How was your gig last night?

[OldGit]

[quote name='elom' post='305841' date='Oct 13 2008, 10:42 PM']Funny you should say that. We played a gig in the next village to me on Saturday - great crowd, all going for it. First set was a stormer, so was the second. Then we got to "Bohemian Like You" - not a difficult song and one we've been playing since our first ever gig 18 months ago. I completely forgot how to play it - absolutely completely. I looked to the guitarist but my brain would not compute. I flubbed around for the whole track not playing a single correct note. And at the end of the song the dancing crowd whooped and applauded having not noticed a thing! It knocked the stuffing out of me a bit and although I remembered all the rest of our songs I didn't enjoy it as much as usual. Ironically, we launched into a version of Chelsea Dagger at the end (which we are 'looking at' but have never even rehearsed) and of course that was perfect!

I'm annoyed at myself. I'm not a great bassist but I know my job and I do a competent job so to screw up like that on a song we've played so often is pretty poor. The landlord was happy though and booked us up for next year at an increased rate!

Oh well, on to the next one...[/quote]



Hey don't worry. I'm a bass player and I didn't notice Rich's fluffing, as it were. The chances of anyone at all realising you messed it up is pretty slim ...
That's the up side of bass being the invisible instrument ...

[magee]

My ridiculous cock-rock anthem band [we dress up as vikings - really] had our first gig in months on Saturday. Pokey room above a pub, drummer too drunk to remember what song it was and had to be babysat by me, playing through a tiny combo and couldn't hear a note, but - it was by far our best ever gig.
I'm pretty sure we were musically, ah, less than perfect, but the place was rammed and they went mental.
And - we had our first ever crowd surfers! It was truly a proud moment, I had to share.
M

[teej]

Put the kettle on, this is a long one...

[b]Saturday daytime[/b]: Busking in our favourite south coast seaside town.
With Red Jackson (blues, boogie, rockabilly)
It's the drummer's turn to get the pitch, at one end of a pedestrianised street, outside Boots and opposite a bank; and he misses it - the peruvians are there already. No big deal, we go to Pitch B on a widened pavement lined with trees and with a handful of benches for people to sit on. Marks & Spencers, Debenhams and that chain of woolen products whose name escapes me all nearby, so likely to be pretty busy, and we soon discover that the coffee is better at this end of the street, anyway (we're a caffeine fueled operation). It works very well indeed from the first set, with a big crowd gathering and the cds selling better than expected. All our flyers go, and a steady flow of business cards. Several interesting characters stop for a chat during our breaks, and two mournful solo guitarists, hopelessly late, wander about looking for a pitch. That spot is now unanimously promoted to Pitch A. I think we did another 3 sets before it was time to pack up and head off to our evening gig.

[b]Saturday Night[/b]: Eastbourne Beer Festival, Winter Gardens
With Red Jackson
The Floral Hall in the Winter Gardens is a huge structure, presumably victorian, and shaped like a zeppelin and about the same size. There's an enormous stage in the centre of one long side, a dance floor in front of it, and on this occasion, at either end, square island bars with barrel upon barrel of ales from all over Britain. 1200 tickets have been sold. And we're armed with a 500 watt yamaha pa. So we manage to find a techie and get him to stick two mics in front of our setup and just amplify us through the in-house rig (which we weren't supposed to use). Works a treat. Already booked for next year. Notable in the huge beery throng were: a geezer in lederhosen, several germanic wenches, and a group of about 6 gents in full tweedy outfits, huge false moustaches, deerstalkers and sporting what looked like stuffed ferrets on their shoulders! Beer - wonderful stuff, isn't it?

[b]Sunday afternoon[/b]: The Bell, Alresford
A guitar/vocals + harmonica + upright trio in a pub garden (in october? it was a beautiful day).
Well, the seven people who stayed really enjoyed it. Not my regular band and I have issues with these guys sometimes. Too loud and a slightly abrasive tone, too middley, maybe, or not enough low mid: we lost several tables of people, I suspect for just that reason. And always the same terrible patter and jokes. They are great players though. Rather touched that my son Josh (9 years old) wanted to come to the gig and hang out with his old man.

