This is my opinion, for what that's worth: float both bands as long as you can. DO NOT quit your other band. Gear is lighter because work is what gets songs right and gets bands gigs. Work is easier when there is less stuff to schlep. This 80s full-stack thing is a neat idea and worth pursuing, but there are risks to having huge amps and to joining bands that aren't already up and running.
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Opportunity knocks. But there's a catch.
- Thread starter StraffordMike
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I don't consider it "pimping yourself out". Really, it's the sound man who determines how you sound to the audience, it seems. So any personal gear is for on stage monitoring and you are really just playing to yourself. Unless you've got some really unique tone (like Billy Sheehan) that requires a certain type of amplification, I would give this a shot. It would be nice to be part of a group that is well-funded and has a lot of gear -- and if you don't have to move it all, that's a goldmine. You may even discover you sound better or different in a way you like. I'd go ahead with this and see how this plays out if this is the only thing holding you back.
Unless 2/3rds of those cabs are empty, and just for show, I'd run for zee hills. It would take a touring production crew to deal with all that gear. For Maiden covers? Give me a break... Sounds like a guy who is going through a mid life crisis. if I see more than a kick drum mic set up for rehearsals, that's a big red flag.
How does anyone get an audition for something like that??
...it looks like someone is trying to make his/her high school dreams come true...
Obviously, the ideal would be to have some tangible evidence and reasonable hope that it will actually get booked. Sometimes, a leap of faith is required. I've joined a few very successful startups that hinged on a unique and untested angle.
Knowing how much material that format could cover and how popular it is, I'd say it's a reasonably safe bet, assuming that they do the legwork behind the scenes.
Any musician who forgoes a CL search in my area is making a big mistake. I have met some uber-talented, great bandmates on CL.
Not to bore you with unrelated anecdotes, but I remember back in high school we had a garage band. Like most kids we didn't have lots of money for gear, so for our gigs (usually outdoor parties) we had old refrigerator boxes cut down to size and painted black with grey circles on the front. From a few dozen feet away they looked like cabs. Drove the girls nuts thinking we were rock stars. Volume was never an issue. Talent was.
Just a warning to the keyboard player. The first low E you hit is going to send that faux Carmen Miranda hat spiraling down on his head.
When those little girls grow up, it still works. There's a pretty healthy market for entertainment in my area built almost solely on that principle.
I had just finished recording with Jeff Beck, and I was at a pub with my wife in Chelsea. She looked behind me and said "there's Gary Moore." I walked over and said "Hello," and I had my bass over my shoulder. He said "You play bass?" I answered "Yes, I'm playing on the same project you are." He replied... "I need a bassist."
It's quite simple really, and that's how I met Henry McCullough of Wings. I'm playing a pub, I tell the bartender how Mike McCartney kinda left me hanging, and he said "I have a friend that used to work with those McCartney's, do you want his number?"
That kinda stuff happens all of the time, but your personality brings it out of people. Musicians IMO, don't really help each other. I did, and all I remember is regretting it later on. Some people go crazy when they think there's notoriety or a little money involved.
In fact, once I started working for some record companies, I learned that most business people don't want to talk to the artist, just their management or a rep. I completely understand that now.
Hmm... One more example...
I was at a party and was talking to a woman. She kinda new who I was working with at the time, and she asked me if I knew any guitarists, her boyfriend needed one for a project. I told her I knew two that were worth anything and he could call me. It was Roland Gift of the Fine Young Cannibals. We talked and I recommended one guy over the other. The guy I recommended eventually did quite well, but me and his friends are somewhat amazed that he's "changed" and they never hear from him.
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There was definitely money involved... But if most of those guys even think you're a mercenary, you'll never get in the door... Not even near it.
Does the BL know that most of time the cabs are empty shells if he is going for a specific 'look'? Even though the OP mentioned he has knowledge of bi- amping and crossovers, it appears he may not know enough of the right way to do thngs. This thing's headed for a sonic mess.
I was in a band that didn't even let me play my own guitar. The guy owned everything, the drums the guitars the rigs, there was nothing on stage that he did not own. Everyone was expected to show up at his house before the gigs to help load the van, we all rode in the van the to gig, we all loaded in and helped each other set-up. It was a good deal really. I'd prefer for it to be that way, I didn't have to haul anything, I didn't have to maintain anything, he even put new strings on after every fourth gig or so, all I'd have to do is show up on time and play well...everything else was taken care of, and he paid decent, $75 a night back in 1994 was pretty nice dough, kept us booked with at least 6 gigs a month too, not a bad deal. If you're lucky maybe this guy has something similar going on.
I was in a band where we didn't even own our name. I fixed that problem though, and learned a valuable lesson about mechanical vs. actual copyrights.
Well, I'm on CL all the time, so obviously there are amazing musicians there (
).No, I'm not disagreeing with you. I think this is really just a matter of reading the signs - are the signs that this is a fantastic opportunity with a great band that's going to take a real pro approach to everything and land him some great gigs, or are the signs that this is a nightmare with a clueless guy who has lots of money to buy fancy gear with and nothing else? That the OP knows the drummer and respects him and the drummer apparently is buying into the project is a good sign. Then again, I don't know the drummer (that I know of) or what his goals or criteria are.
I am in the same state as the OP, and I can testify that there's definitely a classic rock audience around here. I was gigging for that crowd 4-5 times a month for a while. But in my experience most of the places you find them are the smaller venues where you are NOT going to fit a fraction of that setup in the available stage. The classic rock trio I was in was built partly on the premise of being VERY compact and portable. We could load out in 15 minutes. That in turn makes me lean towards the alternative interpretation, that this is a project by somebody with big daydreams and little knowledge of the actual scene.
There are still some "throw back" musicians out there that dream of big shows and the wall of amp sound. I played with a drummer who insisted to bring every piece if his 70's, kit to every show, no matter how big the room was. His kit was massive modeled after All the drummers he idolized.
We have come a long way today with gear and I prefer the less is more approach. To the OP go for it and please let us know how this works out.
i was in a power trio that likes cabs, cabs, cabs ... the one guy , BL , was a carpenter by trade ... so 80% of the cabs where empty .. !! ha
hey ... you get to use free gear ... cool ... we had roadies when we used that much stuff .. !!
hey ... you get to use free gear ... cool ... we had roadies when we used that much stuff .. !!
