How was your gig last night?

[ezbass]

Played my second gig with my Tom Petty tribute band on Friday night. I was really not looking forward to it: it was a good distance away on traditionally very busy roads; there was no money (it had already been spent on various promotional activities); I’ve not been enjoying playing my parts at rehearsals; I had lost confidence in my BVs; I had strained my back in the morning and wasn’t looking forward to standing for all that time. It was an absolutely blinding gig! The pub was packed, locals said they’d never seen it so busy. I really got into some ‘rock and roll mic sharing’ action with a friend from another band who got up and did some Stevie Nicks action with us. Just goes to show how different the event can be over the anticipation.

[steantval]

1 hour ago, stewblack said:

Bleary eyed after time traveling last night. Bluddy clocks changed as I drove home.

Played one of those 60s pubs in Swindon which have a huge function room with a very wide very narrow stage. My rig just about coped without pa support but I'll take something with more oomph next time we're there. 

Typical Saturday night crowd, lively, up for it, and fun. Singer always arrives late for second set so we've taken to starting without her. Last night, evidently not prepared to wait, a punter clambered onto the stage and started singing. 

She was ok, but exited sharpish when the boss turned up. Quite an imposing woman is our singer.

Got paid, got home in one piece. On to the next one this afternoon.

You state the singer always arrives late, not really acceptable, the band should be having a word with her. 😤

[Mudpup]

56 minutes ago, steantval said:

You state the singer always arrives late, not really acceptable, the band should be having a word with her. 😤

Yeh, how does that work then if she doesn't show till late in the 2nd set??? I may try that one with my lot - just rock up for the last 45 minutes and dodge the load in 😉

 

[Woodinblack]

We tend to start without our singer on the second set, one of the songs that the drummer sings, it sort of reminds him to get back to the stage.

[Mudpup]

Last nights gig was a return to one of our old haunts - a pub in Minster, Kent. When we first started playing it years ago there was a cracking landlord and crowd but a new chap took it over and effectively killed it. No one got on with him, the crowds disappeared and we stopped bothering with it. He lasted a year and hopped it owing money to everyone. It now has new owners who are trying to get it back on track and the locals had been asking them to get us back in. We'd made a decision to try not to travel so much this year as this place is 100 miles away so politely declined but after the locals had been on at us via Facebook we decided to give it another go. 

I started coming down with the plague on Friday night - even the follicles on my head were aching - and i spent most of Saturday feeling sorry for myself and not looking forward to the drive down, drive home and potential tumbleweed gig. 

So fast forward and we had a blinder, great crowd just like the old days, lovely owners, we played well, tried a couple of new songs out and i got by on adrenalin until about half way thru the second set - i've just watched some video back and i can see that i'm getting tired and a bit sloppy around the point that the drugs were wearing off! The M2 was closed on the way back, i got lost on the detour and ended up getting stuck going back down it which added 30 mins to the drive back dammit but eventually crept in at 4am new time this morning feeling like @@@@.

But wifey is waiting on me hand and foot on Mothers Day now - she's a top girl :-)

[Mudpup]

5 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

We tend to start without our singer on the second set, one of the songs that the drummer sings, it sort of reminds him to get back to the stage.

Ah, i thought you meant she doesn't turn up till late for the gig. I hope she's getting a round in while you're opening the second set :-)

[Graham]

Good gig last night at one of our regular public venues; I had new strings, a new compressor and was stood next to the desk, so could easily adjust my IEM mix so the sound was great.

A few daft mistakes from all of us, but plenty of happy punters and bar staff, so over all a good evening. I do hate playing on the night the clocks go forward though.

[ezbass]

14 minutes ago, Mudpup said:

The M2 was closed on the way back, i got lost on the detour and ended up getting stuck going back down it which added 30 mins to the drive back

Don't you just hate it when that happens, it can really take the shine off of a good night? Many times I've been presented by a closure and/or roadworks on the M25 (M3, A3, etc), or the junction I need to get off at to get home. 😡

[Stylon Pilson]

I had a pretty good gig last night, a pub in Eton Wick with an enthusiastic crowd. But it was one of those funny occasions where different band members get a wholly different experience. Me and the drummer both thought it sounded pretty good, but the guitarist slash singer had a short shopping list of things that had spoilt his enjoyment, and so his one-word assessment of the gig was "awful". I've suggested we have a little debrief, because in my opinion, if one band member has a bad night, then it's up to everyone to work together to offer reassurance and figure out how to avoid those problems arising again.

Had a bit of a panic when I got home and opened the boot and my amp fell out and onto the driveway. However I tested it today and it seems to still be working, so it looks like I dodged a repair bill there. I need to rethink the way that I pack the car.

S.P.

