No rehearsal? No problem!

[MultiScaleMale]

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.

I'd also say that the ceiling is set by the singer's abilities and showman(person)ship.

 

[micguy]

I'd also say that the ceiling is set by the singer's abilities and showman(person)ship.

I don't think we disagree - if the singer (one of the musicians) isn't good, the result isn't good. One odd thing about worship music, however, is a singer can actually be too good - a singer with an absolutely stellar voice and/or stage presence will make the congregation want to listen and/or watch, and they stop singing. While that's fine at a concert, what we do isn't a concert - it's fundamentally a sing along.

 

[Timmah]

Sounds like a fun gig!

I just played my first no-rehearsal pickup gig last weekend, but it wasn’t anywhere near as highfalutin as yours- no IEMs or tracks, just six people who had never met showing up and playing a tribute set front to back “just like the record.” It went pretty well because everyone knew their parts. The guitarists took about five minutes before the set to iron out who was playing which leads and rhythm bits, and the drummer/BL gave us a crash course in how to end the tunes that faded on the record, and we hit it. Lots of fun but relatively low pressure compared to your gig. I’m looking forward to doing more, though. It’s a really fun and quick way to network and play tunes that I otherwise wouldn’t have learned or experienced in my regular bands.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Oh, I forgot the classic "it's in G, but they neglect to add 'Capo 3'"

 

[LBS-bass]

Oh, I forgot the classic "it's in G, but they neglect to add 'Capo 3'"

Right! That's why I never bother to ask. I just listen to what they are playing.

If the band is polished enough, you won't get a "tell" from the guitarist because they'll know enough not to noodle between songs. But those are also the bands that are organized well enough that you'll never be left hanging to wonder what key the next song is in.

 

[Ronzo]

Jaco didn’t need tracks…..

Look, I know there’s a certain element of shallow, ‘show-biz’ razzle dazzle, style over substance in casino gigs, but the place might as well just gotten a DJ, if that’s all that music matters there.
If you’re in a band, BE a band, warts and all. If members can’t have time to rehearse(and have their parts down ahead of time, so that rehearsals are efficient)why are they bothering in the first place? It should be a part of their lives, along with all the other mundane day-to-day crap, and if it doesn’t have some sort of relative equal priority, just hang it up and be content with your memories.

As usual, very condescending.

I wonder how you would perform in a similar situation.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Jaco didn’t need tracks…..

Look, I know there’s a certain element of shallow, ‘show-biz’ razzle dazzle, style over substance in casino gigs, but the place might as well just gotten a DJ, if that’s all that music matters there.
If you’re in a band, BE a band, warts and all. If members can’t have time to rehearse(and have their parts down ahead of time, so that rehearsals are efficient)why are they bothering in the first place? It should be a part of their lives, along with all the other mundane day-to-day crap, and if it doesn’t have some sort of relative equal priority, just hang it up and be content with your memories.

Actually, Jaco played to loops all the time- he created his own track and played over them. You ever see footage of his live bass solos?

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

I used to do gigs like that, and they were fun, but ultimately not what I wanted to do. I figured if I was going to play covers for money, I wanted to play classic Surf music, so I found a couple others who wanted the same thing, and we are doing pretty well. we don't rehearse much, but sometimes get together to work on originals and have a few beers. we are so lucky because we have the trifecta-Hang, Music & Money.

 

[Mechanical]

And people complain about "Brown Eyed Girl" and yet if you didn't know it and tunes like it, you wouldn't be able to pull this off.

I've never played in a cover band, but have covered other people's songs. I think that once you have most of the catalog known (playing the same songs for years and years and years) it can be relatively easy to pull off. But a lot of the acts I like in jazz come out with charts and rehearse. YMMV.

 

[Michedelic]

As usual, very condescending.

I wonder how you would perform in a similar situation.

