How was your gig last night?

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='142449' date='Feb 18 2008, 01:39 PM']No you fool she said, [b]"Your bass player is a leg end"[/b][/quote]
you mean a foot?

[OldGit]

[quote name='jakesbass' post='142455' date='Feb 18 2008, 01:51 PM']you mean a foot?[/quote]

No, the other end

[Kiwi]

[quote name='OldGit' post='142472' date='Feb 18 2008, 02:21 PM']No, the other end [/quote]
Pissed bass players eh? I thought they must have meant leg end too. But WTF, any attention is an improvement on being ignored completely - or being patronised like I'm the hired help.

[OldGit]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='142542' date='Feb 18 2008, 04:21 PM']Pissed bass players eh? I thought they must have meant leg end too. But WTF, any attention is an improvement on being ignored completely - or being patronised like I'm the hired help.[/quote]


Ha ha yeah ..
Hey welcome back CK .. good break?

[bass_ferret]

Playerd our 23rd Annual Valentines dance to raise money for the local hospice. Not our usual crowd but they all loved it.

Cut down to 2 basses with the fretless tuned down a tone and left the de-tuned KSD at home. I played a couple of songs that were not down one and only made one mistake where I went to the wrong fingering.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='OldGit' post='142562' date='Feb 18 2008, 04:40 PM']Ha ha yeah ..
Hey welcome back CK .. good break?[/quote]

Yeah thanks, the break was VERY much needed - especially with the new job which didn't start as well as I wanted. We have a break with band for most of March too. It seems to be a quiet month for many musicians from what I can tell. So I'll be dropping in a little more over the next 4-5 weeks. However I'm still going to be dipping out for busy periods in the future.

Besides which, I reckon Ped's doing such an ace job keeping things in line, that he might as well keep on with it.

[teen t-shirt]

Got a gig this friday

unfortunatley i aint playing bass in it i'm singing but still it's a gig....

anyone got any tips as it's the bands first gig it's at our school, we're doing a half an hour set it's my second performance singing.....

any tips would be welcome then i'll let you know how it went....

[OldGit]

[quote name='teen t-shirt' post='142938' date='Feb 19 2008, 10:37 AM']Got a gig this Friday

unfortunatley i aint playing bass in it i'm singing but still it's a gig....

anyone got any tips as it's the bands first gig it's at our school, we're doing a half an hour set it's my second performance singing.....

any tips would be welcome then i'll let you know how it went....

[/quote]

Plan your set,
Tune up before going on stage.
Plan the start to be brilliant and uplifting.
Only play one slow number, end on a high then another high for the planned encore.

So many singers spoil great playing and shows by talking crap between tunes. Avoid this by not having gaps and not talking crap. Plan your talking.
So ... don't talk crap between numbers. In fact don't talk between numbers, don't introduce them or anything. Just roll them into each other so it's one solid block of music for 30 mins.
Limit your speaking parts to "Hi we're Wyld Stallions!!!" between tunes two and three (but over the drummer intro groove for tune three) and "Thanks!! this is our last number wink wink, unless you know better" between your ante-penultimate and penultimate numbers .. then come back for the encore. Then "Thanks we've been Wyld Stallions!!!!!" as you leave the stage.

Then rehearse it from first note to last note with your band 10 times including the talking bits.
Plan something cool to do do during the bits when you aren't singing - dance, prowl, play shakers or something.
Build in an encore but don't over run your time slot

Go totally over the top with the show,. play to the audience not your band mates, make eye contact with the audience (or look at the top of their heads) and keep going whatever happens.

Oh and make sure every band member gets every friend they have to go totally wild with applause ... Then the rest of the audience will join in.

Let us know

Edited March 24, 2008 by OldGit

[warwickhunt]

^ all sound advice and don't what ever you do start apologising, making excuses or saying this is only my 2nd time etc.

Enjoy and have a laugh.

[cheddatom]

I played my first gig on drums on friday! It was really fun and exciting, and i'm wondering whether I prefer it to the bass!

