This weekend I played an outdoor gig at a festival called Wintercity, to promote the upcoming Winterfolk music festival. Along with two other solo performers and a backing band, I played on a large stage that overlooked the large public skating rink at Nathan Phillips Square, where Toronto's City Hall is located.
For years, I'd noticed performers playing these outdoor stages in winter and wondered how they did it. This year, though, it didn't faze me one bit.
I wore lots of layers of course, but was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that there were several large heaters on stage and they all seemed to be working.
The other performers, on the other hand, were feeling pretty chilly. Everyone was worried about keeping the guitars in tune (I'm always worried about that, actually) and the singer next to me said he was surprised his fingers would actually work in weather like this.
It was only about minus five.
We played the gig and the cold didn't bother me at all. Of course, every gig presents some kind of challenge, and this time it was playing with a full band and thus depending on the monitors to hear myself. (Monitors are the speakers that the performer hears on stage, which are different than the house speakers going out to the audience. The performer has to hear herself clearly in the monitors so she doesn't feel drowned out by the band.) I could hear myself adequately--but just--so I found myself over-singing and felt hoarse later. A bad sign.
I missed my simple subway set-up. Just me, a guitar, an amp...a crowd and a train. Much quieter, really.
We had to fill a bit more time than expected, so we all sang a couple of extra songs. Even though we hadn't rehearsed it, I couldn't resist ending with Skates & Wings. After all, when would I get another chance to sing it for the skaters at Nathan Phillips Square?
After it was over, I came down from the stage and put my own skates on. Along with Dave and the kids and a friend of ours, I skated for a half-hour and didn't fall once.
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