So my band entered into a battle of the bands style comp called 20 Minutes of Fame and we won! I was really nervous cos it was my first gig and i've never really performed in front of more than 3-4 people apart from the band.
Soundcheck was at 8 o'clock so we all got there around 7ish to make sure we were all unloaded in time etc. Of the 3 other bands on the bill only 2 showed up and they both rocked in around 8:30ish. Wasnt too impressed as the organiser wanted us to do the soundcheck in order with us being the last band of the night. Keep in mind bands were due to go on at 9 oclock so we wound up missing our soundcheck. Bummer. We had a little area out the back which is usually for putting on bets and stuff but they were closed so we just did an impromptu soundcheck on our own in between bands.
Ok so the first band goes on stage, i'd say they were sort of punk/rock-a-billy style and they were ok but nothing that really made anyone stand up and take notice. The lead vocalist/guitarist also forgot his kettle cord
so I lent him mine so they could go on....
Second band goes on and takes FOREVER setting up, god only knows why because they had the most simple setups. Drummer had the typical indie kit, 1 Kick, 1 Snare, Hi-hats, 2 Cymbals and a floor tom. Guitarist and bassist had half stacks and a pedal each. This took the 35 mins to setup! We were allocated 20 minutes inbetween sets so that ate a fair amount of time up but luckily we were a band short so it was still ok.
Finally they tear down and get off after a VERY-lacklustre performance (they should still be practicing in their basement) and it's time for us to go on. I had a feeling we'd do ok because we've practiced almost every Sunday for around 18 months now and we're pretty tight. We also had around 30-40 of our close friends and family along and this was based on crowd reaction plus judges opinions so that probably helped too. We went into our first song, and everyone was going nuts! I look over about half-way through our set and their was this crazy lookin biker dude going crazy swingin around a barstool and throwin me the horns! Played another 2 original to a really good crowd reaction and then went into our cover of The Faded Line by Lamb of God. This song has always given me trouble as it is a little above my skill level. To myself (and my bandmates) amazement, I actually pulled it off and only made a couple of minor mistakes so we were all stoked.
We unload and grab a beer while we wait for the judges to tally their votes and about twenty minutes later they announced it saying we'd won this heat etc and that the semi's we're in 3 weeks....
So the semi's are this Thursday so hopefully things go well and we make it to the finals. I'll post back soon and let everyone know how it went.
In the meantime here is a pic from the gig, montage style