[b]Monday Night[/b]: Brio's, Shoreham by Sea
Duo with Red Jackson frontman, Phil Mills (guitar/vocal/harmonicas)
This was much more like it: helping out my colleague from Red Jackson with a duo gig that his duo buddy couldn't do. A new, smart Italian restaurant. I met the owner outside, as I was peering in trying to judge which door I should use, and he ushered me in in a most welcoming friendly manner. I think the double bass was a bit of a giveaway. We set up and sat down ready to eat, 2 beers appearing before us. I knew the food was going to be good - the place was already pretty busy on a monday night, and it seemed like everyone was speaking Italian. Indeed the food was very tasty, and more beers appeared without us asking.

The room filled to capacity before the second set, so that we were very cramped for space (more on this later), and it took a while to get the right sound and level. Not to mention approach: some restaurants want us to be real background, which is ok, we just play for ourselves, try new stuff out. But these guys are up for a party and we soon find that the livelier material is going down best, especially with a long central table with a large 60th birthday gathering. We have the whole place banging on tables by the end of the gig, and the chefs are out of the kitchen, watching us with big grins. Slightly alarmed to see one of them keeping time by slapping a large knife into his palm.

The birthday table is little more than a foot or two away from me, and the waitress has been squeezing past all night. As we get stuck into a rocking number, Mystery Train probably, and I'm slapping away, the bass sliding forwards on the shiny floor, she comes over to serve the gents right in front of me, leaning over the table as she does so, with the result that my slapping right hand is ending up about an inch from her bottom on every beat. I'm fairly entertained by this, but not as much, I realise when I look round, as the two swarthy waiters who are collapsing over in the bar area.

Controversially they now want Phil to do the gig with me in future instead of his regular duo partner. I'm sure that won't happen, but might be a foot in the door for the full Red Jackson trio.

[i]A long, busy weekend, and not just financially rewarding. A couple of days to recover, start work on mixing the new Red Jackson album and back to gigging on friday night, nice and local: I'll walk there and back.[/i]

[tonybassplayer]

I put it on, made a brew and enjoyed it reading the review.....always wanted to try busking, do you need a licence or just turn up and play ??

[bassace]

Just come back from two weeks in Gran Canaria with the seven piece I work with. Chicago jazz (an upmarket trad, if you will). We did 150 tunes, unrepeated, in the first week and then did them again the second week. Many of them we hadn't played before so we were a bit outside our comfort zone but it all went very well and we sold lots of CDs. We had the usual 'I don't like jazz, but I like your band' thing. When pressed more than one person said it was the Laine/Dankworth thing that turned them off - sorry to be controversial.

All the gear lives over there - PA, drums, keyboard and a stick bass without a name that played quite well, so travelling over was quite easy.

[teej]

[quote name='tonybassplayer' post='306570' date='Oct 14 2008, 07:47 PM']I put it on, made a brew and enjoyed it reading the review.....always wanted to try busking, do you need a licence or just turn up and play ??[/quote]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it - I'm thinking of putting a blog together.

Regarding the ins and outs of busking and the law; every town is different. Some have licensing schemes where you pay for a year and wear a badge, some you have to apply in advance for each visit, but it's free, some just collect names and details and you agree to toe whatever line they've chalked on the pavement (so to speak). Some actively encourage street entertainment and some ban it outright (they'll always find some excuse to move you on). And it changes year to year. We're old school and don't do much in the way of permit application. We just turn up and do what we do. Even so, we have excellent relationships with members of several councils' events and arts development offices and get regular work from them.

Trouble is, having a permit generally means you agree not to do all the things that we want to do - like use a generator and a pa, and sell cds. With no permit we can always say, oh really, I had no idea that wasn't allowed...

I love it, and I'm proud to be a street entertainer. It has a profound effect on my whole approach to music, gigs, gear, audiences and other musicians. And it's a great way to indulge in people-watching.

