I Hate Gigging!

[chris_b]

25 minutes ago, lowregisterhead said:

I may well take you up on that!

How do you feel about wearing spandex?? 🤣

I'l wear Spandex but I'm not sure the publicity will be the sort your band wants!!

[odysseus]

40 minutes ago, steantval said:

Some people do those day jobs and still play in bands, fair play to em.

Yup... Isn't that most of us?  I live in Cornwall, so making a living from playing in bands is nigh-on impossible unless you're an acoustic guitar and vocals act and can bag enough gigs, and even then you're going to be looking for a girlfriend/boyfriend with a house.  I can't honestly think of any local musicians that don't have a 'day job', even if it's just a bit of teaching or few hours in a music shop or studio.  Maybe there is more opportunity in the cities?  I can't comment on that...

[Leonard Smalls]

43 minutes ago, peteb said:

There's a reason why high street pubs put on covers bands rather than originals.

Indeed… Folks like what they know and they know what they like!

It seems, at least in the rural areas I currently inhabit, that there's no appetite at all for any new music, or for anything that's at all leftfield.

If the Wurzels came to town (and they did once - I booked 'em!) the place would be absolutely rammed. But if Idles played, or Deliluh, or (lawd'elpus!) some free jazz, there'd be a tiny audience.

It wasn't always so - back in the early 2000s before they were big, Pendulum played to a full community centre. There used to be a thriving free jazz scene. But now there's no interest at all in music, unless they already know all the words.

Could it be because there's no more TOTP? Or that music coverage in general is limited to Glasto and the same old stuff on the short Jools series?

[odysseus]

"People don't want original music"

They like it well enough when it's on the radio, and their music collections are full of original music, albeit from peer and corporate-approved sources.

Strange world we live in....

 

If we're to give the punters what they want, how long before pubs just have juke boxes?  - The punters can have Mustang Sally and the Crazy Frog all night, and they'll pay for it too... and no more having your in-the-doorway fag rudely interrupted by some bunch of posers with coming through carrying large objects.... 

[4000]

1 hour ago, chris_b said:

All you guys who are gigging inspite of not liking it. . . . call me. I'll do all those nasty, uncomfortable, pesky gigs for you. 

If you’ll take my chronic anxiety instead I’ll likely enjoy the gigs more. Win win. 😉

[Stylon Pilson]

I suspect that the reason why the general public don't go out to see local originals bands any more is that the overall quality is lower than it used to be. With the democratisation of music over the last few decades, you have a lot more weekend warriors going out and churning out the same cliched stuff over and over again. Whereas with a covers band you at least know that the songs they'll be playing will tend to be fairly good ones which have stood the test of time.

S.P.

[uk_lefty]

2 hours ago, Dapper Bandit said:

look forward to (something a bit more special than matching ties and a cheap banner hung behind the drumkit,

What's wrong with ties and a banner...??! 😲

[4000]

17 minutes ago, Stylon Pilson said:

I suspect that the reason why the general public don't go out to see local originals bands any more is that the overall quality is lower than it used to be. With the democratisation of music over the last few decades, you have a lot more weekend warriors going out and churning out the same cliched stuff over and over again. Whereas with a covers band you at least know that the songs they'll be playing will tend to be fairly good ones which have stood the test of time.

S.P.

That’s one thing we seem to do ok with. Getting them to listen in the first place is the most difficult part, but once they have they seem to come back for more. In fact usually they’re more shocked that the material is all ours than anything.

[TimR]

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

What's wrong with ties and a banner...??! 😲

and music stands?

[Woodinblack]

6 hours ago, Stylon Pilson said:

you have a lot more weekend warriors going out and churning out the same cliched stuff over and over again.

I have had this a lot recently. I know a couple of people who do 'original' music, and now look down their noses at cover bands. Unfortunately, their music is anything but original, it is just stuff that they have written, there is a big difference. You are sitting on an acoustic guitar bashing out  C, F and G chords with the occasional little riff, you are really stretching the bounds of original. 

But then don't complain that the public don't have the imagination for original music, of course they do, its just not very good!

[theplumber]

On 14/07/2019 at 10:23, ezbass said:

Yeah, this really sucks the big, hairy meatball. Plus, the landlords, etc who are impossible to get hold of outside of the gig itself for more bookings. On the night, they're all, "Yeah, really great, give me a call in week for some more dates," and then tumbleweed.

However, I do like playing live, it just needs roadies and an agent.

