- Mar 1, 2005
- 3,101
- 385
- 62
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Crook Custom Guitars
It's always tough to do a show when you're sick. I've been fortunate, only missed one in 29 years of gigging, and I was in the hospital with "mono". 
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"Check In" here before and after your gigs this weekend!
- Thread starter mimaz
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I lost my appendix on the road, missed more than 1 gigIt's always tough to do a show when you're sick. I've been fortunate, only missed one in 29 years of gigging, and I was in the hospital with "mono".
Had a good weekend. Although I thought I would like two nights in a row, there's just not enough sleep time after Friday nites gig, so it took until the third set on saturday nite for me to really get going.
Friday nite a guy falls asleep at the bar, and someone barfs on the sidewalk right in front of the exit. Had to wheel my stuff through it on the way out. Yuk!
Saturday was a first time appearance and they loved us. Tons of people dancing and drinking. Someone who worked there said we were the best band they ever had. Wow! They have this stupid rotating colored light thing going the whole time, it was very annoying. A friend of mine from work was asked to leave because he wouldn't remove his baseball cap, some stupid rule there. I think they were afraid he was a gang member in his Mervyns sweater and cap. So he took the hot chicks from work that I invited, and went drinking somewhere else!
Friday nite a guy falls asleep at the bar, and someone barfs on the sidewalk right in front of the exit. Had to wheel my stuff through it on the way out. Yuk!
Saturday was a first time appearance and they loved us. Tons of people dancing and drinking. Someone who worked there said we were the best band they ever had. Wow! They have this stupid rotating colored light thing going the whole time, it was very annoying. A friend of mine from work was asked to leave because he wouldn't remove his baseball cap, some stupid rule there. I think they were afraid he was a gang member in his Mervyns sweater and cap. So he took the hot chicks from work that I invited, and went drinking somewhere else!
Gig number two coming up tonight.
It's at The Rivoli in Toronto if anyones kicking around.
It's only 5 bucks at the door and we're on at 9.
I'm pretty pumped/a little nervous but I guess that's par for the course when you're starting out on your journey of becoming a bassist.
I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully a lot better than the last gig, you can read about it here if you want.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=385122
And in closing, I love the bass and this forum is AMAZING!
It's at The Rivoli in Toronto if anyones kicking around.
It's only 5 bucks at the door and we're on at 9.
I'm pretty pumped/a little nervous but I guess that's par for the course when you're starting out on your journey of becoming a bassist.
I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully a lot better than the last gig, you can read about it here if you want.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=385122
And in closing, I love the bass and this forum is AMAZING!
Worst gig ever...
I just got back from what should have been a fun, easy gig. As a favor we agreed to do an opening slot for another local band. It should be easy - turn up, no setup, play for an hour, be better than them, enjoy the free bar.
Usually we have to run our own PA, but tonight it's all laid on with full house PA, and full time sound guy. We start the set and the drummer is ALL over the place - turns out he can't hear ANYTHING. As the sound guy plays with that, our sound on the rest of the stage goes from bad to impossible. There was some kind of low feedback, so my bass sounded like it was through a flanger turned full up (I didn't have ANY effects), and i couldn't even tell if i was in tune (I think I was, but then i tried to fix it cause it sounded so bad, and made things worse). The drums sounded like they had a 1/4 second slap back echo on, so finding the beat wasn't an option. Half way through the set the singer's mike just started getting fainter and fainter until he disapeared completly (while the guitarists BV mike got louder and louder). In the end we had to just cut the set short. We've gigged every week for the last two years, and if half the things that went wrong had been fixed it would still have been the worst gig by a mile - we're normally tight, but tonight was just a trainwreck start to finish.
Just to rub it in, they patched things up (a little) for the main band, so while they struggled they sounded much better than us - helped by the fact their regular bass player was away, and they had a local session guys filling in for them. He sounded awesome and pulled them together. On the plus side I got to listen to him playing which was great - trouble is he got to hear my worst playing EVER...
Ian
I just got back from what should have been a fun, easy gig. As a favor we agreed to do an opening slot for another local band. It should be easy - turn up, no setup, play for an hour, be better than them, enjoy the free bar.
Usually we have to run our own PA, but tonight it's all laid on with full house PA, and full time sound guy. We start the set and the drummer is ALL over the place - turns out he can't hear ANYTHING. As the sound guy plays with that, our sound on the rest of the stage goes from bad to impossible. There was some kind of low feedback, so my bass sounded like it was through a flanger turned full up (I didn't have ANY effects), and i couldn't even tell if i was in tune (I think I was, but then i tried to fix it cause it sounded so bad, and made things worse). The drums sounded like they had a 1/4 second slap back echo on, so finding the beat wasn't an option. Half way through the set the singer's mike just started getting fainter and fainter until he disapeared completly (while the guitarists BV mike got louder and louder). In the end we had to just cut the set short. We've gigged every week for the last two years, and if half the things that went wrong had been fixed it would still have been the worst gig by a mile - we're normally tight, but tonight was just a trainwreck start to finish.
