I was the third muso to get to the service this morning, which I thought was a great start to the day because it shows that (in theory) folks are ready to get on with rehearsal and MIGHT even be looking forward to the morning music. So far so good, and by the time I had my IEMs and iPad ready to go the whole gang was there, and that’s when the problems started.
I’m not getting ready to slag on the praise team… in this case the “problems” were all technical in nature… but boy when I say they were problems they were PROBLEMS. William sounded like he was playing in a subway tunnel about twenty miles away – his electric’s tone and volume was all weak sauce, and his microphone was also on strike. Screaming feedback was the order of the day anytime William got withing a couple of feet of his mic. We had all hands on deck and for the better part of half an hour we tried plans A through… I dunno, M or something just trying to get the sound back in the ballpark of usable timbre and volume.
I will admit that the scene unfolding here had me facepalming. I could see and feel the frustration levels in the room rising as the minutes ticked by without a solution coming forth. I’ve been in this position a half-dozen times before at least… you see the train wreck a-comin’ and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Or so it would seem.
At this point I was resigned to dealing with a lackluster, uninspired performance from the crew. It’s happened – understandably – before. It’s HARD to get your mojo going when you’re listening to the rhythm guitar player performing from the bottom of an elevator shaft. I REALLY thought I knew where this service was going, and while I was going to power through it (I’m not a quitter!) I was not looking forward to downbeat at all. Que the awesomeness.
It was then that three things happened. One, the pastor walked in the door. I only include this because in combination with the other two things, the timing was REALLY good. Two, William found a magic button on his pedal that took everything from a sonic nightmare to something vaguely musical. Three, James found the sweet spot on William’s mic while doing sound wizard things back in the tech cave.
I’ve heard in the past that some miracles are defined by their timing, and while this may or may not qualify as a miracle proper, I CAN say that the transformation of the rehearsal was nothing short of miraculous. All these events happened within a few seconds of one another, and from the first note of the next song in the rotation the groove was on. The tone of the band had changed from one of impending doom to one of actual praise and worship. We went on to have a fantastic P&W session this morning… crisis averted, and testimony evidenced.
I’m thankful for the events of this morning, and I guess what’s really baking my noodle right now is this – why did God see fit to bless THIS service when so many times before the trains just collided? I don’t want to get too deep into the rabbit hole here, and I haven’t talked to any of the rest of the band or techs about it, but one thing I CAN say is that in this case I was able to stop my train of thoughts from spinning out of control; I was able to punt, regroup, and come back to the situation from the perspective of doing this morning’s work “as unto the Lord.” Whatever came out of my voice or instrument at that point, I was prepared to fully offer it as my best, despite the circumstances surrounding me, the crew, and the rest of the band at that point. Was that in any way responsible for the “helping the pieces of the puzzle come together? Did it allow the breathing of some new new life in that rehearsal? Had Mark just really prayed us up extra-well that morning? I don’t know! But I know a 180 degree turnaround when I see it, and I can truthfully say I’ve never seen victory snatched from the jaws of defeat on a stage like that until today. I’ll tell you this much… dedicating your praise fully to the Lord couldn’t have hurt ;).
I told Mark after service that I have never in my life had an onstage experience like I had before this service. I have experienced horrid services full of technical glitches and … well, let’s go with “less than ideal” performances from the group (myself most definitely included) in the past. I have also experienced awesome services where the musos are talking, the singers are on, the music is tight, and the energy is electric… but until today I’ve never had the first turn into the second.
Gotta give up those praises to God today for making things happen as they never have before!