Tips before first outdoor concert on a festival?

Nojja · #1 05-29-2008, 11:09 AM

Hello

My band is playing an outdoor concert, we get 30 minutes playtime, all we bring is the instruments. So i wonder what if there is anything special i need to think of? Maybe turn down my bass at the soundcheck and the turn it up once we start to play so the soundcheck guys dont make my bass drown! Allthough i guess they will adjust as they here my bass is "too" loud.

So tips me!

von buck · #2 05-29-2008, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nojja

Hello

My band is playing an outdoor concert, we get 30 minutes playtime, all we bring is the instruments. So i wonder what if there is anything special i need to think of? Maybe turn down my bass at the soundcheck and the turn it up once we start to play so the soundcheck guys dont make my bass drown! Allthough i guess they will adjust as they here my bass is "too" loud.
So tips me!

Get the best sound at soundcheck and leave it! Outside gigs are a whole different kettle of fish. Play at the volume so you can hear yourself and let the sound worry about the front sound.

Andy

5andFretless · #3 05-29-2008, 11:22 AM

If you are an "energy" player (you need lots of sound on the stage to get in the groove) then you will probably not enjoy the experience. The people out front will say "wow, you never sounded better," and you will be thinking that you were terrible. It is just a fact of life playing outside on a big stage to an infinitely large room.

Nojja · #4 05-29-2008, 01:21 PM

To the last poster:

So i will sound much lower than i really am?

**Stumbo** · #5 05-29-2008, 01:40 PM

Since you have only 30 min to play, I suggest that you play all the way through. Get a medley of songs. If you stop one to talk to the crowd, keep the drummer playing and then start up again. Keep the show going. Or write some chord progressions that transition into the next song. Practice the medley as it will be played at the show.

If you stop after every song, you can waste several minutes.The 30 min will pass quickly.

IME, the sound guys will won't you to turn down on stage so they can get as clean as sound as possible and you don't overdrive the microphones.

Since you're only bringing your instruments, everything else will be controlled by someone else. If they tell you to turn down then ask them to bring the monitor up so you can hear your bass better, if necessary. Maybe a wireless ear monitor would help.

I suggest that you remain calm, go with the flow, put on a good show and foremost, smile and let everyone know you're having a great time.

Depending on how big the venue is, small body movements won't be seen by many people so you have to exaggerate a bit. Have your band practice so it won't seem unnatural. Find out how big the stage is and how much room you'll have on it. Also, find out what the amp setup is. It may be different than what you're band is used to.

Good luck.

5andFretless · #6 05-29-2008, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nojja

To the last poster:

So i will sound much lower than i really am?

Yes, unless you have some very kick @$$ monitors and an SE that is willing to push them. Otherwise it will be a lot quiter on stage than you are used to.

Nojja · #7 05-29-2008, 03:53 PM

Thanks for the advice guys.

The later it gets the more people will come and more "famous" bands will perform, in the end the band will have longer time to play. Since we are first and we play at 12.00 there will be more people having picnics and sunbathing (more people in their 20s and 30s). Because in the evening there will be alot of drunk youths crowding infront of the stage.

This is the stage: http://UngPaScen.bilddagboken.se/p/s...4&directlink=1

(its not possible to attach from that picture host)

We will play 3-4 songs, with a intro song turning into the first song and i will play my Warwick Corvette.

**Stumbo** · #8 05-29-2008, 04:13 PM

If you sing, be sure and touch the microphone with your finger first to make sure you're grounded properly.
Worst thing is to get a lip shock.

Use "check, 1 ,2 instead of Testing, 1, 2 which sounds like something else.

You can also request what you want to hear in your monitor depending on how many monitors there are. There was another thread on that. For me: medium size stage: Bass, vocals, some guitar- enough to hear the chords, no drums.

Good luck.
Let us know how it turned out.
Be sure and get it recorded. See if you can get a line from the mixing board.
Best way to learn and be sure and save it for when you get old.

**Stumbo** · #9 05-30-2008, 02:39 AM

Also, let the drummer know he/she play with a medium volume and let the p.a. take care of the rest.

Spoek · #10 05-30-2008, 04:03 AM

Thanks for posting this thread, it's really helped. I'm in the same position very soon and play the same bass.

**baba** · #11 05-30-2008, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nojja

So i will sound much lower than i really am?