Just to rub it in, they patched things up (a little) for the main band, so while they struggled they sounded much better than us - helped by the fact their regular bass player was away, and they had a local session guys filling in for them. He sounded awesome and pulled them together. On the plus side I got to listen to him playing which was great - trouble is he got to hear my worst playing EVER...
Ian
Most awesomest gig of awesome!
Last nights gig was a wicked amount of fun.
The cons... small venue, kick drum seemed way too quiet, I've never sweat so much in my life
The pros... I've never rocked harder in my life, very few mistakes, everyone seemed to enjoy our tunes and we ran out of demo cds, we had awesome christmas sweaters (although those could be seen as a con because of the whole insane amount of hotness)
All in all I was quite pleased with the show, and am really digging this band/music scene.
And now for incredible amounts of coffee to get me through the workday.
Last nights gig was a wicked amount of fun.
The cons... small venue, kick drum seemed way too quiet, I've never sweat so much in my life
The pros... I've never rocked harder in my life, very few mistakes, everyone seemed to enjoy our tunes and we ran out of demo cds, we had awesome christmas sweaters (although those could be seen as a con because of the whole insane amount of hotness)
All in all I was quite pleased with the show, and am really digging this band/music scene.
And now for incredible amounts of coffee to get me through the workday.
last night my band played an "unplugged" gig at a café. We have played there a lot of times but generally it is too dead in the winter time to make it worthwhile.
We decided to play last night as there was some local real estate company having their Christmas party there.
To make a long story short, 80% of the people that were supposed to come for this party were not able to make it.
The people that did make it decided to stay inside the main café instead of the veranda area where we were.
So we ended up playing for a waitress, a couple of cooks and a few kids running around. Later a few more people showed up but it was probably for the best. We were definitely not feeling the magic last night.
today is winter solstice, maybe we all have the dark,cold winter doldrums...
We decided to play last night as there was some local real estate company having their Christmas party there.
To make a long story short, 80% of the people that were supposed to come for this party were not able to make it.
The people that did make it decided to stay inside the main café instead of the veranda area where we were.
So we ended up playing for a waitress, a couple of cooks and a few kids running around. Later a few more people showed up but it was probably for the best. We were definitely not feeling the magic last night.
today is winter solstice, maybe we all have the dark,cold winter doldrums...
This weekend I'm turning down Saturday and Sunday night weddings. Vacation time for the holidays, time to be an honorary Buckeye for the next few days
I'm due to play in about two hours, a nice little early Christmas do at our local pub.
However, whereas normally I can't get enough of playing live, I could do without tonight.
I've been suffering from some nasty chest infection these last few days, so I'm not firing on all cylinders.
I was worse yesterday though and someone reminded me that we should have been playing last night too. We had a show booked a few weeks ago but it's been postponed 'til the new year.
At the time I was a bit miffed the date had been cancelled, now I'm counting my blessings, 'cos I was at death's door last night.
So, we'll see how tonight goes, I'll try my best.
You never know, it'll probably be a great night!
However, whereas normally I can't get enough of playing live, I could do without tonight.
I've been suffering from some nasty chest infection these last few days, so I'm not firing on all cylinders.
I was worse yesterday though and someone reminded me that we should have been playing last night too. We had a show booked a few weeks ago but it's been postponed 'til the new year.
At the time I was a bit miffed the date had been cancelled, now I'm counting my blessings, 'cos I was at death's door last night.
So, we'll see how tonight goes, I'll try my best.
You never know, it'll probably be a great night!
My band Razorblade Monalisa has a party gig tonight.... Our guitarist Josh is combining his birthday party with his friend's holiday cocktail party at her house. The Common Men are also playing (Josh plays bass for them and our drummer Kevin plays guitar and sings for them). It should be an interesting show... My first one with my new Markbass 151HF cabinet on the bottom... And Josh will be using my rig for the Common Men's set... I hope someone brings a video camera...
Further to my post above:
I've just got home, it all went very nicely indeed.
I wasn't looking forward to it, as I said but once we kicked off, the usual enthusiasm took hold of me and it was almost like any other show.
Furthermore, word had got around that I was suffering a bit so I had people congratulating me afterwards for being such a trooper.
I've just got home, it all went very nicely indeed.
I wasn't looking forward to it, as I said but once we kicked off, the usual enthusiasm took hold of me and it was almost like any other show.
Furthermore, word had got around that I was suffering a bit so I had people congratulating me afterwards for being such a trooper.
Not a gig, per se, but my band tracked the drums for a 4-song EP that we're hoping to have ready for sale in the next month or so. Everything went really well.
