Lozz196 Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I’ve just read (Sir) Horace (Gentleman) Panters book, Ska’d For Life, and one of the things that impressed me was his recollection of gigs. Like many of us on here I’ve done stacks of gigs, however due to me liking a drop or two when I was younger I’ve little recollection of many of them. This extends to gigs I’ve done after I quit, I reckon I’ve just ruined my memory. I’ve even met up with past band mates at times who have reminisced about certain gigs we did and I can’t remember them at all. So upshot is, I really wish I’d kept a gig diary of where/when/which band/gear used/what went well/what didn’t go well. Hindsight eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 On that road lies the ultimate in OCD ... you'd end up losing sleep after gigs because you'd forgotten to make a note of the settings on your Sansamp after you changed them on the fly for Paradise City ... 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Incidentally, one of the greatest gigs I ever attended was at the Hammersmith Odeon, with The Pretenders and The Specials supporting The Who. When I read Ska'd For Life I was particularly looking forward to Horace's recollections of that gig. He absolutely panned it, said it was the most boring thing he'd ever attended. Ah well ... maybe best just forget the diary then. 😂😂😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I’m very much with Lozz on this one. I’ve been gigging solidly since the early 90s and have had some remarkable experiences. I just wish I could remember more. They all started to blur into one after a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLowDown Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Good idea! I think it would be useful to keep a gig journal of how the gig went, equipment used, audience response, and if there was anything to be learned from it. The act of writing it down helps to make the gig more memorable for in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I made a note of mine over the last 5 or so years, and it is interesting to note. Just simple notes on it, not settings etc, just how it went, what out of the usual happens etc. Normally a couple of lines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted December 24, 2020 Author Share Posted December 24, 2020 25 minutes ago, Woodinblack said: I made a note of mine over the last 5 or so years, and it is interesting to note. Just simple notes on it, not settings etc, just how it went, what out of the usual happens etc. Normally a couple of lines That’s it, just what I wish I’d done, for me it would be something like: Knock Off - Sat 02 June 2018 Rebellion Festival, The Melkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Fender US Precision/Tech21 Para Driver/Provided Ampeg SVT 810 Stack Good - Band played well/no mistakes, great audience reaction Not Good - landing in Schipol at 23:30 to a message from our hotel saying “thanks for your cancellation” then having to sort out another hotel. Aaarrgh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Didn’t need one this year, every gig we had was crossed out ☹️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 (edited) My last gig was Cheltenham races. The diary would be something like this... Friday March 13th Race week day four. Arrive at 5:30, bring guitar down from upstairs. Quick set up, with people screaming in my face to play wonderwall. Someone shouts ‘3-4’ when I check mic. Funniest thing I’ve ever heard. honest . Something about a virus, probably nothing. Horde arrives at 6, frantic text from the boss, ‘get started’. Half hour rotations begins with the other two acts. People scream ‘Oasis’ and ‘Wonderwall’ every 2-3 seconds for four hours. Smell is overwhelming. Everyone laughs at a passing taxi driver for wearing a face mask. Something about a virus. People still screaming for oasis and wonderwall. At some point in evening unknowingly catch said virus. 11:30. Collect pay and trudge home, safe in the knowledge that I’ve sworn that this this will be my last race week gig. Very tired wash when I get home, Wife is worried about some virus going around ... Still, next year I reckon I’ll go back to bass, so silver lining an all. Edited December 24, 2020 by gafbass02 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Just looked at it. Some are completely missing, some a really detailed, I never wrote a diary so I have no idea why I started but I am glad I did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StickyDBRmf Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Robert Fripp being the anal-retentive kept and keeps meticulous journals to this day. To the point of who he's shagged when and where. I think that part was because of his early competitions with Greg Lake. And then Tony Levin likes to take photos so you got one heckuva diary of Crimson '81on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 1 hour ago, StickyDBRmf said: Robert Fripp being the anal-retentive kept and keeps meticulous journals to this day. To the point of who he's shagged when and where. My gigs haven't been that successful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 I kept one years ago when I was playing in a free-form jazz-metal band. Strange things happened frequently and I'm glad I documented much of it. Those gigs, where we did not have any actual songs to play when we went onstage, were far more interesting than later years when I was in bands who wrote songs and rehearsed and such. For example: "22 January 1994 w/ The Glam Tarts We arrived fairly early in the Rock Garden for the Glam Tarts show. We were understandably shaken up, having just met Aidan Walsh for the first time, so we sought refuge in the sanctuary of the Rock Garden's compact dressing room. There, we met this guy who was unusual in the sense that he was damp from head to toe. We didn't really have much of a choice but to engage in conversation with him. It transpired he was a harmonica player or, at least, he had a harmonica. He was excited to hear Wassie was something of a harmonica maestro himself. They had a brief harmonica jam and the lads discovered the reason this bloke was wet was because he had jumped into the river Liffey earlier on. He asked if he could play with us later. The bloke then said "Anybody messes with me and they get this…" and pulled an iron bar from his coat and proceeded to whack it off the wall of the dressing room. At this stage Security were summoned and the fruit was ejected from the venue. It made everybody edgy, but seemed to effect Wassie more than most. Perhaps this is why he lunged at the Glam Tarts singer when the guy strolled onstage later in the evening. He was dressed up as his Las Vegas-esque character Tony St. James and appeared to have come on to get us off stage. It was during Alan Ryan's gong solo. Wassie had shared a spliff with their roadie shortly before we went onstage and was clearly feeling it. He didn't know the Glam Tarts dressed up at all and, as far as he was concerned, this was just another psycho attacking him. Wassie decided to get his shot in first and lunged at him as he tried to usurp the mic. A brief struggle resulted in Wassie jamming his elbow in to Glam Tart's throat, screaming "You're mad! You're mad!" all the while. Needless to say, the bouncers didn't like this at all and made their way onstage to dislodge Wassie's elbow. The rest of us, taking the hint, left peacefully. Set List: Traffic Jam What's Your Name? Manifestation Of Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial Lifeforms (Incorporating gong solo)" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 first gig was in 1979 for the Sturt Football Club Cheersquad's end of year party. We played, Communication Breakdown White Room War Pigs Bodies Living Loving Maid. Last gig was last month, an outdoor Vegan Festival. In between those two? who knows lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassace Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 I’ve got my last 20 years worth of gigs covered by spreadsheets. Not as comprehensive as a diary of course but each line triggers quite detailed memories of each gig. Before that a bit hazy but still some good details. And I’ve got every musician I’ve ever played with on lists. For instance in excess of 100 different sax players. Phew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.