How did your first gig go?

James Nesbit · #1 02-21-2010, 12:33 PM

Mine was less than good. I picked up my bass and didn't realize I was standing on the strap; ripped it right in half, I sat on the stool behind a grand piano to make it look like I was supposed to be sitting down to play piano as well.

So, how were your first gigs?

Jaguar · #2 02-21-2010, 12:40 PM

13 people went to the hospital.we had to change the band name the next day so no rivalries showed up.True story.I was 17 at the time.scaired S***Tless ,the owner fired a gun to quiet the crowd.
My guitarist was hiding behind his amp,I did the same.He went on to become Senior V.P. of Fender

s_mcsleazy · #3 02-21-2010, 12:42 PM

mine was hit and miss

it was 75 miles away from where i live (remeber this cos it comes in handy)

the night befor i had seen mudhoney and the vaselines in edsbra so my hearing wasnt all there

when we got there we all had to set up the p.a (witch no one minded except one band)

it turned out that we didnt have a bass amp that night so it was all up to one band to let us use theres (the band that were beeing "rock stars" and not helping set up)

he said "get your own"

to wich the reply from me and the bass player in another band that was playing that night "well his is 75 miles away and mine will never fill this venue"

he said no

the sound guy came in and pleaded with us

he still said no

then on stage i only had 1squre ft to move (so i played in the crowd)

Time Consumer · #4 02-21-2010, 12:48 PM

My first band was a local metal band and we had our first show... in a church, went ok, lol. Fun fact, one of the other bands called Eye of a Killer changed their name to Oceano and went on tour, metal heads know who im talkin bout. Another fun fact, after second time we played there, metal shows were banned cuz another bands singer drank red colored water and spewed it on the ceiling of the church.

Kamelion · #5 02-21-2010, 01:02 PM

My first gig was at the "Maths Social" - a day-long thing run by the Maths faculty at Manchester University, with bands, skits, sketches, poetry etc etc. Basically all sorts of stuff all performed by students doing Maths at uni - in our case, the students in question were the singer and the guitarist (who was guitarist in my band at the time). I was drafted in to play bass and the guitarist's brother played drums. We played "The Only One I Know" by the Charlatans and "Crushing Day" by Joe Satriani. Everybody in the crowd was wasted, so we got a great response, but then so did everyone else, heh heh. We played well. I felt like a rock star for all of the eight minutes we were on stage.

Later on in the evening we performed some Monty Python sketches. People liked those better.

**pacojas** · #6 02-21-2010, 01:05 PM

it was a blur,.. all i remember is the drummer counting us in and 30 minutes later this girl was hitting on me! (i guess i did pretty good)

crucislancer · #7 02-21-2010, 03:32 PM

My first gig on bass was at a party. Since we didn't have a singer most of our stuff was instrumental, and we really didn't have the chops for that at the time. We also did a couple of covers, one of which was Temples of Syrinx by Rush, which I was forced to sing because I know the lyrics. All in all it wasn't too bad. Coincidentally, I had a beer with one of the guys that was in that band last night, hadn't seen him in 10 years at least, and we discussed that gig and how far we had come in 20 years.

T-Bird · #8 02-22-2010, 03:35 AM

Hi.

A teen band showcase back in the '86.

Located in a old movie theater with a decent PA and a pro soundman (we became sort of friends afterwards).

About 30 minute gig, I was scared ****less as I handled the vocals as well as the bass.

No pic, no gig

Regards
Sam

tom once dead · #9 02-22-2010, 03:56 AM

I was probably around 145cm tall, playing a set of 5 metallica covers and doing a bass solo that got bassically no applause/any reaction.

s_mcsleazy · #10 02-22-2010, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bird

No pic, no gig

who needs a pic when you have a video of your 1st gig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-JPyB7yXI

bbmagic · #11 02-22-2010, 11:13 AM

Two can play at that!

This is my first gig in my second season of bass playing. Let me explain that: I first picked up the bass in 1992 and we played a few small potato gigs, the first of which was for a church group spending the night at an army camp. Video does exist, but I don't have it with me right now. It's probably best that the video is lost to time! We had this idea that since we all had our own electronic tuners, we should all tune up on our own. No one thought to make sure that our tuners were in tune with themselves. To put it bluntly, it sounded like a bunch of cats being beaten with clubs.

