First Gig Advice

[JeepSahara]

Ok I'm playing bass in a band that our first gig is this Sat Sept 4rd. It is an outside gig for an ethnic festival. We have been practicing and trying to get ready but none of us have experience in playing in a gigging band atmosphere. So what advice could you pass on for us from your experience? I'd take anything from stage presence to setup to anything that maybe you learned the hard way and keep us from being anymore of a train wreck. Thanks!

[HugeInJapan]

Relax and have fun. Don't get upset at mistakes and don't stop playing. Wrong notes are better than not notes 99.9% of the time.

[steve.roark]

If you are working with a sound company be very respectful and thankful. They can make your life's much easier if you are courteous to them. Have fun!!!

[fingerbun]

Have fun is rule number one. It communicates to the audience.

Watch your volume. Sound dissipates outside and you get tempted to turn up, then you start hitting the limits of amps and things get less nice.

[Journey55]

Don't worry about hitting wrong notes, people probably won't notice, just act like you're playing it right

[colcifer]

Make sure you know how to play both kinds of music.

[Grabow]

make sure you and the guitarists are in tune
check out your on stage tone beforehand, adjust your settings
warmup backstage before you go on

[walterw]

great advice from another thread: "it's never as good as you think it is, and it's never as bad as you think it is."

if you have a good time and hold it together, people will think it's pretty good. if you obviously trainwreck it (by stopping in the middle of a song, say) they'll think it's kinda bad.

they won't really care either way.

[baalroo]

It's very extremely likely that you will be the only ones there who give half a crap that you're playing in the band, so don't make the mistake of letting your ego take over. This might sound like a dig, but it's not. I see A LOT of young bands doing their first gig, and they almost always look like total doofuses (doofii?) because they overestimate their importance and the significance of the event. This is only YOUR first gig, for basically everyone else there it will just be an outdoor ethnic festival and they might might vaguely notice that there's a band.

trust me, you'll have a lot more success and be treated much more professionally if you keep that at the front of your mind as much as possible.

that being said, do try to enjoy yourself and also know that even though you must not abuse the priveledge that you are still "in the band" and thus get to be considerably more "dressed down" and "casual" than basically anyone else ever gets to be at their job.

[ryco]

Play good, play hard, listen to the other guys, play TO your audience and have fun!

[walterw]

oh, and don't waste a bunch of time between songs. make sure everybody's ready, then start the next one right off!

[stanknuckle]

If you play a wrong note, play it again... Then it becomes music. Being an ethnic festival it'll probably fit in with the typical semi tonal ethnic sound.

[Plays_For_Dog]

Play for yourself and your band. You will naturally play for the crowd in return, so don't worry about that. People who try too hard to play for the crowd seem to mess up on one of two ways-

Too much stage presence and miss their changes, notes, end of the song (they just keep playing for nearly a measure before noticing. Fun to watch, sucks to do)

Concentrate too hard to play perfect and end up being a tree stump. You may sound great, but you're incredibly boring to watch.

I've done both when I first started out. It sucks. Once I finally tried playing for myself and other band mates, I began to have fun, sound good and enjoy myself. You have to have fun up there or your mood will transpire into the crowd. You're going to be nervous, you're going to make mistakes and you're going to forget at least one part or change in a song. Accept it, and preplan on how you will recover and remain in good spirits. You know which parts to your songs are the most challenging. Work on those, psych yourself up to have a good time (the power of positive thinking) and enjoy doing what you've worked so hard for.

[Muttleybass]

Don't worry if (when) you make a mistake. Nobody noticed. Don't let it embarrass you because if you get flustered, you'll fall apart. Keep it light.

Listen to the kick. Eye contact with the rest of the band. Don't forget your part of a team.

Don't try and show off. Keep your volume so you can hear it, but not too loud. If there's a big PA, your stage volume is just a fancy monitor system.

Don't be afraid to move, but not at the expense of the music. Relax. Groove and let the music flow. Breathe.

Remember this is FUN!

[stingraysvt]

I received a "compliment" from a band I filled in for, that played a song I never went over. And I for the life of me could not find the right note to save my life for half the song.

The guys came up and said that was like the "weird jazz version of that tune" but complimented me on how I kept "rockin' through it lol!

They said he looked over several times and said I was rockin out and it looked like I knew what I was doing (even though I had no clue)

Crazier things have happened I guess... Just don't stop playing! Lol!

[Bredian]

Funny, my 16 year old kid had an amp problem (backline provided) at a show and he said he just "played like a boss"

Since then, that's what I do and our gigs have improved.

Also, as long as you play the note on the beat (w the bass drum) its hard to tell if the pitch is sometimes wrong.

Playing a gig is the coolest....

[p-lo]

Try to keep the band tight on the beginnings and ends of songs.

No noodling or long lags between songs.

Make sure you know who is in charge. What they say goes as far as start time, end time and breaks.

Simple things will go a long way to helping your your band appear "professonal."

[makkE]

You will probably be very nervous through the first few numbers, but that will go away soon, usually the 3rd number will start to feel good Take deep breaths inbetween songs.
If you make a mistake, don't let that irritate you. Just keep on doing the line, and don't think "hope I don't mess this bit up again when it's the 2nd time around" - that WILL mess you up

Your strings might suddenly start feeling like spagetti, or other things will feel very diffrent from what you are used to in practice. You might find yourself digging in much harder than usual. Don't worry, it's just the adrenaline, just be prepared to simply turn your volume down a bit if that happens.

I often do a shaking meditation before gigs or recording, even before practice. It's great to calm down and focus - stand comfortably, with slightly bent knees. Close your eyes and shake around your whole body, all limbs, etc. Do it for 30 seconds. Looks stupid, but works - it relieves stress from your body.

And last but not least - don't worry and ENJOY yourself!

[pringlw]

Originally Posted by p-lo

No noodling or long lags between songs.

That's a big one and a huge rookie mistake. As soon as you hear noodling (beyond just "sound check" stuff) you know that you're dealing with inexperienced musicians. And as the previous poster said - keep it moving. Don't spend 20 minutes talking to the crowd. If you're not Bono they don't really want to hear it.

And then as others have said - just relax and have fun. You will make mistakes. When you do, you will tense up and get that "tunnel vision" effect where you panic a little bit. Then your fingers can feel like spaghetti. Maybe you just have to experience that for yourself once or twice.

But know this; if you make a mistake by hitting a wrong note or something nobody will notice. You're not in the studio so by the time you realize that you made a mistake its already over and ancient history. The key is to just maintain your groove. Feel the beat - hold that beat and don't lose it. Wooten said it best;

"Never lose the groove looking for a note".

You are waaaay better off holding the groove and hitting the wrong note than playing the right note but losing the groove.

Final thought - it all sounds different up there. You may not have good stage sound. That's why a good sound check is important but if you're up there and it doesn't sound right on the stage - relax and realize that what you're hearing is not what the audience is hearing. I find that I often can't hear myself on the stage very well. When that happens you just have to let the muscle memory in your fingers take over.

Best man - have fun with it.

[SteveHeissner]

Relax and be yourself. Don't try to imitate other musicians that are famous. If/when you hit a wrong note just smile and act cool like you meant to play that note.