Or maybe you’re just uncomfortable with the fact that I call out BS and complacency. So many naked emperors out there. If you can’t be passionate about playing music, if it’s just a job, why bother? I was taken aback by the delight on the part of the OP that there were “tracks” to play along with; maybe one of these days one of the tracks will be bass. Oh, wait, that has already happened. That he was seasoned so much that he could just drop in and do the gig, well, good for him, that’s what a lot of session people have done, and if he got paid well for it, so be it. Some people have a calling to engage in creativity. But that whole situation is a pre-fab thing, a human juke box, live Muzak, music played for people who don’t care where it’s coming from. Not my idea of a good time, to either perform it or be in an audience for it. Does that outlook, my personal standards, bother you?
What I found condescending in that other post was your dismissing of a music movement/scene that you apparently didn’t understand or participate in. There was more than just CBGB’s… Max’s, Mudd Club, Knitting Factory, Mercer Arts way back in the begining, Continental Divide, plus probably a dozen joints I never heard of, and even on the outskirts, Maxwell’s and My Father’s Place. As far as the outer boroughs, and the measure of a band like the Ramones, all of my friends and acquaintences from the area, admittedly Manhattan-centric, have told me that they considered all those places, and Jersey, to be as backward and stodgy as the midwest, maybe even worse. Why is Staten Island the butt of so many jokes? I always understood the term “bridge and tunnel crowd” to be a putdown.
Also condescending was the discounted regard of the validity of a band’s entire career and impact, based on the yardstick of how many mainstream hits they had later on, an meaningless evaluation on its own.

 

[droo46]

I've always wondered, about those party bands that play with tracks, how do you know for sure that you're even going through the mains?

It would be so much easier for these bands to simply have every instrument pre-recorded and ready to deploy in case they have an unknown sub doing the gig. Sure, you hear yourself through the monitors, but are you merely there to occupy visual space on the bandstand?

(I'm really not a big conspiracy theorist in real life...really.)

Someone else mentioned that they've done exactly that, but on this particular gig, the backing tracks didn't have the bass, drums, or guitar in them so we wouldn't be able to overdub them if they sucked.

I'm curious about the voice that's telling you what's coming in your IEMs. Was that basically a Pro-Tools Live type setup that the band follows for automatic cues? Or is there a band leader that's cuing you? I've never had that before with IEMs but it sounds cool.

Yes, the guide is just a part of the click track that the band hears but the audience doesn't. The way they rig this up is that the parts that get sent to the mains are panned all the way to the right, and the click and the guide (stuff only the band needs to hear) are panned all the way to the left. This way they are perfectly in sync, but no one hears what they don't need. Also, the monitor mixes are controlled via an iPhone app, so each band member can adjust their mix to their heart's content.

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.

I was counting on a 1 hour release so it would hit me just after we finished our 45 minute set. Mistakes were made! At least I didn't end up like the singer who took a second one after the gig and then was too high to drive the next morning. They ended up making sound check that afternoon, but just barely!

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.

I had charts on stage in front of me acting both as a setlist as well as having a few notes so as to not make that exact mistake. For example, Sweet Caroline is in E, but starts on the fifth.

Sounds like a fun gig!

I just played my first no-rehearsal pickup gig last weekend, but it wasn’t anywhere near as highfalutin as yours- no IEMs or tracks, just six people who had never met showing up and playing a tribute set front to back “just like the record.” It went pretty well because everyone knew their parts. The guitarists took about five minutes before the set to iron out who was playing which leads and rhythm bits, and the drummer/BL gave us a crash course in how to end the tunes that faded on the record, and we hit it. Lots of fun but relatively low pressure compared to your gig. I’m looking forward to doing more, though. It’s a really fun and quick way to network and play tunes that I otherwise wouldn’t have learned or experienced in my regular bands.

The networking opportunity is key here. I actually got a gig offer from this one from one of the singers. As it turns out, seeing someone pull this off well is a good audition.

 

[foolforthecity]

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!

Now THIS is living!

