| Matt Wessel Music.com |
| Matt's Journal Sep 30 2005 I love coming back to Marquette to play shows. Granted, I've only done three concerts there, and I was a student for one and an employee for the other, so this was the first time I really "came back" to do a show, but still ... It's so great to be in such a familiar environment - to see old teachers and friends. It's always a happy reminder of I life I led and loved for four years - times of my life that shaped who I am today as a person and as a musician. Last night's concert at the Weasler Auditorium raised $3,500 plus for the American Cancer Society. The total has probably grown since then. Money is still coming in through t-shirt sales and some other private donations. The total as it stands now, though, is more than the previous CFLs at Marquette raised combined. And that's not to diminish the efforts of myself and the students that put on the two previous shows. I make that statement to emphasize the tremendous time and effort put in by students this year. Katie Postal and Beth Feste did an amazing job of promoting the concert as a whole. They rounded up an army of student volunteers who took it upon themselves to make programs, tickets, shirts (which are still for sale for $12 if you want one! just e-mail me!), posters and the like. They had raffles at this year's show, providing another avenue for revenue. They somehow managed to get most of their costs taken care of (venue rental, printing, food ...). I was amazed. My part of the show went okay. For whatever reason, I get more nervous for the Marquette show than any other. I think it's because the audience is so young - I'm used to playing for such a wide range of ages, and this is a group of people that are, for the most part, younger than me. That probably shouldn't affect me, but for some reason it does a little bit. I also had a bunch of my co-workers in the audience. People at the Bucks have slowly started to hear about my "hobby", but it's hard for me to explain (and for them to understand) exactly what kind of music I play and what kind of shows I put on. You have to come to one to really understand. I was excited to see my boss and some co-workers in the crowd - knowing that they'd finally understand what it is I do when I'm not at work. We had a great set-up for the show. Larry, my sound guy, made the trip up from Gurnee and worked with the Marquette sound people to provide the best audio possible (the people from Marquette were really helpful to both Larry and I ... from sound to lights to stage set-up, they were great). We had drums, guitar, flute, violin, a 25-person choir and me. Someone said before the show that they've noticed the stage was getting "more crowded". I told him he should have been at the CFL in Gurnee this past year! But he's right ... as the years go past and the shows add up, I've been trying to bring in more and more elements. I finally have a core group of musicians that I'm comfortable playing with (we just made business cards!) and we've been getting into more of a routine. My voice was at about 75% yesterday. And I say that honestly. I'm not fishing for compliments. I know when my voice is 100% and when it's not. Yesterday, it was just a little hoarse. I didn't sing off key - just not as strong as I normally am. The piano sounded fine and my musicians did an outstanding job with everything they did. Of course, I forgot to thank them at the end of the show and had to interrupt my final song to do so. I'm such an idiot. What else did I screw up ... I told the crowd I was going to ask cancer survivors and patients to stand during the middle of "God's Chosen One", but then forgot to invite them in during the song. Luckily, I remembered afterwards and just had them stand during "See Them" ... I almost forgot to invite a Marquette student onto the stage to talk about the new Colleges Against Cancer chapter that's being started at Marquette ... I'm sure there were other things ... "Falling" sounded really good. Dan, Chris and I have really come together with that tune. We opened up the second half with it. "See Them" sounded fantastic. My sister Beth gets better and better each time (and she seems to be more comfortable with each show). And Kelly played a newly written violin part for the song and I think it turned out really well. Molly debuted a new flute part for "Glory", also a new song. Dan, Chris and I joined her on that one. We managed to squeeze in "Live, Jesus, Live" for Fr. Naus, the priest who inspired me and my friend Jeff to write it (he was also at the show last night). Katie, Beth, Amy and I sang on that one. And the Marquette Liturgical Choir took my song "Those Who Dwell" and made it sound as beautiful as I've ever heard it. I almost missed a key change at the end because I was enjoying listening to them sing so much. All in all, it was a great show. As always, I left the stage that night wishing that this was my full-time job. I've got a pretty sweet gig as it is, but music is my passion. But for now, I'm happy doing these shows when I can. In 2005 alone, "Concerts For Life" have raised over $35,000!! And we're almost over $80,000 since 2001!! How cool is that? Thanks to everyone who made it out last night. Thanks to my familiy for driving up (and selling CDs!) Thanks to Laura Duthie for sharing your story of cancer survival with us all. Thanks to everyone who had a hand in planning last night's event. You should be very proud of yourself. And remember ... "Hope should never be lost." Thank you to the Marquette community for inviting me to be a part of such a wonderful evening. IT NEVER STOPS I've realized that if I want the new album out before December 1, I have to have it done in about a month. I had a recording session tonight ... I'm trying to keep the ball rolling. I've scheduled three more sessions for next week ... Good thing I don't have a serious girlfriend ... ?? Or a wife, I guess ... RUNNING (OUT OF TIME) I have to run the Chicago Marathon a week from Sunday and it's been one week since I last ran. Not good. I know. Don't say anything. There was simply no time this past week to run ... I'll be happy when this thing is over. I've been losing too much weight from running ... I NEED ... Some sleep. So I'm outta here. Thanks for reading!! Keep on listening. Hope to see you at the November 13 show in Milwaukee! |