Bluewine

Hope it wasn't a real Gibson SG. Blue

Well, the first set at Pillars was very hot. We started playing at 8:00. The crowd was sparce but by 8:30 the place was packed including the balcony. Interesting, it was still not our crowd, yeah lots of people having a good time but I don't think they really understand live 70s hard rock or what we do. Our first set was almost 2 hours long. The crowd stayed a respectable size, 2nd and 3rd sets we're ok, a C+ if you will. Overall it's a good venue. We've been playing there for over 4 years. Last night we were told the place is being sold. The new owners don't know if they're going to continue having bands. "Don't Know" sounds like no to me. Blue

Ralaxing at Starbucks and on my way to a grueling 8-12 gig at Pillars Pub. Should be packed, first nice Saturday nigh of the year. Nice venue,with a stage. Upscale crowd, however not our crowd so this place has always been a challenge. It's a converted Church so, high cathedral ceilings and a ton of stained glass.Low stage volume will be key. I'll let you know what happens. Last weeks gig was not so great. By the way, you guys know my position on gigging, I love it, right? At 65, my position is beginning to change. If I was doing 1.5 hours as a headliner it would be cool. 4 hour gigs are slowly but surely starting to drain me. Blue

Gigs are money in my pocket, the more gigs the better. I know how hard it is to successfully book gigs. I send out a sincere "thank you" for every new date announced. Blue

Nice medley. Didn't look like the main was damaged. .Blue

You really should have a realistic plan for booking gigs. Booking gigs and managing a band takes specific business skills. Gigs don't fall out of the air and into your hands. Blue

Not unusual, 99% of all "start up* bands never see their first gig. It's why I advise anyone looking to gig and make a little cash to avoid start ups. Blue

Depends on what a band is doing.Were a gigging bar band and we found that in most cases without experience having to be out there 2- 3 nights a week was too much of a commitment and too much work. So experience was important and a requirement for us. Being the best drummer was not. We always go with the best person for the job not the best musician. Blue

It's not a huge community of bar bands that are out there gigging every weekend. Very easy to verify with the name of the band or bands someone has played in. Blue

Big take away here for newbies looking for a band. When you ask them to provide you with 3 to 4 songs to audition and they can't. Blue

Frustrating to say the least. I'm curious, how old were you guys in the early 90s? Blue

Fantastic job asking questions. This is something I've always stressed. Asking questions before committing to an audition. Your questions revealed a laundry list of Red Flags. For anyone that's looking for a gigging band, Friday and/or Saturday rehearsals should be a huge Red Flag. Blue

You don't want to know. 😁 Blue

Aren't these types of mismatches filtered out by asking for details on relevant recent experience before the audition? When we were auditioning new drummers I made sure auditions we're only awarded to those who had at least a year of recent bar band experience, where they were playing 4 hour bar gigs at least once a week. Blue

I don't move much either. Unless the invisible bear shows up. Blue

I use a clip at rehearsal. At gigs I'll only use the Black Cat chromatic in my pedal chain. I'm to vain to use a clip at gigs. It spoils the integrity of the headstock design. Blue

I could never function without my pedals. I rely too much on sustain and bass octave. Blue

I'd be lost without my Black Cat tuner. Blue

Cool, I know it's not a popular position on BC, however age does come into play on some of these issues. You can only imagine how differently I look at band dynamics at 65 as compared to when I was 20. Blue

Did the band ask this drummer about what experience he had before inviting him to audition? Blue

I've posted many threads on auditioning. I ask a lot of questions before I'll committ to an audition I always ask if the band is auditioning any friends of any members. If they are I will decline. Very difficult to win when friends are in the picture I remember I lost to a guy who came to the audition unprepared and didn't have his own transportation. He was a good friend of the guitarist. Blue

I've heard that one before. The guy that loves saying things like; " I don't have the internet " " i don't have a smart phone" Blue

How do those covers go over at gigs? Blue

If they give us another date, we'll take it Blue

NOT GOOD First of all, an hour commute one way, not my thing. The weather was crap, April 13th, 33° windy with freezing rain. Normally we have warm weather, like 75° this time of year. Upscale bar restaurant, used to be a Harley Davidson dealership converted. The room is nice but set up donkey backwards. 3 different cieling levels, tile floor and an unmanned bar way in the back of the room. Punters had to wait for the waitress. Stage sound was all over the place. Not really our type of crowd. 2nd time playing this place, first time was no better. Sure, there were people dancing and we got lots of compliments. However, I know what a crap gig is. It was a crap gig IMO. I'm not going to sugar coat it. Blue