How was your gig last night?

[barneyg42]

Limeburners, near Billingshurst. We played an outdoor festival there in the summer and got recommended to the landlord. Looks are deceiving, I didn't really look at the interior back then and from the outside the pub looks massive. In truth it was pretty tiny inside. One of those typical low beam country pubs, anyone over 5' 10'' was walking around like Quasimodo!! So we squeezed our 5 piece in and went for it. We had quite a few familiar faces in the crowd who had traveled out to see us. So I had a great on "stage" sound but when I wandered out to the back of the pub with the singer during a guitar solo the bass had been totally sucked out, it was more nasal than Arnold J Rimmer with the flu!!! So I had a fiddle and the bass was immense at the band end and ok further out. Strange how some venues do this! Went down well and landlord reckoned we were the best band he'd had there! Looking forward to going back!!

[cheddatom]

Queens Hall in Nuneaton on Friday. Dead cool venue, great soundman, not a huge crowd but it was all right

Rock City on Saturday supporting Buzzcocks. I was just a bit blown away to be playing on the main stage at Rock City where I've seen so many gigs. Anyway, it sounded ace and we went down really well which was a bit surprising! Then we rushed off to a gig at The Rigger in our home town. I've never seen it so packed! Awesome sound as always (Hi Matt ) and I think we played well, but to be honest I'd had quite a few beers by this point

Sunday was a weird one in Clayton Le Moors. It feels more like a folk club or something but everyone was having a good time and danced and sang along. Ace weekend!

[KevB]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1476176614' post='3151918']
Queens Hall in Nuneaton on Friday. Dead cool venue, great soundman, not a huge crowd but it was all right
[/quote]

My current band play the downstairs bar (The Crew) sometimes, we are there on New years Eve. They let us use the changing room for the main hall upstairs so I've at least walked across the stage though unlikely to ever actually play on it!

[Raymondo]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1476176614' post='3151918']
Queens Hall in Nuneaton on Friday. Dead cool venue, great soundman, not a huge crowd but it was all right

[b]Rock City on Saturday [/b]supporting Buzzcocks. I was just a bit blown away to be playing on the main stage at Rock City where I've seen so many gigs. Anyway, it sounded ace and we went down really well which was a bit surprising! Then we rushed off to a gig at The Rigger in our home town. I've never seen it so packed! Awesome sound as always (Hi Matt ) and I think we played well, but to be honest I'd had quite a few beers by this point

Sunday was a weird one in Clayton Le Moors. It feels more like a folk club or something but everyone was having a good time and danced and sang along. Ace weekend!
[/quote]

I've played the main stage at Rock City three times. When we were booked for the first time I vowed to play the set, leave my gear onstage and retire. I was so excited
I didn't of course

The reason I am commenting on this thread is that I wanted to mention the sound on stage, It was awesome every time.

I don't know the guys' names but the on stage monitoring was incredible....a massive side of the stage desk with a separate sound crew obviously helps but they just nailed every request for individual monitor mixes at the first attempt.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Raymondo

[cheddatom]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1476179131' post='3151953']
My current band play the downstairs bar (The Crew) sometimes, we are there on New years Eve. They let us use the changing room for the main hall upstairs so I've at least walked across the stage though unlikely to ever actually play on it!
[/quote]

Yeh I had a few beers downstairs, it's a pretty cool pub. TBF you don't want to play upstairs unless you can guarantee 100 or more

[quote name='Raymondo' timestamp='1476180650' post='3151962']
I've played the main stage at Rock City three times. When we were booked for the first time I vowed to play the set, leave my gear onstage and retire. I was so excited
I didn't of course

The reason I am commenting on this thread is that I wanted to mention the sound on stage, It was awesome every time.

I don't know the guys' names but the on stage monitoring was incredible....a massive side of the stage desk with a separate sound crew obviously helps but they just nailed every request for individual monitor mixes at the first attempt.
[/quote]

I was surprised not just by how good they were, and therefore how good the sound was, but also how NICE and FRIENDLY they were, as though they were somehow trying to go out of their way to disprove the soundman stereotype. Similar experience at the 100 Club in London, they just couldn't have been more helpful

[BrunoBass]

Tuesday night I played at Leif Bar in Leamington Spa at a great little open mic night. The guy who runs it is a mate and he asked me to do a 30 minute headline set. Really enjoyed it, always good to play my own stuff to an appreciative audience, and great to play alongside a bunch of really talented people. I used to do open mics regularly but since I joined my band I do them less frequently. I must admit that I enjoy them more than band gigs, no setting up and tearing down, just me and my acoustic guitar - in and out, easy!

