Do you remember your first gig?

[JRA]

i was already playing a bit from about 1960 (grade school bands), but i didn't think about performance until 1963 when the beatles lit it up in the US.

first performance with a band: 1964, three tunes for a convocation. we played three tunes: glad all over, theme from a summer place, and ????

first gig: 1964 for a sock hop at a local swim club. slightly different band, but we played all the usual suspects: wipeout, several duane eddy tunes, some stones, beatles, animals, and of course, glad all over. (1964 was a pivotal year for me --- i joined the musicians union so i could play with adults --- older cats, in their 20s, who played for other adults --- in bars!)

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Just curious about first gig stories. I’ll begin with my first.
I was 12 and a drummer. I didn’t discover bass until I was 13. My grandparents got me one of those children’s drum sets when I was 6. To the shock of my parents, I actually tried to play by setting a stereo up with the speakers right behind the drums. Everyday after school I would turn the radio on to the local top 40 station and just try to keep a beat with whatever songs were played. After a few years and piecing together random drums to form a real drum set, my grandmother decided I needed lessons. So she took me to the local music store and signed me up. I think I was 9 when I started taking lessons. Every Saturday morning I had a two hour lesson.
My mom was friends with a guy who played bass in a southern rock band. They had a gig at a park one night and for whatever reason the drummer didn’t show. So my moms friend asked her to ask me to fill in. I said “sure!”
So mom took me to the gig and even though I didn’t know any of the songs, I had been taking lessons and playing long enough that I was able to keep a beat in time.
The gig went well. Everything sounded great and the guys in the band were happy.
The following Monday at school I spent the day telling my friends stories about my professional gig and how I wowed the audience with my drumming prowess.
A year later I sold my drums and bought a Charvel 4 string and a peavey TNT 130 and I never looked back.
So that’s my first gig (they gave me $20) What was your first gig?

‘My first gig as a bassist was in a polka band when I was 12 or 13. I have a borrowed bass, and I played through my Ampeg Reverberocket. Made $45. My dad was totally blown away totally that I made more per hour than he did he did. Of course he worked a lot more hours than I did, not to mention holding a lot more responsibility.

 

[friskinator]

Do schools still have Battles of the Bands and talent shows? It’s amazing how many of us started with one of those.

My first gig was a “battle of the bands” sponsored by a college in my hometown. I was 15. We came in second, and we took our meager cash winnings and went to Burger King after the show. Life was much simpler back then.

I don’t know if talent shows or “battle of the bands” competitions exist anymore. Its been many years since I’ve seen evidence of either.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

‘My first gig as a bassist was in a polka band when I was 12 or 13. I have a borrowed bass, and I played through my Ampeg Reverberocket. Made $45. My dad was totally blown away totally that I made more per hour than he did he did. Of course he worked a lot more hours than I did, not to mention holding a lot more responsibility.

That was my first paying gig. I probably at that point, doing talent shows, playing in parks under a tree, non paid gigs at school dances and coffee houses, playing guitar and singing, played or participated in maybe 50 some gigs, not including school band performances. About a year later, hit puberty and my voice went from 1st tenor, to a 2nd Bass, which pretty much put an end to my singing career, well unless I wanted to sing Old Man River and the like.

 

[Carl Hillman]

I don't remember exactly how old I was. I want to say I was in 6th grade (1973?), it was a trio, and we played for some elementary school function

I played guitar, a girl was playing flute, and my friend (really a drummer) was playing the Vox Continental. (one of these)

We played 'Colour My World' by Chicago. I think that was the entire extent of our repertoire.

 

[Meaculpa]

Yes of course!
I was 12… it was on a big theatre, big stage PA and lights...I was terrified haha....I stare still and don't look nothing but my fretboard lol.

 

[dpaul]

Summer of 1985 at The Port Club in Port Jefferson, NY. We opened for a well known Long Island band called Limousine. Our band was called Crossfire. I played an Aria Pro II P-bass copy through a 100 watt Sunn bass amp. We played Rush, Zebra and The Police covers. Drunk chicks were yelling at us because we were kinda introverted and not moving around enough. It was a...learning experience.

 

[SpyderX]

1978 house party. It was a last minute thing and the guy who owned the garage we rehearsed in wasn't home. Took us 2 hours to track him down - no cell phones back in the day. I was so nervous I barely looked up from my bass. Everyone had a great time and that was when I realized I had no reason to be nervous about playing in front of a group of people.

