Roller Coaster Gig

Lenam909 · #1 10-08-2009, 03:41 PM

Okay, I don't use this site as often as I should but I hope to make this latest post the first of many more. This new attitude kicks off with a quick story about my latest gig.

Who better than a young, rather talented rock covers band to entertain an 80 strong bunch of bikers? This gig is an annual event and marks the start of a 100 mile bike ride in aid of charity - The Hercules Run. As we loaded the van and headed for the venue my excitement grew, this was a gig I was really looking forward to, if anyone likes what we play it's going to be bikers who have paid £25 each to actually take part in the whole weekends events.

We set up and wrote out a set list as we endured a mediocre DJ with a bad choice of songs and an even worse PA. We were feeling very positive and knew that our stuff would go down well. We began our first song, Four Kicks by Kings of Leon, gave it the usual amount of energy and really put on a performance. Last note rang out... silence.

What the hell?! We had so much energy and enthusiasm, we were on top form, we have about 3 practices to every gig and only bothered to perform our first ever gig after 3 months of learning and perfecting 30 songs. We are a good band, at the very least we are entertaining, at the absolute rock bottom we are watchable. Even a bad band deserves a round of applause, but to finish a song and look out to see a pub full of people but to hear no applause, whistles or hollers...

This was bad. We travelled roughly 12 miles to play a gig for charity and not a single biker or local seemed to care that we were even there. We looked at each other and just grinned in disbelief. After 14 songs including some Rolling Stones, White Stripes, The Clash and a take on the Van Halen version of You Really Got Me, the height of appreciation was about 5 or 6 people clapping. Disaster, time to go home.

However, we were assured by organisers that such a non-existant response for the first set was usual since some of the bikers use the event to have a chin wag about bikes. We felt that this excuse couldn't possibly account for what happened but since our drinks were being payed for and we had 90 mins of raffling and auctioning to sit through we decided to stick around and get smashed. Auction over - some guy spending £370 for a weeks holiday in Scotland (evoking a few jokes about a lovely cottage in Glasgow) - we dragged our dis-heartened drunk back sides back onto the stage and began the second set. Song 2 by Blur. By the time my foot was heading for my Bass Big Muff we had 2 people up and dancing. By the time I came to pluck the first bass note of the song the number doubled, and by the end of the song the only person not dancing was our singers dad, who was sat gladly by the bar taking advantage of some free booze.

We eventually reached the point in our second set where we pick things up and play a tried and tested selection of 3 back to back songs; Hate To Say I Told You So, My Generation, Cigarettes and Alcohol. This second set was fantastic and more than made up for the first set. I think it's probablly going to be the most dramatic turn around I will ever experience. Even the alcohol induced cock-ups couldn't drag me down, and the crowd, now well and truly at one with the dance floor and often getting inbetween me and my pedal board, were only getting more and more into it. Despite the initial lack of enthusiasm on the part of the audiance, i'd gladly drag that crowd to any future gig.

By 12.30 the DJ carried on doing his thing while we settled outside for a drink, a laugh and a cool down before packing the gear into the van. Before we know it, the organiser has introduced us back onto the stage. After running out of songs and stepping outside for yet another cool down, we were once again encouraged back onto the stage by 80 loud bikers, 20 excited locals, and one completely hammered organiser. After a final run through of our 4 favourites, the crowd that didn't even acknowledge our existance were still not willing to let us pack up, but as the DJ started digging through his tapes (yes.. tapes), we began packing up our gear and called it a night by 2.

So, that was my Roller Coaster Gig, started out bloody awful and ended up brilliantly. Anyone else had similar experiences of such.. schizophrenic audiances?

Grantrudd · #2 10-08-2009, 04:01 PM

if and when you start playing private events as part of a jazz group, you will get very used to the reaction to your first set.

ashtray · #3 10-10-2009, 12:31 AM

Yeah - that whole first set thing is weird. We've done some slower/softer stuff in the first set on purpose b/c we knew we wouldn't get a crowd on the dance floor even if we played our high energy stuff.

Sometimes we play "the good stuff" in the first set, to an empty dance floor. Then the 3rd set we break out some songs from the first set, and this time people are all dancing. It makes no sense, except that people drink alcohol, and over time they feel like dancing the more they drink. *shrug*

We've done some private events where people just clap, but no one actually dances. We actually played a wedding where the dance floor was packed for the DJ, but when we played a 5 song set, crickets (and some clapping). Then the DJ would play more stuff, and the dance floor was packed again. A bit disheartening but afterwards everyone said how good we were. I guess they just appreciated us as entertainment to watch, and the DJ as music to dance to. Oh well.