How was your gig last night?

[Hobbayne]

Played in a local club this evening, picked up the P bass and plugged in. Began the first number and CLANG!! guitar and strap parted company and gravity won.
Still, I dont think it done any damage to the guitar

[krysh]

this evening I had the 1st gig with my jazz trio (drums, keys, bass) to perform some songs of our 1st album.
it was a complete blast.
one of the most promising female singers in hamburg entered the stage just to join us during our set and this song was a real blast.
we improvised over our themes to make her feel comfortable and it just rocked, if I'm allowed to use this expression in jazz context.
well, it helped that our 1st performance was on the birthdayparty of the label-owner and producer of our 1st album so we could really make some cool contacts, but it was really cool since we agreed to do a collaboration with the great singer within the next 2 months.

so, it was a fantastic day!

[Lozz196]

Just played a gig with The Daves, at The King Billy, in Northampton.

Last time we played there, we were told we had to finish by 11pm, as a DJ then took over. So tonight we followed suit, first set 9pm - 9.50pm, break, second set 10pm - 11pm. At that point, as we`d finished, the landlady came over, and asked if we knew what the playing times were. We said about last time, and she said they no longer had the DJ, so we were meant to play until midnight.

So we did. A 3hr gig. I need a vacation

[gjones]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1352594198' post='1865079']
I've just got back from a gig at a beer festival. It was a nice event in many ways though the guy who was running the stage and doing sound (also singing in the last band of the evening) seemed to be doing his utmost to make things difficult for us. When we were booked for the gig, we were told that there would be backline so we wouldn't need to bring ours. I arrived to find a clapped out 80s practice amp, which must have been brought especially for us, as his own band had brought their own 8x10 rig which they weren't sharing. If we hadn't been told backline was supplied, I'd have cheerfully brought my own amp, and even shared it with other bands if necessary, but we had been effectively told not to.
The sound guy alternated between uncommunicative, sneery and patronising, treating us as though we were kids playing our first gig. When we played, we only used two vocal mics and a bass DI in the PA, yet we were plagued by constant booming feedback. The sound guy responded to this by muting the bass but not touching the mic channels, which obviously made no difference to the feedback but made us sound even worse, with only 30 watts of knackered Laney for the low end. Mysteriously, when his own band played, they had not a trace of feedback from the mics despite being a lot louder than us. I have a strong suspicion that he was trashing our sound intentionally, out of general arsiness. I'm not going to describe the bloke or his band, as his dress sense and demeanour had "local character" written all over them, so chances are some of the Scottish BCers may have encountered him. I'm kind of taken aback, as this is the first time I've encountered quite this degree of big-fish-in-a-small-pond adversarial pettiness on a gig.
Still, on the upside, we got fed, watered and paid and the organiser expressed an interest in booking us next year, but didn't sound impressed with the other band...
[/quote]

Oh go on. I'll not tell anyone.

Oh and by the way it wasn't my band honest. I wouldn't dream of carting an 8x10 around.

[PTB]

A fiftieth birthday party in a hotel in central London which went well. No vomit, electricution, fight scenes, sound limiters or idiots. Boring really when compared to the various disasters above. Perhaps it's my turn next?

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1352604243' post='1865139']
Oh go on. I'll not tell anyone.

Oh and by the way it wasn't my band honest. I wouldn't dream of carting an 8x10 around.
[/quote]

I don't think the bassist is a BCer, but in any case, he and the guitarist were quite friendly when we were chatting with them. It was more the frontman who was arsey towards us, which was unfortunate as he was running the show!

[lurksalot]

A great pub gig for the Razors last night , though , it was a bit odd cause the girl who booked us was having a birthday party in the pub, and she got hold of our reserve song list and proceeded to rebuild the setlist .
we accomodated a fair bit by dropping a few of the 'heavier' numbers and dropped in another beatles , crowded house and a few others and had the place bouncing , we even had to put summer of 69 back in
The end time is midnight , but the landlord came up to us and asked us to keep playing , so we threw beatles , highway to hell and finished with Tenpole tudor , swords of a thousand men !!! , got re-booked for a bigger fee and everyone was happy , cushty.

[krysh]

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1352631431' post='1865258']
A great pub gig for the Razors last night , though , it was a bit odd cause the girl who booked us was having a birthday party in the pub, and she got hold of our reserve song list and proceeded to rebuild the setlist .
we accomodated a fair bit by dropping a few of the 'heavier' numbers and dropped in another beatles , crowded house and a few others and had the place bouncing , we even had to put summer of 69 back in
The end time is midnight , but the landlord came up to us and asked us to keep playing , so we threw beatles , highway to hell and finished with Tenpole tudor , swords of a thousand men !!! , got re-booked for a bigger fee and everyone was happy , cushty.
[/quote]

great.

