Outside the box, it hits me

The past few hours were something spectactular. It was an amazing night, playing some wonderful music for a bunch of people, with some great musicians, in an intimate atmosphere, with some casual drinks flowing.

There wasn't much that could have gone better than planned. We spent all day Friday and all day Saturday rehearsing everything we could fit in satisfactorily. Then I picked the songs that would work best, and we played 'em!

The gig is one that has nothing to do with music. It's the annual conference for the Westford Building Science Symposium. I mean, who'dathunkit? Bunch of guys and gals in the world of energy rating, environmental protection, and whatever else, also happen to be mean, closet aspiring musicians? What luck!

There's one in every crowd, right? There are a few, and I got them all together.

I was up here doing the conference four years ago this summer when my plane tickets were paid by my employer back home. I was the press. I had to cover the conference as a journalist. What's going on here. Meet and greet, get storyline ideas, summarize the lectures, spread the word about our newspaper, and recruit potential authors for scientific articles. That was my job.

Little did I know there was so much fun to be had away from the office. The people seem always to be in a good mood, and there's so much food up here prepared by a conference attendee and a full staff of volunteers and hired help, and much more in the way of drink.

Such was the case when, just one year ago, I was no longer doing the press thing, and I needed to make a decision about what I should do with my time. It was the easiest choice I have had to make, my whole life through. I was returning to Summer Camp, this time on my own dime.

I did it then, and I'm doing it again now. The thing is such a good time, the cost is outweighed by the benefits immensely. I am so glad Summer Camp is my thing.

It's the music that's the best, though. I mean, the food is incredible, and the drinks are out of this world. But more than I am a fat bastard who needs to shed a few pounds, I'm a rock star, first and foremost, who needs rock 'n' roll more than food, clothing and shelter!

Forget the rest. I'll take rock for $400, Alex.

What I've done here in Westford, over the course of four years, is somehow connect with the half-assed musicians in the crowd, and it didn't take much convincing to get them to practice up some songs throughout the year so that we could tear it the hell up out here. And that's exactly what we're doing. They ain't half-assed musicians anymore. They've now worked themselves up to people who know what they're doing!

Tonight, we played a 25-song set, hand-picked by me, of the best stuff we've played together, either in rehearsal the last couple of days or at last year's iteration. We picked 'em, we played 'em, and we nailed 'em.

Of course we did. We're the Building Science Boogie Band, dammit!

Crucially, we had one last-minute entry into the set list, by the name of "Layla," and it honestly floored me how well it came together. I must have talked the bass player through the song for two minutes by the time we tried it out in front of an audience including the tune's worthy namesake, an attendee at the conference. The guitarist wasn't even around for the run-through or the rehearsal, and we just went for it. Amazing, we pulled it off. It was just smashing. I mean, sincerely.

Wish there were more days like this. And there will be. We're here through Wednesday night before we head home to all our different locations across this great nation of ours (and maybe even further, in the case of the several Canadians and one Australian I know to be wandering around in our midst).

But really, I wish there were more days like this. I want to do this for other conferences. I think work like this ought to be recognized and paid for. I think somebody who runs a conference and wants to do something that's never (or seldom? scarcely?) been done before needs to contact me and have me coach their musically inclined attendees into exuding confidence and playing their hearts out, semi-professionally, for a crowd every year.

Hasn't been done before. I want to be that guy. I know I can be that guy. Whoever is reading this and, as a result, wants to make a buck or three hooking me up with the realization of that ultimate goal is more than welcome!