Geez people. The more things changes, the more they stay the same. 10 years ago I was in high school. People thought I was weird and I never really felt like I was fitting in. Just a normal, regular teenager? That's what I thought. Those years were behind me and I am quite satisfied with the life I live. I thought those rejection years were all in my head. I thought I was the one thinking others thought of me as weird.
I am a professionnal musician now. I was already a musician back then. When people started to organise the traditionnal 10 years high school reunion I guess hiring me seemed like a good idea. They came to see me. They asked me to perform and they knew what they were gonna get. Digit:Missile Command, my solo project, is not exactly fm radio. In fact it's a quite experimental project. Every concert is different, I write exclusive songs everytime. It's my laboratory. Trying new things keeps me on my toes. The best way to think outside of the box to change the box, I think.
But I'm no fool! I knew my old classmates are not as musically specialised as I am. So I built my concert around the idea of having to please everyone. 1h30 of live music, I decided to touch a variety of genres. The beginning of the set was acoustic. A one-man band a la Bob Log III/Bloodshot Bill/Jimmy Hunt. A set of classic quebec songs: Les BB, Jonathan Painchaud, Marjo... all that shit and more. I had written 7 songs about high school. After the acoustic set I had planned an electronic set. Zouk music! Dance music! Party music! And the third set was meant to be a dj set of 90s songs. I bought cds for the occasion. I had all those cheesy hits people like to sing along to. They told me to aim at the 90s. I aimed at the 90s with all my heart!
But it was all in vain. That concert didn't happen. Maybe 20 minutes of it, out of the hour and a half. I was put on stage in a 600 people capacity venue with no sound kit, not even a microphone. Luckily, I had brought my things. I started my acoustic set, the sound was horrible. Nobody cared. At all. A few people even came to speak to me while I was performing. Not between songs, during songs. I was sure nobody paid attention. I tried to crack a few jokes but nobody was listening. A quick look at the pictures on this blog will give you an idea of how lonely I felt. I decided to just do my thing and take the hit. That gig was one of the worst in a long time. I was gonna face it with my head up. I kept playing. Through the storm, I kept playing. Here, this is another picture of my reality-check. Another great moment of Digit being metaphorically dick-slapped in the face.
Then this guy, the boss of it all, the guy in charge, came to the stage. "Look, it's not working. People don't like it. It's weird. It sucks. Stop." I was not even done my acoustic set. I had tricks up my sleeve. But this guy is my boss for the night. He's the one who will sign my paycheck at the end of the night. He tells me to stop? I must stop. I was furious. I press play on the cd player, EMF's "unbelievable" played. I went outside to have a beer, feeling rejected the exact same way I felt 10 yeas ago. My buddy Alex came to talk to me. Just like the old days, nothing had changed. Ironic? Yes ma'am.
After that surreal weekend (other things happened) I came back home and read about WAVVES's meltdown in Barcelona. I guess I wasn't the one with the worst weekend... Apparently they canceled their european tour and all.
