Using Dead Gigs as Practice Gigs-Happily

I had a very quiet DJ gig on Sunday. Basically, no one showed up. It’s way too hot here in Texas. Most days, it’s probably 100 degrees, school’s in session, Labor Day’s next weekend, football starts—all this kind of stuff. When I think about it, the booker probably shouldn’t have booked a Sunday afternoon, 1–4 p.m. outdoor gig. I offered these guys a freebie to come back for an event or something like that. It’s a really cool brewery in Dripping Springs, outside of Austin, called 12 Fox. They do a ton for veterans. There’s got to be a personal connection there. They’re all about veterans. I’ve never met the owners, but they seem like very good people. Anyway, as we are now basically in the super-busy fall season, it was really an opportune three hours to nail down my rig and work through some different things. I’ve got the new full-size MIDI platter, which has been wonderful, coupled with the Teenage Engineering mixer I talked about the other day, and I really figured out how those…