[bassninja]

Bit late but...Monday's gig was great.

A trio I now play in only occasionally had a residency at an acoustic music club for about 13-14 years every Monday. I met some fabulous musos - many pretty famous, made a lot of lifelong friends and got my chops together in a variety of styles from country to bebop and all (well OK, most) points in between. We were sad when the club closed, and have all drifted off to find other things to scratch the itch, as it were. Anyway, Monday was a one-off 'reunion'.

Arrived to find the car park stuffed to the gills, standing room only and loads of slaps on the back on the way in. Set up my wee Laney practice combo (plenty for the room, honest) and[i] twannngggg, brannngggg [/i]tuned up in front of an expectant throng with people coming up to shake hands and "Hi how have you been" type stuff.

We were joined by our 'fifth Beatle' and old mate Jon Wigg on fiddle, and it took off from the first note really. The roar that met the end of the first number was fantastic, and we got an encore after the [i]first [/i]set. I sat in with anyone who felt the need for some bass, as ever, and got to play with an 80 year old accordion player too!

Smiles all round, encore with everyone who could play anything- a bit like the end of The Last Waltz (!) great vibe and lots of "when are you going to do it again?".

A really valuable gig that will see me through many chav-laden pub gigs in the months to come.

[jakenewmanbass]

Not last night but this morning and afternoon..
One of the worst paid gigs I do... in money that is, however the rewards are astonishing.
It's for a charity called music in hospitals the gigs range from childrens wards in mental health institutions to acute care for badly injured and terminal patients through to old folks homes and hospices.
It sounds cheesy but you really do feel a sense of doing something good as these people get so little of this sort of thing so they really appreciate it. I especially like playing for the older folk as they recognise some of the tunes and always respond.

Edited October 15, 2008 by jakesbass

[OldGit]

[quote name='jakesbass' post='307512' date='Oct 16 2008, 12:24 AM']Not last night but this morning and afternoon..
One of the worst paid gigs I do... in money that is, however the rewards are astonishing.
It's for a charity called music in hospitals the gigs range from childrens wards in mental health institutions to acute care for badly injured and terminal patients through to old folks homes and hospices.
It sounds cheesy but you really do feel a sense of doing something good as these people get so little of this sort of thing so they really appreciate it. I especially like playing for the older folk as they recognise some of the tunes and always respond.[/quote]


A folkie singing guit@rist friend of mine makes his living playing those Music in Hospitals gigs by day and folkin' clubs by night. He tours constantly and manages to combine the two wherever he goes in the UK.
He says it's much better to go and play a set to a grateful and responsive audience in the afternoon than hang around yet another cafe or soulless hotel room waiting for the evening gig.

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='OldGit' post='307683' date='Oct 16 2008, 10:14 AM']and folkin' clubs by night.[/quote]

Heh Heh, I like the idea of "folkin'" as a verb, or adjective

"folkin musicians, they're all lazy bastards the folkin' lot of 'em"

"What you doing tonight Charlie?"
"I'll be folkin' 'til two in the morning"
"what a stud"

[OldGit]

[quote name='jakesbass' post='307734' date='Oct 16 2008, 11:11 AM']Heh Heh, I like the idea of "folkin'" as a verb, or adjective

"folkin musicians, they're all lazy bastards the folkin' lot of 'em"

"What you doing tonight Charlie?"
"I'll be folkin' 'til two in the morning"
"what a stud"[/quote]


we play a lot of "Folkin' Roll" with our feet on the monitors

[molan]

Just got home from the Propaganda in Fleet, Hants.

Fun gig really, dragged the Roscoe out & got a surprising amount of comments about how 'pretty' it looked

Ran it through the MarkBass 121 & 1x15 and sound on stage was really good. Haven't gigged any of these before so very happy all round really.