I drifted away from the bass in 1995 and didn't come back to it until 2009. This footage is from our first gig during my second stint at the bass. It was at a fundraiser for my wife (who just kicked breast cancer's butt) and that isn't a lawnmower you hear in the background, it's a generator. I only wish it kept good time as we are without a drummer!

Here's an original and a cover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHiHAWC8TGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8ah2fvxvsc

ysand · #12 02-22-2010, 12:55 PM

Mine went great!!!
Too bad that the event wasn't advertised properly and the crowd wasn't that big :/

rosanne · #13 02-22-2010, 12:58 PM

We were promised a soundman but he never showed. We had to set up in the middle of the other band's gear. I couldn't figure out at first why no sound was coming from my amp. Turns out I wasn't plugged in.

On the other hand I have video which shows that my playing and singing weren't bad. Not as good as I'd have liked, but not bad. PLUS the butterflies in the stomach don't show at all!

dalkowski · #14 02-22-2010, 01:03 PM

Headlined at Bunratty's in Allston. On a Tuesday night.

We later would describe the audience as "sparse but enthusiastic."

pasta4lnch · #15 02-22-2010, 01:06 PM

Mine was a train wreck. fairly recent - about 2 years ago. I've been playing for decades, do mostly session and writing work when a client wanted me to do a duo w/ him. NO WAY! but he kinda forced me (in a friendly way) So I agree, had a bunch of friends show up . . . I get to his place a few minutes before we need to set up and he dumps all the "changes" he's made on me. Well, needless to say I froze and screwed up so badly that I took off after the 1st set - didn't even pay my food tab.

I've been playing w/ him ever since and I'm finally comfortable - fwiw I can't thank him enough. I gave up the dream of playing live a long time ago - I can't imagine my life w/o it now!

nato101010 · #16 02-22-2010, 01:11 PM

It went well.

It was a backyard party where I was on drums (my main insturment at the time) playing my dad's kit. We played a few Green Day and some other stuff that was popular at the time.

Great time. I liked it, haven't stopped for years.

whitedk57 · #17 02-22-2010, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbmagic

Two can play at that!

This is my first gig in my second season of bass playing. Let me explain that: I first picked up the bass in 1992 and we played a few small potato gigs, the first of which was for a church group spending the night at an army camp. Video does exist, but I don't have it with me right now. It's probably best that the video is lost to time! We had this idea that since we all had our own electronic tuners, we should all tune up on our own. No one thought to make sure that our tuners were in tune with themselves. To put it bluntly, it sounded like a bunch of cats being beaten with clubs.

I drifted away from the bass in 1995 and didn't come back to it until 2009. This footage is from our first gig during my second stint at the bass. It was at a fundraiser for my wife (who just kicked breast cancer's butt) and that isn't a lawnmower you hear in the background, it's a generator. I only wish it kept good time as we are without a drummer!

Here's an original and a cover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHiHAWC8TGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8ah2fvxvsc

The video brings "A League of Their Own" to mind...

And there's Marla Hooch. What a hitter!

(meaning, you're so far away)

dan stanton · #18 02-22-2010, 03:53 PM

My first gig. Had been playing for a few years, non-paying parties, cats' basements, stuff like that. Guitar player calls up," You play bass?" that was wednesday night. Thursday night he comes over for thirty minutes. Tells me the songs, what key. I'd heard em all, had only played one. As he was leaving he asked me when he should pick me up, TOMORROW! Boy, was I shaking during that first set! Started packing when drummer said we had 3 1/2hrs more to play. I faked it enough to pull it off.

ugly_bassplayer · #19 02-22-2010, 03:54 PM

My first gig was with my freejazz prog band, we where opening for a puppet show.

addylewis · #20 02-23-2010, 10:13 AM

My first gig on bass was pretty cool - college gig, guess you'd call it a short set (4-5 songs) went pretty well, drummer at the time broke the bass drum pedal halfway through the 2nd song but apart from that it was fine...

First REAL full-length gig on bass well...no probs, they liked us and we had no aggro...there were loads of bikers there which shocked my hodge-podge mostly 80's rock band at the time (female singer, borrowed amps from rehearsal room...) - nothing really interesting but it was pretty good and we got 30 quid each