I'm Gonna Have To Step Up My Musicial Game

I had a "Dewey Cox" moment earlier this evening.  For those who don't know, I'm referring to the movie "Walk Hard, the Dewey Cox Story."  Early on in Dewey's career, he was on a tour that had a lot of musicians.  Think of it as a modern day mini Ozzfest.  Back then, they had the same format as they do today.  You would have the lesser known musicians open up, and the bigger stars would be the headliners.  And of course, the headliners go on last.  But in one weird night, Dewey Cox had something kind of strange happen to him.

Here's the youtube link.  Note: Go to the 50 second mark to see what I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llGzo9fGcdk

Due to Elvis wanting to get out of there early, the line-up order changes from The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, and then Dewey Cox.  Dewey then becomes the headliner, and it puts him in a very bad prediciment.  It's called getting upstaged, and it isn't a good thing for the headliner.

Here's an example.  Motley Crue were kicked off multiple tours because they upstaged the headliners early in their career.  Now, I should point out that the official reason they were kicked off tours was that The Crue were making too much trouble and being too rowdy.  However, they were putting on a better show than the headliners, and the headliners didn't like that.

So how does this relate to Dewey Cox you ask?  Well, tonight I went to open mic night at Sacred Grounds Coffee House.  I got there a little later than most, so the sign up sheet was mostly filled up.  The earlier you show up, the earlier you can sign up, and you get to choose when you play.  I showed up later than a lot of the musicians, so I signed up at the best available spot.  In this case, every spot from 9:00 PM to 11:30 was taken.  So I signed up at 11:45. 

This is where it got weird.  At 11:00, one of the most talented musicians at Sacred Grounds, James M. (I will protect his identity here on the Internet) when on.  Then at 11:15, a wonderful songstress named Jenna when on.  Then to top it off, one of the most popular (and talented) musicians, Jonny J. went on.  Jonny does make his profile public on Reverbnation.  Here is his band:

http://www.reverbnation.com/algorhythmsky

So here I am.  It's 11:45.  I am going on after three incredible musicians.  I am Dewey Cox in this moment.  But I did the only thing I could do.  I rocked.  When I played last week, I didn't perform that well.  While the songs I performed were my own and good for a coffee shop, they were tough on my limited vocal range.  So I decided to do three of my more rocking songs that are also easier on my vocal range. 

So I cranked up my amp, and cut loose.  I'm not bragging, but I think I held my own.  In fact, I still think out of the four of us that went on that hour, I came in fourth.  But, I can at least say not by much.  Again, I think I held my own.  But I will say, I really don't want to have that kind of Dewey Cox moment for a while.