How was your gig last night?

[Number6]

[quote name='beely' timestamp='1495974591' post='3307835']
A little back-story to last night’s gig. Hope this is not too long-winded but, bear with me.

On Tuesday I was contacted by a local venue to see if we could play on Saturday as the band they had booked couldn’t do the gig.
Before I confirmed we were ok, I texted each band member to check they were available.
Within twenty minutes I had replies from everyone to say they were free.

So far, so good.

I confirmed with the venue, The Twa Tams in Perth, that we were good to go.

I then set off on the drive down to Northumberland to spend a couple of days with a musician buddy who moved there a few months ago.
About an hour later, the lead guitarist texts me.

“Really sorry man, just realised I’ve got something on that night so I can’t make it.”
My reply ( the printable one) was, “The gig is confirmed, we are playing.”
However, he insisted he can’t make it so now, I’m faced with a problem.
Gigs are hard enough to come by as it is so there is no way I am giving this one up without a fight.
Cue much texting and phoning to see if I can get a dep. Everyone seems to be playing this weekend. I eventually get a reply from a young lad who I know from open mics in the town that he can play with us.
Bit of a result: he lacks neither talent nor confidence.

Next thing: we have a new guitarist joining the band and this will be his first gig with us. He has had one rehearsal so you can imagine how he feels. He tells me he will get down to work and should be well enough sorted for the gig.
Starting to feel a bit better about things as we all seem to be taking the view that, actually, this could be fun.
Both new guitarist and dep learned thirty-one songs in three days to at least giggable standard. Absolutely fantastic.

It turned out to be probably our best gig/performance to date. The crowd were up for it, right from our vocal sound-check, a three-part harmony of “When will I be loved” and continued throughout the whole evening.
Everybody in the band were totally relaxed and, despite a few missed cues and a couple of other daft things, played exceptionally well.
Really gratifying to see hard work paying off and turning what could have been a difficult night into a bit of a success.

Also nice to get a few more dates in the diary.

First topic of conversation at tomorrow’s rehearsal?

We have a band Google calendar: use it!
[/quote]

I always book our gigs and right from the start of the booking i pester and pester the guitarist and drummist to remember the dates.....they hate me for it but forewarned is forearmed

[Telebass]

Very sweaty gig in Roche, Cornwall. But then I suspect every gig on Saturday was a a bit damp...
Good crowd, good pay, repeat booking.
Result!

[radiophonic]

Small festival slot as a part of the Anglo-Hungarian Motorcycle Festival. 2 hour drive down to Molehill Green. We'd played a few duds recently, but yesterday everything just clicked. Decent monitor sound, me an the guitar player could run at full power for a change, somebody competent and sympathetic doing the live sound. Best of all, it was early afternoon and blazing sunshine so everyone was up and about two pints into their Sunday breakfast and there was no mud. Well worth the trip and the pay was okay too.

[beely]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1496002287' post='3308075']

so, is the new guy your new guitarist substituting the one who created the problem?
It wasn't clear to me. If yes... then I like your style: ruthless but fair.
I hate being left to deal with crap like that when someone comes up with "oh I forgot..."... easy for them because they never deal with promotors or have to negotiate anything... or be the ones looking like an idiot.
[/quote]

The young kid was depping for the regular lead guitarist who couldn’t make it.

The new guitarist has joined the band in addition to the “missing-on-the-evening” guitarist.

I’ve always felt we were a bit weak on the guitar side of things, more so lately as there have been lots of mistakes/forgotten intros, that sort of thing at gigs. It’s become more apparent since our fiddle player left last year: obviously she was covering up to a certain extent. He also gets really nervous at gigs and that just makes things worse.

We’ve had to drop a few songs because he can’t get the set piece solos right.
We had a one-to-one conversation a couple of months ago after a particularly disastrous gig and he accepted he was holding the band back to a certain degree.
He is a decent rhythm player, ok singer and plays harmonica so he actually brings a lot to the band.
On the evidence of Saturday’s gig, the new guy is a proper lead guitarist.
At our one rehearsal with the new guy, I felt our existing guitarist was a lot more relaxed and is probably relieved to have the pressure taken off.

I’m hopeful that things will work out ok.

It was only after Saturday’s gig was over that I realised the reason for everyone being so relaxed and enjoying it so much was the absence of waiting for the next mistake to happen.

Whatever happens, I’ve seen the future. If he can’t step up then, sadly, a tough decision will be made.

I hope it doesn’t come to that.

