Disaster Gig last night !!

[2001-Ps]

Hey guys,

We were playing a small club last night....and the whole gig was a complete disaster !! Mistakes by everyone, ****** PA sound and the popular ``singer lost it's voice `` in the last set...

We were all wery much dissapointed & wanted to talk things over but it was late so....no talking & everyone left pretty much dissapointed & fed up !! Thing is we have a second one tonight same spot !!

Any ideas / suggestions to bring back some kind of motivation ?? Short notice but any tricks to make it work tonight ??

(it kind of never happened to me such a disaster night !! But I've seen bands breaking up after such events...)

Thanks for the help, Mk

[invader3k]

Get there early and make sure the PA and other equipment are set up properly this time. That could go a long way to curbing your various issues.

[nsmar4211]

One word: Relax.

It stinks......but sometimes it doesn't go well. You wouldn't quit because of one bad practice... don't quit because of one bad gig.

Sometimes just the bad gig will make the next one better because everyone will be so determined not to mess up again that they pay attention. Mistakes can snowball if you let them ("shoot, I missed that note.......now I missed that one...I'm an idiot...."). Trust me....I make plenty of them. Used to throw me for a loop and I was off the rest of the night, but then I realized that no one else in the audience had a clue as long as I didn't make the *mistake face*.

If band seems discouraged....point out to them that unless you guys look miserable 99% of the audience isn't going to have a clue. Guitarist doesn't have his perfect tone? pffffff who notices besides him. Etc....

Make sure your singer has plenty of water and doesn't strain themselves, we can restring when strings go bad but a voice takes a bit more to fix!

You'll be fine tonight......may I suggest getting there early enough to fix PA problems so they don't ruin the night

[fenderphil]

drink more whiskey. then you'll think you sound fine..

[Rock-o-Rock]

I know exactly how you feel, my bands first show only had 1 fluke. When we played our first song the drummer ****ed up and then everything went out of order. But the other 4 songs were good.

what you guys should do is share jokes and if your guitarist jumps around, tell him to chill the **** out and hit the right notes. Dont yell at your members though and stick with the band progress is a process. If you start a new band you gotta start all over with songwriting and riff's and everything.

Heres a video in which the drummer played slow as ****, but no one noticed and everyone in fact loves the song ---- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAd-Yv1cs8w

[bluewine]

Yeah, I know you want to present a quality live product, however take the "high road". In the whole big scheme of things mone of us are that important. In other word don't think about anything, just have fun,that's what music is about.And if your single try and spot out some decent looking women.

[DaveDeVille]

Originally Posted by invader3k

Get there early and make sure the PA and other equipment are set up properly this time.
That could go a long way to curbing your various issues.

gotta agree with this suggestion ...

Originally Posted by nsmar4211

One word: Relax.

It stinks......but sometimes it doesn't go well.
You wouldn't quit because of one bad practice... don't quit because of one bad gig.

If band seems discouraged....point out to them that unless you guys look miserable
99% of the audience isn't going to have a clue.
Guitarist doesn't have his perfect tone? pffffff who notices besides him. Etc....

You'll be fine tonight......may I suggest getting there early enough to fix PA problems
so they don't ruin the night

again , gotta agree with this good advice ...

Originally Posted by fenderphil

drink more whiskey.
then you'll think you sound fine..

yep , that sounds about right .

[alembicguy]

Well after you got last night out of the way,tonight can only be better.

[KeithPas]

I agree with arriving early enough to get a good PA mix. You shouls also examine your stage volume and think about whether you might all be playing too loud. Relax and don't let one bad night get inside your head. You might also want to have a quick group meeting about any particularly bad train-wrecks.

[spunj13]

bad shows happen to everyone.
but who knows? the next show could be great.

the band i'm in now has played 150 shows in the last couple years and we've had our share of bad shows... sometimes it's our fault... sometimes it's a bad PA or whatever...
timing problems... vocal problems... (or, oddly enough.. .SPACE problems) injuries... you name it...
three of us do vocals and 2/3 of that started losing their voices last night... the PA wasn't great and we had some minor timing issues.. but next weekend we're hitting the road again for three shows in a row.

it's all in how you deal with it.
you can give up horses after being thrown,
or you can get back on and try again...

(what a horrible analogy, i apologize)

[spunj13]

[2001-Ps]

Hey guys

THANKS !! for the good imputs....Yup we're sceduled to get there early tonight to try to set the PA...One of the issues is some tension between 2 of the members (not me !!) and last night just worsened matters....

Spunj13 : you are dead on on that SPACE problem !! It bogged me all night (and caused me to make mistakes) as I'm used to move all over the place ( I need room !!) Yesterday I got the singer twice in the back and got one major ``headstock crash`` with the guitarist ( P Bass vs Explorer...I won !! ) That stage is WAY too small....

I can simply hope for the best tonight...but I'll do my part the best I can !!
Mk