 

[Joe Nerve]

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.

Not playing it like the recordings is the cause of this not working. I get that people can play other things that fit and could very well work, but for it to go seamlessly it has to be a team effort. Everyone is dependent on everyone else and counting on others to play the songs as they know them. Its real easy to miss a cue when people are improvising, or think that someone is screwing up which could prompt another member to try to "save," the song. The whole band would have to be on extra high alert for the one person who chooses to play things differently, and train wrecks become far more likely. "Why the hell did you go into the chorus there?" "Because it sounded to me like that's what YOU were doing!" As @two fingers said, jumping in with no rehearsals probably isn't the best route if that's the way you plan to do it. I know that wouldn't work with my band.

This is the topic of a lot of debate. My own take on it is that often, even the actual musicians don't play live like it is on the record. A lot of them don't even know the exact part they played on the record. Flea being one of them. My view is that unless it's an integral part, like the bass intro to Sweet Child, or maybe certain parts of Don't Stop Believing, and as long as you respect the integrity of the song, anything goes.

Original artists not playing songs like the recordings is different than cover bands not playing like the recordings. One doesn't have to play every single song N4N, but the closer a band gets to the original recordings the more a crowd is going to like them, and the easier the (no rehearsal) gigs will be. Not looking to brag but my band gets complimented, often, in a way that kinda lights me up . The STAFF of the venues we play have approached me on several occasions saying, "Just want to let you know, your band kicks butt. And that's coming from a person who sees these kinds of bands all the time." That statement is often followed up by, "I was in the other room and didn't even realize the band was playing. I thought it was the DJ." We don't nail every single song N4N, but its the goal, and my singers have a skill for sounding a lot like the artists they're copying.

 

[Mark McClelland]

I totally knew there would be a disagreeing voice popping up. Very cool. I know not everyone has the same opinion on this note for note thing in cover bands. I've played in a lot a lot a lot of them and have known and seen even more and it is a very interesting conversation and debate that comes up from time to time. Oh, and by not note for note, I'm totally not talking about changing where things happen - unless everyone knows and has agreed a change for whatever reason. I'm talking about respecting the root notes and when everything is supposed to happen, but not necessarily learning, or playing, every single lick or passing note the original bass player has played. Just like a drummer might not play every fill exactly as originally played. But if your thing is the opposite to that, all power and respect to you.

 

[turf3]

Not looking to brag but my band gets complimented, often, in a way that kinda lights me up . The STAFF of the venues we play have approached me on several occasions saying, "Just want to let you know, your band kicks butt. And that's coming from a person who sees these kinds of bands all the time." That statement is often followed up by, "I was in the other room and didn't even realize the band was playing. I thought it was the DJ." We don't nail every single song N4N, but its the goal, and my singers have a skill for sounding a lot like the artists they're copying.

Sure doesn't sound like rock and roll to me.

Rock and roll is, at base, African-American improvised music. I would respectfully suggest that the note for note duplication of a famous recording approach moves it into the realm of classical music - except without the complexity, virtuosity, and subtlety.

While it may earn more money to be able to make a note for note duplication of a famous recording, I'd rather do something else to earn the money and spend my music making time trying to create something. Even if what I create isn't all that great (and I assure you, it isn't!) at least it's mine. At the rates of pay for cover bands copying famous recordings note for note, I can't get very excited about that endeavor.

In my main world (jazz) all the tunes have been recorded so many times that there is no such thing as "the record" to copy note for note. With the exception of certain traditional performance practices (the "I am hip" into for ATTYA; the bass line for Red Clay; etc.) you play the tune, according to the changes. If the horns play a riff behind a soloist's third and fourth choruses, they work it out during the first and second choruses. if you're going to swap fours, the bandleader holds up four fingers and points to each soloist. If the bandleader calls an audible, he holds up the right number of fingers to indicate the key. And so on. The idea that a bass player would memorize and play note for note what Ray Brown did on a particular tune is completely unheard of. You might quote a particularly famous solo for a few seconds.