[warwickhunt]

Played the Blackpool of the North East last night (The Station, Whitley Bay) and it went very nicely. The band is beginning to knit and we got 2 more bookings for later in the year, can't be bad. Though the singer did screw up as he took this booking for £175... unfortunately he hadn't bothered to ask the gigging veteran (me) about this gig or I would have told him that they usually paid £200 and I had played it umpteen times with the previous band at the higher price. I'm extracting the urine but he is a nice guy and really keen to book gigs but all-in-all a 'Silly fecker' with very little business sense!

[Dread Bass]

played in brum on thurs it was strange gig for the brum rock soc but i really rocked out which was cool still managed to unplug myself tho.

[WalMan]

Well it went OK despite a few alien abduction moments for me. Only real problem was the atmosphere with the sound guy who had taken the hump over a comment made when we finally bit the bullet over the amount of gear he lugs So we had a basic vocal PA & a huff all night.

Gosh I am soooooooo looking forward to the band meeting on Tuesday. I thought we were all old enough not to act like petulant children - obviously not

[OldGit]

[quote name='teen t-shirt' post='142938' date='Feb 19 2008, 10:37 AM']Got a gig this friday

unfortunatley i aint playing bass in it i'm singing but still it's a gig....

anyone got any tips as it's the bands first gig it's at our school, we're doing a half an hour set it's my second performance singing.....

any tips would be welcome then i'll let you know how it went....

[/quote]

Sooooooooo

How did it go?

[warwickhunt]

Sh*te!

Arrived to be informed the bands are expected to play till 12.00 (no prior warning of this), we finally agree on 11.20. Only to be told that the fee the 'agent' negotiated was wrong and regardless, the fee that we do get means that we have to pay him out of that = £180 minus his 20%... scr*w that. Phone call to the agent and an agreement that we can keep the £180 as it is a cancellation that we are covering another band. We then find out we can't soundcheck or basically do anything till after the rugby as there are 2 regulars that have been in all day watching the 3 matches and they 'will' be seeing the end of the England game uninterrupted. The final straw; the pub has a noise level measuring device fitted! Luckily ( ) I couldn't trip it no matter how hard I tried... and Oh how I tried, it would have been the excuse that I needed to b*gger off home. Sometimes out of adversity comes triumph; not this time, the locals thought we were some kind of jukebox and if they shouted out a number we should be expected to know it... "Well at least play some f*ckin Glam you w*nkers, you lot are sh*t you are". Hmmm and I do this for pleasure!

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='145852' date='Feb 24 2008, 09:35 AM']Sh*te!

Arrived to be informed the bands are expected to play till 12.00 (no prior warning of this), we finally agree on 11.20. Only to be told that the fee the 'agent' negotiated was wrong and regardless, the fee that we do get means that we have to pay him out of that = £180 minus his 20%... scr*w that. Phone call to the agent and an agreement that we can keep the £180 as it is a cancellation that we are covering another band. We then find out we can't soundcheck or basically do anything till after the rugby as there are 2 regulars that have been in all day watching the 3 matches and they 'will' be seeing the end of the England game uninterrupted. The final straw; the pub has a noise level measuring device fitted! Luckily ( ) I couldn't trip it no matter how hard I tried... and Oh how I tried, it would have been the excuse that I needed to b*gger off home. Sometimes out of adversity comes triumph; not this time, the locals thought we were some kind of jukebox and if they shouted out a number we should be expected to know it... "Well at least play some f*ckin Glam you w*nkers, you lot are sh*t you are". Hmmm and I do this for pleasure![/quote]

Christ what a nightmare.
And i thought our WMC's were bad.