[mcnach]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1476176614' post='3151918']
Queens Hall in Nuneaton on Friday. Dead cool venue, great soundman, not a huge crowd but it was all right
[/quote]

ah, I was there a few weeks ago. Pretty decent venue and sound guy knew what he was doing, so if you got the same one I'd agree
We were also fed the best chili I had in ages! Yum!

[KevB]

We hadn't played for a while due to singer having a really bad cold and she wasn't 100% over it last night which meant leaving a few songs out of the set. The drummer had an odd fainting episode at home 2 days earlier which ended up with him falling into the cooker (not on at the time) hitting his head, breaking teeth, blacking his eye and a couple of cuts. The guitarist had an ear infection and couldn't hear much all night. At times I felt I was holding the whole thing together and I wasn't 100% due to lack of practice time either. We got through but it was one to quietly forget and move on from. Hopefully we will be a bit sharper at next outing on Sunday. Oh and some random punter told the guitarist his gtr 'sounded sh*te' which he was still quietly fuming over as we loaded up the van. A guy who I met briefly once before and says he also plays bass (though I've never seen him play) said my Trace rig sounded 'tight', whatever that means.

Edited October 14, 2016 by KevB

[Telebass]

New one for The Rock n Roll Outlaws, the bLue Lion at Lewdown, out on the old A30 on Dartmoor. Plenty of regulars from our gigs at Lifton, which is further on at the junction of old and new A30.
Great atmosphere, we played well, included a lot more originals than usual, and sold CDs!
A very good night.

Today, big charity bash at The Wharf in Tavistock, in aid of Crisis. This will be the only time in years that I've not played through my own rig, house rig is a MArshal MB410 combo, I think...

Edited October 16, 2016 by Telebass

[JapanAxe]

All in all a great country gig near Leicester. My favourite moment was the drummer's introduction to one of the songs:

'You can waltz to this if you want. 1-2-3-4!'

[BrunoBass]

We played at The Bell in Banbury. Same set as last week in Buckingham, we didn't bother rehearsing in the week as it's all pretty tight right now. It was the landlady's birthday too, so lots of merriment in the pub. We played well, and had some friends come down so all good. The only negative was a drunk punter (non threatening, more silly than anything) who was getting a bit too close. At one stage he knocked into my mic stand which pulled the lead out of tuner resulting in no signal and a sudden panic before I figured out the issue. Other than that all OK.

[cheddatom]

Small pub in Uttoxeter on Friday night. I think we played to about 10 people. I had to keep my volume (drums) right down which is always a challenge, so I did make a couple of mistakes. Never mind!

[AdamWoodBass]

Not a gig as such but went to the New Orleans jam at Matt and Phreds in Manchester last night. Had a great night and was a bit of a "getting back on the horse" experience for me as I haven't played with a band for about 4-5 years.

[KevB]

Great night at a motorcycle club's halloween party last night, good sized room and a stage we could set up properly on, use our PA to its full effect and an excuse to dress up (like I need an excuse?) Lots of compliments after and they are already considering us for one of their rallies next year. Nice family atmosphere for a bunch of hairy bikers, nearly everyone in fancy dress including the kids. Excellent atmosphere. After the bar in the function room closed and we ended our 2nd set they just moved the party downstairs to carry on drinking. If I hadn't been driving and due to play again from 4:30 this afternoon I'd have probably hung around.

[URL=http://s30.photobucket.com/user/KevB64/media/SOM%20MCC_zpsnohdxwls.jpg.html][IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/KevB64/SOM%20MCC_zpsnohdxwls.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Edited October 30, 2016 by KevB

[ahpook]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1477823671' post='3164596']
Great night at a motorcycle club's halloween party last night, good sized room and a stage we could set up properly on, use our PA to its full effect and an excuse to dress up (like I need an excuse?) Lots of compliments after and they are already considering us for one of their rallies next year. Nice family atmosphere for a bunch of hairy bikers, nearly everyone in fancy dress including the kids. Excellent atmosphere. After the bar in the function room closed and we ended our 2nd set they just moved the party downstairs to carry on drinking. If I hadn't been driving and due to play again from 4:30 this afternoon I'd have probably hung around.

