My cover band Six Cowards (see sig) had a gig last night; one we really were wanting to lean into, because, being a startup, getting bookings has been pretty slim, and some of those we've had were in venues that don't match our style real well. We play 21st century alternative/indie music (Black Keys, Cage the Elephant, stuff like that) and the other venues were definitely more classic rock types of places.
Three weeks ago our drummer quit. Nice kid and amazing player, but he's doing the pro thing and overbooked with way too many bands. He had gone and double booked himself last night, and we were the ones to get cut, which made him reexamine his schedule and decide he really couldn't keep committing to us. The decision made sense, and in some ways is a help; he was so busy we couldn't get our foot in the door on any short-notice gigs from cancellations. But it left us having to get a new one up to speed pretty fast.
Fortunately we already had someone in the pipe, a former pro himself getting back into it. He's very good, the only problem is that he hasn't been listening to more recent music and doesn't know the songs, so he's starting from scratch to learn our setlist.
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So we get to the venue, setting up, all on schedule thankfully, but no real time for soundcheck other than to make sure everything's working. Downbeat comes, we play a couple of tunes. A guitarist friend in the audience tells me the guitarist's mic is too quiet. I go to raise his level.... and can't.
We're using a digital mixer in the PA that's controlled from a tablet wirelessly - and it disconnected. I'm poking and poking at the thing and trying to reconnect, and it just spins and won't link up. We plead technical difficulties and take a break, and the thing just won't work. I've been using it for a year with no problems... till now. In the past I always brought a Behringer analog board as a backup, but had become so confident in this wireless that I didn't bother... and of course tonight it breaks down.
So there's no mixer. I plug my vocal mic straight into the powered main speaker nearest me, my guitarist plugs his mic into the one nearest him... and we do the rest of the show like that.
No mixer means no keyboards, so nix the songs on the list that need them. Between worrying about the drummer and making sure to cue him as needed, and freaking out over the sound, I forget to pay attention to my singing technique (I do most of the lead singing, more by default than by talent), strain my throat, and realize by the top of the second set that I'm starting to go hoarse and losing my upper register... more songs crossed off the list. Luckily it was just a three-hour gig with a couple of breaks and we had overpacked the set list, so it looks like we'll be able to stretch the time even with songs cut. Any notions of showmanship go flying out the window as I go introvert, closing my eyes and just trying to hold each song together without a total trainwreck.
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By good fortune a female singer friend shows up right at the end of the first set. I talk to her during break and yes, she would love to sing a couple of songs. That gives some needed relief and she does an excellent job, as always.
When I got home my wife (who had come separately) is still up, and we debrief. She says it was better than I thought; we actually sounded good, she couldn't tell I was going hoarse, the vibe was "real" and friendly and accessible, and she saw people tapping their feet and bobbing their heads and enjoying themselves even if no one got up to dance. So maybe we pulled it off. The owner said he would have us back, and we got paid. But I still feel that if we get the drummer better integrated and get the technical issues ironed out, we could put on a much more exciting show than what we did.
(Afterward the drummer, who works in IT, said that some wifi systems will "isolate" a non-recognized hotspot in their zone and prevent it from connecting. Since my digital mixer works by creating its own wifi signal, his hypothesis was that the host wifi in the building may have isolated it, causing the problem).
Rock on.
I've used wireless devices for my own IEM mix at a few of the places I play so all I have is theoretical experience. (Is that a thing?)