[steantval]

6 hours ago, Mudpup said:

Last nights gig was a return to one of our old haunts - a pub in Minster, Kent. When we first started playing it years ago there was a cracking landlord and crowd but a new chap took it over and effectively killed it. No one got on with him, the crowds disappeared and we stopped bothering with it. He lasted a year and hopped it owing money to everyone. It now has new owners who are trying to get it back on track and the locals had been asking them to get us back in. We'd made a decision to try not to travel so much this year as this place is 100 miles away so politely declined but after the locals had been on at us via Facebook we decided to give it another go. 

I started coming down with the plague on Friday night - even the follicles on my head were aching - and i spent most of Saturday feeling sorry for myself and not looking forward to the drive down, drive home and potential tumbleweed gig. 

So fast forward and we had a blinder, great crowd just like the old days, lovely owners, we played well, tried a couple of new songs out and i got by on adrenalin until about half way thru the second set - i've just watched some video back and i can see that i'm getting tired and a bit sloppy around the point that the drugs were wearing off! The M2 was closed on the way back, i got lost on the detour and ended up getting stuck going back down it which added 30 mins to the drive back dammit but eventually crept in at 4am new time this morning feeling like @@@@.

But wifey is waiting on me hand and foot on Mothers Day now - she's a top girl 🙂

Blimey, a pub gig a 100 miles away, a 200 mile round trip, hope it paid well 💰💰💰

Pubs around our way usually pay between £200 to a max of £300 for bands.

[dontregartha]

Great weekend - played the Malt Shovel in Northampton - lovely little pub, nightmare for get-in as there is no parking and its on a busy town centre gyratory system - miss the spot and you're in for a 5 minute drive round again. Having said that the manager provided a couple of free drinks each on the house and the money was reasonable having showed as a 5 piece as one of our singers was sick.

Second gig the CrowPie in Rugby - again very hospitable team - free drink each.
The house was pretty thin on the ground a crowd of about 20 very drunk blokes left over from the afternoon - good natured but noisy.
 Luckily we had about 20 friends turned up and a handful of locals wheeled in.
The money was good for a pub gig, though I wondered whether they would try and mitigate the poor showing with some negotiation, but within two mnutes of the last song, the manager came beetling across with the receipt book, a wad of cash and a note requesting two more bookings. (Will talk to them about marketing ot better next time).

[Mudpup]

2 hours ago, steantval said:

Blimey, a pub gig a 100 miles away, a 200 mile round trip, hope it paid well 💰💰💰

Pubs around our way usually pay between £200 to a max of £300 for bands.

Yep it was financially very worthwhile on this occasion. I think the key to getting gigs these days is being prepared to travel a little and we have good history down in Thanet. The local Essex circuit is tied up with the same 10 decent bands playing the same 6 decent venues and bands moan they can't get enough gigs between them but they wont travel more than 30 minutes. We're right on the M25 and can travel an extra 30 minutes and get pretty much as many gigs as we want. And its nice to explore new venues and meet new people.

Edited March 31, 2019 by Mudpup

[gt4ever]

Yeah Thanet has a great few pubs with good punters and landlords.  Where else do you guys play in Thanet?  We’re slowly creeping up that way.  Play a few in Birchington and hoping to get into Churchill’s in Ramsgate and the Britannia in Margate soon.  Most of our gigs are down the M20 corridor but need to tap into the Thanet scene.

[Mudpup]

2 minutes ago, gt4ever said:

Yeah Thanet has a great few pubs with good punters and landlords.  Where else do you guys play in Thanet?  We’re slowly creeping up that way.  Play a few in Birchington and hoping to get into Churchill’s in Ramsgate and the Britannia in Margate soon.  Most of our gigs are down the M20 corridor but need to tap into the Thanet scene.

We've been going down there for over 10 years so have played quite a few. But we've consciously slowed it down recently because it is a long way for us. We've done the Britannia, Birchington US, Christies, The Orb, The Windmill, quite a few private events and a few others along the way.

[gt4ever]

Yeah we play Birchington and Christies in my current band and played the others over the years. Towns like Faversham seem to be a closed shop to outsiders though for some reason.  Would love to get  into the hop festival this year.  There must’ve been close to 800 people in the railway tavern last year for the bands most the day.

[peteb]

Brilliant first gig for the Magnum tribute band (A Storyteller’s Night) last night, supporting Backstreet Thunder in Rotherham. A decent sized audience, great crowd reaction, and quite a few came specially to see us (some from as far away as South Wales and from Co Durham).

I’ve put a clip over on the tribute thread if anyone is interested.

 

[Mudpup]

14 minutes ago, gt4ever said:

Yeah we play Birchington and Christies in my current band and played the others over the years. Towns like Faversham seem to be a closed shop to outsiders though for some reason.  Would love to get  into the hop festival this year.  There must’ve been close to 800 people in the railway tavern last year for the bands most the day.

