First Gig Experiences

[NickH]

Was replying to Lostheplot's thread about song suggestions for his band's upcoming first gig [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=68085"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=68085[/url] and thought people might have some amusing / touching / shocking experiences to recount. Let's hear the grizzly war stories!

I was 18 and playing keyboards in my first band. We'd planned our first gig to be in a rented function room and we were selling tickets to all our friends and relatives, figuring that a friendly home crowd would be the best way to start.
Then our drummer's dad's boss hears about us and asks if we'd like to play his birthday party for a promise of free food n booze? Naturally we jump at the chance.
Turns out he's a bit of a yacht-owning mariner type, so he's holding a party down by the seaside on this bit of gravelly beach he owns. There's a beach house we can crash in for the night too, but the party is to be outside by the water.
It's late November.
It's FREEZING.
We were all playing in fingerless gloves, and even then I could barely move my hands. I was thumping out block chords on my keyboard rack as most of my fancy chops are completely unplayable when my hands are stuck in this claw-like position.
It sounds like sh*te (we weren't a good band to start with to be honest) but the punters all loved it, dancing away and applauding each number. We came off feeling like gods of rock n roll. Proceed to indulge in mine host's free booze. He was as good as his word and had filled several huge drums with iced water and cans of beer. There were a couple of bonfires with whole animals cooking over them.
We get as trollied as only a bunch of late-teens on a free bar can do, and bunk down for the night on the collection of couches and matresses in this beach house. There's about 5 of us on one couch and I'm sardined between our two gorgeous female backing singers! Course I'm so wrecked I don't take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. D'oh! Follies of youth.

Woke up 6:15 the following morning with the hangover from hell. Pack my kit up into my Ford Fiesta, hit Maccy D's drive-thru for a McBreakfast that tastes like ashes and go to open the shop I worked in for 6:45. 8.5 hour shift. Dread to think what trying to do that now would do to me!

[JTUK]

I was 16 and played at a cheese and wine party at a local church.. so not very rock and roll
I think we did ok but it was a time ago... and the stories came much later

I have always been of the opinion that if you play you should just get out and do it...
Many a musician I have known never ever got out of the bedroom... what is that all about..????

[MacDaddy]

I'd always done recitals and concerts of a classical nature, but my first [i]gig [/i]was different. I was 16 and was dry heaving during the day because of nerves. I was shaking and had a couple of whisky's in an attempt to calm down.

Once on stage - in my sunglasses in a dark pub, worn to try and hide the audience - I looked at the setlist and realised I was going to up there for 45mins and there was nothing I could do about it, and a great calm overcame me (or maybe the whisky kicked in?) felt okay from then on and it was a great gig.

[jakenewmanbass]

I did my first public, paid gig at 12. It was in the Tower Hill youth club in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. We did a load of rock classics including louis louis, Hey Joe, some velvet underground stuff etc. The lead guitarist, who I'm still in touch with was jumping around like a mad fool and fell through the stage which just came apart because it was made of milk crates and chipboard. The Rhythm guitarist (who I'm also still in touch with) had an elder brother who danced in the audience like a man possessed, he is now my oldest close friend.
I think we got paid about £2.20, and right at that moment a little light bulb went off in my head... I've been playing paid gigs ever since, I'm 41 and since the age of 20 It's been my living.

PS. nice thread this... to find out about the stories of our fellow basschatters.

Edited November 26, 2009 by jakesbass

[thumperbob 2002]

Yeah I was 15 and played a school opening day with some pals- a couple of which are still my best friends- in a 4 piece doing 60s songs and songs of the late 70s ( modern ones at that time )- a couple of them went to front / play with the housemartins / beautiful south and other bands. I however had a chequered career doing all sorts- but usually played in bands 4 nights per week. Went on to become pro for a few years and then saw sense starting my own business which is going OK. Still play 4 nights per month though. Amazing - I`ve been playing for more than 30 years- when you think about it its quite scary!!

