No rehearsal? No problem!

[Gustopher]

We haven’t rehearsed since April and the shows we’ve played are better than ever. We need to get together now because we are going to add a few songs for a private gig and none of us have ever played them before plus we like hanging out together. Schedules for working adults are no bueno. I like having rehearsals but that’s because I like any excuse to play with my band, I typically enjoy rehearsal time more than gigs these days.

 

[pjbassist]

@droo46 thanks for sharing, it sounds like a great experience! I have played many gigs without any rehearsal, and quite a few with musicians I had never met, it can be exhilarating!

Also...that "We'll do it live" video is one of my all time audio/video clips!

 

[two fingers]

If I'm doing this I will make up my own bass lines--no complaining if i didn't play it like the record.
I wil listen to teh otters--especially the drums & the vocals, and make sure it fits, but I'm doing it my way, if we don't have a rehearsal.

Then these types of gigs are not for you.

 

[GreyBeard]

Another reason to play trio.

 

[john_g]

Nice! Ive done some fill in gigs with no rehearsals and most of the time they dont go quite as well as OPs (though some have been amazing). Now, I...wasnt the problem if I do say so myself. i would be insistent that they need to let me know if there are any deviations from recordings and alot of times the bands would say, "uh, no". Then you are about to play and someone says, "we do this half step down" or you find they omit a part here or there. When you have a pro level set of individuals I know I wouldnt have any problems just showing up and playing with no rehearsals.

 

[Kevorargh]

I just played a gig with no rehearsal, in fact I rarely rehearse with this band. With that said, I have played those songs for years during Hoot nites and other gigs, so it's not like they are new to me.

My own band is a different story - not necessarily slackers, but they certainly don't take the time to learn the songs like the records. They tend to learn the basics and call it good, and then tell me they don't have the time. They like to think that having charts will get them through stops and other things, which would be fine if they were reading the charts during the parts where they needed to stop.

Which is why I rehearse my band.

 

[JimmyM]

Getting 5 adults to get together and rehearse can be an exercise in futility. Schedules rarely cooperate, especially when it's for a band, so ya know what? Forget rehearsal! We'll do it live!

A friend of mine who books bands for the Maverick Casinos in Wendover and Elko, Nevada reached to me and asked if I could play bass for a party band this last weekend. The catch with these bands is that there are no rehearsals. You get the setlist, you show up, you play the gig. This sort of thing requires a lot of studied preparation, a healthy amount of experience, and really keeps you on your toes.

So, Friday rolls around and I head out into the desert with nothing but a suitcase, a Yamaha BB735, my pedalboard, and a pair of IEMs.

Friday night's crew is a guitar player I've played with before who is fantastic, a couple singers I've never worked with but knew through mutual friends, and a drummer I had never met before. We got set up, sound checked, and ran a couple songs without a hitch.

The show itself was relatively seamless. The drummer, the guitarist, and one of the singers have been doing this gig for months and it was easy to settle into my role with only a few major flubbs on my part. Having tracks also helped. There's a nice lady who whispers cues in your ears (bass in 2 3 4, chorus, outro, etc...) and the extra production makes for a nice polish on everything. I, being a responsible adult, took an edible between 2nd and 3rd sets, and about 2 songs from the end of the gig, it started to hit me. Luckily, I've played Don't Stop Believing enough times to do it my sleep, but I won't be making that mistake in the future!

Saturday morning, we got up and tore down so we could set up in Elko for the next two nights of shows. Unfortunately, the guitarist was booked elsewhere, so a sub drove out to cover his parts for the remainder of the weekend. Like me, this was his first time playing this gig. I had a bit of downtime before the show, so I busted out my Zoom B14 to run some tunes quietly in my hotel room, because there were definitely a few songs where I wasn't as solid as I could be.

The Elko stage is an odd one. The club has a pretty strict rule about sound levels, so as to not disturb the Blackjack games happening on the other side of the room. On the ceiling facing the band, there's a digital readout that tells you the decibel level it's registering, and starts to flash when it hits the limit of 95db. In order to stay under the limit, the drummer has to use an isolating plexiglass drum cage and really dial it back. Fortunately, for the rest of us, the sound engineer has full control of everything else as there are no amps or monitors on stage as everyone is using amp modelling pedals and IEMs, so we can just play without worrying about that aspect. We had a decent sized group that stayed and danced the whole night, and got through the sets ok.

Since there's absolutely nothing to do in Elko, I slept in as late as my body wanted, grabbed breakfast and then took an extended nap. One of our singers was booked elsewhere, so we added yet another new musician to the stage for Sunday night. This was one of her first cover gigs ever, and she pulled through quite well.