Finding this a lot! Playing with a classic punk covers band at the moment. We are very good if I say so myself,wherever we play,we go down a storm,even with folk who think they don't like punk. I say punk,it's the lighter stuff,Undertones,Blondie,Ramones..pop really! Anyway,being semi retired,I have more time than most of the band to phone pubs,or facebook folk for gigs.I have manged to get a handful of decent pubs to take us on,but more or less the same after every gig,the original booker is no where to be seen,you phone during the week,they are not in,you get them on facebook,they promise to check their book,after another couple of goes,they say they are full to the end of the year,phone back in 3 months,or if they do offer something,it clashes with other gigs we have! I chased a certain gig up last year for weeks,managed to get hold of the person who claimed to book the bands,on facebook,they suggested I drop by t some point,I did and they seemed to forget who I was.I suspect the person on facebook was not actually who booked the bands...anyway,landed a date that suited the rest of the band,thats another story,getting folk to use the online calender,the gig is in 3 months....We do the gig in Feb of this year,go down a storm,the person who booked us,the owner of the pub is not in that night and I have to start over again with the phone calls and facebook messages,finaly get offered a gig,which we can't do,cause we are already playing,get offered one for this December,which we take. I know what will happen,as the whole thing will go on,with us being told,thats us booked up for the year,give us a phone next July.......flip!!!!

[Stylon Pilson]

4 hours ago, theplumber said:

Finding this a lot! Playing with a classic punk covers band at the moment. We are very good if I say so myself,wherever we play,we go down a storm,even with folk who think they don't like punk. I say punk,it's the lighter stuff,Undertones,Blondie,Ramones..pop really! Anyway,being semi retired,I have more time than most of the band to phone pubs,or facebook folk for gigs.I have manged to get a handful of decent pubs to take us on,but more or less the same after every gig,the original booker is no where to be seen,you phone during the week,they are not in,you get them on facebook,they promise to check their book,after another couple of goes,they say they are full to the end of the year,phone back in 3 months,or if they do offer something,it clashes with other gigs we have! I chased a certain gig up last year for weeks,managed to get hold of the person who claimed to book the bands,on facebook,they suggested I drop by t some point,I did and they seemed to forget who I was.I suspect the person on facebook was not actually who booked the bands...anyway,landed a date that suited the rest of the band,thats another story,getting folk to use the online calender,the gig is in 3 months....We do the gig in Feb of this year,go down a storm,the person who booked us,the owner of the pub is not in that night and I have to start over again with the phone calls and facebook messages,finaly get offered a gig,which we can't do,cause we are already playing,get offered one for this December,which we take. I know what will happen,as the whole thing will go on,with us being told,thats us booked up for the year,give us a phone next July.......flip!!!!

I don't consider myself to be a grammar/punctuation pedant, but that was hard to read.

S.P.

[theplumber]

Lol....Written in the middle of the night! 

[Marc S]

Just now, theplumber said:

Lol....Written in the middle of the night! 

ha ha - always a bad move  
We've all done that, lol

[steantval]

2 hours ago, theplumber said:

Lol....Written in the middle of the night! 

Blimey, I have knowledge of sleep walking, but sleep writing is another issue 😀

[EliasMooseblaster]

21 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Some places just don't seem to have an audience...they all stayed out in the courtyard,ignoring this amazing band and shouting at each other in exactly the same way as they did every other Friday

However, nip down to Hereford (an hour down the road) and there's a ready audience for new music!

I can believe this. We played a festival in Milton Keynes years ago - all original bands and massive local attendance. I was chatting to one of the punters after our set, and I mentioned how nice it was that so many locals had come down for the weekend to support all these unknown, independent bands. He explained to me that they couldn't hear original live music anywhere else (apart from the Stables or the Bowl), as the pubs in the area stuck to booking tributes or covers bands almost exclusively. So any locals who wanted a fix of fresh, new stuff would come along to festivals like this one. (It's not often I hear about the supply:demand ratio being skewed the other way when it comes to live music!)

Edited July 17, 2019 by EliasMooseblaster

[mangotango]

Love gigging.

It's the absolute life's blood of my music making. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy studio stuff - fresh from recording a four tune CD - but  getting up in front of people is generally a thing of joy for me. meeting up with mates for practice is good too - especially when you try something new and get unexpected results, that can be very satisfying.