In that world, and the related world of society bands, you show up with your instrument and you play the music. If there are charts you read the charts. If you can't cut it, there are 100 fresh Berklee and NTSU graduates waiting, who can.

Rock and roll descended from jazz, with a significant infusion from country. The ethos of rock and roll was to create something of one's own, for at least the period from 1950 to 1980. The idea of copying records exactly note for note is something I did not hear when I was a young-un playing rock. Maybe I was out on the outskirts of rock and roll, I dunno.

 

[five7]

I have done many of these and like the part of "being on my toes". I usually do a 5 hour energy. No edibles for me. On the other hand I like rehearsing also. Especially originals.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Side note - We're trying to juggle schedules for rehearsal for a casual band I'm in. Initially using an email thread which sucked, now we're using a poll in Doodle where everyone just says yes/no for availability on a series of dates. When we get critical mass on one, then over to the email thread.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Sure doesn't sound like rock and roll to me.

Rock and roll is, at base, African-American improvised music. I would respectfully suggest that the note for note duplication of a famous recording approach moves it into the realm of classical music - except without the complexity, virtuosity, and subtlety.

While it may earn more money to be able to make a note for note duplication of a famous recording, I'd rather do something else to earn the money and spend my music making time trying to create something. Even if what I create isn't all that great (and I assure you, it isn't!) at least it's mine. At the rates of pay for cover bands copying famous recordings note for note, I can't get very excited about that endeavor.

In my main world (jazz) all the tunes have been recorded so many times that there is no such thing as "the record" to copy note for note. With the exception of certain traditional performance practices (the "I am hip" into for ATTYA; the bass line for Red Clay; etc.) you play the tune, according to the changes. If the horns play a riff behind a soloist's third and fourth choruses, they work it out during the first and second choruses. if you're going to swap fours, the bandleader holds up four fingers and points to each soloist. If the bandleader calls an audible, he holds up the right number of fingers to indicate the key. And so on. The idea that a bass player would memorize and play note for note what Ray Brown did on a particular tune is completely unheard of. You might quote a particularly famous solo for a few seconds.

In that world, and the related world of society bands, you show up with your instrument and you play the music. If there are charts you read the charts. If you can't cut it, there are 100 fresh Berklee and NTSU graduates waiting, who can.

Rock and roll descended from jazz, with a significant infusion from country. The ethos of rock and roll was to create something of one's own, for at least the period from 1950 to 1980. The idea of copying records exactly note for note is something I did not hear when I was a young-un playing rock. Maybe I was out on the outskirts of rock and roll, I dunno.

I wrote and performed original music for over 30 years, and loved every minute of it. More than doing covers for sure, but I needed a change-up. I still write and do my own recordings but like now having the opportunity to play Ballads, Motown, Rock, Dance, Country, a handful of Jazz standards - and get paid really well to do it. For the first time in my life I earn more with music than with my day job, and am beyond grateful to be doing that.

RE the rock and roll thing, yeah... what my band does isn't R&R, but thankfully I still get the opportunity to rock out and improvise with another band I still perform with from time to time. I have a live album coming out in a month where we're doing exactly that. I will be posting about it for sure once I'm given the OK by the artist.

 

[turf3]

I wrote and performed original music for over 30 years, and loved every minute of it.

You don't have to write all-original tunes to create something individual. Consider "Hound Dog" as performed by Big Mama Thornton; then as performed by Elvis.

 

[Joe Nerve]

You don't have to write all-original tunes to create something individual. Consider "Hound Dog" as performed by Big Mama Thornton; then as performed by Elvis.

I didn't say you did. Was just agreeing with you that its NOT what I'm doing these days. I have great respect for people that do that kind of thing. Dread Zeppelin is probably the most awesome and original cover band I ever saw in my life. And they're playing covers of covers that Zep did.