Complaining On Stage

[ubit]

14 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Same here - come in, set up, sound check, then have a break and then start the gig. We can't control the people in there, it is a pub, they are open all day. It is in effect for them, still part of the show

 

 

We have had gigs where the punters are shouting "it's fine , hurry up and start" and you have to rely on one of the band going out front and giving a nod. I'm the bass player and singer so it was never me unfortunately. I could hear what the band sounded like but not with the vocal.

I did have gigs where the guitarist would nod and say yeah sounds spot on and later I would have a wander and be shocked that you couldn't hear the bass!

[musicbassman]

11 minutes ago, ubit said:

I did have gigs where the guitarist would nod and say yeah sounds spot on and later I would have a wander and be shocked that you couldn't hear the bass!

 

Wait.........you were asking your guitarist to check the bass volume ???

That's like asking the fattest kid in the class to share their sweets..............

[TrypF]

20 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Same here - come in, set up, sound check, then have a break and then start the gig. We can't control the people in there, it is a pub, they are open all day. It is in effect for them, still part of the show

Of course, a pub gig almost always has punters in, so fair enough.

 

Here's another horror story. I left a band who are still great friends of mine, and they kindly offered to let me open for one of their regular promoted shows. Their thing is to play second in a line up of three acts, getting in an established band with a following to headline, so they can count the money, sort things out etc before curfew at the hired venue. On the night, I arrived on time for soundcheck, but the headliners were nowhere to be seen. Eventually my old band checked and I did my quick line check (because the doors were opening soon - cf the OP!) The Headliner singer appeared before doors and explained that his bandmates would be joining us shortly before their stage time, as they didn't consider this show to be important enough. They were told they'd get a line check and the SE would fix on the fly. When I and the hosts had played, we waited for the headliners to assemble, then they slowly got their crap together. After about half an hour, they deigned to play a song but were clearly in 'soundcheck' mode, stopping a couple of times to say choice things like 'this guitar sound really isn't good enough'. After some more griping, they explained to the crowd that they needed more time 'for the SE to get our sound right'. Eventually, after some cat calling (mostly from me) they went thought their set, in a half arsed fashion. They brought about ten people and acted like they were the Stones. There are words for this kind of band.

[Lozz196]

Yep, they’re not a band they’re a bunch of mates on a night out.

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, ubit said:

I did have gigs where the guitarist would nod and say yeah sounds spot on and later I would have a wander and be shocked that you couldn't hear the bass!

That's what i find. If some band members go out front they only hear the parts they want to hear and dont have an overall grasp of band sound. Bass or drums are usually the areas that fall short. Guitarists generally only listen to melody of a song when sound-checking.

Dave

[TimR]

It very much depends on the gig.

 

Wedding venues and dinner and dances can be a nightmare with setting up. Sometimes there's a rush to get the band set up and sound checking has to be done as is. Although it's more usual for the band to be running the PA so everything should be pre-set from the hundreds of gigs you've done before. 

 

Festivals: I've had two different experiences. One where the headliners do a proper sound check, clear the stage, and all the bands sound check in reverse order leaving the first band on set up before anyone arrives. But more usually, a line check (and basic tone adjustment) for all the iinstruments. Then the mix is sorted as the set progresses. 

 

Pubs: similar to weddings and dinner and dances except there's loads of people trying to watch football on the big screen that you're trying to set up in front of. Line check and fix the mix as the gig progresses. Our usual problem is the guitarist trying to kill anyone who is standing anywhere on-axis to his speaker. Then loads of people complain they can't hear the singer. 

[TimR]

But actual complaining.

 

Scowling and frowning when the band goes into a wrong section and then having a dissection mid-gig of who was to blame. Can do without that. 

 

Encore: audience calling for more, then band has discussion about what to play, some argue, finally decide what to play. Nominate one person to call the numbers. Same with changes to the setlist mid-gig. Sure miss out songs, but if the singer keeps missing out songs and then has a load of time left at the end of the first set, don't complain when we go back and play the songs you didn't want to sing for whatever reason.

[Bassfinger]

5 hours ago, ubit said:

 

 

I'm the bass player and singer...

I bet that makes for some entertaining arguments with yourself.

[Stub Mandrel]

The first band I was in had the opposite problem. The BL was so self-effacing, he would apologise that he wasn't a better guitarist and show genuine surprise when people applauded or demanded an encore...

[Downunderwonder]

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

The first band I was in had the opposite problem. The BL was so self-effacing, he would apologise that he wasn't a better guitarist and show genuine surprise when people applauded or demanded an encore...

Punters being enthusiastic is out of our control. I know for an absolute fact that I am barely competent at playing my parts!

 

One old guy told the drummer to hang onto the bassist as 'he makes the stick thing sound just like a real double bass'. Now I won't deny that is the ultimate compliment and my heart swelled with pride, but really??? 

[inthedoghouse]

 

[ubit]

Weddings can be the worst. Guaranteed the meal will be in the same area that you will be playing in so you are going to have to wait until they have finished the speeches before you can get in. Then you have a very small window until they expect you to start playing.

We did a wedding once where there were two bands. We arrived and the first band had set up leaving us no room whatsoever. We had to set up in front of them. We got no chance for a sound check. I said to the guitarist get out front and have a listen to what it sounds like. As I say, I am the singer so I can't walk out and hear the whole sound. He wouldn't go out. I was growing more and more annoyed because for me to wander out I had to negotiate my way through various pieces of equipment and leads all in the gaps in between vocal parts. Absolutely no one was getting up to dance. We found this strange because we were quite popular in the pub scene at this time and we knew we could play but this venue with no sound check and strange acoustics all made for a rotten gig. Months later the groom met me in a bar and said do you guys rehearse? Yes I said. Well why didn't you rehearse before  my wedding? I was really annoyed because he booked us knowing what we played and how decent we were at playing it. The fact that the other band took up all the space and cut down on any time we had for any kind of sound check helped to make it a perfect storm of shittiness.

