Testes--1, 2... 3?

If I never, in the rest of my life, have to see a band set up and get ready for an act I will die a happy man. Watching them fumble around on stage for 30 minutes getting all their equipment *just* right, walking back and forth on stage and beside the stage over and over. The endless mic checks. Tuning the guitar. The constant minute adjustments of the levels to get it just right. "Up up up up up... down down... too low, up up up..." My favorite is DURING a song... "song song song... piano monitor up... song song song... too high now... song song song." The excrutiatingly long swigs of water and beer before they can start, combined with quick looks and knowing smiles to people they know in the audience.

And usually, it's just for a mediocre local band. It's not like it's REM going up there to play a set.

I think this all plays into my overall annoyance at the fetishistic way that musicians treat their craft. You know, because it's *art*.