So last night CMAS played what was certainly the best stadium show we have ever done. We had the benefit of a great sense of team work with technical crew, a considerable amount of additional time to perform that normally is not available, but mostly an overall positive work ethic that I had not seen in along time - maybe not ever before.
That is not to take away anything from anyone or any past shows, but this one had a very different vibe. The entire CMAS crew - every single one of them - wanted this show. In a kind of visceral, "we will not let anything get in our way," kind of manner. It was really quite something.
We've had that before, but not across the entire group. Not like this.
The process to make last night happen was a bit brutal. Aside from the normal gig preparations of writing and rehearsing all the music, we made some specific production choices on this show that meant a considerable amount of additional logistical prep time. Most of it in the heat of AZ at 105+ degrees. It was somewhat unforgiving in the unavoidable hot afternoon hours, and yet, though clearly tired and running low on energy, no one just stopped. No one just sat back and said, "someone else will take care of it." It was pretty remarkable. And somewhat uncharacteristic, as in the past when it can get like that and people start to lose the ability or willingness to keep their egos in check.
Sure, there are moments that we'd like back - no show is perfect - but when you witness so many young people pulling together for a common goal - so many of then very new to what is a very complex and exceptionally demanding project (remember this is all student executed) - it's hard not to be inspired. Watching the more experienced students mentor the new ones, in a way that had no ego, nothing but positive support, and you start to feel like things are moving forward in a way that can only be summed up as great.
I've been asked, and talked about here and in other places, about the idea of "ensemble" as it relates to CMAS. On the surface there are those who say that for all CMAS may (or may not - critics still seem to like to go that route for some reason; seems like a waste of energy, but that's just the way some folks are; obviously it still bothers me even though I don't want it to and try not to let it get to me; it's a process...anyway...) that there is no real sense of ensemble like there is in a band, orchestra or choir. Well, last night proved once again that is simply not the case. By any definition CMAS was very much working as a musical ensemble last night. No question about it - it's as strong an ensemble as any.
What does tomorrow hold? Who knows. But for now - despite my lack of ability to really express it properly here - last night was a great moment in time. Made possible not just by those there but by all the students who came before and who really did help to make CMAS move forward on each step we've taken. I hope to have some student produced video up soon to share.
From here we plan on modifying our approach a bit. CMAS will still do one of these Stadium shows every year - it's a good experience obviously - but the time it takes to put together, versus the amount of performance time itself, has become a bit of a drain on the students. Plus, while it is quite the spectacle, the fact is that we now have so many other "big" show venue options that allow us full shows - not just 6 minutes - that it would be kinda of foolish not to evolve to the next step with all this. On the other hand, if you've been paying attention over the years, you just never know what we might do....
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