A towering loss of power
In my rock & roll days I had the opportunity to open the show for some exceptional artists, usually with my six-piece rock band. It often happened at Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut, which was once my hometown. (Acts such as the Rolling Stones, U2, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen have performed at Toad’s over the last four decades.) One night there, many years ago, I had the dubious fortune to play second bill to Tower of Power, the hottest funk band in the country. I say “dubious” because I made the mistake of playing solo—which was not a smart move back to back with a 9-piece musical juggernaut.
But like I always say, “Good people make bad decisions—and bad decisions make good stories.” And, as ever, there are lessons to learn.
I knew I was in trouble the second I walked out on stage in front of 800 fans hollering for the headliner. It was just me and my acoustic guitar. (I usually played piano, but there was no room for the grand piano on stage.) I played a couple of tunes, but it quickly become obvious I wasn’t going to convince anyone that this young cracker was a funk virtuoso.
So right off the bat I had to scrap my game plan. My set list—and my whole approach—was not going to work for this occasion, which was spiraling out of control. I had to try something else.