 

[AudioTaper]

Sure do, I was 16 (I think, so this is 1997?) and had been playing for about 2 years. A few friends from high school played drums and guitar/sang, so we started a band. The drummer booked a paying gig at a friend of a friends party, we were supposed to get $100 to split if we beought a PA that the other (more established) bands could use. I borrowed a really old Peavey setup and a few crappy mics from my dad, and asked my mom to drive me up in the van since I didnt have my license yet (spent my $ on Bass gear because, priorities) besides, what's more hardcore than having your mom drop you and your gear off?!

Then at the last minute, the drummer cancelled on us because he forgot he had to go to soccer camp that week. This story drips Rock and Roll!

We set up on the back porch of the guys' house in a fairly densely populated neighborhood. The first band was actually pretty good, I wish I had bought one of their CDs. Second band was OK, but the cops showed up about 5 minutes before they were done and we went on. The neighbors didnt like the noise,

We waited a bit and just the guitar player and I started playing at a low volume, but the cop had just sat in his car in front of the house to make sure we didnt turn it back on. So we got to play for less than 5 minutes.

To top it off, it took over an hour for my ride to show up, I had to sit on the gear so it didnt get stolen, and the guy was only able to pay us $5 each because he didnt get much $ from people coming in.

Not a lot of fun, but made for some memories. And I still have that $5 bill

 

[HolmeBass]

My first performance was a piano recital when I was around 8, maybe 10, The Happy Farmer by Schuman (IIRC). I did a few HS talent shows, one on tuba playing the bass trombone parts in a 6-piece swing combo, another on electric bass doing Police and Bad Company, in a band of talented dudes (sax player and pianist both went on to pro carriers).

But the first real gig, where the band played a whole set, was the Fairfax Country 4-H County Fair at Frying Pan Park, Herndon VA, spring of 1982 I am almost certain (or it was 1981). We played Chicago, Beatles, Police, for about 45 mins. I remember we ended strong on “Feeling Stronger Every Day”.

 

[nilorius]

No.

 

[bluesblaster]

I dont know if it was the first one but I remember playing for some kind of function at my Jr. high school , I was maybe 15 at the time.

 

[HardNHeavy]

1985 an old club in NYC called "Trax", right after i bought my 83' P bass

 

[ccooney78]

I was just reminded of my first gig via Facebook last week when it came up as memory. It was May 15, 2010 at a long-since-closed bar called The Angry Beaver (yes...that was the actual name). The place was jam-packed with a lineup wrapped around the building of people waiting to get inside. I believe we were scheduled to play 3 sets between 9:30 p.m and 1:30 a.m. First song, I remember being insanely nervous...after that, it was great. The whole night flew by really fast for me.

Side note: The guys that owned The Angry Beaver later opened another bar.....and called it The Beaver Dam. We ended up playing there, too. It was great! That is until a lawsuit was filed against them....they were pretty much run out of town after that.

 

[Odinbass]

December 20, 2000 age 16. Borders Books in Reading PA. We did one original and Blink 182s Dammit, which I sang. It was terrible.

 

[Thegrandwazoo]

My first real gig was at a battle of the bands at a small-ish local college, I was probably 18 or 19. We won, and I didn't forget any of the bass parts, so it was an outrageous success in my mind, haha! I had of course played/jammed with various people at parties and such prior to that, but that was my first actual gig. My first paying gig was the following weekend.

 

[lfmn16]

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was 1971 was 13 and playing keyboards with a band. Our bass player was 16 and had a Dan Armstrong bass, an Acoustic 450 head and an acoustic 4X15 cabinet; he was the man. We'd been practicing and had about 40 tunes down really well. The gig went great and we thought we were rock stars. Then the bass player got a gig with guys his own age, I switched over to bass and we soldiered on. Our next gig was at a bar and the rest is history.

 

[Crash 56]

1972, a jr. High dance in Menlo Park , Ca. I was 14, and my mom had to help us haul gear...…

 

[logdrum]

For bass Sophomore. Senior band's bass player quit. I was a guitar player and also played in the brass band but lead guitar was family friend - about 3 rehearsals. I played with thumb. Mustang bass. It wasn't till I was 18 did I become a serious bass player.

Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and others was what we covered.

Since I learned piano at a young age 7, my first recital would have been technically my first gig. I actually do not remember. I also sang as a kid in radio station contest, but I am not sure if it was the recital or the radio station song contest.

 

[Hawaii Islander]

I played with a big band group in Topsfield, MA, in 1975. My classmate asked me to fill in for the regular bass player who was unable to play that night. I was the youngster in the group. Most of the musicians were 50 and older. The music was mostly Glenn Miller style music and polkas. Think Lawrence Welk and Mitch Miller. I had to play by sight reading the sheet music for songs I never played before. The musician next to me said, "Just play every third note. You'll do fine." I made $10 cash for that gig. In played a mid-60's Mosrite Celebrity bass through a Fender Bassman 50 head an 1x15 cab.