I play bass in a 4-piece funky-jazz band. It's mostly original material, some of which I write.  It's definitely not mainstream music, so the reaction that we get is even more rewarding when it's people enjoying our tunes.

I also play guitar in a quartet that plays jazz-y arrangements of popular tunes, or pop arrangements of jazz tunes. Much satisfaction with gigs for that outfit too, though of a different nature. It all works.

Yes, admittedly the time spent setting gear up/taking it down is a bit dull, but a little bit of work has got that down almost to a fine art, so it's not as much of a chore as it might be. And there's plenty of recompense for the moments when we're up there in front of people...…

[Dan Dare]

On ‎16‎/‎07‎/‎2019 at 16:16, steantval said:

Some people do those day jobs and still play in bands, fair play to em.

That's what I did for 40 years. I had periods of playing full time, but for much of the time, I held down a day job (full or part time). I'm retired now. Yes, it was often tiring and yes, I had (as do we all) to put up with some nonsense, but you take the rough with the smooth and get on with it. The good stuff outweighs the bad and that's all we can hope for in life.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Dan Dare

[odysseus]

On 17/07/2019 at 00:25, Woodinblack said:

 You are sitting on an acoustic guitar bashing out  C, F and G chords with the occasional little riff, you are really stretching the bounds of original. 

I would suggest that many 'big artists' are in the same category....

However, I think for our purposes, 'original' means 'not a cover'.  I played in a mate's original rock'n'roll band for a while.... it sounded like most other rock'n'roll I've heard lol...

[Newfoundfreedom]

Well for the first time I actually really enjoyed playing last night. It was our first ever festival. Only a small affair, and the sound guy was useless. But the band were really tight and the crowd were great. Whether this was a light at the end of the tunnel, or just a one off remains to be seen, but fingers crossed. 

Edited July 28, 2019 by Newfoundfreedom

[Woodinblack]

34 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Whether this was a light at the end of the tunnel, or just a one off remains to be seen, but fingers crossed. 

Either way, it's good to know it can be fun!

[Stub Mandrel]

43 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Well for the first time I actually really enjoyed playing last night. It was our first ever festival. Only a small affair, and the sound guy was useless. But the band were really tight and the crowd were great. Whether this was a light at the end of the tunnel, or just a one off remains to be seen, but fingers crossed. 

That'[s great news. I hope that posting here helped.

[Newfoundfreedom]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

That'[s great news. I hope that posting here helped.

Yeah it's always good to get things off your chest and if nothing else, just have a good old moan. 

It also helps to know you're not totally an alien species and others often have the same issues. 

[AndyTravis]

I haven’t enjoyed gigging for a while - well, I haven’t gigged in a while...

But, prior to the Hiatus (while we got used to our youngest Daughter and her level of need - a very bleak prognosis has actually ended up much better than hoped; odd heart attack inducing trips to hospital every now and then) I hadn’t enjoyed the covers/function/wedding gigs I had done.

So, on the 18th of August, the new band has a gig. All songs are from ideas I provided to the singer (I’d been in a Motown band with this guy until i “quit” music).

It’s all really bass heavy, really funky...and after a second studio session yesterday, I’m kicking myself for writing such mad baselines. I now have “i’ll F*ck this gig up” in my head...

A weird mental block to have as I’ve played big festivals, big venues all over the show in the past...I suppose it’s because it’s heart on sleeve time - and it’s all so oriented on the bass...

Edited July 28, 2019 by AndyTravis

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

I haven’t enjoyed gigging for a while - well, I haven’t gigged in a while...

But, prior to the Hiatus (while we got used to our youngest Daughter and her level of need - a very bleak prognosis has actually ended up much better than hoped; odd heart attack inducing trips to hospital every now and then) I hadn’t enjoyed the covers/function/wedding gigs I had done.

So, on the 18th of August, the new band has a gig. All songs are from ideas I provided to the singer (I’d been in a Motown band with this guy until i “quit” music).

It’s all really bass heavy, really funky...and after a second studio session yesterday, I’m kicking myself for writing such mad baselines. I now have “i’ll F*ck this gig up” in my head...

A weird mental block to have as I’ve played big festivals, big venues all over the show in the past...I suppose it’s because it’s heart on sleeve time - and it’s all so oriented on the bass...

Andy, just from seeing your posts on here, and the knowledge you possess, I can absolutely guarantee you won't fck it up. 

But I think you have hit the nail on the head with regards to a lack of belief in yourself. I think maybe that's my problem too. Even though logically you know you can do it.