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First gig?

santucci218

santucci218

Jan 26, 2007
5,570
16
37
Pittsburgh
www.myspace.com
#1
i have never done a gig, nor do i have any planned...or even a real band yet.

i was just wondering...how was your guys first gig? did it go horrible? i mean, i was in chorus for 8 years and would never try out for solos because i was always nervous...is this going to be as bad? will i mess up? aah!!
 
#2
Of course you'll mess up, everyone does. Just don't flinch or show any sign that you made a mistake, and more than likely, the crowd won't notice that anything was wrong. A surprising amount of how a band is received on stage stems from how they present themselves. If you look confident, the crowd will subconsciously add that to what they hear, and you'll sound better. Plus if you go in confidently, you'll probably play better. After your first gig, you'll realize it isn't that bad.
 
#3
I remember my first gig when I was 11 years old. It was a recital for lessons. I played with my teacher, a guitar student, and a drum student. The first one was a pretty simple song, bassic chord changes for me. I came into the bridge too early, though, and sent the whole song to hell. The second one was a song that me and the guitarist wrote, and it was friggin sweet! it was such a kewl jam, I still like playing it. *sigh* my first slap&pop riffs;)
 
#5
My first bar gig we got an ashtray thrown at us. It hit the monitor and shattered spraying us with glass. Other than that it went ok.

Just watch how much time you spend jerking around between songs. It may not seem like long, but to the audience, nothing shows inexperience better than 3 or 4 minute breaks between every song while the band mumbles into the mic and they all have to stop and tune their instruments. There's nothing wrong with ending one song and then going right into the next one.
 
#6
The first time I played in front of people it was sort of an open mike night and we could do three songs. My leg was shaking absolutely uncontrollably! If I hadn't known the songs like the back of my hand I might have wet my pants! :D

But...once that was over, I realized that it wasn't so bad after all, and it was a great feeling to know that you actually did it. You should try to play several short gigs for friends and less formal situations and ease into it if you are worried about being nervous. Keep the pressure factor low and try to have fun. When you hear the first compliments on your playing it is something that you will always remember, and really, the money that you might make is secondary to what it can do for your self-confidence.

Go for it!!!
 
#8
My first gig was a train wreck. I funded the whole band, so I was the only one with any freaking gear. The guitarists didn't have amps, the other bassist didn't have an amp, keyboardists didn't have an amp. THe venue only had 2 DI's, so I had to get my mixer and use it onstage as a submixer. Stage mix was awful, technical problems out the wazoo... We kept having to restart songs...

Man I hated that band. Laziest SOB's you'll ever meet.
 
#16
My first gig, which was a birthday party for a friend of the band, the guitarist's amp died about four songs into the set. He was really pissed. I figured "Well, there goes the band." Fortunately his dad ran home and got his backup (he was using a Marshall head as a backup to a Crate???), and the rest of the show went on without a hitch. I'm sure we were pretty bad, as I had only been playing bass for a couple years, but it was a fun show overall. I wore this awful pair of plaid bondage pants, going for an ironic punk look, I guess.
 

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