K Walker Rocks Sidelines

The K Walker Band got it’s first official club gig in the books last Saturday night at Sidelines—and in spite of the technical difficulties with the P.A. that sort of killed the initial vibe of the show—it was a decent gig. We played most of the songs on Kev’s album, “11” as well as ending the show with a rocking version of Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones.

Listen to So Far Lost, one of the songs we played at the show.

When I first arrived at the club, Kevin told me the house P.A. had been removed for some unknown reason—and that we would be without amplification. But the main act, the tight, talented and very friendly Whysmen graciously offered and hustled in their own P.A. (By the way, we share a lead guitarist in Sean Bulow)

There was a bit of a rush job to get the gear connected and tested because the crowd had already showed up. With only a minimal sound check, we launched into our opening number. All was going smoothly until the second verse, when Kevin’s mike went dead. Suddenly we’re playing an instrumental. We soldiered through the song and then took a few unorganized minutes to try and get the mikes live again.

After tinkering with the mixer and a few connections, and thinking we were good to go, the band kicked into song 2 and the mikes went dead again—right in the middle of the second verse. Frustratingly we play yet another instrumental and decided to pause the show long enough to get the system working right. Luckily, whatever we did that second time around seemed to help clear-up the issues and the rest of the show went-off without much issue.

There were plenty of positives. Kevin’s original songs went over well, according to almost everyone I spoke to. I heard from more than one listener that the songs were memorable and catchy—not a bad start for our original efforts. I even played one of my own songs, “Misery Jones” which received a warm response.

The best aspect of the show was the appearance of many of our friends. They were all great – big cheers and kudos after the gig. And considering the problems with the microphones occasionally crapping out, the audience was gracious in their reviews of the show.

In spite of the unfortunate glitches at the outset, Sideline’s booking manager was still impressed enough to invite the band back to perform again in September. So, it looks we’ll be out that way again in the next 30-45 days.You’ll notice that there are no pictures of our drummer, Rob Mirabelli. Unfortunately, there was no easy way for the photographers (friends of the band: Kim and Chuck) to get close enough to get a clear shot of the handsome Mr. Mirabelli. Next time we’ll make sure to allow the shutter bugs with an easy path to the drum riser.

One final thanks to the family and friends who made it out to the show, to Sidelines management, and of course, The Whysmen for the opening band slot. Those guys are great and we look forward to playing with them again.