Two Weeks Practice, Then My First Gig In 29 Years!

[mrjim123]

I played for $ in the 70's, then gave it up in 1979 to go to college, raise kids, etc., and have been a bedroom bassist since then.

I joined a band about 5 weeks ago. We had a show booked for July 5. After 2 practices the drummer said he had too much going on to practice - his daughter had twins, he was working out of town, at least that what he said - so we haven't practiced since. I thought maybe the whole thing was over with and I was ready to move on.

This morning the guitar player called and asked me if he thought I could get it together to do the show on the 5th. I almost said no, but finally said yes. I'm totally jazzed about the situation.

The first 2 practices went great, and I've practiced to CDs since, so I know about 25 of their songs. I've got a good ear, so learning the rest shouldn't be too hard. It's pretty easy music - rock, country, oldies, etc. I know I'll make mistakes during the first gig, but I also know we'll make 'em dance.

Anyways, no questions or problems here; I just had to share the good news. My wife thinks I'm crazy ... maybe she has a point.

[fargobass]

Good luck, Jim. I had an almost identical situation five months ago when I joined my current band. I played in high school and college jazz bands in the mid-late 80s, and then, from 1991 to today, probably five or six times in church since then, and always with sheet music.

This band is mostly country (which I don't listen to normally), plus some Southern Rock thrown in, so I had to learn everything from scratch in the 16 days from when they hired me to when the first gig happened.

Will they let you keep notes off on the side? (I stand right next to one of the PA stands - so I was able to tape my notes on the back of the speaker, so no one could see it but myself and the drummer). Good luck

[mrjim123]

Originally Posted by fargobass

Good luck, Jim. I had an almost identical situation five months ago when I joined my current band. I played in high school and college jazz bands in the mid-late 80s, and then, from 1991 to today, probably five or six times in church since then, and always with sheet music.

This band is mostly country (which I don't listen to normally), plus some Southern Rock thrown in, so I had to learn everything from scratch in the 16 days from when they hired me to when the first gig happened.

Will they let you keep notes off on the side? (I stand right next to one of the PA stands - so I was able to tape my notes on the back of the speaker, so no one could see it but myself and the drummer). Good luck

I may use notes. Maybe I'll tape them to the mike stand. Then if I make a mistake I'll just shrug and stare at the notes in hopes that the audience thinks "hey, he doesn't suck, he's just learning the songs." That and a "I Just Joined The Band" t-shirt should get me off the hook.

[wazzel]

Good luck with that. My old band got together for a reunion show after seven years apart. Two night of practice and we pulled off a diceint gig.

[ksandvik]

Figure out a clean way how to start and stop the songs, that's usually the unpolished part when doing few rehearsals. It's quite OK to have a few standard endings, the audience won't really complain if all the endings sound about the same. Usually have the lead of the band tell when to stop with a physical sign (like Zappa's cigarrette switch in his mouth :-) ).

[Lon86]

You can take the man out of music,

But you can never take the music out of the man!!!

Knock 'em dead!

[Bassbasixx]

Yeah Jim sounds like some fun "some habits never die they just resurface"

[hmjuice]

That's Awesome!!! Go break a leg and all that jazz. There's nothing better than playing in a band and watching people dance to what you're playing. Oh and no one will notice mistakes unless everyone one stops playing in the middle of a song so go out there and fake it till you make it.

[jomahu]

wow. that's awesome, man.

welcome back.