[Len_derby]

[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1496043665' post='3308241']
Small festival slot as a part of the Anglo-Hungarian Motorcycle Festival. 2 hour drive down to Molehill Green. We'd played a few duds recently, but yesterday everything just clicked. Decent monitor sound, me an the guitar player could run at full power for a change, somebody competent and sympathetic doing the live sound. Best of all, it was early afternoon and blazing sunshine so everyone was up and about two pints into their Sunday breakfast and there was no mud. Well worth the trip and the pay was okay too.
[/quote]

That's good news John. I was getting a bit worried for you after the last couple of gig reports you posted.

[ezbass]

First gig since January, Friday night and the first gig outing for my new Maruszczyk Elwood L. Great to be back in the saddle and the new beast was a joy to play (certainly a lot easier on my shoulder than my Ric). A few 'moments' were had by all, there's nothing that replace actually playing live for knocking the rust off, but all in all a great gig to a packed house. I think the landlord was well pleased.

[radiophonic]

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1496046661' post='3308274']
That's good news John. I was getting a bit worried for you after the last couple of gig reports you posted.
[/quote]
Yeah, plus we've lacked momentum this year, thanks to a combination of injury, illness and unemployment. I was considering jacking it in, but we've written three new tunes over the spring and have a fair bit lined up over the summer. Everyone is pretty upbeat after Sunday's gig.

[cheddatom]

An afternoon festival in Derby on Saturday. Perfect location, great stage, fantastic sound... no-one there. There was nothing but a small beer stall with 3 taps, and a small burger stall. Not even public toilets. I guess there are other factors involved but IME these things generally involve booze, which tends to require more selection of beer, and some public toilets to cater for the effects, plus some random tat stalls and some rides/games for kids.

Great festival on Sunday but we were pulled off after playing 25 minutes of our 45 minute time slot. The organisers kept trying to blame the other acts for running over, but if they can cut us short, they can do it for everyone

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1496139711' post='3309007']
Great festival on Sunday but we were pulled off after playing 25 minutes of our 45 minute time slot. The organisers kept trying to blame the other acts for running over, but if they can cut us short, they can do it for everyone
[/quote]

I'll bet that was annoying, all the effort of getting there, setting up etc only to get cut short. I wouldn't have been happy...

Edited May 30, 2017 by PaulGibsonBass

[cheddatom]

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1496141754' post='3309028']
I'll bet that was annoying, all the effort of getting there, setting up etc only to get cut short. I wouldn't have been happy...
[/quote]

We still got our fee, and it was only an hours drive, but yes, frustrating. I can only assume that someone made a call that other bands were entertaining enough to run over their set-time, where as we were not entertaining enough to play the full slot. Either that or some form of politics. Never mind!

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1496142777' post='3309036']


We still got our fee, and it was only an hours drive, but yes, frustrating. I can only assume that someone made a call that other bands were entertaining enough to run over their set-time, where as we were not entertaining enough to play the full slot. Either that or some form of politics. Never mind!
[/quote]

Conversely, we're doing a small festival on Saturday and we've just learned that our 45 minute set has been extended to an hour. Nice.

[Rocker]

For the last five months, I have played bass with a few friends every other week. One of my friends has a music room in his house, it is there that we play. Very casual and good fun.

Without really trying, we got a gig! Exciting as it is 38 years since I last played in public (the reason why I stopped gigging in 1979 was that a life changing event happened after the gig I had finished playing at). And that was lead guitar in a country band.

Details of the 2017 event here:

[url="http://thomastownroyalcanal.net/family-fun-day-2017/"]http://thomastownroy...y-fun-day-2017/[/url]

[color=#34495E][font=Lato, sans-serif]It is now Tuesday, two days after the gig. Feel absolutely knackered today as I did yesterday! We played non stop all afternoon from 2:00 to 6:00. The crowd certainly liked us. One of our old friends called up the 'Golden Oldies' [/font][/color][color=#34495E][font=Lato, sans-serif]. I am amazed at the amount of equipment needed for a gig. It took over ½ hour to setup, another ¼ hour for sound check and over ½ hour to dismantle everything and get it into our cars.[/font][/color]

[color=#34495E][font=Lato, sans-serif]It was some experience though, seeing people react to the songs we played. Perhaps surprisingly, I don't want to gig very often. Once a year is often enough for me. We are booked for next years Family Fun Day.[/font][/color]

[color=#34495E][font=Lato, sans-serif]We had a great day all told, the sun shone and the crowds turned out. And they stayed. The organizing committee put a lot of effort in, it is amazing how much thought is needed for such a day. First Aid, Security, Car Parking, Stewards to direct traffic not to mention the fact that it was held beside a canal. AFAIK nobody actually fell in![/font][/color]

