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Preparing for gigs

#4
Get Dressed
Meet with band
Smoke some pot
Practice if there is time
Load up
Unload
Start Drinking (2-3 drinks)
Stretch arms, hands, fingers
Chat with sound guy
Setup on stage
Stretch one last time
Warmup with the volume down
Hopefully tune with guitarist
Play set
 
#5
Drive to Drummer's house
Carpool to Venue
Set Up PA & Lights
Screw with it, screw with it, screw with it, screw with it
Play an Improv/Blues number to get it "Dialed In"
Mess with PA mess with PA, Mess with PA
Mess with Lights, Mess with Lights, Mess with Lights
BATHROOM!!!!
Comb Hair (Maybe)
Play
Tear it down & Put it away
Get Money
Do a Dummy Check of the stage
Pick up the stuff we left behind or forgot
Carpool back to Drummers house
Drive Home
 
#11
Go to the studio and load everything up
Go to the bar and unload everything
Set everything up
Sound Check
Chill (Grab some grub)
Chill a little more
Hit the stage
Play the sweat outta me
Get paid
Break everything down
Load out to the truck
Take everything back to the studio (unless we're playing again the next night)
Load out to the studio
Go home
Try to get some sleep (with a big smile on my face!) :)
 
#14
Chunk-O-Funk said:
Show up
Set up
Plug in
Play
Unplug
Break down
Get paid
Go home


:D
Click to expand...


Add a looong meal break and you've just describe my gig tonight:D. Open mic, great food, minimal playing.


And I got paid. Yes!

:hyper:

Side note: on the way home (around 1:30am), instead of taking the interstate, I decide to take the back roads back from Columbia. I'm on Rte 32 west for about 5 miles... alone. Absolutely no traffic. About 1/4 mile before I exit off the main road, here come the flashing lights. ^%$#!

The officer walks up to the car and says "You were doing xx in a 55 mph zone". I think I might've said "Geez". Shines a light in the car and says "Interesting passenger". We both smile. I have my coax Bag End 15 on the front seat of my Miata. I explain that I'm on my way home from a gig. He asks what I play, I tell him bass. He asks if I play upright... we both smile again. Not in this car. I tell him I have two electric basses in the trunk. He looks surprised. I had to take the cab, cart and gigbag out of the front to get to my registration. He checks it out, gives me a warning and tells me to slow down. No problem.

Glad I didn't end up playing for "free";)

On the odd times I run afoul of the law this is typically what happens.
 
#15
Brad Johnson said:
Add a looong meal break and you've just describe my gig tonight:D. Open mic, great food, minimal playing.


And I got paid. Yes!

:hyper:

Side note: on the way home (around 1:30am), instead of taking the interstate, I decide to take the back roads back from Columbia. I'm on Rte 32 west for about 5 miles... alone. Absolutely no traffic. About 1/4 mile before I exit off the main road, here come the flashing lights. ^%$#!

The officer walks up to the car and says "You were doing xx in a 55 mph zone". I think I might've said "Geez". Shines a light in the car and says "Interesting passenger". We both smile. I have my coax Bag End 15 on the front seat of my Miata. I explain that I'm on my way home from a gig. He asks what I play, I tell him bass. He asks if I play upright... we both smile again. Not in this car. I tell him I have two electric basses in the trunk. He looks surprised. I had to take the cab, cart and gigbag out of the front to get to my registration. He checks it out, gives me a warning and tells me to slow down. No problem.

Glad I didn't end up playing for "free";)

On the odd times I run afoul of the law this is typically what happens.
Click to expand...
a few years ago i was coming from a jobbing gig up in lake forest IL(high income area north of chicago)as luck would have it the police were doing a "safety check" for drunk drivers that night and were pulling over everybody coming down the road.so im sitting there in my tux wait for my turn thinking "boy im glad i don't drink on gig's" when the cop asked me for my license and proof of insurance.as i handed it to him he looked in the back seat and told me "pull over there please"i was like oh no here we go.when i pulled over he came up and said "that's a bass guitar case right?" i said yes and he said"what kind of strings do you use and what kind of amp do you have?" I told him and he said thank's and that i could go and that he had me stop because he never got to talk to any pro bassist one on one. i was like whatha??!#$%$# but kept my mouth shut and got out of town quickly.
 
#19
The most important thing is to first call the club, to confirm what time you are supposed to start. I find some clubs get amnesia the day before the gig and suddenly realize they are double booked or don’t really want a band.

90% of my stuff stays packed when I’m not gigging or practicing. All I really pack is a change of clothes, set lists, a copy of the agreement with the club stating the terms and the $ (the amount is another thing that clubs get amnesia about ;) )

All my stuff stays packed in the same location which (barely) fits into my mid sized sedan.

I like to arrive 1.5 -2 hours before the show as my gear setup is extensive.

1.5 to 1 hour before, the rest of the band arrives. I help them unload and set-up.

30 min before show. Set-up is done. I move my effect boards, keyboard, and bass stands from the side stage to position. Give a final test before taping and clamping cables.

Relax.

Perform

After a gig, I clean my bass string with alcohol right of the bat and case them. Then relax a few minutes and wait for the crowds to dissipate before the set-up.

Get paid

Pack-up

Go home (loaded car is locked in the garage)

Go to sleep

Get up

Unload equipment.
 

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