Bluewine

Wow, do you know why he quit in that fashion? Was he whizzed off at something?

Sounds like you had a better night than me Dave, and I didn't get home until 2:30 and it was only a 15 minute commute. I'm bummed out over last night. I need a hot gig under my belt to boost my spirits. Blue

Well, the gig at Traditions Pub was not good for me. I thought my playing was off I had a hard time with the sound dynamics of the room Bar was in a separate room from where we played The crowd was not there to see live music aside from a few of our fans Not many people showed up. I need a hot gig under my belt to boost my spirit. Maybe this coming weekend will be better. We have a Harley Davidson event booked.

I'd say a band name is extremely important. Blue

9:30-1:30 tonight at Traditions Pub. I'm going in with a good attitude. Blue

Dave, I'm surprised when gigging bands that play the same circuit as us show up at our gigs. Doesn't happen every week but it happens. Interesting, in my neck of the woods, the unemployed Musicians are only found at the open mic. I'm not talking about marginal unemployed Musicians. I'm talking about accomplished locals who's opinion mean a lot to me. And I'm a skeptic by nature so I'm not always sure about the sincerity of a compliment. I appreciate punters for showing up spending money and supporting live music. When I'm out checking out a band, if I'm really turned on by them, I'm going to let everyone in that band know about it. I've had local heavy hitter bass players show up that are way better than me, those are the opinions I'm interested in and take to heart. Blue

I've had punters tell us how great we sound on our absolute worse nights on stage. I'm afraid I have to stick with and value the opinion of fellow Musicians above and beyond the punters. Blue

Agreed, I appreciate compliments from punters, however I only take the ones from Musicians seriously. Blue

We played at Hops & Leisure a few weeks ago. Absolutely fabulous back of building double door entrance to the green room and stage. Great load in, but not a great gig for us. Blue

I love appreciation from punters. However, there have been times when I thought my band sounded awful, yet punters loved it. The only compliments I take seriously are from other gigging Musicians. Blue

Agreed, I like your definition of a great gig. Blue

Another necessary element of a great gig, well great bar gig. The punters are spending a lot of money on premium alcohol. Nothing worse to an owner than a packed house but they're not buying drinks. Blue

Your right, you can't hold the same crowd for 4 hours. But you want to keep the attention of each crowd that comes in under the course of 4 hours. Blue

I add cool professional venue management to that list. Something I wish I could experience more often. Blue

In terms of acoustics and the bands sound, for me, low ( one height) ceilings, carpeted floors and drapes over any large windows is a good start. Blue

Sadly, some of our biggest gigs in terms of crowd size are rarely great. We're a bar band and it's been difficult for us to make our bar act work on large stages in front of large crowds. Blue

Agreed, you can never predict a great gig. You never know when it's going to happen, when the band, the crowd all come together. Yes, it's always a surprise for me when it happens. Blue

One of the big things for me that defines a great gig is when the band can hold the attention of the crowd and engage them for the length of the gig. This is a huge challenge for American bar bands. It's hard to manage 4 hours of performing. Imposible really. Blue

I expect my band to play our best. However, there are gigs where we played great but wasn't necessarily a great gig. I'm dissapoinred quite a bit actually. Blue

Pay is more a requirement for me to play. Pay will not make a bad gig great. Not for me. Blue

Everyone knows I'm big on pay. However, pay does not come into the "great gig" equation for me. Blue

My thoughts; The first thing I think of in terms of a "great gig" is all members showing up on time, in the right frame of mind , ready to work with a positive attitude. If you've had a bad week, an argument with your spouse or family members, leave that stuff behind until your back home. Everyone should be on the same page. Your there to entertain and have fun and hopefully help out in creating a fun atmosphere for the whole band. That's where I start, I have other criteria for a great gig I'll share later. Blue

After perusing the " How Was Your Gig" thread and seeing so many " we had a great gig" I started to wonder about what a great gig is and great gig probably means different things to different people. What makes for a great gig for you? Let's talk about it. Blue

NICE! Blue

Looks like the sun is coming out. Blue