Talking of noise level meters, in one band i play with we always try and trip it on the last bar of the last number. That way we dont have to do any encores

[Ou7shined]

Café Drummond's Friday night. Big fun had by all. Usual rocky start - original plan to soundcheck at 6 gave way to line check 15 mins before we went on due to sound guy allegedly being elsewhere - he wasn't (?). Rumour had it that we were supposed to start at 10 so I paced my alcohol intake accordingly. There were 4 or 5 young bands on before us so we in fact got our line check at 12 so again I was a bit tipsy. I checked with Floyd's "Money". What a reaction! There was an audible gasp as the hubbub broke, then cheers followed by a room full of nodding and air punching. Sound guy (via stage monitors) had to say "ok" 3 times before I stopped. Gig was fantastic. We had a mosh pit and stage diving and inexplicably I had 1 particular fan approximately half my age right in front of me who thought my performance would be enhanced by occasionally pulling her top down for me (it actually had an adverse effect but it didn't stop me from having a f***ing good look ) her enthusiasm was still evident after the show but being a good boy I ran (well staggered to a taxi rank) home to the g/f. We had a 3 man film crew doing a dvd which was fun and probably added to the illusion that we are real rock stars . Another odd bit was that we were given cheesy t-shirts to wear over our own clobber at the start as a dedication to the drummer's bro, who's birthday it was. 3 songs in we got too hot and removed them, the singer threw his into the crowd, there was a scramble then they started baying for ours. We complied. So then we have the front row of tattooed moshers proudly wearing t-shirts with just the drummers brother's face on and nothing to do with the band whatsoever . We played a 2 hour set laced with more "jazz" notes than normal but the vibe was so good no-one bothered (or noticed) - the dvd will probably be a shocker for us blooper wise. One particular balls up I remember was there was a Finnish guy down the front requesting "Paranoid" (like you do at Pearl Jam gigs ???) so I gave him a few bars, the drummer joins in and I thought ah well let's run with it. Little did I know that by coincidence the next song in our set had an identical drum pattern and we had started. a swift poke in the ribs from the singer snapped me out of it. Instead of our normal flat fee of 400 the manager "de jour" (owner's son I believe) gave us a % of the door. His story is that (despite the place being packed) he had to pull 60 quid from the bar to make it up to 250 (Aye that'll be f***ing right) . Rest assured we'll be in touch with the owner for the rest of our fee - we wouldn't normally be fussed but there are a few out of town gigs coming up and we need it for van hire, digs etc.
To sum up I'd say that technically it was the worst I've played in a while but I had a f***ing good time doing it. My neck hurts and I got the offer of some quality poontang. Oooh it's like living the dream!

[OldGit]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='145852' date='Feb 24 2008, 09:35 AM']Sh*te!

Arrived to be informed the bands are expected to play till 12.00 (no prior warning of this), we finally agree on 11.20. Only to be told that the fee the 'agent' negotiated was wrong and regardless, the fee that we do get means that we have to pay him out of that = £180 minus his 20%... scr*w that. Phone call to the agent and an agreement that we can keep the £180 as it is a cancellation that we are covering another band. We then find out we can't soundcheck or basically do anything till after the rugby as there are 2 regulars that have been in all day watching the 3 matches and they 'will' be seeing the end of the England game uninterrupted. The final straw; the pub has a noise level measuring device fitted! Luckily ( ) I couldn't trip it no matter how hard I tried... and Oh how I tried, it would have been the excuse that I needed to b*gger off home. Sometimes out of adversity comes triumph; not this time, the locals thought we were some kind of jukebox and if they shouted out a number we should be expected to know it... "Well at least play some f*ckin Glam you w*nkers, you lot are sh*t you are". Hmmm and I do this for pleasure![/quote]

Sound like you need a few new agents, mate ...

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='OldGit' post='145997' date='Feb 24 2008, 01:48 PM']Sound like you need a few new agents, mate ...[/quote]

I've never used one in the last 20 years, I've always booked our gigs, unfortunately this new band has an enthusiastic singer that is intent on filling the diary asap at what ever cost (or low cost).

[wateroftyne]

A gig every night this weekend...

Friday's was near Rotherham, at an Arts Centre. It's a music club that's been going for years and years, and... it was fab. Hard work, 'cos the house PA was small so we had to be a bit 'tippy tap'. Thankfully, it was a 'pin-drop' job so everything was nice and clear.