[krysh]

[quote name='PTB' timestamp='1352624441' post='1865189']
[b]A fiftieth birthday party in a hotel in central London which went well. No vomit, electricution, fight scenes, sound limiters or idiots. Boring [/b]really when compared to the various disasters above. Perhaps it's my turn next?
[/quote]
I feel really sorry for you, mate.

[ezbass]

Last night's gig was simply amazing. Only our 3rd outing (2nd proper full on gig) and it's really coming together. Home at 2 this morning zzzz.

[rogerstodge]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1352602197' post='1865135']
Just played a gig with The Daves, at The King Billy, in Northampton.

Last time we played there, we were told we had to finish by 11pm, as a DJ then took over. So tonight we followed suit, first set 9pm - 9.50pm, break, second set 10pm - 11pm. At that point, as we`d finished, the landlady came over, and asked if we knew what the playing times were. We said about last time, and she said they no longer had the DJ, so we were meant to play until midnight.

So we did. A 3hr gig. I need a vacation
[/quote]...OUCH!!!!

[bassist_lewis]

Played a wedding in North Berwick, which is about and hour from Edinburgh. So far this is my longest solo journey since getting my license. I managed to get to the drummer's girlfriend's house (in this case the joke is true) just about on time and got to the venue 25 minutes early (a big improvement on being half an hour late).
It was a funny one, the crowd danced to a few then everyone disappeared, then up again then gone again... still, the bride was very appreciative (we saw the groom at the very start then again in the last ten minutes).
Music-wise we played a couple of new songs which could have gone better but we'll work them out later

[Chrismanbass]

did an irish wedding in st albans first one with a new pa rig which meant we could put everyone through the pa. Less volume on stage = easier to hear everything. Awesome gig and for once no singers complaining they couldn't hear themselves crowd were well up for a party and so the floor was filled all night (even when i was djing) and we even learned a couple of irish tunes for them

[arthurhenry]

I know it's happened to many others, but last night was the first time in 24 years of gigging that I've recieved the dreaded 7:45pm "Where are you?" phone call. Cue a mad dash to get changed, grab the nearest bass and a Hartke combo that was much too small for the gig and get to Bristol (50 miles) as quickly as possible. I still had mud on the back of my legs from a training run and the car boot was filthy from transporting wood for bonfire night. Oh well, there had to be a first time!

[Telebass]

Great one last night for The Rock 'n' Roll Outlaws, and my second full gig using a Jazz exclusively. At the Arundell Arms Hotel in Lifton, Devon. Packed! We had all the usual locals, who are a great crowd, plus some dedicated followers from as far afield as Plymouth and Ivybridge - a fair commitment in an area which has zero public transport, and would cost a couple of days' wages to get to by cab. So kudos to the drivers!
All went well until the very end - the guitarit's radio pack died, but by then, his voice had gone too, so it was a good time to stop, about 30 minutes over normal. And the venue paid us a little extra too!
Result!

[Telebass]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1352647945' post='1865539']
I know it's happened to many others, but last night was the first time in 24 years of gigging that I've recieved the dreaded 7:45pm "Where are you?" phone call. Cue a mad dash to get changed, grab the nearest bass and a Hartke combo that was much too small for the gig and get to Bristol (50 miles) as quickly as possible. I still had mud on the back of my legs from a training run and the car boot was filthy from transporting wood for bonfire night. Oh well, there had to be a first time!
[/quote]

My worst nightmare...hope it turned out OK!

Edited November 11, 2012 by Telebass

[warwickhunt]

A wedding gig for me... never have and never will like them but I always put my all into any gig so I/we played pretty well considering I have just joined the band and I've only had about 4 rehearsals. We each walked away with £150 from the gig but that doesn't win me over to liking 'Wedding Gigs'!

[karlfer]

[b]Staggering and humbling. I left college 36 years ago. Last night at The Bath in Morecambe, 8 of my school/college friends walked in . Not seen any of them for over 30 years. They had got together to come over from Darlington, Leeds, Garstang and Birmingham.[/b]
Thank you Facebook, but more so, thank you my friends. Speechless for a while as I had no idea.
Not a thank you to one of them in particular, who still looked 18 .

