First gig woes

[Phil Adams]

My first gig was on saturday, playing unpaid at a charity fundraiser. Was going to be a duo with myself on bass and a guitarist singer friend of mine doing the entertaining. At the 11th hour my friend decided we should invite the guitarist from the blues band I'm practicing with (the drummer couldn't or wouldn't do it). I wanted a "Pro" keyboard player we know, but said friend didn't want to ask a favour.
We came on at 7.50 and did a reasonable first set of mixed songs until 8.30. Then the auction of promises started. Then the raffle was drawn. We were able to get back on at 11.15 and after the raffle finished most people had gone home. We played the night out to about 12 stragglers including the resident drunk who offered comforting advice on how we should play.
The blues guitarist dried up after the first chorus of Brown Eyed Girl, and the other guitarist had to take over after an embarrassing pause, even he who has done all this before dried up at one point briefly. Was glad when midnight came and we could get out of there.
All in all we were a shambles, but I shall carry on regardless. We just didn't rehearse enough. Would have been nice if the audience had been a bit more appreciative, but we can't blame them for our crap performance.
It wasn't all bad though, and an important part of life's experience. Was hoping we'd get invited back, but I don't suppose that's gonna happen. We didn't even get offered a drink.
Anybody else suffered similar indignity, or are you all musical Gods?????

[tonyquipment]

First gig I played I was on guitar.

I sucked. Was all over the place. We were rather... Under rehearsed !

[danthevan]

I reckon most of us have had moments (maybe not whole sets!) like that.
Important thing is you know what you done wrong by not rehearsing enough, and changing band members, so put it down to experience and get on with it!
Dont beat yourself up over it, just make sure you're better next time round

[Lozz196]

Yes, my first ever gig was on lead guitar/lead vocals, and I hadn`t really developed the art of standing still whilst playing at that time, so needless to say only the odd word of the lyrics was heard through the pa. Added to the fact that the bassist forgot where he was in one song, and once he remembered didn`t just play from there, but played from where he had been, but extra fast, to catch up, well we weren`t the success I`d hoped for. Still, was only 16, and it was punk.

Edited April 29, 2013 by Lozz196

[Phil Adams]

Thanks so much chaps. I assure you I'm not beating myself up. just a bit disappointed that's all.
I (honestly) think I did alright for most of the songs, some I did really well, one song "Hero" I had never heard before, and checked just now and it's on the set list, so can't blame anyone else for that one! Did manage to pick most of it up by ear.
The weak link was the guitarist from the blues band. He can play and sing any of the songs from his blues repertoire faultlessly, but give him a pop song with the same 3 chords and he can't play it. I can't figure that one out. But we asked him to help, and he rehearsed with us and turned up on the night. Have to thank him for that.

[SpaceChick]

There is nothing more frustrating than being happy with your own performance, and your band mates letting you down.

I think many of us have experienced that pain! Gosh, my first live performance, even though I was shaking like a leaf I still did a passable job at my bass parts, however the drummer train wrecked it!

I have 3 x 1 set charity gigs coming up with that band (first one on Friday) and to say I am apprenhensive is an understatement.

Still its all part of life's rich tapestry

[White Cloud]

The most important thing is that you had a go....don't give up. You learnt some of the music games harsh truths on that gig;

1. You cannot trust other players you haven't rehearsed with (regardless of how good they tell you they are) - a lot of players can talk the talk, but are actually s**t.
2. Audiences at gigs can be a bunch of t**ts....you were doing them a favour by providing free entertainment
3. Many venues will not appreciate you...same as above, you did them a favour by playing for free and they couldn't even buy you a drink....this is typical in my experience.

My cardinal rule in relation to preparing for gigs is practice practice practice.

[Pestie]

Just keep on going mate. I am fairly new to gigging and have had similar experiences, at one it sounded like six people doing six different songs. My advice is just enjoy it, laugh it off and get back on and do it again. It's great fun so just enjoy and try not to be too hard on yourself.

Mike(Pestie

Don't take life too seriously because you won't get out alive!!!

[discreet]

Under-rehearsing is a bane. So many 'musicians' think they're [i]so [/i]great that they can just turn up on the night and wing it ('it'll be fine, don't worry about it!') and then crash and burn, realising too late they have no idea what they're doing.

This is a massive pain if you've put the time in and yet you're made to look like an arse because of some other lazy sod's woeful shortcomings. I try my best to make others rehearse as much as possible, even to the point where they're sick of it, and me!

Edited April 29, 2013 by discreet

[voxpop]

[quote name='Pestie' timestamp='1367232533' post='2062781']
Just keep on going mate. I am fairly new to gigging and have had similar experiences, at one it sounded like six people doing six different songs. My advice is just enjoy it, laugh it off and get back on and do it again. It's great fun so just enjoy and try not to be too hard on yourself.

Mike(Pestie

Don't take life too seriously because you won't get out alive!!!
[/quote]

+1
Plus rehearse, rehearse and rehearse again.