Absolutely. Don't worry about anything sound or volume related when you are on stage other than being able to hear yourself in the mix and your other band members as needed. If you need something more in your monitor at soundcheck SPEAK UP! If you don't pay attention and ID what needs to come up in your monitor, and don't speak up, blame yourself after the set if the sound on stage sucked. I mention this because I can't count the number of times I've run sound, and the guy with no comments at soundcheck starts whining during and after set about hearing himself/others. Monitor engineers aren't standing where you are, so they rely on your feedback during soundcheck.

nysbob · #12 05-30-2008, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nojja

Maybe turn down my bass at the soundcheck and the turn it up once we start to play so the soundcheck guys dont make my bass drown!

Terrible idea. Defeats the purpose of a soundcheck.

It's a gig...do what you normally do and trust the sound crew to get it right out front.

lonote · #13 05-30-2008, 10:02 AM

Since it is your first outdoor concert situation, don't give the sound techs a hard time. They undoubtedly have more experience than you do. If you need something in the monitors, let the techs know at sound check. Focus on your playing and keep the show moving, let the techs worry about the sound.

JTE · #14 05-30-2008, 10:39 AM

A. Don't look at a big stage and spread out. Keep the whole band close together to foster communication and interplay.

B. Do NOT mess with the sound op who is trying to keep thing going smoothly, has probably been there since 6:00 AM and won't be done until after midnight. Be respectful, and unless the monitors are designed for a full mulitple monitor mix (i.e. bi-amped monitors with a separate mix for each musician), then just put vocals in the monitors. See A above for how to hear each other.

C. Relax and have fun! This should probably be the first point.

D. Talk the audience, make sure they know who you are. And don't do anything that's different from who the band is- don't try to be anyone except who you are.

E. Have your load-in and load-out organized. In this case it's just instruments, but make sure you have your stands, your tuners, any FX, and good cables all around. Pedal boards are critical for anyone with more than two stomp boxes. You have 30 minutes, which in these situations generally means you have the stage for a half hour. Do you want to use your 30 minutes setting up, sound checking, and tweaking things? Or do you want to use your 30 minutes to get your band across to the crowd? Get on, tune up, play your hearts out, thank the sound crew (no matter how it sounds to you, thank them!), thank the festival promoters, tell the crowd your band's name, plug the next band, and get off.

F. Hang out afterwards. Meet people, talk to other musicians. Connections are what the gigging world is all about.

G. Have fun! There's nothing more fun than playing music under the sun for a bunch of happy people!

jte

neurotictim · #15 05-30-2008, 11:17 AM

IME, three oft-forgotten bits of wisdom:

Bring enough sunscreen for yourself and everyone else.

Bring your own water/gatorade/etc, just in case.

Backup bass is a must.

Nojja · #16 06-07-2008, 10:08 AM

Today is the big day, the schedule has been delayed, so we was moved to a better play time, at 22.15 at the night! Which makes us between the main acts, today at the time we should have played there were like 20 ppl in the audience, but since we now get the best time 21-22, there will be a couple of hundred people! We have filmed everything so far, makes a good documentary^^, from beeing the first band to one of the last bands

Insanity^2 · #17 06-07-2008, 10:32 AM

Tell us how it went, I'd love to play at a festival, less pressure in a way

Nojja · #18 06-07-2008, 07:29 PM

Okey so we did it a couple of hours ago, ive just been partying like hell, but now i m home, and have taken a shower, the organisers told us we got the best damn time, from zero to hero. All in the band had their friends come and watch, so we got most "crazy cheers" of the evening, everyone told us we did the best concert of the evening, mostly because we kept it solid and short. Alot of people cheering and dancing

We have filmed it, i have watched it on the camera LCD screen, ofcourse our camera man filmed so i was exactly behind the singer and lead guitarist, really annoys me! Our rhytm guitarist made the most misstakes, but it went good, and for a first concert it was a really "huge" success. I could hear myself good, allththough my friends said the bass was a little low. I played through a warwick amp even! (have a Warwick Corvette)

I will link to our Youtube once its up. BTW this is was in a Swedish university town, if any one wonders

It felt weirding performing beside the headliners! I drank 2 beers because i was so nervous

EDIT: The reason we got such a crappy play time (12.00 beside alot of kids) was because we missed the auditionen, so they were nice and gave us a time anyway. But now after everything i must say that we would never accepted to play 12.00 if we knew how bad the bands after us until like 18.00 were, it was a real catastrophy.