Singer away for a month and a couple of sloppy intros but not anything really nasty

[yorks5stringer]

Played our monthly gig at the Old Tramshed, Saltaire last night. Quite a few of the many invitees rolled up, "Toasted" from this board being 1.
We were a little apprehensive as our singer was stuck in traffic and we were doing the first quarter of the set with acoustic guitar, however all turned out well.
There has been a change of management and they offered us double our usual money in error, but being honest souls and mindful of the need to cultivate the new management we fessed up! They have offered us gigs up to Easter so a result there.
Lots of good feedback from the punters again although one guy came up to us and said we were a bit "stop start" at the beginning of the set....that was the soundcheck!

[simon1964]

We played a small pub in Barrow Upon Soar near Loughborough last night. Its a regular gig for us, and always a good night. Although I did have to cope with a particularly ''tired and emotional'' female punter falling over a monitor onto my floor pod half way through the second set, which somehow found me playing on some weird factory pre-set for half a song!

Also used the new (to me) BO Thumb for the first time at a gig. Awesome tone through the Mark Bass combo.

[bassninja]

Regular monthly gig at a country pub miles from anywhere.

We junked our usual pool of stuff and winged loads of things we haven't played for at least 5 years. Great fun, esp. since I didn't do BVs back then, so a bit of a fun challenge. Funny how songs I was bored of playing back then are now fun again...

[Gamble]

"Good evening Norfolk County Counil social club..... ARE YOU READY TO ROCK??!!"

No, they were not. £130 in the kitty for recording in a fortnight tho.

Playing a really uncomfortable gig actually took me back a few years and reminded me that most of the gigs I play now are actually not that bad. Gotta keep things in perspective!

[WalMan]

[quote name='bassninja' post='309231' date='Oct 18 2008, 01:53 PM']Funny how songs I was bored of playing back then are now fun again...[/quote]
Isn't that always the way!!! We have resurrected a few that we had played for ages and were favourites with the regulars because it was all getting sloppy. Guitard was getting to the breaks and completely losing it.

Dragged them out again a couple of weeks back for the new dual guitar line up and it was funny to watch the regulars who kept asking for them when they were gone prick their ears up.

Admiral Drake, Portsmouth tonight (I must get loaded & going PDQ as the sound guy just texted to say he is on his own for load in) and as a 4 piece as 2nd guitarist is n/a. Odd gig as we seem to only get a couple a year so here's hoping. More later

[WalMan]

[quote name='WalMan' post='309347' date='Oct 18 2008, 05:03 PM']More later[/quote]
And we're back.

Odd night. One of those one's when there is a small crowd at the front clearly enjoying themselves all night, plenty of others mouthing the words (to the songs that is, not "you're sh1t, kindly vacate the premises") smatterings of applause. like a light rain shower - and then we do the last couple of songs and all of the sudden they won't let us go and we do three or four encores only stopping when the landlord finally says no more.

Still plenty of flyers went with promises of attending future gigs and we've been offered more there later this year and next.

Bizarre conversation in the break with a couple of punters (fairly well in drink it has to be said) who were desperate to tell us something, though I never really worked out quite what or why. I had this vision of Harry & Pauls "Writer and landlady" sketch and it was all I could do to stop reeling off "[i]perhaps, no, doesn't ring a bell, 'fraid not, not that I recall, no, 'fraid not, not that I recall, doesn't ring a bell, no, 'fraid not[/i]" as the conversation progressed

[ianwild16]

Fancied a change last night and decided on the spot to use a plectrum all night and change the tone settings on my amp.
Made the gig more interesting...!
I usually use my index and middle fingers to pluck the strings.
I normally have my bass tone set with extra bass and no treble.
Last night turned down the bass and boosted the treble.
I was suprised to find a liked the results, especially when all the band was playing.
I found I could hear myself better.
My plucking hand got a bit tired half way through the 2nd set, but mainly because a couldn't decide if i was going to just use downstrokes, or alternate up & down strokes.

Nobody else in the band noticed a change....!