Bob

[neepheid]

First gig was October 4th 2008, aged 32, at The Tunnels in Aberdeen. We were performing at a birthday party with a hastily cobbled together ska covers band. There was drums, bass, guitar 1, guitar 2, vocals/trombone/melodica and vocals/alto sax. I was on bass (playing a Squier Bronco - I figured the short scale would make things easier ), Rich (Ou7shined on here) was playing a guitar and my wife was vocals/sax. We had 3 rehearsals together (one of which was the afternoon of the gig) and then just ploughed through it. It was pretty raw, but seeing as we were on last I think the majority of punters were well oiled by then. Plenty of dancing going on. I had some scrawled tab on a music stand hidden off to the side on a music stand behind one of the PA speakers. I was bricking it.

We went down pretty well I thought to my amazed self. The whole thing was videoed (by videoed I mean by a digicam perched somewhere on the sound desk - not proper cinematography) for posterity, and we even got paid. Then we got a wee bit tipsy.

I got the bug and by January I had joined my first band.

[Low End Bee]

1979! when I was 15 the seminal punk band Deadbeat we played at my school in West London (St Clement Danes which became Burlington Danes) with another band called Burnin Blockade I think who were in the year above.
We asked them if they wanted to share equipment and they turned us down out of hand.
They were playing Colombus copies through WEM practice amps.

The guitarist and I were working at Maurice Plaquets music shop in Shepherds Bush at the time and when we told the manager he supplied us with a full Marshall stack, a real Les Paul Custom, Ampeg SVT with an 8x10 and a 68 Precision (which I eventually bought) It was a sweet moment when they saw our gear

He turned up to watch us but the police wouldn't let him in as nearly all of Holland Park school had turned up to try to 'take us'.
Kids. If you think London is unsafe now I can assure you it was proper naughty ( © Danny Dyer) in the 70s!

In fact I think the first four or five proper gigs I did all had the old bill turn up for one reason or another.

Edited November 26, 2009 by Low End Bee

[Bilbo]

17 years old in a HM band in a club in Barry Island. Half way through the first tune, the roadie sidled up to me and said, 'you're out of tune' - I tried to deal with it whilst playing but, in my inexperience, was probably making things worse. At this point, the club manager comes across and tells the band to turn down. The guitarist (an old hand of 32) say 'f*** this' and stops the band, tells us all to pack up and we went home. I was gutted, not even a whole song!! The only silver lining to the story was that the club had done no publicity and there were only 2 people in the audience (really). I went home close to tears.

Had a second gig a week later. We nailed the sucker and went down a storm to 120 people in The Mason's Arms in Pantygasseg (near Pontypool). THat was in December 1980. Early in 1981, we did a Friday Rock Show session for Radio One and appeared on Heavy Metal Heroes Volume 2 (HM Records). Been gigging ever since and had my best year (120 gigs) in 2008/09.

Its all about Tenacity!!!

[garethox]

Aged 16 in 1986 at The Egerton Arms in Stockport, Manchester. Me and three mates due to play a single 45 minute set which blossomed into 2 45 minute sets because we going down pretty well. Problem? We only had 30 minutes worth of material, so we just played it all again in a different order!
Big memories? The drummer wearing sunglasses in dark room with a Japanese bandana (?); said drummer's police light perched procariously on his bass drum (our light show); the guitarist playing his EVH licks to an appreciative crowd; vox and backing vox down one mike into a crappy 100W Marshall P.A and me trying to play like John Entwistle on a Hohner Precision copy through a HH amp/combo with no effects and wondering why I couldn't get his 'sound'! Happy days!
Oh and if I ever forget any of it I have it all on DVD - and that is scary!!!

[Happy Jack]

Can't match some of these stories, but here's my first gig with my current band:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=46780&view=findpost&p=490636"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=490636[/url]

[ahpook]

i think my first gig was at school, so i was maybe 16 ?

i think it was someone's birthday party.


i have no recollection how it went !!!

[Deep Thought]

My first band had our first gig at a brown-ricer cafe, now long demolished, in downtown St.Austell. We had no drummer, just a very basic drum machine through what if I remember correctly was a 100watt amp and a 4X10 cab, which eventually stopped working towards the end of the set. Singer couldn't sing to save his bloody life, but would kill you if you tried to tell him so.
I got told to turn my bass down by a bloke I was later told was an ex-soundman for the Who!