[color=#34495E][font=Lato, sans-serif]As I said above, playing live is a great experience. Everyone who plays music ought to try it at least once. So if you get the chance, go for it.[/font][/color]

Edited May 30, 2017 by Rocker

[grumpyguts]

Excellent gig at the Binfield Club near Bracknell. Our heavily pregnant sax player brought along her trumpet playing husband so we had a three piece horn section (we have 2 sax players) and they sounded epic. Only our third gig and first since September so we were a bit worried before whether we would be any good. Plus we had a dep singer, she was excellent. Yes there were a few dodgy bits but the punters were happy and the club want us back on a Saturday night.. Job done.

[FinnDave]

We were in Bicester for the first time last night. Decent place to play, pub with a stage. Had to unload and then park the cars 5-19 mins walk away, but of a pain to have to go and get them at the end of the gig, once we're done I just want to get home and under the shower.

Debit gig for my new Thunderbird, bought yesterday morning, gigged in the evening. Great bass, rich, round sound. Also first time out with 20Db filters in my ACS pro earplugs, up from the 17Db I've been using for the last 3 or 4 years. Definitely helps my ears, and the drums and guitar didn't cause my ears any problems for the first time in a while.

Off to Wootton Bassett tonight (sorry, ROYAL Wootton Bassett!) then nothing for a couple of weeks due to holidays.

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1496476884' post='3311699']
We were in Bicester for the first time last night. Decent place to play, pub with a stage. Had to unload and then park the cars 5-19 mins walk away, but of a pain to have to go and get them at the end of the gig, once we're done I just want to get home and under the shower.
[/quote]

Good venue, The Bell. We've played there a few times, a fortnight ago most recently.

For future reference there is free parking (after 6pm) just found the corner, a minutes walk away. Just go past the pub and turn immediately right. They look like they might be private parking spaces as they're in front of some units, but they're pay and display.

[FinnDave]

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1496482100' post='3311755']
For future reference there is free parking (after 6pm) just found the corner, a minutes walk away. Just go past the pub and turn immediately right. They look like they might be private parking spaces as they're in front of some units, but they're pay and display.
[/quote]

The pub staff told us about those spaces, but there as no room. There is another bunch like that further down the same road, which were also full. I ended up up at a large open Pay & Display car park which was nearly empty (free after 7pm). Think we just hit town on a busy night!

Definitely a good place to play, though, a proper music pub. Our drummer was most impressed with the pub's choice of music while we were setting up. Definitely our sort of place, we've been promised further gigs, so let's see what happens!

[casapete]

Storming gig last night at Leicester De Montfort Hall.
1200 enthusiastic punters and a great in house db PA system made for a memorable night.
It was our first gig after a 5 week layoff so well pleased.

[Iain]

3 gigs in two weekends, BH Weekend...

Half-Life: Biker festival in Warrington. We did 7-9 before the 'patching' ceremony and obligatory on-stage burnouts. turned up with our 1.5kw PA and backline to find a full pro stage setup with massive PA and all the on-stage toys pros get to enjoy. Awesome sound guy who had us set up and ready to soundcheck in 15 mins - whole drum kit on separate mics too. Tore my calf muscle an hour before we went on stage due to high-jinks and antics brought on by excitement... Gig was awesome but bloody painful. Whole band played on their A-game. Stayed over so we could enjoy the bar and the rest of the night. Hello British summer...

Trackside: Played Sunday night at "The Macc" in Macclesfield. Great pub, landlord is a huge supporter of live music. Couple of songs with guest vocals from a local talent Maisie Johnson. Our singer just got his voice back from 'flu in the week so was struggling by the end and the drummer was still jaded from a wedding do the night before. Shame really as it's the drummer's last gig with us and it was a little low-energy. Breaking in the new drummer starts tomorrow!

Cover Story: Friday 2nd: Acoustic covers in Rustic, a Wine bar in West Didsbury. lost of 'wine bar classics' and Manchester toons (death by Oasis!), went down a storm despite us being under rehearsed. Problems with my acoustic bass feeding back which need addressing.

All in all a good week.

[BrunoBass]

We played at the annual Deerjam festival in town, good slot for us, 7pm-8pm. Great crowd, decent sound man who gave me a good monitor mix.

Our first gig as a three piece. Our (now only) guitarist was nervous but two or three songs in we were cooking.

I left the Stingray at home and used my new J&D Jazz, which arrived two days ago. It sounded and performed great, I still can't believe how good a £100 bass can be.