[url="http://s30.photobucket.com/user/KevB64/media/SOM%20MCC_zpsnohdxwls.jpg.html"][/url]
[/quote]

Sounds like a cracking gig - love the get-up

[colleya]

Played our annual halloween gig at the George Hotel in Orton (near Tebay) last night. Always fun as they put us up so we can have a drink and a leisurely pack away. It was the busiest night of the year according to the landlady. Our new run of 80s pop/cheese in the second set worked brilliantly and even my horrendous tache didn't put people off too much. It was a bugger to sing with though and ended up being held on with gaffa tape!

[KevB]

After a cracking party gig last night it was back to reality today. 4:30pm start to a half empty WMC. Agent (who turned up to the gig to pick up his commission) had given us the impression it was a 2x45 min gig, the concert sec informs us on arrival its 2x60 min, finish at 7pm. Great. Admittedly once we were up and doing it more folks filtered in from the lounge and it was a decent crowd for set 2 but its hard getting them going early evening on a Sunday, not sure why some clubs opt for this slot. We are booked in here for xmas eve as well so at least we know what we are up against when we come back. Still got some positive feedback but all in all an inevitable damp squib after the previous night.

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

Not actually last night but Sunday. Third outing for Fortunate Sons, playing a mix of mainly 60s and 70s R&B and Soul covers.

Our first two gigs were in pubs and space was very limited. This was in a fitness club, though not one that any of us knew. We were told it was "quite a big space", and I think we were envisaging an aerobics studio type of room. Bit of a surprise when we turned up and found this:

[url="https://flic.kr/p/NjWWH3"][/url]

The car (!) you can see is about half way down and beyond that are weight machines, free weights etc. There's another bit to the right of us which is about the same size again as the area between us and the weights machines.

Bear in mind we were only putting vocals and keys through the PA (no subs) and I was playing through an Ampeg PF500 and single 1x15 cab. Fortunately I have a relatively short guitar lead and no wireless, so I've no idea how it sounded out front, though we were told that it was actually okay. Bit of an echo though!

I reckon the space could comfortably take several thousand people. We played to about two dozen. They all stood quite close to us...

I might have to post this over on the "Gigging without a PA" thread - should cause a bit of a stir.

It's quite a laugh, this gigging game!

[Telebass]

Annabels in Plymouth. Probably not yet well enough/fit enough to be gigging, but what the hell...

Two songs in, no sound. Frantic check of leads/pedals, all good. Uh-oh, looks like amp...
Turned amp off then on again, sound. finished set and turned it off. Did second set fine.

Good by the end, with plenty of keen punters, several encores, but by this time, I could barely stand. Surprising what two and a half weeks of inactivity takes out of you. Next gig on 19th, hopefully will be a little easier!

Today: amp head removed from combo. It's a Markbass Combo Head (a Little Mark II, in other words). Top off, blow out not that much fluff. Haven't done this in some time, so it probably did contribute to what was almost certainly a thermal cut-out event. First time I've ever had this with MB amps, I've owned this combo since 2006. It's done a LOT of gigs. Let's hope it's not a harbinger of doom!

[alyctes]

Short set of "acoustic" stuff at an old people's home. Could have been tighter, but mostly pretty good. One of the clients congratulated me on the nice sound I made (Fretless semi-acoustic - I should have pointed out that the guitar(-s) are the core of the sound, really; I'm largely ornamental.) They are talking about having us back for New Year's Eve. OTOH they will have to pay our (small!) fee for this one first...

But generally, very pleased.

[bobpalt]

Second paid gig last night for my duo in a local pub as last minute replacements for a blues band. A blues band we ain't! Not too many people there but those that were really enjoyed our varied selection of stuff. Got TWO compliments on my bass playing including one really nice and complimentary one, which is precisely two more than I have had in the last ten years. Got paid a little bonus on top which was nice, so overall very pleased. The short set up and tear down times still amaze and please me after years in a function band. Very pleased still with my SW1 short scale bass as well, especially when I am stuck in a corner that the proverbial cat couldn't circumnavigate.

