"Check In" here before and after your gigs, Set #2, the sequel!

[Passinwind]

Playing a 40th HS Class Reunion (not my own), tomorrow night. It's my first time subbing with a band of very good, experienced players and frankly I'm a little nervous.

I really want to nail this gig cause it sounds like they need a sub bassist pretty regularly and if I do a good job maybe I'll become their first-call sub. They get good-paying gigs that finish before midnight and don't require hauling a lot of P.A.!

Good luck. Subbing can be a blast, and it's kind of become my main thing for the last few years.

 

[jaywa]

Good luck. Subbing can be a blast, and it's kind of become my main thing for the last few years.

Thank you. I think it will go fine. It helps immensely to have at least played with one of the guys and know that he's in my corner.

 

[lopxtc]

Well Sundays Oktoberfest gig turned out to be a blast. We went on second since one of the bands cancelled, and enjoyed our hour. We didnt have enough material at the time to fill a full hour, so we let our lead singer do a quick solo set and then brought out the full band to close it out.

The weather was band Sunday morning with rain from around 3am till almost 10am, thankfully it stopped and the sun partial came out for the show which was played outside. Crowd was small, but for us it was just fun to play again.

Best part of the day was at the end finding out that we were getting paid for it. We all assumed since the gig was part of a prize package that the free beer/food was pretty much the best part of the deal. End of the day the organizer comes over to me and hands me an envelope with cash and says thanks for the great entertainment and they are looking forward to hearing from us again.

Couple quick shots from the event.

 

[jgsbass]

Best part of the day was at the end finding out that we were getting paid for it. We all assumed since the gig was part of a prize package that the free beer/food was pretty much the best part of the deal. End of the day the organizer comes over to me and hands me an envelope with cash and says thanks for the great entertainment and they are looking forward to hearing from us again.

Maybe the band that cancelled was getting paid

 

[jgsbass]

This week is a first for me. Going to play a wedding at one of the Hotel/Casinos in Atlantic City, hopefully in a ballroom and not on the gambling floor.
I met my wife, 32 years ago when I was playing there ( pre gambling) for half of a very long summer. So all I really want is a sub from White House, the gambling isn't a big pull.

 

[mike costelow]

3 gravy gigs 1. toby keiths bar and grill @ harrahs casino(3 -45 min sets with sound provided) 2. highnoon saloon in leavenworth kansas just down the street from the prison(good pay,free dinner,free beer) as it should be! 3. early sunday morning @ christ temple north (my church) in front of the most energetic and appreciative crowd of them all!

 

[Bassplayer_479]

Back to Backs this weekend with my prog/posthardcore band this weekend. will be my second and third shows with these guys, a coffee house and then a town festival. last weekend (first show!) was a gear nightmare so im hoping this goes better.

 

[JmJ]

Got a sub gig for my friends band, playing bass, singing backup & doing choreographed steps at the Oyster Festival Saturday afternoon. First time I'm doing a gig with them although I've sat in with them a bunch of times. Easily the most challenging sub gig I've done yet. It only occurred after a rehearsal with them that I never tried to slap & sing before. First time for everything I guess.

 

[albertofrog]

just about to set out for my big band's gig at a ballroom dancing club. Some serious hardcore ballroom dancing on show, so my timing's going to have to be absolutley spot on!.

I'm playing it on upright bass, so could slide into tune if need be, but me and the drummer will be locked tighter than ever....

Its only round the corner form my house (closest gig i ever get!) so maybe a couple of beers after we finish and walk home.

Back in about 5 hours.....

 

[albertofrog]

just about to set out for my big band's gig at a ballroom dancing club. Some serious hardcore ballroom dancing on show, so my timing's going to have to be absolutley spot on!.

I'm playing it on upright bass, so could slide into tune if need be, but me and the drummer will be locked tighter than ever....

Its only round the corner form my house (closest gig i ever get!) so maybe a couple of beers after we finish and walk home.