[loushort]

Awesome gig at The Borderline Club London with Martin Stephenson and the Daintees
two great support slots from Miriam Cambell and Helen & The Horns
really good crowd roll on the next show in Manchester on the 24th

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8tGbFjeBT4

[sirenboy]

My band The Siren played its first gig with a new drummer at The Half Crown in Long Eaton last night. Strange night to be gigging but Monday is the pub's live music night. But there was a decent crowd there and we really rocked!

We have had problems with drummers - the last one had been with us for five months and then quit three weeks before the gig saying he hated the set (why didn't you tell us that and leave weeks ago instead of leaving us in the lurch three weeks before a gig?). The new drummer is really great and is, we feel, our missing link. He learnt the set in two weeks and has slotted in perfectly.

Looking forward to the next gig!

[BILL POSTERS]

[quote name='sirenboy' timestamp='1352799774' post='1867462']
My band The Siren played its first gig with a new drummer at The Half Crown in Long Eaton last night. Strange night to be gigging but Monday is the pub's live music night. But there was a decent crowd there and we really rocked!

We have had problems with drummers - the last one had been with us for five months and then quit three weeks before the gig saying he hated the set (why didn't you tell us that and leave weeks ago instead of leaving us in the lurch three weeks before a gig?). The new drummer is really great and is, we feel, our missing link. He learnt the set in two weeks and has slotted in perfectly.

Looking forward to the next gig!
[/quote]

Yeah, I reckon a lot of drummers might be the missing link...

[seashell]

Another jam night - my fourth one with this band.
Following a storming rehearsal on Monday night we were really up for it this time. I even went so far as to invite a couple of friends along.. the first time I have been brave enough to ask anyone to see us in play in public!

We all felt it was the best we have played together as a band. We weren't quite as good as we were in rehearsal of course. I think the nerves kicked in for me and Guitar and we both played a few bum notes here and there. On the other hand, I think Drums and Vox were lifted by the occasion and both really went for it. Drums in particular was on fire! And he was wearing a new T shirt with glitter on it. I like to think that perhaps I am injecting some glamour into the band, and they are starting to follow my example of dressing up a bit for the occasion! (Ahem!)

These regular jam nights are a real education for me. The first one I did, I was totally in awe of all the other bands and convinced we they were all much better than us. Now I am noticing that they aren't all perfect. They all make mistakes here and there, its just the good bands cover them up better, lol

Also I am noticing how some of the real virtuosos don't really connect with the audience. In fact last night I think our singer was the one who had the most personality (even if not the best voice .. or the best memory for the words for that matter! )

Anyway, all good stuff. I'm really looking forward to the next one as we're all supposed to be doing at least one Christmas song. Should be a laugh!

[seashell]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1352650839' post='1865581']
[b]Staggering and humbling. I left college 36 years ago. Last night at The Bath in Morecambe, 8 of my school/college friends walked in . Not seen any of them for over 30 years. They had got together to come over from Darlington, Leeds, Garstang and Birmingham.[/b]
Thank you Facebook, but more so, thank you my friends. Speechless for a while as I had no idea.
Not a thank you to one of them in particular, who still looked 18 .
[/quote]

What a brilliant story!

[chaypup]

Played a band showcase last night with Super Chango! and apart from some weird crackly moniter nonsense it was great!
We were tight, and our horn section (with brand new trombonist Tony 'Fat Tone' Trombini) are bonkers good!

[chaypup]

Played in The Moon club in Cardiff. WOW - Our best gig ever!
The place was so dead that they had to stop charging on the door and by 11pm we had to start anyway as the curfew was Midnight.
As soon as we started playing loads of people were coming in and by halfway through the first song the dancefloor was packed with people going crazy!
Pretty much all sexy girls too who knew how to dance - I thought I was dreaming!

3/4 of the way through the set right at the end of a song my E string broke - did I have spare? - Nope! Did I have my spare bass - Nope cos I sold it last week and it's replacement hasn't arrived! So I legged it downstairs where another band had played earlier and luckily I knew their bass player and he gave me the E-string off his bass - lifesaver! Sprinted back upstairs where the band had just invented a new song on the spot, wapped the string on and we carried on - brilliant!

Now the club are talking about making us the house band for their Friday funk nights.

Edit: Oh yeah and during Funky Nassau we put in a breakdown where me and the guitar and a duel - no idea we were going to do that before the show, we've never done it before and the crowd loved it - improvising rules!

Edited November 17, 2012 by chaypup