Saturday night Bar Mitzvah
New Years eve Gotham Bar and grill
A restaurant of the year (2002) and a chef of the year(2006). I bet we don't get fed
Happy New Years, my gigging bass brothers and sisters
New Years eve Gotham Bar and grill
A restaurant of the year (2002) and a chef of the year(2006). I bet we don't get fed
Happy New Years, my gigging bass brothers and sisters
- Mar 1, 2005
- 3,101
- 385
- 62
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Crook Custom Guitars
Wow, I'm kinda surprised that we didn't hear more about everyone's New Year' Eve gigs! Now that we're all done, let's hear the stories.........
My gig certainly wasn't anything high profile, just a New Year's Eve dance at the local VFD hall. Good crowd, and they were into it all night. The band was sounding pretty decent, especially since we haven't gigged for a couple of weeks (by choice, kind of a Christmas vacation). All in all, I'm happy to have the holidays behind us and get back to a regular steady gigging schedule.
My gig certainly wasn't anything high profile, just a New Year's Eve dance at the local VFD hall. Good crowd, and they were into it all night. The band was sounding pretty decent, especially since we haven't gigged for a couple of weeks (by choice, kind of a Christmas vacation). All in all, I'm happy to have the holidays behind us and get back to a regular steady gigging schedule.
My band played a last minute gig for tips in a tiny bar.
The inside of the bar is literally about 20 feet x 20 feet.
Our band was in a tiny corner between a table and a horizontal freezer. Somehow we got a three piece drum kit, a few cymbals, a drummer, me and my bass amp in about 5 x 5 feet, the two guitarists/singers stood in front of me and the drummer.
We had maybe 15 people watching us.
It was pretty funny, the usual acts that play there are solo guitar singers or duos, but never a four piece rock band with speakers, amps drums, etc.
The inside of the bar is literally about 20 feet x 20 feet.
Our band was in a tiny corner between a table and a horizontal freezer. Somehow we got a three piece drum kit, a few cymbals, a drummer, me and my bass amp in about 5 x 5 feet, the two guitarists/singers stood in front of me and the drummer.
We had maybe 15 people watching us.
It was pretty funny, the usual acts that play there are solo guitar singers or duos, but never a four piece rock band with speakers, amps drums, etc.
Well this saturday night i have my first gig with my new band a country band. I have had less than a month to learn 50 songs for the night and only one practice with the drummer and guitarist never a practice with the whole band maybe today. I have some nerves going in cuz i have never played country but i have practiced night and day and feel im pretty ready to go . I wish i had more time in but oh well time to go. I did have a full gigs worth of the bands live CD to learn to which helps alot. I even bought a cool cowboy hat for the gig....YEEE HAWWWW!
Gigging at Jeff Healey's Roadhouse in Toronto tonight at 930pm!
I'm pumped, because I'm still new to this and the love of perfoming hasn't left me yet! (doubt it ever will)
I am a little sketched out because I'm playing the houses combo amp and I usually switch between my active and passive bass, but I fear because I don't have any preamp for the passive it'll get lost and be really quiet for those songs.
Maybe I'll just stick to the active tonight, no point in over complicating something.
I'm pumped, because I'm still new to this and the love of perfoming hasn't left me yet! (doubt it ever will)
I am a little sketched out because I'm playing the houses combo amp and I usually switch between my active and passive bass, but I fear because I don't have any preamp for the passive it'll get lost and be really quiet for those songs.
Maybe I'll just stick to the active tonight, no point in over complicating something.
I almost NEVER accept a pick up gig (meaning last minute thier bass player can't make it, I came recommended and I fill the spot.) but a GOOD friend recommended me.
I get to the gig, the guy has one hundred notes lying on a table and says he'll be right with me, 30 mins until show time.
He shows me a handful of notes and I tell him I never heard of any of those songs before except TWO, he says the famous ,"Just follow me! through the changes"
Luckily they were all simple Blues 1 4 5's with small twists and different rhythms, but still they had to be played correctly, he proceeds to show me 1 3 5 6 8 bass lines right there and then on the stage like I am a dufus. I said Just play the chords....I will take care of the rest. What a nightmare!
I get to the gig, the guy has one hundred notes lying on a table and says he'll be right with me, 30 mins until show time.
He shows me a handful of notes and I tell him I never heard of any of those songs before except TWO, he says the famous ,"Just follow me! through the changes"
Luckily they were all simple Blues 1 4 5's with small twists and different rhythms, but still they had to be played correctly, he proceeds to show me 1 3 5 6 8 bass lines right there and then on the stage like I am a dufus. I said Just play the chords....I will take care of the rest. What a nightmare!
My country gig went well. i was a bit fast on a couple of songs no trainwrecks and overall rocked the tunes and had a blast. There was a boyfriend of my wife's friend in the crowd who plays country guitar in local bands. He said we the band were great and he would of never know i never played country or it was my first gig. He said i was very relaxed looking and solid..nice.People loved the band and danced all night ...so cool to see.Had alot of fun and got it under my belt.
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