Back in about 5 hours.....

Well, 1AM and back home.
Really had to work tonight.
Believe it or not the venue want us to play the ballroom stuff at specific tempos, so Quicksteps have to be at 210BPM etc....
after 20 years of playing i thought i was immune to blisters but managed to wreck my left hand little finger..

gig went well though, the crowd really loved us (bit hard to tell as they dont applaud and cheer that much, its more about how full the dancefloor gets).
Not sure how many were there but it was a few hundred...

quality beer and my wife drove me home (she's the trombone section leader

only down side is its been a long day. Wedding this afternoon and ballroom tonight - I'm jacked up on coffe and red bull and not much chance of getting to sleep now, but im knackered. I forsee a few hours of watching re-runs of family guy until the early hours......

 

[jaywa]

Playing a 40th HS Class Reunion (not my own), tomorrow night. It's my first time subbing with a band of very good, experienced players and frankly I'm a little nervous. I got the gig through one of their guitarists who I've been jamming with, who recommended me because he says I'm better than the other subs they've been using. The other two guys (guitarist/singer and drummer) I have seen and heard of, but have never played with before. We will be doing some jamming/run-throughs at set-up tomorrow but that is it as far as rehearsing. Then it will be follow-the-leader and keep your head on a swivel.

I really want to nail this gig cause it sounds like they need a sub bassist pretty regularly and if I do a good job maybe I'll become their first-call sub. They get good-paying gigs that finish before midnight and don't require hauling a lot of P.A.!

A week late, but update on this. It went great. Probably 75% of the tunes that were called I had never played in my life but I faked my way through. Groove was solid and the band appreciated that. After soundcheck the drummer (who I never had played with before but has played 40+ years around here and is well respected) looked at me and said, "Where have you been all my life?" Another satisfied customer.

 

[JimB52]

Playing a huge birthday party on Sunday for a 90 year old woman. Supposedly, she requested us. I guess she wants to get the Led out. We are a hard blues / originals band, and we don't take requests. I hope she doesn't have us confused with some other band. I'll have to take some pictures and post them in the Chicks At Shows thread.

 

[JmJ]

Got a sub gig for my friends band, playing bass, singing backup & doing choreographed steps at the Oyster Festival Saturday afternoon. First time I'm doing a gig with them although I've sat in with them a bunch of times. Easily the most challenging sub gig I've done yet. It only occurred after a rehearsal with them that I never tried to slap & sing before. First time for everything I guess.