[seashell]

Cracking gig with the Stones covers band at our usual venue. Singer/band leader had decided he wanted us to do some of the lesser known album tracks. The rest of us had misgivings, but it turned out to be a great success. The venue is a very small music club in Brum. Packed out with friends, family and regular punters who know and love their music. I don't think we could have got away with it anywhere else, but this crowd really appreciated the unusual set list.

I loved it. Got to play stuff that I probably won't have a chance to again. My favourite being Torn and Frayed off the Exile On Main St album. We had rehearsed for weeks, so I felt really confident. The atmosphere was fantastic, people dancing and cheering.

Afterwards I got loads of compliments about my playing from several of the regulars who have been watching my progress since I first started going to jams there a couple of years ago. I felt really chuffed. I've been playing for five years now, but I still have to pinch myself sometimes to believe I am actually doing it. I'm playing bass in a rock band!!!! Woo hop!!!

Edit
That was supposed to read Woo Hoo, but I'm not going to correct it as Woo Hop has a certain charm, lol

Edited November 6, 2016 by seashell

[peety]

Don't often post on here but friday nights gig was an experience not being experienced in the world of pub gigs having previously been in a function band i'm just getting to grips with the challenges of pub gigs and their audiences.

Friday night we played the Green Room in St Helens now seeing as we are from Wigan and the rivalry between the towns is legendary in the area this was a challenge in itself. we were booked to play 2 sets between 10.30pm and 1.30 am as this is a town centre bar. i had been warned it was small but this was seriously so, we varrived at 7 to set up as we needed to be done by 8 as they had an accoustic act on from 8.30 - 10.30.

Having managed to set up on the small stage the manageress then came over and asked us to move our backline forward as the owner wanted the bi fold windows behind us wide open so as to attract the passing trade, we explained to her it was pouring down and November and this might be an issue with the electrics etc eventually a compromise was reached and we played with them slightly ajar.

The accoustic act was excellent playing a mixture of indie covers some country and beatles 60's all of which covered about half our set, literally as soon as he had finished the manageress was on our case to get on, we ended up playing 2 sets first an hour and 5 minutes and the 2nd about an hour and 40 minutes which was tough the manageress was timing us to tell the owner how long we did as they are obsessed that if you stop people will move on.

That aside the gig was generally ok a few issues with sound early on and obviously space but the audience can only be described as slightly bizarre and extremely lively despite being on a raised area with a rail round most of us the lead singer had 2 drinks spilt over him and his pedal board a girl who fell over all over the monitors blind drunk, but the star of the night was the 60 something guy who arrived carrying an asda bag for life from which he took a pair of drumsticks and proceeded to air drum through the whole two sets. All in all despite the challenges and having to play an indoor gig wearing a coat due to having the large window behind me open all night it was good fun and the band went down well with offers of more gigs for next year.

I appreciate this is probably quite a normal night for you hardened pub giggers but for someone from the more refined world of functions it was quite an experience although an enjoyable one !!!!

[taunton-hobbit]

^^^^ 'Interesting' - my feelings about a return would be something on the lines of
'fvck that for a game of soldiers'......
.....but each to their own.

[BrunoBass]

We played at a well known rock bar in the East Midlands which in the interests of professionalism I'm not going to mention. It was our second gig there, having been rebooked following a gig earlier in the year. In short, it was the worst gig I've ever played and I'm pretty cheesed off with the whole situation.

We arrived to find that the person who booked us had gone home, and nobody else on the staff seemed to know or care who we were. We bought four friends with us which was good because they outnumbered the clientele for most of the night, and provided the only applause / audience noise etc. The songs we played when they went outside for a smoke were greeted with complete silence from the remaining punters, and I mean absolute silence, no acknowledgement whatsoever. The bar owner/ manager started complaining that we were too loud (we weren't). We explained to him that our amps and PA were balanced volume wise with the drum kit (unmiced, apart from the kick) and that we couldn't turn the drums down. He then proceeded to walk around the venue for the rest of the set with his fingers in his ears, which he clearly thought was very funny, but I thought was f***ing rude.

From that point on it was a shambles, constant mistakes and general sloppiness on songs that we've been playing for 18 months since I joined, and three years before I joined. I was furious, embarrassed, and couldn't wait for the gig to end so we could get out of there. For the first time ever I didn't enjoy playing a gig. Not happy.