A mate of mine played Hop Festival last year (he plays guitar for Collateral) and had an epic gig. Beautiful summers day outdoor gig in front of about a million people - he said it was one of the best gigs he's ever done (but the way they're going i think he'll be on big festival stages like Rambling Man soon......)

What band are you in?

Edited March 31, 2019 by Mudpup

[gt4ever]

Yeah last year was pretty epic weather and crowd wise.  I’m in a band called Indigo Stone at the moment, but most our gigs are ashford down to Folkestone way.

[HengistPod]

On ‎29‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 13:32, Frank Blank said:

Looking forward to Ep. 2.

Well, it all turned out swimmingly.

Skizofrenik played a decent punky set, and I had a good long chat with Henry Cluney - who was very amiable and happy to yap about any old muck. The young lad bass player from Skizofrenik was determined to show me his ancient Peavey bass amp that he'd recently picked up for £60, and which had reached about 200degC by the end of their set. Good sounding old bus of a thing, though. I did recommend that he took a backup amp out on tour with him.

xSLF got up and blasted through pretty much the Hanx album, with a couple of more obscure tunes thrown in for good measure. "My granny wears old boots", for example.  Good banter, and sounded great, though personally I think they should get a singer on board - Henry isn't quite the man for the job. Could do with speeding up a couple of tunes a little, too, to the sort of tempo of aforesaid Hanx. Being an SLF fan of old, I had a whale of a time. Henry name-checked our band a couple of times, and thanked us for them hijacking our gig.

So, we were an hour late getting on, but the crowd were nicely warmed up and we had a tremendous gig.

And then we had another good one in Aberdeen on Saturday night, at a venue we've not played before. Best weekend for a while.

[Lozz196]

Excellent, Henry is a really nice guy - as are the rest of them. Couldn’t  believe it the first time we played with them that I was chatting to him, given how much I loved SLF when I was younger. I also think his views on the best album being Nobody’s Heroes is spot on, it had an energy about it that set it apart from the others.

[KevB]

I could have been watching our very own Dave in Cloudbusting on Saturday in Nottingham, or i could have been in Rotherham watching our very own Pete in Storyteller's Night. But there I was in Rowley Regis instead playing to the locals with their impenetrable accents for what turned out to be absurdly poor money (no wonder the guitarist who set it up, living a walkable distance from the pub, was a bit evasive about the fee). Then my rig seemed to be lacking a bit of 'oomph' that i couldn't quite troubleshoot before we played. I think I've sorted it now but can't be arsed to test it before next gig. It just distracts you from what you should be doing. Hence my playing was probably about 80% of what it usually is. I think everyone had a slightly off night in truth which was disappointing as we'd sounded pretty sharp (for us) in rehearsal a couple of weeks back. Just one of those nights. We were called back for 2 encores so I guess we must have pleased a few of the regulars. Next one at a better venue in a couple of weeks so the most recent one will soon be forgotten.

[stewblack]

Lovely Sunday afternoon into early evening in Pewsey. Bunch of us get together and entertain folk (and each other) with three hours of unrehearsed tunes. Some standards others just stuff one of us might like. Loosely country and blues oriented but in reality we end up playing whatever we can all get though. Three hours is a pretty big time slot!

It's such a lovely way to round off a weekend's gigging. No band politics because we're not really a band. Not tiring as we all sit. Not stressful because no one is in charge. Not restrictive because I can play whatever bassline comes into my head. Not too late a finish.We get paid, get drinks bought for us and asked back. Can't think of anything missing.

[Mottlefeeder]

A bit of an unusual one for us - playing at the opening of the first part of Manchester airport's revamped Terminal 2 - first flight out 06:00.

Went to bed at 21:30, got up at 01:15. On the road by 02:40. The new car park was apparently opened/signposted about an hour before we got there. Spent about an hour getting visitors' passes and getting our gear through airport security.

Started playing at about 04:30. Played two short sets with a break for speeches and then packed up, handed in the passes and headed home. Got in at about 07:00. Nice audience (nothing else going on) and lots of money donated for Cancer Research UK.

David

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by Mottlefeeder
included an empty spoiler box

[Stub Mandrel]

14 minutes ago, Mottlefeeder said:

A bit of an unusual one for us - playing at the opening of the first part of Manchester airport's revamped Terminal 2 - first flight out 06:00.

Went to bed at 21:30, got up at 01:15. On the road by 02:40. The new car park was apparently opened/signposted about an hour before we got there. Spent about an hour getting visitors' passes and getting our gear through airport security.

Started playing at about 04:30. Played two short sets with a break for speeches and then packed up, handed in the passes and headed home. Got in at about 07:00. Nice audience (nothing else going on) and lots of money donated for Cancer Research UK.

David

 

Isn't there a law about playing before lunch?

[KevB]

I remember seeing Deep Purple playing live on The Big Breakfast. It just looked all wrong somehow.