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06-19-2011, 08:22 AM
|  | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | | Wow, what an amazing gig!
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I just got back from a gig we played last night about 150 miles North of here.
This was a corporate event with a budget of around £250,000 (that's not a typo). It was the 65th anniversary party for a large British company. The venue was what I can only describe as "a marquee complex" at the local rugby club and it's hard to describe how impressive it was. The scale, design, decor, lighting, sound system and every other aspect were just superb, and it was all just set up for one day. Madness. There was even a fairground with some crazy rides! I'd say there were maybe 500 people attending and a crew of about 50 staff.
The band (22 of us!) played on a three tier stage and we had two engineers, one for the FOH sound and another for the monitor mixes. It sounded great on stage. I wish I'd taken my wireless so I could have gone out front to listen during the soundcheck. Our set list includes a lot of soul, funk, disco and pop stuff for partying to - we market the band as a sort of tribute to Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire, but we play other people's stuff too.
We got well fed and watered for the whole day (and well paid, despite the size of the band). After the two sets we all invaded one of the bars there and settled down for some refreshment, all laid on at no charge. Very nice! Got back to the hotel about 4 AM for a few hours sleep, then up for breakfast, back to the venue to collect our gear (there was 24 hour security on site) and then home. Phew.
Every weekend should be like this.
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Originally Posted by SBassman  | |
06-19-2011, 11:31 AM
|  | Less barking, more wagging! | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: San Diego, CA | | F A N T A S T I C !  |
06-19-2011, 11:37 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Michigan | | | sounds like a great gig, I am curious , Do you work for the company itself? I work in the finance dept of a large multi corp and we never tell our suppliers how much budget we have. |
06-19-2011, 11:43 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Ireland | | | Good stuff, it's nice to get "looked-after" eh? I don't do many corporate gigs anymore.. The money ain't there.. |
06-19-2011, 12:18 PM
| | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by pedroims sounds like a great gig, I am curious , Do you work for the company itself? I work in the finance dept of a large multi corp and we never tell our suppliers how much budget we have. | No, I don't work for the company. But the guy who runs the events management outfit that set up the whole thing happens to be the brother of our band leader (hence the gig). I got chatting with him at the end of the night and he told me what the day had cost. Having seen it, I'm sure he was on the level, too.
The £250k didn't even include what it cost the company to stop production for the weekend so their employees could all join in the celebration. 
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Originally Posted by SBassman |
Last edited by bassybill : 06-19-2011 at 12:22 PM.
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06-19-2011, 12:26 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Cincinnati | | | Sounds like the 1990's to me. Nice work. Gigs like that make the nasty ones easier to deal with.
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06-19-2011, 12:27 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: portland, OR/vancouver, WA | | | Now that is a gig! |
06-20-2011, 06:07 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cayce, SC | | | Sounds good, Bill. Yep, I've seen some gooduns, too. I remember a wedding once where the caterer told me just the food alone cost $125,000.
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2001 American Series Jazz Bass / 1987 Jazz Bass Special
Markbass Little Mark III / dual 151P cabs / 121H combo
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06-20-2011, 11:59 AM
| | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | | I'm just glad there are guys on here who have had similar experiences at some point. The amount of money these clients blew in a day just seems so improbable, it might sound beyond belief if wasn't for the fact that some of you others have seen something like it for yourselves at some point.
I was telling a musician friend about it today and the best analogy I could come up with for this event was "It's like they built a large, top class London nightclub on the Friday, used it on the Saturday to the max, and then packed it all away again on the Sunday."
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Originally Posted by SBassman | |
06-20-2011, 12:05 PM
|  | I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize! | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ottawa, Canada | | | Wow! And I am impressed if I get a free beer....... |
06-20-2011, 12:57 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Utah | | Quote:
Originally Posted by bassybill This was a corporate event with a budget of around £250,000 (that's not a typo). It was the 65th anniversary party for a large British company. | I wonder what the budget would have been if the organizers had remembered that the company was 65 *last year*? (confirmed in several places, no just my mind!)<g>
Joe's probably spinning in his grave...
Sounds like a great gig, though! Congratulations on being paid! ....they *have* paid, haven't they.... 
Pete.
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06-20-2011, 01:09 PM
| | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by throughthefire I wonder what the budget would have been if the organizers had remembered that the company was 65 *last year*? (confirmed in several places, no just my mind!)<g>
Joe's probably spinning in his grave...
Sounds like a great gig, though! Congratulations on being paid! ....they *have* paid, haven't they....
Pete. | I don't follow you, sorry? The company was started in 1946 (I'm sure you'll understand that having mentioned the kind of money they're spending, it would be wrong for me to identify them here - PM me if you want more info and promise to be discreet ).
