Easter Sunday at a Catholic mass. A little Bach and Händel I think. (Hey 25 bucks is 25 bucks, eh?) I was 16 or 17.
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Do you remember your first gig?
- Thread starter Drop1
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My first gig was as a “special guest” at a friend’s show (playing his compositions) at what I remember being a large, loft-type space. My job was basically to play a slap solo. I was nervous to the point that my hands were a cold and sweaty mess before the set. I guess it went okay, though I’m sure I wouldn’t be very impressed listening back now (27 or 28 years later). I don't have a clear recollection of how I felt on stage but I’ll likely never forget the terror I experienced beforehand!
I remember the gig but can't remember where it took place. I recall we all had white jumpsuits on. 1975-1976.
Yep - at a.community center during my senior year of high school. I had started a band with some friends just a few months earlier, and we convinced a friend to turn her party into a band showcase. We played about a dozen songs, including two originals. I recall it going relatively well and feeling like a rockstar in the moment. I played a Washburn bantam bass through a Peavey MACE head into an Acoustic 610 cabinet that I had purchased along with the head for 50 bucks just a few days before. I had handed my girlfriend my Canon AE-1 camera, and I am so pleased to still have all of the photographs.
Yes, Junior High School talent show, around 1975 or 76.. I guess I would have been 14. Our little band played Stairway To Heaven. I'm sure we were quite dreadful.
Sometime in the mid 80ties. It was kind of a theater band at my school. We played in between scenes so the cast could change the stage. We played the same little tune but I couldn't remember, because I was so nervous. The guitar player had to hum it to me everything before we started playing.
Hard to forget.
We were in high school and our "power trio" had a gig at a place called the Mad Dog Saloon on the north side.
We were playing Hendrix, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Cream, et al. They wanted George Jones and Merle Haggard.
We were paid in draft Budweiser. When they stopped serving us, we took that as a hint that it was time to pack up and GTFO.
We were in high school and our "power trio" had a gig at a place called the Mad Dog Saloon on the north side.
We were playing Hendrix, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Cream, et al. They wanted George Jones and Merle Haggard.
We were paid in draft Budweiser. When they stopped serving us, we took that as a hint that it was time to pack up and GTFO.
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1967 at John Weiner's 15th birthday party - we got paid $60 and had a blast!
Yes, 1984 on a baseball diamond on Canada Day. We were all 17 and we were the headliners. I played guitar in that band. We had a huge honking old Traynor 8-channel powered mixer and some huge old JBL speakers. It was a riot! We did some Stones, Springsteen, JCM, Cars, Cheap Trick and the like. Good times.
I remember it was at some sketchy place that wasn't really a club but looked like an old office. There were a couple other bands and I think there wasn't any kind of "failure" but I am sure we were pretty awful for a 3 pc punk-ish band of high school dorks. Their bass player was strikingly handsome IIRC. One of the guys from another band smashed a guitar and it took a very long time. Pretty dumb.
This would have been in Atlanta and maybe on DeKalb Ave in some short lived venue.
This would have been in Atlanta and maybe on DeKalb Ave in some short lived venue.
8th grade, accompanying the school choir in "Jingle Bells", 1983. For the entire student body on the last day before Xmas break. Got a lot of laughter as I walked out to plug in (wasn't popular at all); got a fair amount of compliments afterwards (even from kids who really hated me).
My first public performance was in front of over 200 screaming fans at the elementary school talent show. I was 12 and had been playing guitar for about 6 months. My friend who had been playing much longer and was really good, talked me into it. It was many, many years until my next performance in front of strangers.
As posted a few days ago on one of my threads:
My first 60s band was a trio (bass, guitar, drums) and a singer who was a Johnny Rivers wannabe. Singer convinced us to buy blue dinner jackets with black lapels. Played a few gigs and the group folded! I continued to play with the drummer who was incredible but worth the cost of the introduction...
This was mid-sixties in the Bunkhouse, Vancouver, BC.
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Me and my cousin performing "Snoopy and the Red Baron" on tennis rackets at a family thanksgiving.
My first non tennis racket gig was at an open mic instrumental with a guitarist and a hand drummer.
My first non tennis racket gig was at an open mic instrumental with a guitarist and a hand drummer.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
I remember vaguely. I was in high school around 1969, playing in jazz/pop ensemble with the most outrageously ugly neon-colored polyester double-knit costumes the music teacher could find - with white shoes! I used an old Vox amp, complete with chromed cart, and played a Kawaii electric bass with a warped neck. I wish I could find the color photographs that appeared in the local newspaper! 
Yes. It was, among other things, the occasion upon which I became, much to my surprise, a lead vocalist. 50 years ago.
BBB
BBB
You axed for it, you got it. The Pneumatic Implosion play their first gig at the Nocona,Texas VFW hall, June 1967. I’m 15, rockin’ my blue Kalamazoo thru a Gibson 2x10 combo.
I remember so much about it. One huge thing was our rival band in the tiny town, the Minds Eye, sat outside on their cars and convinced the kids to not go in unless we lowered our price from fifty cents to a quarter. We said screw you, we’ll do it, and we proceeded to kick their azz over the next 4 years.
I remember so much about it. One huge thing was our rival band in the tiny town, the Minds Eye, sat outside on their cars and convinced the kids to not go in unless we lowered our price from fifty cents to a quarter. We said screw you, we’ll do it, and we proceeded to kick their azz over the next 4 years.
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High school pop show. we played "Keep on Rockin' Me". we had no bass player. the guitarist decided to borrow someone else's guitar and the low E was out of tune. not the best product i'm sure but we gave it our best shot!
My group was competing against others whose rich parents were buying that expensive Fender stuff for their kids
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