Band thrown together to play a corporate gig in less than a month

capnsandwich · #1 05-27-2009, 06:22 PM

My job has decided to throw a family picnic on June 20th. In the meeting they said they were going to have live music and that they were going to ask some people within the company to play for it. Well, today at work a guitarist I know asked me if I would be interested in playing for it if they hadn't found a band yet. I am interested since the last big picnic they had they paid the band $5000 and also bought them $13,000 in new equipment since it was damaged due to a power surge from a generator.

It's not set in stone yet that I have the gig but I'm guessing that we'll end up playing 2 10 song sets on an outdoor stage. My question is what kind of songs should I learn since I'll have less than a month to learn them and play them with a band I've never played with? Any advice as what to bring or how to learn these songs quickly would much be appreciated. BTW, I've never played with any of the other musicians. Somehow they heard that I played bass and that I was pretty good at it. I hope I get the gig but more importantly I hope we can gel as a band here in the next month so we don't look stupid in front of my co-workers.

coolrunner989 · #2 05-27-2009, 07:10 PM

I've done this several times - thrown a band together for a party or competition, with favorable results. What works best is if you can get everybody who will be in the band together and talk about what songs you all are comfortable playing that you can realistically learn and perform competently after a few weeks of practice. Agree on songs that everyone can have access to, even better if at least a few people know it already. If you can play together after practicing all of the songs separately at least once, preferably twice, it will go a long way towards making it a more fun/less stressful event and make the band tighter. No need to put undue stress on each other, but dont let somebody blow it off.

capnsandwich · #3 05-27-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolrunner989

I've done this several times - thrown a band together for a party or competition, with favorable results. What works best is if you can get everybody who will be in the band together and talk about what songs you all are comfortable playing that you can realistically learn and perform competently after a few weeks of practice. Agree on songs that everyone can have access to, even better if at least a few people know it already. If you can play together after practicing all of the songs separately at least once, preferably twice, it will go a long way towards making it a more fun/less stressful event and make the band tighter. No need to put undue stress on each other, but dont let somebody blow it off.

Yeah, I'm hoping to get at least 2 rehearsals in before hand. I'm more than willing to haul my rig to someone's house to make this work.

Stumbo · #4 05-27-2009, 07:24 PM

Unless you have charts/recordings for everyone ahead of time, putting together 20 songs in 2 rehearsals will be a stretch unless everyone knows the songs already.

I suggest you make a list of all the songs you know and have the other members do the same. Then meet with them to figure out the best way to handle the gig.

I did something like this once and we had one rehearsal. The songs were ones that I had heard/played before. The guitar player fed me all the chords/breaks while I made simple charts. The gig came out fine.

ForSix · #5 05-28-2009, 08:10 AM

Hire a real band, pay them $2,000 and keep the $3,000.

jaywa · #6 05-28-2009, 09:04 AM

One show of 20 cover tunes and you get a cut of $5,000? Dude that is free money. I would do handsprings to pull down that much in a month of gigs.

Truthfully... If the guys are all worth their salt it shouldn't take more than two rehearsals to pull that show together. If they can't, then they're not worth a tenth of that kind of pay.

BTW I'm sure you recognize you are very lucky to be working for a company that will still drop that kind of coin on an employee event. Those are usually the first things to go when the economy hits the skids.

tycobb73 · #7 05-28-2009, 09:15 AM

You'll probably have to stick to the standards. Most people will know Mustang Sally, I
Want You to Want Me, etc. Most guitarists we talk to with more than 10 years experience know 75% of our setlist. Some new country would be good to throw in, its easy.

dmusic148 · #8 05-28-2009, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForSix

Hire a real band, pay them $2,000 and keep the $3,000.

LMAO, classic.
Seriously, you need to get with whoever the de-facto 'leader' is. I usually will get whoever is singing most of the tunes to send me a setlist of stuff they know, then I'll highlight the ones I know and send it back. I know a lot of tunes from doing this a bazillion times so I don't usually have to learn much except newish things they might want to do. So at least get with the singer and hash something out.

jaywa · #9 05-28-2009, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmusic148

LMAO, classic.
Seriously, you need to get with whoever the de-facto 'leader' is. I usually will get whoever is singing most of the tunes to send me a setlist of stuff they know, then I'll highlight the ones I know and send it back. I know a lot of tunes from doing this a bazillion times so I don't usually have to learn much except newish things they might want to do. So at least get with the singer and hash something out.

Exactly. If you stick to the old warhorses that everyone has played, then the rehearsals become more about just getting used to each others' feel, figuring out who is going to sing which songs, who's playing leads, and other fine-tuning vs. working out parts from scratch. Things like key, general groove etc. should really not be up for dispute if everyone knows the songs the way they should be done. And if there are differences, it's the leader's call and everyone else should be competent enough to adapt.

The only other thing you'll want to nail down is if your company is springing for staging, sound and lights or if the band members are expected to put that together on their own. Make sure it's clear whether you are supposed to cover production out of the $5K, or if the whole $5K is just for the band. Even if you're paying for production you still stand to make out pretty well.

Then you go out, play the gig, have fun and cash a nice check for very little work. Lay-up.

BillyRay · #10 05-28-2009, 12:20 PM

Where do I sign up ? Seriously, I'll reiterate what everyone has said, just play the old rock classics that have people dancing without too much legwork on the learnin' front: Brickhouse, Mustang Sally, Johnny B. Goode. Some slower/mellower songs too.