And who's Joe?
As for the money... er... yeah, what gives? It's in the post.
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Originally Posted by SBassman | |
06-20-2011, 01:12 PM
|  | Bartle doo? | | Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Missing Mountains | | +1 for the awesome. Every once in a while I get scooped into a party above my class status. Not as a musician unfortunately, but just as a date, associate, whatever....
It's always fun to pretend to be rich. Of course, getting back to the scummy slop-shoot of a bar where all my white trash friends slum it up is also fun. Ahhh, the joys of middle class 
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Originally Posted by YCBass Fortunately the smell is only there when you actually put your face close to the holes, otherwise you wouldn't notice it in playing position... |
Fuzzrocious #2 / B1S #2 / S.A.S.S. #15 / WA #37
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06-20-2011, 01:20 PM
|  | My basses pay the bills that pay for more basses
Unofficially Endorsing Genz Benz, Fender, Avatar TB-153 Cabs, Musicman | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Scottsdale Az | | | Travel dates are the best! You just never know where music will take you, or what is around the corner! Cheers! |
06-20-2011, 01:29 PM
| | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | Here's a pic our drummer just sent me from his phone, so the quality is not of the best. If I get some more, I'll post them here.
This is just setting up for the soundcheck. You can see me at the back with my beloved blue Jazz bass. The other guys on the stage are one of the keys players, our two guitarists and the black guy on the left is our percussionist - awesome musician. Note the decor, the three tier stage and the lighting rig (just the bit for the stage shown here). Not to mention the number of music stands! 
Remember, this was in a glorified tent!
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Originally Posted by SBassman |
Last edited by bassybill : 06-20-2011 at 01:33 PM.
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06-20-2011, 01:32 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2007 Location: Horsham, Pa | | | Awesome!!! I'm glad that you got to experience it.
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Originally Posted by Smurf-o-Deth Music is magic that rides a unicorn into my ears! | |
06-21-2011, 11:28 AM
| | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | I just set up a Facebook page for us - please check it out and click the "Like" button. If enough folks do that I get to change the URL to something more friendly.
There's a vid and some mp3s to check out too.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by SBassman | |
06-21-2011, 11:47 AM
| | I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize! | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ottawa, Canada | | Quote:
Originally Posted by bassybill I just set up a Facebook page for us - please check it out and click the "Like" button. If enough folks do that I get to change the URL to something more friendly.
There's a vid and some mp3s to check out too. | I think the alto sax player thought he was in a mosh pit. I thought he was going to take out the other alto sax
Great sound. I wish I could play in a band with a full horn section! |
06-21-2011, 11:54 AM
| | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by seanm I think the alto sax player thought he was in a mosh pit. I thought he was going to take out the other alto sax
Great sound. I wish I could play in a band with a full horn section! | Ha ha, that's my good buddy Pete. Shared a hotel room with him on Saturday, the guy's a crazy man! Always plenty of laughs when he's around, though. Dude lives on a canal boat. One regular gig we had in Birmingham had the canal right outside the back gate. He used to moor up there before the gig, we'd play and then have a party on the boat afterwards. Great times.
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Originally Posted by SBassman | |
06-21-2011, 12:06 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: St. Louis // St. Charles, MO | | Quote:
Originally Posted by bassybill I just got back from a gig we played last night about 150 miles North of here.
This was a corporate event with a budget of around £250,000 (that's not a typo). It was the 65th anniversary party for a large British company. The venue was what I can only describe as "a marquee complex" at the local rugby club and it's hard to describe how impressive it was. The scale, design, decor, lighting, sound system and every other aspect were just superb, and it was all just set up for one day. Madness. There was even a fairground with some crazy rides! I'd say there were maybe 500 people attending and a crew of about 50 staff.
The band (22 of us!) played on a three tier stage and we had two engineers, one for the FOH sound and another for the monitor mixes. It sounded great on stage. I wish I'd taken my wireless so I could have gone out front to listen during the soundcheck. Our set list includes a lot of soul, funk, disco and pop stuff for partying to - we market the band as a sort of tribute to Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire, but we play other people's stuff too.
We got well fed and watered for the whole day (and well paid, despite the size of the band). After the two sets we all invaded one of the bars there and settled down for some refreshment, all laid on at no charge. Very nice! Got back to the hotel about 4 AM for a few hours sleep, then up for breakfast, back to the venue to collect our gear (there was 24 hour security on site) and then home. Phew.
Every weekend should be like this. | And you claim not to believe in an afterlife. Sounds like heaven to me!
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