The Oysterfest gig was great. Used my Roscoe Beck V with a Zoom B2 and my LMII / EarCandy BassBomb.
The sound filled the room, PA support was probably not needed. The Soundguy set me up last, Keyboard guy
was right next to me and I noticed they set him up with a nice stereo Radial DI. The Soundguy asked if I had
a line out from my amp, I told him "yeah but it's not so good, got a DI"? He comes back & tells me theres a buzz
in the output of the LMII & hands me a DI Box. Now, I'm surely no expert on Direct Boxes but this thing looked
to cost about $29.95, some 'no-name' brand. It didn't work. The Soundguy shrugged. "Oh well there's gonna be a little buzz".
The Band Leader was checking out the mix while the band played a couple instrumentals to warm up the crowd and later
told me that the bass was loud enough before the Soundguy even patched me through the PA. That EarCandy / LMII
combination is a real killer, Loud clean clear DEEP and relatively light. I have love for my rig. This was probably the
most preparation I ever had to do for a gig, it was an hour forty five set with sixteen songs, a couple are in the 10-14
minute range with different grooves for each soloist. Their show has synchronized steps, I had to sing back up harmonies and,
of course, remember all their hyper tweaked arrangements. The guitar player, who was & is slamming by the way,
reminded me before the show to put the steps lowest in the priority "don't drop the groove, if it's a choice between
stepping the right way & playing the right way just play the right thing".My wife told me I was missing some steps in the beginning but halfway through I was hitting most of it.
Their main bass player has been in the band for almost twenty years and has been the only constant in the band.
This dude is a bad ass bass player and one of the funkiest singers you'll ever want to hear. I was always an admirer
of his musicianship but never fully understood how awesome he was until I had to do his gig. As I started playing along with
their tracks I quickly noticed how independent his vocals and bass playing were. I learned 18 of their tunes & only heard
3 tiny little instances where he modified his riff to accommodate his vocals. I was not asked to cover all his vocal lines
that would be impossible for me at this point, I probably sang about 25% as much. Monitors were extremely poor,
but friends in the audience told me I sang well. I took their word for it. this gig did give me a small amount of anxiety,
as the bandleader is my oldest friend & is a solid professional and like I said I was subbing for an amazing cat.
Also when I got to the gig the band leader did not tell most of the band members I was doing the gig, I let them know
right before we went on. Afterward the band leader came over to pay me & gave me a big hug, three actually, he said
"you nailed it, sounded great, you were cooking"! I think he was greatly relieved, in all the years he has had this band there has been slowly rotating cast of people playing in his band and he never need a sub for bass as Joe is his right hand man but this gig was too big to pass up. he payed me by check. As I was talking with the band leader the owner of the place came up & shook our hands, thanked us for playing there and told us "excellent show". The band sounded great,the crowd was rocked, every one in that band is awesome, friggin drummer is rock solid and made my job a little easier. The Band Leader put on an excellent show and directed the band with precision. The soloists were all wailing & I even got a turn on the first song! This was one of the most gratifying shows I have ever played.

 

[JimB52]

The 90 year old's birthday gig went extremely well. I went to work first, which was all effed up, but the gig more than made up for it. A very nice room, attenders from age 3 - 92, and we had them rocking, even the 85 year old in the wheelchair was on the floor dancing. Paid well, and the facility's owner came up and said he wanted to start having live music when the room isn't booked, and would we be interested? Yes.

 

[bassplayertom77]

I just accompanied Carmine Appice at a drum clinic. Polyrhythms and linear patterns all over the place. Just tap your foot. Phew. Not too many chances in life to play with a legend. It was awesome...and loud.

 

[CardinalFan984]

My band will be opening for the nationally known band Showbread tomorrow night, and I can't wait By ourselves we're hoping to bring in 100-150 people, and the other bands with bring in just as much if not more, with Showbread normally bringing tons more. (My personal goal is to break fire codes on the amount of people aloud in the venue...) This will be my first gig using my Spector Euro, and I'm ready to see how it holds up. Should be exciting.


and remember...Raw Rock Kills!

 

[basspro]

The first gig at Topaz Joe's went great,we had the fine honeys up there doing their dirty dancing, which is always fun.
They usually have country bands play there,so with us being rock/blues with some funk, it went better than i though it would,we did come up with a few cowboy songs to keep the peace, but later in the evening we rocked the house.

 

[jgsbass]

A capella job Saturday afternoon; Regular clubdate Saturday night

 

[CardinalFan984]

My band will be opening for the nationally known band Showbread tomorrow night, and I can't wait By ourselves we're hoping to bring in 100-150 people, and the other bands with bring in just as much if not more, with Showbread normally bringing tons more. (My personal goal is to break fire codes on the amount of people aloud in the venue...) This will be my first gig using my Spector Euro, and I'm ready to see how it holds up. Should be exciting.


and remember...Raw Rock Kills!

Just got home from this show. There was a good number of people there, but not near as many as I'd hoped (more than likely due to it being a thursday). We sounded great and the Spector performed spectacularly. However, my eyes have been opened to the amazingness that is a Fender Jazz running through an Ampeg SVT and an Ampeg 810. Thanks to this show, I am now determined to have that rig

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Didn`t check in earlier, but I just finished my first real gig with the new band that wasn`t an open mic night or anything. It went really well. Everyone dug our stuff, and the ladies were more than kind lol.