I'm pretty impressed with how well these gigs went. Everyone was responsible and professional about being prepared and showed up ready to go. I'm hoping I get more of these calls in the future because it's a fun gig that makes you feel more like you're on vacation than working.

Here's some video if you want to hear/see more of my experience!

You ask me, that's the only way to go for a cover gig. Except for the edibles...for some reason they just don't work on me.

 

[lfmn16]

Except for the edibles...for some reason they just don't work on me.

A first time sub getting stoned on the gig wouldn't work for me.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

My biggest fear with something like this is finding out that the rest of the group uses the first chord in the song to identify the "it's in G" when the song starts on the V chord, so the song is in C. A situation where I can be "right", but sound oh so wrong. Or, just like in computing there is the classic "off by one" error, the song was recorded on Eb standard instruments, half the band transposes down a half step, the other half plays in standard, as played on the Eb-tuned instruments. And as I type that, I look across the room at a Digitech "The Drop" sitting on the shelf. Maybe I should add that to my pedalboard as a get out of jail card, crap, they're playing down a half step and this song has some idioms played with open strings.

 

[JimmyM]

A first time sub getting stoned on the gig wouldn't work for me.

OK, so I wouldn't tell you, and you'd never know

 

[Smooth_bass88]

I love a sub gig with no rehearsal (ain't nobody got time 4 dat). Been doing it for years with many groups. I always make sure to learn the songs note-for-exact-freaking-note. It's awesome when they're like "It's so nice to hear the correct basslines!"

 

[NKBassman]

I miss doing gigs like that. I'm not personally a fan of playing with backing tracks, but the quick turnaround subbing stuff can be fun and challenging.

 

[lfmn16]

OK, so I wouldn't tell you, and you'd never know

Having done more than my share of unprescribed pharmaceuticals in the 60's and 70's, nobody has to make an announcement for me to know they are stoned.

 

[JimmyM]

Having done more than my share of unprescribed pharmaceuticals in the 60's and 70's, nobody has to make an announcement for me to know they are stoned.

Even with my cool tinted glasses?

 

[LBS-bass]

My biggest fear with something like this is finding out that the rest of the group uses the first chord in the song to identify the "it's in G" when the song starts on the V chord, so the song is in C. A situation where I can be "right", but sound oh so wrong. Or, just like in computing there is the classic "off by one" error, the song was recorded on Eb standard instruments, half the band transposes down a half step, the other half plays in standard, as played on the Eb-tuned instruments. And as I type that, I look across the room at a Digitech "The Drop" sitting on the shelf. Maybe I should add that to my pedalboard as a get out of jail card, crap, they're playing down a half step and this song has some idioms played with open strings.

None of the bands I've done this with have this problem because we play it like the record and we know what key the record is in. On the few occasions I know there's a key change, I can transpose it in my head without having the key told to me as long as I know the first chord as a starting point. So I don't ever bother to ask keys.

I listen to what the guitarist's tell is - you know they will always strum their first chord before they start. If you ask them for info, they might be capo'ed up and then it's a mess, anyway.

Even without a tell, with a good ear you can self-correct within less than a second and get to the correct key, as long as you can hear yourself.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

None of the bands I've done this with have this problem because we play it like the record and we know what key the record is in. On the few occasions I know there's a key change, I can transpose it in my head without having the key told to me as long as I know the first chord as a starting point. So I don't ever bother to ask keys.

I listen to what the guitarist's tell is - you know they will always strum their first chord before they start. If you ask them for info, they might be capo'ed up and then it's a mess, anyway.

Even without a tell, with a good ear you can self-correct within less than a second and get to the correct key, as long as you can hear yourself.

Usually it's no problem. But if I showed up and found that "Pump It Up" is played down a half step because the singer likes it there, and only brought a four string in standard tuning, I would struggle on that one.

 

[lfmn16]

Even with my cool tinted glasses?

You got me there!

 

[LBS-bass]

Usually it's no problem. But if I showed up and found that "Pump It Up" is played down a half step because the singer likes it there, and only brought a four string in standard tuning, I would struggle on that one.

That would be the place I would struggle hardest; anything where I'm usually relying on bouncing off an open string would make it harder, for sure.

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So Anyway, you had me at 'I Want You Back'...what a bass line!
And an Abba song seals the deal.
Oh Yeah!

 

[micguy]

I play church gigs with pro quality players; what the OP describes is pretty much how we operate in my world. We do a short rehearsal a couple hours before the first service, but the whole thing is predicated on everyone coming very well prepared.

Music is a "weak link" exercise - you're as good as your weakest member - one stellar musician can't pull a mediocre band out of mediocrity. If everyone is good, the music is good.