I vowed from that day on to never do a gig without a decent sound check. No matter who is in the venue.

[ubit]

23 hours ago, musicbassman said:

 

Wait.........you were asking your guitarist to check the bass volume ???

That's like asking the fattest kid in the class to share their sweets..............

 

 

My mate, the guitarist was very passive aggressive. He would be out front for soundcheck and I would want to be out front to hear it too and he would say sing a bit and I would be forced into going back onstage and having to trust his judgement.

We have had gigs where we have had a great soundcheck. We know the sounds is ace and then no one dances. Why? Because there are too many lights on or they are too sober. No one likes to get up and dance when everyone can see them making a tit of themselves.

[Woodinblack]

We do a dual sound check really. Our levels are probably pretty close relative to what we want so we start doing a song, singer wanders out and listens, gives some overall levels, I wander out (I am wireless), get most things set up, then we do a song where both me and the singer sing, and he (with a long lead) says whether it is ok. Then I make sure the sax and guitar are at the same sort of level, and then we go.

[neepheid]

6 minutes ago, ubit said:

 

 

My mate, the guitarist was very passive aggressive. He would be out front for soundcheck and I would want to be out front to hear it too and he would say sing a bit and I would be forced into going back onstage and having to trust his judgement.

We have had gigs where we have had a great soundcheck. We know the sounds is ace and then no one dances. Why? Because there are too many lights on or they are too sober. No one likes to get up and dance when everyone can see them making a tit of themselves.

 

RE: folk not dancing - don't forget post break lethargy if there was food at half time!  You try dancing with a belly full of stovies/macaroni cheese/chili

[Woodinblack]

4 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

RE: folk not dancing - don't forget post break lethargy if there was food at half time!  You try dancing with a belly full of stovies/macaroni cheese/chili

 

was fairly impressed, the wedding we just did, which was obviously after the food, the bride danced to every single song. We almost ran out of songs, playing about 3 hours, and she didn't miss a beat.

 

[Happy Jack]

Seeing as this thread has veered off into Soundcheck territory, my covers band has sound-checked with the same song for the last 12 years. Every gig. Every single one.

 

On those all-too-frequent occasions where we don't get a 'proper' soundcheck, we simply make that song our first number. All three of us in the band plus @Silvia Bluejay our sound engineer know exactly how that song is supposed to sound, and we hardly ever run into problems.

 

Except when the lead singer suddenly decided to ramp up his personal mic-stand monitor to the max due to a loss of confidence / stage fright / whatever. It was the only piece of kit on stage that Silvie couldn't turn down!

 

[Silvia Bluejay]

That's with the covers band. The rock n' roll band doesn't like to soundcheck - I've never understood why - so they're completely reliant on me knowing exactly how they're meant to sound and fixing any problem within the first three minutes, i.e. the first song. I'm now very good at that... 🙄😂

[Happy Jack]

3 minutes ago, Silvia Bluejay said:

That's with the covers band. The rock n' roll band doesn't like to soundcheck - I've never understood why - so they're completely reliant on me knowing exactly how they're meant to sound and fixing any problem within the first three minutes, i.e. the first song. I'm now very good at that... 🙄😂

 

It's a Rockabilly thing. We interviewed Lee Rocker just before Covid and one of the things he mentioned was that The Stray Cats never soundcheck before any gig.

 

[Woodinblack]

15 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Seeing as this thread has veered off into Soundcheck territory, my covers band has sound-checked with the same song for the last 12 years. Every gig. Every single one.

 

 

Our band soundchecks with two. Brown Eyed Girl intro for the sax, Money for nothing for the vocals.

[Silvia Bluejay]

3 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

 

It's a Rockabilly thing. We interviewed Lee Rocker just before Covid and one of the things he mentioned was that The Stray Cats never soundcheck before any gig.

 

Heh. The Stray Cats have slightly more people, equipment and expertise in their stage and sound crew, though...

[Stub Mandrel]

14 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Punters being enthusiastic is out of our control.

 

In my experience, if you all look like you're enjoying yourselves and your singer tells the audience how great they are, you are much more likely to go down well.

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

 

It's a Rockabilly thing. We interviewed Lee Rocker just before Covid and one of the things he mentioned was that The Stray Cats never soundcheck before any gig.

 

 

My old club band was rather further down the food chain than the Stray Cats, but we didn't soundcheck either. Guitarist/singer did the vocal-only PA, which was already at the right level for the drummer, and I adjusted if necessary in the first song.

 

Conversely, we recently supported our percussionist's band. "They never soundcheck", he told us. One hour soundcheck, after which the bass was overwhelming and the PA sounded more muffled than a Precision with flats going through an Ashdown.

[dmccombe7]

@ubit gotta ask why there were 2 bands at same wedding. Not heard of that before. 

Dave

[TimR]

2 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

@ubit gotta ask why there were 2 bands at same wedding. Not heard of that before. 

Dave

 

Yes. A situation to definitely avoid. I've played at a wedding where the grooms band have got up and done a few numbers but used our instruments and gear. 

 

I'm trying to remember if my old drummer had tried to shoehorn us into his mates wedding "as it would be good exposure", its the kind of thing he would have tried.