[sixshooter]

I think I was about 15 so that makes it 1970, British Legion in Crawley performing with my best mate Gary, him on Guitar me on Bass. Went to tune my bass up and broke the G string!

We went on to play American Pie, something from Echoes Pink Floyd and a couple of numbers that Gary had written, I still have a tape of it and believe me it was not that good!

Not sure they were ready for us and our music.

I wonder where Gary is now?

[Adrenochrome]

My first gig was at the Royal Park Cellars in Leeds, quite the muso venue at the time.
There were no monitors, so our drum machine only went through 2 tiny FOH speakers. There were a couple of songs that we didn't even finish as we were all playing at different speeds. The 2 covers went down well though! (MC5 and Stooges I think).

[JayGarrett]

I was 17.

I had been attempting to teach myself guitar when a buddy of mine informed me that they'd just ejected their bassist (who happened to be his cousin) from their covers band - The Burning Heart

Was I interested? Nope - I wanted to be a guitarist!

But he talked me round so I bought a Marlin sparkly red bass guitar - it had a funny little tail-piece/cut out at the back if I remember.......

Anyhooo - I plugged in to the band's H&H rig and it all felt right. I realised that I was a bassist.

First gig was 3 months later when I chopped in the Marlin for a Hohner The Jack headless number.

We had, by then changed the band name to ESP (Eat, Sleep and Party) as we'd removed the original singer and his guitar playing brother because they wanted to play more 'romantic pop'.

Our set-list now included the likes of INXS, Marillion, Simple Minds, Del Shannon, U2, Van Halen - and our first outing was at the Youth Club the keyboard players mum and dad helped run....... it was 1988

I remember it well - my green suit and thin leather tie....... and a faily bad mullet

[stingrayfan]

15 - school hall. Played drums so hard, got blisters. Didn't cop off. Decided not to be a drummer anymore!

[eightball]

19 - splash club in kings cross, london with manhole and drain.

been playing bass for 2 weeks, in the band for 2 weeks, never driven a van before, and never really left belfast. some of the guys from fear factory were there.

it was awesome, and a long slippery downward spiral.

Edited November 26, 2009 by eightball

[Low End Bee]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='666074' date='Nov 26 2009, 11:43 AM']15 - school hall. Played drums so hard, got blisters. Didn't cop off. Decided not to be a drummer anymore! [/quote]

And you got more luck as a bass player?

[tombboy]

1985.... seventeen... Me and two mates were pratting about with musical instruments in an old annexe my parents owned. I was playing drums, one guitarist and a dodgy singer. Must have sounded dreadful but in our alcohol induced bravado we thought we were the mutts.... finished this then went up the pub to get totally bladdered. Talking to the landlord, he mentioned that the covers band he had booked for the following weekend had let him down. Cue our 'singer': "We've got a band!!"... we were duely booked, with no set and no band of sorts!!!

Spent the next week persuading my brother who is a very good guitarist and an outstanding drummer to come down to our level. Frantic copying of cassette tapes with some sort of set list so everyone can learn the songs. We had our first rehearsal a few hours before the 'gig' then shifted all the gear 100 yards up the road into the pub. Five minutes before we went on we were all cacking it until we realised that the pub was rammed with friends and family. Played the first number (Jumping Jack Flash I think) and the crowd went bloody mental!!!

By the time we finished the first set we realised that we had run out of material so we played the second set the same and just swapped the songs about a bit. Everyone was so munted, they didn't notice (or were we really that bad??).

That was the birth of the most fun I've ever had in my life for the next five years.... we were like Gods!! LOL!!!

The most fun gig was when we were bored one saturday in the middle of summer. Without any licences, we arranged a stage, power supply, lights, pa etc and set it all up on the market hill in the centre of town. A quick phone call to the local radio, messages sent round the pubs in town and the gig was on!! Played four hours to around 3500 people and two pubs on the market place took over ten grand each that day!!

The town still haven't hit the attendance record of that day with their own 'organised' music festival!!!

Glory times!!

[peted]

Around 1996 and about 16 years old. Open mic night and my mum and uncle were in the crowd (was too young to drive myself there). All I remember was that I was very nervous and sweaty.