If they aren't too keen on Top 40 and want to play bloues/jazz, can you sightread ?

capnsandwich · #11 05-28-2009, 02:51 PM

Right now, as it stands I'm not 100% sure we're doing it. We still need to get with the manager who's heading everything up. Then we need to figure out EXACTLY what we're getting paid. The band who played the 15 year anniversary party got $5000 but this may be a little different since, like so many other auto companies, we're doing a lot of cut backs. This picnic is actually a bonus since we didn't even expect it. The company can no longer pay us overtime, they've cut back on hours, they've stopped the bonuses temporarily, etc., so I'm kind of doubting it'll be $5000, but I'll still do the gig since I like to play with new people all the time. Even $1000 for us to do this would be worth it IMO.

Thanks for the info guys. I'm taking this all into mind. I hope we get the gig.

jaywa · #12 05-28-2009, 03:17 PM

And good luck to you, cap'n. It's cool that your "rep" has gotten around even at your day job.

jaywa · #13 05-28-2009, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

The company can no longer pay us overtime

Sorry, not to go off-topic but I just had to follow-up on this.

Are you saying that hourly workers are working overtime but not getting paid for it? It happens all the time with people on salary, but if that's the case with your hourly workers then your company is in serious violation. You can restrict an hourly worker's hours to 40 hours a week but the minute that goes over 40 he or she is owed time-and-a-half. It sounds like your company is big enough that they would be playing by the rules but the way this sentence read just kind of tripped me up.

Bass Viking · #14 05-28-2009, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

Any advice as what to bring or how to learn these songs quickly would much be appreciated. BTW, I've never played with any of the other musicians.

Once the song list has been decided, hit Youtube to learn the ones you don't already know. If everyone does their homework things go much more smoothly.

jaywa · #15 05-28-2009, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass Viking

Once the song list has been decided, hit Youtube to learn the ones you don't already know. If everyone does their homework things go much more smoothly.

Good advice... just make sure everyone is YouTubing the same version, though! Lots of times with the more popular songs there will be studio and live versions, sometimes multiple live versions, sometimes other bands covering the original, sometimes in different keys and/or tempos than the original, etc. E-mail everyone the full link to avoid any mess-ups.

millsbass5 · #16 05-28-2009, 04:53 PM

I've been in the situation you are in many,many times.And,it's ALWAYS been a total blast.Seriously,why wouldn't,couldn't,shouldn't it be fun as hell?Look at it this way:No commitments,other than a few practices,and,the gig itself.Also,from what you're saying,the pay????Get outta here!!I'd jump on it,PDQ!!Seriously,when it comes down to it,I'd rather be onstage jamming,getting paid,and,did I mention getting paid???Than,say for instance,pitching horseshoes(woo-hoo!!),bingo,the ol' lucky plate game,and always my picnic favorite:Wondering which thing I hate the most,all the kids screaming their heads off and running around,or,standing there like a knot on a log,getting molested by mosquitoes.Seems like a no-brainer,IMHO.As for the music,ask around at work.Tell them you are going to try to make everybody's ears happy.It all comes down to this:They are no different,I would assume,than people that go to a club to hear some good music.Just fix up a couple of good sets of some music that they can to dance to.Come Monday your name will be on everyone's lips at the ol' water cooler.

One more thing.Bring a bad generator!!Poof!!!Then you'll have that rig you've always wanted! LOL

jaywa · #17 05-28-2009, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by millsbass5

Come Monday your name will be on everyone's lips at the ol' water cooler.

Yes. If you go up there and rock the house, your "cool factor" in the company just went up x100.

capnsandwich · #18 05-28-2009, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

Sorry, not to go off-topic but I just had to follow-up on this.

Are you saying that hourly workers are working overtime but not getting paid for it? It happens all the time with people on salary, but if that's the case with your hourly workers then your company is in serious violation. You can restrict an hourly worker's hours to 40 hours a week but the minute that goes over 40 he or she is owed time-and-a-half. It sounds like your company is big enough that they would be playing by the rules but the way this sentence read just kind of tripped me up.

No No No. Sorry if I haven't been clear about my situation but what I'm saying is that we're only working a total of 32 hours, having Fridays off, (well, most of us) and if we work a Saturday it's only regular time when it used to be time and a half. They're being perfectly legal, at least from what I understand. I work for a company that build the seats for a big Japanese auto maker and, while we're not being hit as hard as the Big Three, we're still being hit. We've been a little wiser than some of the other auto makers in the past few years so I think we're in a little better shape but you never know really.

This whole picnic is because we've been doing a great job with our quality and have very little issues with our customer since this all started. Like I said, this picnic is a total surprise. Our Christmas party was taken away, our summer bonus was eliminated this year, we've been given an extra week off over 4th of July (we usually get 2 weeks paid every year, one over the 4th and one over Christmas and New Year, both paid, so that we can recalibrate equipment and do bi-annually maintenance, but this year we have an extra week off after the shot down week), and it's not paid. We can use vacation to cover it but some of us don't have the time left to do so. I do, thank God!

BigOldHarry · #19 05-28-2009, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stumbo

Unless you have charts/recordings for everyone ahead of time, putting together 20 songs in 2 rehearsals will be a stretch unless everyone knows the songs already.

I suggest you make a list of all the songs you know and have the other members do the same. Then meet with them to figure out the best way to handle the gig.

I did something like this once and we had one rehearsal. The songs were ones that I had heard/played before. The guitar player fed me all the chords/breaks while I made simple charts. The gig came out fine.

This can be done if everyone has a "good book" behind them. I've done this a few times and, to me, it's fun... Be sure to put your skynard/eagles/tom petty/beatles/elvis/james brown/doobie brothers hat(s) on!

jaywa · #20 05-29-2009, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnsandwich

We've been given an extra week off over 4th of July...and it's not paid. We can use vacation to cover it but some of us don't have the time left to do so. I do, thank God!

I was in the exact same situation in March at my company. I was required to take 5 days off and thankfully I had vacay time to cover but some of the people in my department didn't. Tough deal.