Your first gig?

[josie]

The Plastic Mojo Band played our first real gig this afternoon, and I thought it might be interesting to compare stories. (It's probably been done here before...)

We came together as a workshop project a while back, which led to a friends-and-family gig in March with a few peeps drifting in off the street. Decided to stay together as a band, using a practice room over a local pub. The landlady overheard us and asked us to play this afternoon, clear that we would just be background noise - which suited us, as it took some pressure off.  Apologised that she could only give us beer and food and not money - we weren't expecting even that!

This a completely acoustic gig. (Yes, acoustic bass.) We started inside the pub, which has a decent piano, but the very few customers were all outside in the good weather, so she asked us to  play outside, which meant that the keys player had nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon but drink with his friends. (We did drag him up to play hand percussion for a couple of songs.) A new (very good) guitar player who we'd barely met. Our excellent lead singer couldn't be there. Luckily we're a blues band, and can jam most of the standards. We played for three hours (well I did, the others drifted in and out) making up most of it as we went along. We got a bit of applause, and we've been asked back, so we must have been ok.

I've been playing om's and jams for a few years now, but it's still sinking in that for the first time I've played a gig that was booked by someone I didn't know, and thanked with food and beer. After 45 years of believing I'd never be able to play at all.

I realise this will seem pretty pathetic to many of you, but we all have to start somewhere...

So how was the first time for you? :-)

[Cuzzie]

This is gold dust

Well done and I hope it keeps going for you

[Les]

9 minutes ago, josie said:

I realise this will seem pretty pathetic to many of you, 

It won't at all. We'll all get it. Bravo.

[Dad3353]

22 minutes ago, josie said:

...So how was the first time for you? :-)

That's answered here...

Your First Ever Gig..? ...

Well done, and please stop selling yourself short; you're doing darned good, better than several here, and far better than anyone who's never even tried to play bass..! Keep going; onward and upward..! 

[chris_b]

Excellent. Now to start looking for gig number 2.

[josie]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

Excellent. Now to start looking for gig number 2.

Southport Marina festival 7 July unless something else comes up sooner :-)

[CHW]

6th form college, it was a “battle of the bands” (shudder)

4 songs, 15 minutes. Loved every second. Knew I wanted to do it forever. 

[steantval]

Just out of interest, is the rehearsal room above the pub owned by the pub?

If so and you are I presume, currently paying for rehearsal time, as the landlady said she couldn’t pay you for this gig, it would have been an ideal time to negotiate some future rehearsal time for free as payment for the gig.

[T-Bay]

I have been playing 18 months, first gig was 15 months ago. We played a works Christmas doo. We went down so well they were desperate for us to play more but we didn’t have anything else so just played half the set again and they were bouncing the whole way through. It was a hell of a lot of fun and got me hooked. Since then it’s been roughly one a month which suits me, including a repeat booking for our first gig which went down just as well (booked again as as well). A few minor pink torpedo ups from me in the first gig but nothing major and no one noticed so all was good. I was playing an Epiphone EB3 I briefly owned, sounded great but neck dive was terrible.

[josie]

2 hours ago, steantval said:

Just out of interest, is the rehearsal room above the pub owned by the pub?

If so and you are I presume, currently paying for rehearsal time, as the landlady said she couldn’t pay you for this gig, it would have been an ideal time to negotiate some future rehearsal time for free as payment for the gig.

Good point, and we might do in future. It's not a commercial pub, but run as a non-profit social enterprise community centre (and an excellent pub too), which was why were were there in the first place, and were happy to play to support them. I don't think we'd want to ask for free time at a time when they could otherwise have another band there paying for it, but we might try to negotiate something off-peak next time we play there.