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MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES: Joshua Van Ness
Joshua Van Ness has been making music for over 15 years as part of the bands Van Ness, and Souls' Release, as well as solo. Joshua and his band MOR will be playing a free show at Brooklyn Academy of Music (30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY) on Friday January 4th. Singing in the rain When asked about memorable performances, I find it difficult to go through my memory and single out certain shows as my favorites. However, I do have a few that stick out in my mind, for being … interesting to say the least. One that comes to mind took place in July of 2011, while playing with MOR. It was the 4th of July weekend and we landed a gig performing as part of the Redbank, NJ’s holiday celebration. It had all the makings of a great gig. Thousands of people were expected. We were set up at a nice outdoor location on a scenic doc. The stage and crew were top notch an ultra-professional. To top it all off, the stage was almost directly across the street from bassist/singer Jonathan Andrew’s, apartment. Perfect for pre and post-performance partying! The weather had been very nice all morning and early afternoon. A nice crowd of a few hundred people were starting gather in and adjacent to the performance area. Then, about 30 minutes prior to our performance, the clouds started to roll in. There was no doubt about it. We were going to get rain. No big deal, right? I’ve played in storms before! It appeared as if the rain had been choreographed to fall with the very first note we played. The audience was unflinching at first. What’s a light sprinkle on a July day in NJ? However, with every song, the rain grew more and more intense. More and more people ran for cover in nearby bars. Approximately 40 minutes into our nearly two hour set, it is raining just about as hard as I have ever seen. The wind is blowing the rain sideways onto the stage. Jon Andrew was positioned to my left. I will never forget looking over at him while we played his song “ Me and Someone else”, and Jon was getting soaked as if someone was standing over him, pouring buckets down on him. All sorts of thoughts started to run through my mind…”is this safe? Should we stop playing? Holy S***, I’ve never seen so much rain!”. I was distracted to the point where had just about forgotten where I was, and what I was doing. Not to mention what chords I should be playing! Needless to say, our audience dwindled. they had become soaked by the rain, their umbrellas rendered useless. On the other hand, those who remained were a rowdy bunch. The harder it rained, the louder they got! They were real troopers. As our set marched on, eventually the rain died down. Of course, about 30 minutes after our set had ended, the sun came out and hundreds of people rushed back to the performance area! The guys and I proceeded to party at Jon’s apartment with our friends & family, and later watched an amazing fireworks display. It was truly a gig, and more importantly a day, to remember! |