[Old Horse Murphy]

In 1987, I got roped in to joining my first "proper" band at the age of 14 and was the youngest member by at least 10 years. I was totally hooked after my first gig but it must have been touch and go for the other band members whether they kept me on or not!

I had previously been playing guitar and got to know the owner of a guitar shop opposite my school as I used to spend most of my free periods and lunchtimes with him jamming through the amps in his shop. He was also lead guitarist with a popular (well, in Watford and St Albans anyway) band called The Sea.

One day while I was there he told me their Bass player had left the band and they were looking for a replacement; would I be interested?? I said yes without giving it any thought whatsoever and we immediately swapped my Fender Tele and amp for a white Japanese Fender Jazz with a dodgy "made in the USA" transfer on the headstock that he had on his shop wall.

We rehearsed that night and it was root notes all the way (at the time I was heavily influenced by Adam Clayton and Simon Gallup from The Cure). It fitted in with their requirements, I was offered the job and then told the next gig was in 3 days time!

The most difficult part was persuading my parents that it was a good thing for their 14 year old son to be a member of a pub rock band and that hanging out with men in leather jackets, earrings and long hair was perfectly normal. My Dad was fine with it as he'd always liked his live music. My Mum was more difficult to convince.

We agreed to a compromise in that my Dad would come along to the gig with me and ensure I was safe and not drinking too much etc. Being the archetypal teenager ("so unfair") I reluctantly agreed as long as he didn't speak to me or even stand anywhere near me.

Gig day arrived, we all met at the Pub in St Albans and the landlord graciously agreed to serve the 100 or so under-agers who'd turned up to witness my first performance.

I would like to tell you I rocked, I'd also like to say that I was rubbish but neither is true. In all honesty I can't remember. What I DO remember is that my fretting fingers would only move at 50% of their usual speed during the first song and that my plucking fingers kept getting caught under the strings.

The second song was marginally better and by the third song I was absolutely fine (still playing roots though).

After the first set I mingled with my friends and felt like a God! The second set I decided I would play bass and smoke a la Slash, so I strapped my bass on, put a ciggy on my bottom lip and promptly removed it again after seeing my Dad pull his face and start shaking his head.

All in all we went down really well. I received a lot of good hearted rather than musically appreciative compliments, but the band obviously thought I'd get better and let's face it anyone who can draw a decent crowd to any gig has a place in the band Incidentally our current rhythm guitarist is the biggest draw I have ever seen and 100% deserves his place in our line-up!

Best part of the night other than the playing of course was my Dad admitting that he'd had a few drinks and wasn't in a fit state to drive home so my Mum had to come and pick us up!

Edited November 26, 2009 by Old Horse Murphy

[chris_b]

I was 16 and my first gig was with school mates in a church hall in Ruislip, West London. We thought we were doing OK and as the singer announced the last number all the lights went on and the caretaker, who was the only person left in the hall, said, “I wouldn't bother mate, they've all gone home!!" So we didn't!

[Shockwave]

I was 18, i had been playing bass for maybe 4 months. I had to learn a set in 2 weeks within the confines of 2 short practice sessions. (This would eventually become a recurring theme in my bass playing career!)

It was outside a pub called "The Folly" (Oo err) It was some summer bbq and i was in a 4 peice indie rock band. My D string broke on the third song and had to use a semi hollow Tanglewood with a mile high action. Got through the gig, but really i didnt enjoy it at all!

[leschirons]

15 years old (when it was £.s.d) on drums, at the Mildmay Tavern in north London. Run by a short fat Jewish guy with a cigar. Played our first set to 8 people and in the break the owner told us that every band had to play "Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner" as the last number at 10.00 as a cue to drink up.

We didn't know it / couldn't play it / thought we were too cool to play it and refused so we were told to pack up and go with half our money (£5) which we spent in the Wimpey on the way home before remembering we had to pay £6.00 for the van, hired from a mate, the next day.

Great days, wouldn't trade the memory for anything.

[Protium]

My first gig was a covers band in a nightclub. I got smashed on guinness and passed out on a sofa, ended up covered in coats and the rest of the band were going mad trying to find me before our stage slot