I had my first real gig on saturday it was awesome. It was at a jazz festival we were there from 10am to 9:30pm it got a little boring at some points but the rush i got when on stage made up for that.
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First gig
- Thread starter greenbassfreak
- Start date
the worst part is in the first song i missed a beat and threw off the drummer but then after a few measures we all got back on the tuba player helped me get back on which got the drummer on. Also the mic wasnt on for the sax solo which threw everyone off becease he froze up till the mic got turned back on.
That's what it's all about. All bands screw up it's how you recover. Your drummer should of kept it all together so you could catch up, he don't need to hear anything. I have a pet peve about that since I started off as a drummer and still play all the time. The sax mic is off so what, point it at a vocal mic untill they turn it on. It's hard to think of those things when you are up there. I had my first show Holloween. We lost our monitors, our drummer collapsed and screwed up left and right. Heck I did, my guitarist did but our screw ups were only noticed by us, everyone heard the drums because he let it bother him and he dwelled on it. You need a very short memory for stuff like that when your playing. I hope you video taped it or recorded it somehow. Use it like a football team picks apart game film. Look at everything you did and make it better....way to go!
I see your age, was it a school function? I see it was jazz. This stuff is great. I'm older than you and into the rock cover band thing. I was doing this on the drums when I was your age and it helped me out tremendously now that I'm older doing it on the bass. Just play as clean as you can and have fun, get better week, every show. I'll hopefully see you in MTV someday.
Its a school jazz club and it was really fun we took third.
Plus we have 3 different drummers and they all play different.
Plus we have 3 different drummers and they all play different.
That is a lot of fun. I played drums in a thing like that in middle school. Darn drummers, it's gotta be tough with three different ones. I know what it's like when you can't rely on a guy for consistant tempo, it will pay off down the road for you.
We had our first gig last Monday, at a pub in North London (well known venue). The sound check was great and we all went off for a pre gig meal happy as clams. Isn't it fun when things go wrong? Well...
The band on before us was using our drummer's kit - but they had a leftie drummer, so it all had to be changed and then put back for us. Was our drummer happy at the end of this? Anyway, I was distracted from his woeful muttering because when I plugged my Sansamp in, pressed the little button - no little light. So batteries DON'T last forever. Completely negated the point of having a soundcheck, had to plug straight into the amp and guess the volume (luckily we took the DI off the amp and not the DI box)
So, not a little flustered at this and having us standing like lemons while the drummer farts about in front of a curious audience, I started our first song FAR too fast. The guitarist made a brilliant job of playing the solos at twice the normal speed, but broke a string on his Les Paul in the process.
There you go
It wasn't to bad after that...
The band on before us was using our drummer's kit - but they had a leftie drummer, so it all had to be changed and then put back for us. Was our drummer happy at the end of this? Anyway, I was distracted from his woeful muttering because when I plugged my Sansamp in, pressed the little button - no little light. So batteries DON'T last forever. Completely negated the point of having a soundcheck, had to plug straight into the amp and guess the volume (luckily we took the DI off the amp and not the DI box)
So, not a little flustered at this and having us standing like lemons while the drummer farts about in front of a curious audience, I started our first song FAR too fast. The guitarist made a brilliant job of playing the solos at twice the normal speed, but broke a string on his Les Paul in the process.
There you go
It wasn't to bad after that...Garry,
I'm pretty sure the DI box bit of the SABDDI works passively (although that would still mess with your levels). A couple of months ago I had a similar problem at a gig but the sound guy didn't say anything about having no bass signal (of course, that may not be a good indicator
) - and this was with a battery inside and plugged into a power adapter.
A couple of days later I took the battery out (so it ran just off the adapter) and everything was fine...
Wulf
ps. it sounds like some of my band are coming to see your gig next week.
I'm pretty sure the DI box bit of the SABDDI works passively (although that would still mess with your levels). A couple of months ago I had a similar problem at a gig but the sound guy didn't say anything about having no bass signal (of course, that may not be a good indicator
) - and this was with a battery inside and plugged into a power adapter.A couple of days later I took the battery out (so it ran just off the adapter) and everything was fine...
Wulf
ps. it sounds like some of my band are coming to see your gig next week.
I think you're right about the SABDDI, I just wasn't in a position to experiment!!
Hope to see your guys next week.
Hope to see your guys next week.
It's very, very, very rare. Be prepard for anything. Bring extras for everything. Each venue changes, accoustics, equipment, people it's crazy sometimes. But that's what makes it fun!
my 1st gig was in december, it was only 170 ppl, & we did it w/o PA's so nothin went wrong at all it was about perfect.
My first gig was 5-4-88 at the River rock cafe(bar) in N.Y. Next gig is in April.. I still get exicted about them!!! And yes, something will blow up or **** up or something but thats all in the fun of it LOL!! 