Anyway, the rain stayed away, I had a few beers and saw lots of friends, and raised a few grand for local charities - a good day all round.

[Yank]

Fri. night gig in restaurant/bar in coastal Maine. Although I play bass in one band, I also play guitar/ sing in a two guitar duo. I get there one hour before and can't load in as the place is wall to wall people who heard we were coming. Finally set up, I'm playing my Tele through my Fargen Townhouse, a 20 watt handbuilt all tube combo, cranked to hear over the crowd noise. My tone is sweet and ditto the other guitar, a Gibson. The crowd is eating, drinking, dancing, hooting and hollering as we play a mix of old school honky-tonk country, swamp blues an rock. The owner asked if he could sit in on bass on the last set. Hell, yeah!!!!!!!! He wheels out a 4x10 cab, and we kick into Led Zep's R&R. The guy was great! Played the last set, with him in 7th heaven and me with a grin I couldn't wipe off. After the gig he booked us 3 weeks in a row. I told him he could sit in whenever we're there but I couldn't pay him much. He sent me home with fish and chips to boot! Looking forward to returning.

[FinnDave]

Our second gig of the weekend was in Royal Wootton Bassett (you should hear the way people complain if you leave off the 'Royal'!) in a pub on the edge of town. Pushed into a tight corner, the gig didn't look too promising, but by the time we started there were plenty there, and we had a really good gig, probably better than the previous night's. We played much quieter, due to the size, resulting in better sound and a happy band.

Second time out for my lovely Thunderbird, again attracted comments and praise from the audience. Not really a bass for the shy and retiring type, this one definitely gets me noticed, even if people have their eyes shut!

Edited June 4, 2017 by FinnDave

[ezbass]

Revisiting a working man's club we've played before and a venue I like and look forward to playing. We played well and went down as well as we always do. However, I could barely hear myself, which is strange as my rig was slightly raised behind me and was certainly loud enough in the FOH mix, it just seemed to blow past me; disappointing

[cheddatom]

"Something To Smile About" festival in Doncaster on Saturday. What an ace festival! Small, but totally independent, which probably has something to do with the amazing atmosphere. Well, that and the sunshine. A very enthusiastic crew who were eager to get us on stage and set up. I was a bit confused as half the drum riser was missing, and so I had to wait for the previous band to finish before I could set up. It became clearer once I realise they only had one set of steps! We had to get on the stage so that they could move the steps to the other side to get the other band off!! The baron player from Folk The System played a couple of tunes with us which was ace, so all in all a great gig

We were supposed to play the acoustic festival in Uttoxeter on Sunday but it was cancelled for one reason or another. A shame as if I'd known I might have stayed in Doncaster!

[NancyJohnson]

We played at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester. It was a benefit for the Swindon Rockets wheelchair football team. Good cause, but all a little ad-hoc...we turned up, bands were literally pulling straws for their place in the running order (we pulled the shortest, so were first on). Too much gear on the stage, too many surplus people on stage ('Could your wife perhaps stand elsewhere with her arms crossed, rather than in the way of everyone?'), too many people a bit too keen to ensure they had their guitars in racks right where you needed to be (you just wanted to shout, 'Yes, I know you have a Rickenbacker, sir, it's very lovely, but if you leave it there it's most definitely going to get dinged.').

Needless to say, we didn't get a soundcheck, but I was told retrospectively we played to the most people. So, wooyay us.

That said, it was a pinch-yourself-you-can't-believe-it amazing place, they've filmed Poldark there:


This is us (yes, I know, there's some noise on the image):

Edited June 6, 2017 by NancyJohnson

[WalMan]

Storming night last Saturday with a crowd well up for it and not the swivel eyed loons (my new favourite description of certain punters) of the week before.All dancing, singing and vocally appreciative from the get go.

Wifey was reporting back nice overheard compliments in the break and at the end.

Basically the sort of gig you need after one where the loons were pissed when you arrived to set up, swaying gently in the breeze and you wonder what's the point - that earlier gig being one where the vocalist reported going to the loo in the break and finding one of said SEL's at the urinal with his mobile propped on a pipe in front of him having a blazing row with his girlfriend on facetime

Anyway. Saturday. One guitarist down for a second gig but got through no problems having worked as a three piece for years before so just adjusted things a bit. A few fluffs but noone noticed. Boiling hot night & I forgot my stage towel so was stood in a small puddle by the end of the night. Used the Super12 and TH350 plus the Status S1 I had off Barney42 a while back while the L2500 was repaired but am still loving the sound and playability of so G&L languishes in its case.

All in all most enjoyable and what gigging's about. Can't wait for the next one