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Most Intelligent Things You've Been Told At A Gig
- Thread starter The Owl
- Start date
I once walked into a dive bar where a mediocre acoustic act was on the make shift stage. As I walked in the door I hear him sing into the mic:
"In order for you to find what you are looking for, you must first stop looking for it"
this single line has helped me greatly on my journey in playing music in Hollywood & Los Angeles.
"In order for you to find what you are looking for, you must first stop looking for it"
this single line has helped me greatly on my journey in playing music in Hollywood & Los Angeles.
bassman314
I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process...
Sound guy at Old Ironsides in Sacramento actually took the time to help us dial in our amps so that he got the best tone for the room, and we could still hear ourselves on stage.
T'was awesome!
T'was awesome!
just to counter all the "bad soundguy" stories in the other thread:
my old band used to play a couple of really dubby songs. the soundguy got right into it, adding really well-done trippy delays, reverbs and heavy bass eq-ing. it was awesome.
after the gig he came bouncing up to us all enthusiastic and said, 'guys, you should have told me you were playing dub! i'd have brought my other rack!' (and then proceeded to tell us all about his favourite analogue gear for dub).
my old band used to play a couple of really dubby songs. the soundguy got right into it, adding really well-done trippy delays, reverbs and heavy bass eq-ing. it was awesome.
after the gig he came bouncing up to us all enthusiastic and said, 'guys, you should have told me you were playing dub! i'd have brought my other rack!' (and then proceeded to tell us all about his favourite analogue gear for dub).
- Jul 30, 2006
- 2,315
- 453
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist:Regenerate Guitar Works Carvin, Micheal Kelly Guitars
I met a blind guy during the break & he found out I was playing bass & said "Man you really know how to stay out of the singer's way!" (I'm also the singer.....
About the most intelligent thing I have heard at a gig other than "here is your money," is........"I'll give you $20.00 if you play Peggy Sue". (Asked by a very very drunk guy)
bassman314
I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process...
An older trumpet player I know (who is also black belt in karate) once told me, "When you get old and lose something you can't get it back like you did when you were young." He was talking about the the many athletic abilities needed for the performance of martial arts, but the comment can also apply to other abilities we all don't want to lose. I'm old now myownself and try to remind myself every day not to lose anything in whatever I do. The wisdom in it all is that we have to keep doing something. Keep moving, keep thinking, and as Sophie Tucker once said, "Keep breathing." It's the essence of longevity.
My old friend and long-time sound guy, Cyril, told me so many intelligent and profound things at gigs that I couldn't begin to relate them all, and he showed some over-enthusiastic under-schooled wanna be rock stars how to act and perform in a professional manner. That's gold right there.
Kinda makes up for all the stupid things punters say and do at gigs to some extent, and as Cyril said, in the end they are paying your bills man, so you better be friendly!
Kinda makes up for all the stupid things punters say and do at gigs to some extent, and as Cyril said, in the end they are paying your bills man, so you better be friendly!
Three years ago, my acoustic band was playing at, of all things a library in the small town of Sanger California. We only played for an hour, and most of the audience was an older set, in their late 50 to mid 70's.
After we were done, this one older gent, must have been about 75 at the time walked up to me and told me he really liked my bass playing. Then he said something that i had never heard before, and I suspect will never hear again. He said "I really love the way you orchestrate your lines".
Holy Crap... That is such a unique thing to say! Who gives a compliment like that?
A veteran of the LA and New York music scene from the 40 and 50's, that's who! Turns out, the guy was an in-demand bassist, and had played for the likes of Frankie Lane and Dean Martin among others! We talked for a little while, but he had to leave as his bus was waiting.
I am forever pissed that I lost the guys name and number, which he gave to me that night. I soon lost it, and never got the chance to interview him for a write-up on my blog! I don't even remember his stage name. His first name was Michael. The next year we played the library, he was not there. The year after, he was, but it turns out he was suffering from dementia / Alzheimer, and his memory was no longer there. He sort of remembered me, but you could tell I was just a shadow in a world going dark.
I so regret not calling him the very next day after we first met.
Still - that is the greatest, most meaningful and intelligent comment / compliment I have, and likely ever will receive as a musician.
After we were done, this one older gent, must have been about 75 at the time walked up to me and told me he really liked my bass playing. Then he said something that i had never heard before, and I suspect will never hear again. He said "I really love the way you orchestrate your lines".
Holy Crap... That is such a unique thing to say! Who gives a compliment like that?
A veteran of the LA and New York music scene from the 40 and 50's, that's who! Turns out, the guy was an in-demand bassist, and had played for the likes of Frankie Lane and Dean Martin among others! We talked for a little while, but he had to leave as his bus was waiting.
I am forever pissed that I lost the guys name and number, which he gave to me that night. I soon lost it, and never got the chance to interview him for a write-up on my blog! I don't even remember his stage name. His first name was Michael. The next year we played the library, he was not there. The year after, he was, but it turns out he was suffering from dementia / Alzheimer, and his memory was no longer there. He sort of remembered me, but you could tell I was just a shadow in a world going dark.
I so regret not calling him the very next day after we first met.
Still - that is the greatest, most meaningful and intelligent comment / compliment I have, and likely ever will receive as a musician.
the smartest thing I have ever been told was when i was starting out gigging
the bandleader told me "if a fight breaks out, keep playing, don't stop"
the bandleader told me "if a fight breaks out, keep playing, don't stop"
At one of the VERY few gigs I've played, I had to lug around an old 4x10 cab with no wheels up and down the stage. Didn't help that it weighed like a corpse. The sound guy came over and have me a hand taking it back to my car and recommended I invest in a bass DI. He told me the essential info I needed without upselling any particular brand or model.
I eventually did invest in one and now I can't imagine having to make my rig anywhere aside from backyard gigs with no mixing board. All thanks to one friendly sound guy.
I eventually did invest in one and now I can't imagine having to make my rig anywhere aside from backyard gigs with no mixing board. All thanks to one friendly sound guy.
At one of my first shows out playing with a band when I was younger my dad gave me the advice "Amateurs practice their craft until they get it right, professionals practice until they don't get it wrong." It's lived with me ever since.
That is very cool! I think there is a lot of information that comes to us on many levels, often when and how we least expect. The challenge is being open to receive it.
Interesting. I use a DI, but I have found that without a rig as well, the stage sound is usually a) terrible or b) non-existent. You find you get enough from fold? You must have better fold than me (or I gettin' DEEF . . . . also a possibility). Or maybe you use them newfangled in-ears?
Of course my kids would ask how one could maintain credibility without having a stack behind you, but I'd be certainly happy to try it to save on the lug (but my little Trace is not such a burden).
