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Terrible gig

BasementWarrior

BasementWarrior

Jan 12, 2016
397
605
#1
Just got home from playing my worst gig ever. Band was good, I sucked. Super sloppy, made mistakes I haven't made in years. Luckily only a couple dozen people heard my ******** playing.

Why was I bad?

I got 4 hours of sleep yesterday then worked a 12 hr night shift. Finished at 8am. Then commuted 3hrs home. Got a 2 hr nap then had to pack up, get to the gig, set up, sound check, dinner, play. Had a couple drinks. Terrible decision.

So tired, could hardly function. Literally forgot what song I was playing 1/2 way through a few times. Just awful.

I need to plan better, take care of myself better. Just be better. Lessons were learned. Now I'm going to sleep.
 
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#5
A couple of drinks when you're that tired is clearly a bad idea...that's why coffee was invented.:)
(Or in true rock'n'roll tradition, uppers, cocaine, amphetamines and all the other stuff musicians have used to get them through over the years. Glad you didn't go that route, anyway)

I'd also be fairly sure you're being too hard on yourself. Your band mates may have noticed the mistakes, but I truly doubt the audience did.
Next time out will be better.
 
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#7
Sorry to hear this, but I can relate. One of the BLs I work with has taken to booking us for things that start in the morning. Yesterday I was up at 6 in order to do a 9:00 load in on one of the hottest days of the year so far. We played from 10-12 in the heat outside and by the end it was 95*F, I was sweating rivers and even after drinking several bottles of gatorade and sparkling water, horribly dehydrated. My fingers cramped up at the end of the second set and when we were finished i had to sit down to wrap wires because I almost passed out. I don't do well with early wake-ups because I am a night person by nature so insomnia kicks in when I know I have to be somewhere early.

Local gigs are crappy these days. The hours are crappy. I am no longer 25 and able to withstand the brutality that these things put me through and I'm about to hang up the live thing for good. As much as I enjoy performing, I can't do it like that anymore.

All I can offer is my empathy and more encouragement to take care of yourself. If you won't do it, no one else will.
 
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#9
Don't worry. I see a lot of room for improvement. This might not have been your worst gig.
When you make the band stop mid song - twice - or break a leg during the gig it might be worse than just a bit of sloppy playing.

I've played a gig where I filled in on very short notice. One rehearsal - originals band. They taught me three songs and we played a lot of improvised jams, sketched a rough set list and met for the gig the day after. I left with a good feeling. They were experienced musicians and the jams were not too complicated, but totally worked. This sounded doable.
No one told me these guys have not been in front of an audience for twenty years and have gone through a lot in that time. Long story short, you can't bring order into chaos if no one listens to your playing because they are standing shell shocked in the spotlight, unable to recreate the laid back jam atmosphere from the practice room.
The hall was empty after less than fifteen minutes.
 
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#19
I worked with a drummer for a while who was also a long haul trucker. He'd skate in from a log pretty much right to the gig and was so tired he'd sleep the breaks in his car. I felt sorry for him. He was the best drummer we had in that band, but he wasn't able to sustain it. You have to take care of your body; eventually it will call the shots.
 
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