Awesome Is Better Than Perfect

This weekend I had three performances, all with different music and whenever I have that many performances in a short amount of time, it’s interesting to compare the quality of performances. The chops are the same, the weather is the same, I am the same. But the music is different, the rooms are different, the attitude is different. The first performance was a wedding ceremony, and I was admittedly focused on being perfect. I practiced the music and thought, “This is going to be flawless.” And it wasn’t. It felt sub-par. The second and third performances were great. I was focused on playing musically, with feeling and having fun. Nobody cares if your performance is perfect. They just want something awesome. That’s what my friend, tuba player Steve Curtis says, “Awesome is better than perfect.”

Nobody goes to a concert saying “Man, I really hope this concert is perfect!” Because human beings aren’t robots. We go to concerts to hear something awesome, cool, beautiful, peaceful, contemplative, impressive, exciting, the list is endless. But perfect? BLEH, how boring is that?!