This is the Valet here, Chandler asked me to write something for Chapter 4 of our continuing series here at Chandler Travis World HQ, "The Evolution of Disappointment." In this chapter we visit the first performance of the song by the full Philharmonic, recorded at the now-departed Davis Square instituion, the Rosebud, on March 4, 2012 and in glorious Horrend-o-Phonic by yours truly.

(how's that for a run-on sentence!?!)

I think maybe Berke played keys on this particular version, but I'm not sure - it definitely already has the chords that he plays on the demo version he did with Chandler and this is only a few days after that, but I'm not sure.

One of the things I've long admired about Chandler is how he'll bring a new song to the band, give them a chord chart, and let 'er rip. Sometimes it turns into a trainwreck, but often some cool stuff happens. To be honest, I'm not really sure which this one is, but it's still kind of fun to revisit.

I don't know if there's anything all that exciting going on during the verses here, everyone is mostly following along, staying out of the way, and letting the words be heard, I suppose. I think the bass part that John played that night is pretty similar to what he ultimately plays on this one. As I said earlier, the keyboard part from Berke's first rehearsal/demo with Chandler is there, and you can hear the horns holding some chords under the vocals that are like what Berke was playing on the demo version. I kinda like those horns there, I wonder if future versions have them as well or if they were lost to this first version.I can't wait to find out in future chapters!

The real craziness comes in the bridge, the "Angels and Acrobats" section. I wish I could remember what Chandler told the band about that section, but it sure sounds like it was "play whatever the hell you want and make it insane." I do remember that Chandler asked me to octave double what he was singing, but he hadn't yet figured out which parts he wanted to sing in which octave, so I'm doing my best to follow along, jumping high when he jumps low and vice-versa. Though on the last note of that secction I found a different pitch entirely - no idea if that was planned or not.

Hmm ... just noticed that there are some chimes at the end, so that must be Cliff on keys after all.

So there you have it ... the Philharmonic's first live performance of "Disappointment."