Sub Opportunity (Sort Of) - Advice Please - Page 2

Lazylion · #21 01-28-2013, 06:57 PM

Go for it, and bring a pocketful of your business cards to the show, whether you get to play or not. Schmoozing can be worth a lot.

rumblefish · #22 01-30-2013, 07:16 AM

"you have 2 out of 3 sides of the triangle of musical fulfilment"

as a refresher to new forum members, the triangle of musical fullfilment is these three aspects:

the hang
the money
the music

jaywa · #23 02-02-2013, 02:50 PM

Just an update... LG called me today and said I am guaranteed to play the gig as well as the rehearsals.

Its still 2 1/2 mos out but I will try to remember to check back here with a recap afterwards.

Thanks everyone again for your insights.

obimark · #24 02-02-2013, 03:05 PM

I am a little confused, you say this is a band that is pretty big and being inducted and it is playing six covers? Are they a real famous cover band? Or are these there original songs? Didn't think too many cover bands got inducted, and you said you already know these songs?

jaywa · #25 02-04-2013, 07:32 AM

They're a horn band that as I understand it, mostly played covers. It looks like the stuff I'll be learning is Chicago, Ides of March, Santana, etc.

In my state anyway HOF membership isn't limited to just originals bands. Probably 80-90% of the bands in there played primarily or all covers. There are so few originals bands that have ever "made it" from my state that it would be a pretty small HOF otherwise.

What's kind of funny is that a few years ago I was asked to be the bassist for another band's "reunion" gig and for the same reason (original bassist no longer healthy enough to play). Guess I better take care of myself, huh?

jaywa · #26 03-18-2013, 09:04 AM

UPDATE:

Well, rehearsals for this little thing start in a couple of weeks and based on what's happened so far it should be "interesting". The guy who's coordinating the reunion (and my contact) is pulling his hair out by now cause the singers have asked for about half of the songs to have their keys dropped by at least a step from the original recorded versions. And since horns are involved they want everything in flatted keys on top of that. And this after he spent a lot of time burning CDs of the tunes in the keys he THOUGHT we were doing them in.

This is one of those deals where I want to be as prepared as possible by the first rehearsal but can't afford to waste too much time on shedding things that may wind up being changed once we get together anyway. Thankfully there are only 7 songs (all standards and several of which I've played before), so it will be more of an annoyance than a major crisis.

jaywa · #27 04-14-2013, 03:10 PM

FINAL UPDATE:

Just wanted to close the loop on this. The performance was last night and it went off beyond my wildest expectations (in a good way). I have to admit I was pretty nervous because changes were still being made to the material two days before the "dress rehearsal" and the dress rehearsal itself wound up being a 4-hour intensive session vs. the 2 times top to bottom run-through we had anticipated. With 6 pieces in the horn section alone I suppose that was to be expected but it was pretty personally frustrating and I have to admit I was mighty nervous about how things would go down on stage.

Thankfully, the performance was a smash. The stage was gigantic, with a great light show and nice-sounding P.A. We played to an overflow house of estimated 1,300, had 12-15 rows of people standing in front of the stage, got a standing ovation at the end and spent at least 15 minutes after our performance getting our pictures taken offstage by seemingly everyone in attendance. We were 3rd to last on a 10- or 11-band bill and many people told various band members we were the best act of the night. And a big foundation event organizer asked one of our horn guys if we were available for New Years Eve (though I highly doubt that will come to fruition).

It was especially gratifying because the week leading up to the gig was extremely challenging for several members of the band on a personal level. My town (which is also where we rehearsed and where the event venue is located) was nailed by a two-day ice storm which caused tree limbs to come down all over town and widespread power outages. This made it difficult for members who had to travel long distances to the rehearsals and it also caused at least a couple of band members to be without heat in their homes for an extended period. But everyone pressed on and got 'er done.

Throughout the process the original members of the band were all very accommodating and welcoming to me and I also got to meet the original bassist (whom I was replacing for health reasons) who said I had done great. That meant a lot.

Just for fun I kept a tally of the basses being used by all the bands on the bill. I didn't see a couple of the acts but of the ones I did see it broke out like this:

3 - Fender Jazz Basses
3 - Fender P-Basses (including mine)
1 - ESP or Schechter (couldn't quite tell)
1 - EAB (couldnt't tell the brand but it sounded pretty good)

Thanks again to all of you for encouraging me to grab onto this opportunity. It was a lot more time than I usually have to put in for a one-off gig but it was more than worth it.

two fingers · #28 04-14-2013, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jive1

If you like the folks and the music, you have 2 out of 3 sides of the triangle of musical fulfilment. Go for it.

Well stated. Do it!

RustyAxe · #29 04-15-2013, 08:13 AM

Glad it worked out for you. Did you get paid?

pklima · #30 04-15-2013, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

And a big foundation event organizer asked one of our horn guys if we were available for New Years Eve (though I highly doubt that will come to fruition).

Glad to hear it went well. "Are you available for New Years Eve" is probably the most meaningful compliment a band can get.

jaywa · #31 04-15-2013, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

Glad it worked out for you. Did you get paid?

Actually, I did. Completely unexpected but when I got to the venue my friend (the lead guitarist who got me in), slipped me a nice amount of cash and said the rest of the band felt I had earned it so they had passed the hat. I made sure to thank each of them profusely.

funnyfingers · #32 04-15-2013, 08:28 AM

I see no cons. I can't imagine that a band being inducted into this local hall of fame would even need to rehearse to be honest. They must have played the songs hundreds of times right? Just don't forget the proper use of the SWOOSH if you get off track

*SWOOSH BAWOOSH? I don't know the proper terminology, sorry. lol

funnyfingers · #33 04-15-2013, 08:29 AM

Oh I am late lol, glad it all went well!

jaywa · #34 04-15-2013, 08:33 AM

Yeah... I'm waiting to see if the NYE thing actually transpires. The members of the band live all over the country so it would be a pretty major undertaking to pull everyone back together for a NYE show, not to mention we'd need a lot more material.

I've put out the word to them that I'm game for a NYE "reunion" but that's all the farther I'll push it.

RustyAxe · #35 04-15-2013, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

Actually, I did. Completely unexpected but when I got to the venue my friend (the lead guitarist who got me in), slipped me a nice amount of cash and said the rest of the band felt I had earned it so they had passed the hat. I made sure to thank each of them profusely.

Very cool move on the band's part! Glad it worked out so well.