Our rehearsal of I wish went quite well and was definitely the best rehearsal out of the three songs. As a band as a whole we did a fairly good job, little to no major mistakes were made and we all new our parts.
However, the song as a whole dragged massively making it really makes it seem boring and unenergetic when it’s supposed to be an upbeat song. Also I got told that if i used the wah pedal for this song as well then it would sound good and so i tried it out but i still wasn’t very good with it, so i will have to work on that. The worst thing in the song was definitely the ending and we all stopped at different times. This happened because we were all unclear about the ending and so we all ended up messing up, plus Ollie didn’t do his drum solo.
Apart from that we did well with I wish.
Aeroplane on the other hand was not good at all. The intro to the song was fairly okay but could definitely be better and smoother. The song was alright, just many mistakes were made.
When i used the wah in this song, the first time, it didn’t click on and so it sounded quite bad. Next time i need to make sure i make sure the wah is fully on and be more accurate when using it. The second time i used the wah it was quite a smooth transition, however i ended up playing the wrong thing which messed it up. I think since i was still new to using a wah pedal i had to think about it more which meant i messed up at the guitar part. I just need to practice using the wah pedal more.
Also the transitions between sections as a band as a whole weren’t fantastic, there were quite a few times we would go out of time or someone would mess up switching between sections. The end of the bridge was a very bad transition as Ollie messed up on the stabs that we are supposed to do in unison, however because he didn’t do them on time it made it sound really messy. He just needs to practice getting the stabs right.
The bass solo was good, however the guitar solo could be a lot better. I will practice improvising until it sounds good. Also, the end of the song was extremely bad, it ended a lot earlier than it should of and that made everyone confused and caused a really messy ending.
We really need to focus on this song and getting it really good.
Uptown funk was good and was fun to play however, like the other two songs it dragged massively which made it a lot less upbeat and energetic. We didn’t really mess up that badly on Uptown funk, some parts were slightly out of time but not that badly.
The main part we messed up on was the transition from Uptown fun to Seven nation army. It was very messy and not a smooth transition at all. We really need to work on that. Also the end was really out of time and some of the stabs weren’t as clear as they should have been, and a few wrong chords were played.
Apart from that it went fairly well, we just need to work on that transition and the end.
This dress rehearsal was 100X better than the mock performance. Considering we only had one rehearsal between the mock and dress rehearsal i feel like we did such a good job.
I wish was definitely the song we made the least mistakes on this time, however was also the song that dragged the most. I feel like everyone on that song doesn’t really get into the feel of it that much as its quite repetitive musically. Personally, i did a lot better in this than the last rehearsal. I practiced with the wah pedal and it sounded so much better than before. Having that wah part in it really pulls it together and i think i managed to do a good job at perfecting it.
I did feel like throughout the song it started to drag more and more, by the second half of the song all the passion and energy had gone which doesn’t go well when you’re performing in front of a crowd. Luckily when Robert asked everyone to clap to the beat, it brought every ones attention back so i didn’t think the crowd will have noticed the lack of energy that much. Robert did however forget his lyrics a few times, even though he had a sheet with them all on right next to him. He needs to really focus on remembering his lyrics.
The end was almost perfect, we all did the stabs really well at the end and we finished the song almost perfectly in time, there was still just a bit of confusion about the end though. Ollie still didn’t do the snare, kick, kick, snare rhythm which meant the false ending was actually the real ending. This upset me as i really liked the idea of doing the false ending but i will speak to ollie and the band about it before the actual showcase.
Apart from that we played I wish really well and its such a better improvement from the mock performance, I’m hoping we can do it just as good or even better for the actual showcase.
Aeroplane was also a lot better than the mock performance as well. Personally, i really enjoyed playing this song.
The intro to the song was super smooth and sounded really good, especially when we all started playing, it was very nice to listen to and also play. I also did a really good job with the wah pedal and didn’t mess up once using it. I think with me doing the wah part well it really made the song and if i was in the crowd i would be really appreciating the music and having a good time, which the crowd looked to be having. As a band we were also very in time, especially into the bridge, the transition between chorus and bridge was extremely smooth. The stabs at the end of the bridge were also perfectly on time and the energy was really nice on stage and in the crowd.
The bass solo at the end of the song was also really good and Ethan pulled it off really well considering its quite a hard song to play on bass. Also, the guitar solo was so much better than the last, i was definitely feeling the music a lot more and really I’m just proud of myself for not playing any wrong notes. I think my few hours of practicing my solo at home really helped me get it good and sounded quite cool. I still think it could be more advanced but considering it was the day of the actual showcase i don’t think it will be getting much better.
Despite this, there were still some mistakes being made. For example, Robert forgot his lyrics in this song as well, which again shouldn’t be happening since they’re printed out right next to him. Also the drummer and keys players all kept playing for an extra 4 bars into the lead up to the bass solo, when it should come in right after the vocals stop. This just needs practicing a bit more however we wont get the chance to, so we will just have to speak about it.
Uptown funk is definitely the best crowd pleaser song and i feel like the audience really engaged themselves. I really liked how they all sand along and even stood up and started dancing on their own terms.
I feel as a band we pulled it off very well and all the energy was there and i feel like we were all having fun playing it. However, the energy was a bit too high as it caused us all to speed up massively and we ended up playing it really fast. This isn’t too much of a problem as it is a lot better than dragging but when i look back at the video it does seem quite unnaturally fast.
We did a really good job at keeping in unison for all the stabs and especially for the chromatic scale we all do, and i think it really pulls it all together. The start sounded really smooth and we transitioned into most sections really well. Except for the transition from uptown funk to seven nation army. It wasn’t shockingly bad but i still feel like everyone in the band were slightly confused as to what was going on, i think with the crowd singing also didn’t help as it meant they were singing with them more, so the queue to go into seven nation army was put off. Also Marcel and Robert just ended up not singing at one point which is not good to do on stage in front of a crowd.
As a whole, if this was the set we did for the actual showcase, i feel like i would come out of it feeling very confident with myself and being very happy with the results.