Mrs. WoT and I got home at 2.30am, and our Daughter woke up just as the babysitters left... the little monkey. Not great.

Last night was in a hotel in a little coastal village about an hour north of me. It's a beautuful place (Beadnell), and we really enjoyed it. It was the polar opposite to Friday (all the amps an 11 type-thing) and the punters were very enthusiastic. Quite a musically knowledgeable lot.

We had our dep drummer with us (only the second gig he's done) and he's blinking marvellous. When he's playing, the tunes are the same... but different.

Tonight is a pub near Gateshead, which we like doing. They're another sit-and-listen crowd, more like a venue than a pub.

I'll be wrecked at work tomorrow...!

We don't have many pub gigs left... we're stopping them after March. I'll miss them.

[OldGit]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='146017' date='Feb 24 2008, 02:17 PM']I've never used one in the last 20 years, I've always booked our gigs, unfortunately this new band has an enthusiastic singer that is intent on filling the diary asap at what ever cost (or low cost).[/quote]

I'd suggest a band meeting ..
Are you that desperate for the money?
I think I'd rather stay on and watch telly than play a gig like that...

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='OldGit' post='146109' date='Feb 24 2008, 06:00 PM']I'd suggest a band meeting ..
Are you that desperate for the money?
I think I'd rather stay on and watch telly than play a gig like that...[/quote]
No money isn't the main motive and I agree when we do cr*ppy gigs like that a film, pizza and bottle of wine holds far greater attraction. However I still get the buzz when we do a good gig, though that is offset these days a bit as I'm not really into the music that we are going down the route of (a band meeting was held for that one when I threw my rattle out the pram over some ludicrous song choices for a pub covers band). I'm doing a bit of musical soul searching at the moment hence the recent Warwick sales etc but I'm still not quite where I want to be... time for that wine cork to pop me thinks!

[Bilbo]

Did a great trio gig in Bury St Edmunds last night with Phil Brook, a Norfolk jazz guitar player - the man can do no wrong! Nice sounding room, attentive audience. I took a guitar player friend who sat through the gig with his jaw open.

Keep your eyes peeled for him.

[EBS_freak]

Did a support slot at the Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton on Saturday to a near capacity crowd - looking at around a thousand people. It was pretty good - the audience seemed to like the stuff that we were doing, met the drummer from the Charlatans... thoroughly nice chap. Good to have a decent sized stage to roam.

Had an interesting sound check. The light guys were playing with the strobes and the smoke machines. After being blinded by the strobes numerous times we asked them if they could give it a rest for a bit before the blindness was permanent. Anyway, shortly afterwards we asked again that they turned off the smoke machine... they replied and said that they weren't doing anything with the smoke machine. After sensing a familiar burning smell, we saw that the DJ's amp was smouldering somewhat. Luckily, if there is one amp that you can afford to lose, it is that one as he can pipe his mix in through the onstage monitors.

The sound onstage was really difficult. The vocals were really clear but the rest of the mix lacked definition although the sound out front was great apparently. The bass was really odd - at times I was playing and couldn't hear the notes. They got completely lost. I've never had the position where I am slapping or doing pulloffs and not able to hear the notes. Very bizzare.

Managed to get a couple of photographers in front of the Sico barriers so should have some good shots.

My eyesight is recovering slowly... damn strobes.

Edited February 25, 2008 by EBS_freak

[OldGit]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='146121' date='Feb 24 2008, 06:36 PM']No money isn't the main motive and I agree when we do cr*ppy gigs like that a film, pizza and bottle of wine holds far greater attraction. However I still get the buzz when we do a good gig, though that is offset these days a bit as I'm not really into the music that we are going down the route of (a band meeting was held for that one when I threw my rattle out the pram over some ludicrous song choices for a pub covers band). I'm doing a bit of musical soul searching at the moment hence the recent Warwick sales etc but I'm still not quite where I want to be... time for that wine cork to pop me thinks![/quote]

Or time to build a new band .....