[discreet]

[size=4][quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1367223140' post='2062618']...practice practice practice...[/quote][quote name='voxpop' timestamp='1367234750' post='2062836']...rehearse, rehearse and rehearse again...[/quote][/size]
[size=4]And after all that, practice and rehearse a bit more, I reckon! [/size]

Edited April 29, 2013 by discreet

[charic]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1367219892' post='2062586']
but played from where he had been, but extra fast, to catch up
[/quote]

I'm sorry but that is just genius

[skankdelvar]

The very good news is that - in gigging terms - you're already at the stage where you can recognise problems, spot issues and plan accordingly.

My distant recollections of my first gig are that it was a triumph of the first magnitude. But were a recording now to surface, I'm sure it would document an unfolding train-wreck. Like so many first-timers I was blindly and unconsciously incompetent.

Good luck with your endeavours, chum. Consolidate with your guitarist, score a drummer and have fun!

[jezzaboy]

You gave it a go and you seem to have learned from the experiance. At least you still want to do it!!

Some charity gigs are a pain in the buttocks. Usually arranged by people who have no concept of how to run an event but they mean well. And we have all played gigs when you would rather be at the bar than on stage doin yer thing.

And any gigging musician who says otherwise is lying.

[chrismuzz]

My first gig was OK, until the singer randomly decided we were going to do a cover of Knocking On Heaven's Door, which myself and the drummer had never tried to play in our lives. We just about blagged it with the guitarist whispering the chords to me while I basically did some pentatonic noodling

[Bilbo]

My first gig was to an empty room (some people pooped their heads in a couple of times but no real audience). The only bloke there was the barman who, halfway through the first tune told us, an established NWOBHM band I had just joined, to turn down. The guitarist/bandleader, an old hand, said 'f*** this' and the gig was abandoned (to be fair, it was a bad booking in an unsuitable venue). I was gutted and, at 17, was probably on the verge of tears by the time I got home having built the whole thing up to being something it wasn't.

Fortunately, we played again (?) less than a week later to a home crowd and it all came good in the end. That band ended up on The Friday Rock Show on Radio One* a couple of times and on a Heavy Metal Heroes LP. So, it goes to show, you can't judge anything by one lousy gig.

PS that was the highlight of my career. It was 32 years ago.

[spacey]

The most common mistake of Noob bands is they do not rehearse the gig !
Learning the sets is not good enough, you need to get the full set list, turn up set up all the gear, have a break to get ready and then play the first set in gig fashion, break and play the second.

Dry run the actual first gig from PA set up to pack down and the first gig will be easy.
Turn up with just a set list and the nightmare will begin.
Or worse still with no setlist !

[discreet]

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1367241939' post='2063004']
The most common mistake of Noob bands is they do not rehearse the gig! ...Dry run the actual first gig from PA set up to pack down and the first gig will be easy... ...Turn up with just a set list and the nightmare will begin.
[/quote]

Good advice!

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1367238894' post='2062944']
My first gig was to an empty room (some people pooped their heads in a couple of times but no real audience). The only bloke there was the barman

PS that was the highlight of my career. It was 32 years ago.
[/quote]

Well, the barman usually leaves at a jazz gig.....

[danthevan]

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1367241939' post='2063004']
.
Or worse still with no setlist !
[/quote]

Thats how to tell a complete n00b outfit.
When they're all on stage arguing over what to do next

[Dave Vader]

I've done a lot of gigs like this. Me and my mate Rob actually based a lucrative acoustic duo on ensuring we made as many mistakes as possible, and made a feature of it. We started billing it as music and comedy, and every cock up we made was assumed to be a well rehearsed joke. Including the legendary version of freebird we did where Rob couldn't hear his slide guitar, and every single note was decidedly out of tune.
None of it was rehearsed, we were just very drunk, and very good at laughing it off.
People still keep asking us to go out and play again... weird.

[BassTractor]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1367219892' post='2062586']
played from where he had been, but extra fast, to catch up
[/quote]


Reminds me of when I played the refrain instead of the verse, and got disturbed looks from the others.
Now, as you'll appreciate, I didn't want to give the audience the impression I hadn't practised, so when the others went on to the refrain, I showed how well I could do the verse.
We were eleven, and I guess I'm now the only one to even remember.


Yup, it's experience, and one learns from it.
Good luck!

best,
bert

[danthevan]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1367219892' post='2062586']
played from where he had been, but extra fast, to catch up
[/quote]

Sure he wasn't really a drummer?!

[Phil Adams]

Well thanks again chaps. Plenty of good has come out of it already. My songwriter guitarist and myself have just spent a long afternoon at Les Payne's studio in Wycombe and have got 2 new songs more or less completed. That did us both a power of good. I had no idea how the songs went beforehand, but managed with only minimal "dropping in".
The blues guitarist has emailed me, and now realises that you can't play blues to a chicken in the basket kind of audience, and is suggesting we try some Eagles, Van M, Doobies type (lighterweight) songs.
You [i]shall [/i]go to the ball, Cinderella.

[discreet]

[quote name='danthevan' timestamp='1367243935' post='2063045']
Sure he wasn't really a drummer?!
[/quote]