[Merton]

Good gig last night, we have a completely new lighting rig, trusses and start cloth and it was their debut last night. Looked awesome and of course made us sound better

The gig itself was cool, one of my pupils played "You Really Got Me" instead of me - it was his elder sister's 18th birthday. I think we played well, my new Ibanez synth pedal sounded cool and ultimately everyone was on the dancefloor all night so can't have been bad

[stingrayfan]

Small wedding in a proper ye olde pub/hotel in SW London. Great venue - was more like playing a house party than doing a wedding, really relaxed feel. Wedding party were up for a dance and the first half was heaving all the way through. So much so, that we played on a bit (always good to go with the flow). Started first few songs with two very attractive bridesmaids dancing right in front of me. Put me right off my fills What is it about bridesmaids...? Oh to be young, free and single...

We put in a couple of cheesy wedding songs (Mustang etc) into the mix but they were a younger crowd and much more up for the Britpop and punky stuff, so we ended up playing more of that. Wedding couple were really cool and asked us to play all of the songs on our setlist that we normally ditch at weddings, because the lyrics are a bit unromantic. So we did: Is She Really Going Out With Him, Much Too Young and Ever Fallen in Love etc...

Great gig - wiped out today though.

Edit: used my new Trace combo again last night with my L2000 and it sounded brilliant. Warm rounded sound with loads of punch and definition. Bloody heavy though - two man lift. Hit that great sweet spot with the kick drum several times during the gig. You know the one - where the drummer's right foot and your fingers seem to be linked and you're playing beat for beat. Great.

Edited October 19, 2008 by stingrayfan

[The Funk]

Best gig ever last night.

Bush Hall (nice, big venue with a nice, big stage), where everyone on the bill was a friend of ours: Saul Ashby (singer-songwriter who was the drummer in my last band), Zeroplane (my cousin's band, featuring 2 band members from another band I was in) and Pete Brown (mentor to us all). Each set was excellent and it was definitely our best so far.

Taking it easy today in a post-gig mellow contentment.

[overwater#1]

Just finsihed a weeks performance of the 'Bloodbrothers' at our local theatre, was a superb week, and the show went down a storm!
Keys bass and drums, and were on stage, seen as the society did it as a play, 'theatre in the round' in the theatre hall after re-arranging all the seating, and seen as the trio has so much room being the only thing on the stage in the theatre, I took my whole Trace stack, which sounded f*****g awesome, but over-powered the PA and band so easily... 'TURN IT DOWN'!!!!! Went very well..

Doing a concert of Jekyll and Hyde in two weeks, then a musical 'Seussical', and a few more after then.. Good fun!!

[MacDaddy]

Salisbury Arms, pub in Luton but miles out from the centre. New landlord wants to make a go of it as a music venue and has bands booked every week past New Year. We had our usual Polish contingent among the fans (due to our Polish drummer) and as the support band we had more people watching us than the headlining band.
Belted out our usual medley of old school heavy metal and covers of Iron Maiden, Accept, and Venom. Went down well

Edited October 19, 2008 by MacDaddy

[OldGit]

Tennis Club annual dinner 'n' dance.
Booked for ages so when that date became "Big National Ceilidh Day" for Water Aid we asked them of we could hijack their gig for one dance for this good cause. They said yes so at 10 pm, us, along with loads of gigs and bands all over the UK and even the US and Canada, were dancing the Circassian Circle to the Jimmy Allen tune ... Great stuff. We raised an impromptu £70 for Wateraid too, just from pocket shrapnel, more or less...

The gig itself was good fun. Blowing a fuse on one bank of lights just before we took the stage reminded me of the "I nearly died" thread on here and its talk of us all using the wrong fuses .. ho hmmm ..

The audience were all fit people who stayed off the sauce and managed most of the dancing stuff.
We managed to film an entire dance all the way through and there's certainly some bemused chaos going on. That may actually make it as our first gig youtube ...

They were so polite that they waited about 10 minutes after we'd finished, and until I was well into the post gig schmoozing, to ask for an encore
I sent the Ladies Captain off to the changing room to find the rest of the band (in their pants ) and we went back on in mufti Everyone loved it, so a win there ...