Messing up is all part of the excitement of playing, but the better the recovery the better one makes up for the mistake.
I played my first bass solo gig a week ago opening up for Trip Wamsley, lots of mess ups, partly because i was playing before some one much greater than the young amature I am.
I played my first bass solo gig a week ago opening up for Trip Wamsley, lots of mess ups, partly because i was playing before some one much greater than the young amature I am.
RicPlaya said:
That's the truth. I still make faces or shake my head (or laugh uncontrollably) when I mess up, a habit I really should break. The more experience you get, you really learn to shake off the errors and focus on the show itself and enjoying YOURself.
The Golden Boy said:
I could look Mcartney in the eye and **** up!!! I dont care about making mistakes(im an active guy onstage). I have stood still and played not to make mistakes and people would say i was lame that night. When i go crazy and mess up all over the place people say i kicked butt.I guess they hear with thier eyes also.
I used to have two weird experiences all the time. Whenever I thought I had a killer show and walked off feeling like I owned the universe, no one would say a word about how the show was. But if I just wanted to slink off and get my gear loaded out the back before I could humiliate myself any further, that's when everybody would bring their sisters over to me and tell me what a jaw droppingly amazing show it was. Go figure.
The other thing was the alternating "good practice=bad show" or "bad practice=good show" doesn't happen anymore. But it was some weird Jedi Mindf*ck. "You are rocking now Luke, but tomorrow night you will suck" "tomorrow I will suck..."
The other thing was the alternating "good practice=bad show" or "bad practice=good show" doesn't happen anymore. But it was some weird Jedi Mindf*ck. "You are rocking now Luke, but tomorrow night you will suck" "tomorrow I will suck..."
In response to your comment about no one would say a word about how the show was....
I am 58, played clubs and bars full time on the road for 15 years in my 20s and 30s. Now my gigging is in church. Try that.....if you want the dead quiet feeling of knowing you and the group (choir) did a kick butt job of the closing number, and nobody said a word or clapped a single pair of hands together. People in this venue tend to only comment on the bad, not the good. Having been on a high many times of playing a 2 week gig at a club and having the place get fuller and fuller with people every nght until they had overflow crowds because of the word spreading about the road band..... when I got into this church thing, I really had a bit of physchogical trouble with doing a final closing song at our church , and people giving no response. Once in a while we will get standing applause, if one person starts it. When we do get it, it is to the max, and very fullfilling. I think it is because of the atmosphere. Not that people aren't enjoying the music and appreciating it for what it is, but 99% of them think that applause in church for a closing number is not appropriate. Instead of a "Standing Ovation" we call it "Standing Evacuation!" Go figure.
Some of you other church players may say "Your there for worship, not a performance!" Granted, but any musicians no matter where they play, know when they have nailed a song with everybody in the groove, and everybody together, tight as a gnat's behind , and would appreciate a postive response.
My $.02 on this subject only.
I am 58, played clubs and bars full time on the road for 15 years in my 20s and 30s. Now my gigging is in church. Try that.....if you want the dead quiet feeling of knowing you and the group (choir) did a kick butt job of the closing number, and nobody said a word or clapped a single pair of hands together. People in this venue tend to only comment on the bad, not the good. Having been on a high many times of playing a 2 week gig at a club and having the place get fuller and fuller with people every nght until they had overflow crowds because of the word spreading about the road band..... when I got into this church thing, I really had a bit of physchogical trouble with doing a final closing song at our church , and people giving no response. Once in a while we will get standing applause, if one person starts it. When we do get it, it is to the max, and very fullfilling. I think it is because of the atmosphere. Not that people aren't enjoying the music and appreciating it for what it is, but 99% of them think that applause in church for a closing number is not appropriate. Instead of a "Standing Ovation" we call it "Standing Evacuation!" Go figure.
Some of you other church players may say "Your there for worship, not a performance!" Granted, but any musicians no matter where they play, know when they have nailed a song with everybody in the groove, and everybody together, tight as a gnat's behind , and would appreciate a postive response.
My $.02 on this subject only.
The Golden Boy said:I used to have two weird experiences all the time. Whenever I thought I had a killer show and walked off feeling like I owned the universe, no one would say a word about how the show was. But if I just wanted to slink off and get my gear loaded out the back before I could humiliate myself any further, that's when everybody would bring their sisters over to me and tell me what a jaw droppingly amazing show it was. Go figure.
I think it's only natural if you like somebody's performance, you tell them. If they sucked, don't say anything- unless they're weenies. When everybody files out of Church, how many people tell the pastor "what a lovely sermon"? You should do the same for the band/choir. What else can silence mean.
