuted a number of new things, including brand-spankin' new versions of Footfalls (featuring the wall of taikos and Elizabeth beating on a large frame drum with a pair of big sticks) and the dance-tastic version of Walk In London. We also busted out our new cover tune, Dead Can Dance's "The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove", which went over well as well. That one was a bit of a risk, as it was a much more downtempo track, has some tricky changes, and forces Jill to sing a harmony part that doesn't actually exist in the original.

So, whew.

Our big surprise was a semi-planned Rickrolling of the audience. In the breakdown of "Twisting and Turning" we've been dropping a chunk of Blue Monday because, well, Blue Monday mixes into everything. So we went that way at first, but after the cymbal break, I started singing "Never Gonna Give You Up", complete with the Rick Astley dance. Tricky, as it was about 10bpm faster than the original. Got a good laugh and kept things interesting.

Jill made her Madison debut and acquitted herself well. Both Chuck and Elizabeth had to contend with technical problems on their own - Elizabeth's drum stand broke and Chuck's bass wasn't turned on in the mix, but both of them just plowed ahead without missing a beat in each case. I consider myself lucky to get to work with people who can just roll with it like that.

I don't think our set was any longer than before but for some reason it felt like it. Might've been the fact that this was our first hometown gig since Reverence.

Great turnout for a wednesday night, too. Beta Virus played well, and their Prodigy cover got people going. Sensuous Enemy was splendid as always, although I missed part of their show because I was loading gear into my car. Rick from the MAMAs was impressed by the whole thing, and told me "with music this good, the line to get in should be out the door." He's right, you know.

Anyway, it was a really great night, and it was for a good cause, too.