What Makes a Good Gig?

[pepj]

A good gig is when the band is really buzzing.
You just know.

 

[Pocket Dave]

Venue didn't burn down

Back around 2005, we were playing the infamous Hole In The Wall in Dallas, a crappy little dive with a great vibe, when we smelled smoke.

The HVAC system in the attic just over the stage caught on fire. Someone called DFD and we grabbed our stuff and hauled it outside, helping Fred, the drummer get his set out.

Stood around in the parking lot. Still no DFD.

Walked around outback and saw where the smoke was coming through a leak in the roof, so I climbed up the fence, someone ran me a garden hose and I shoved the end of it in a hole I made with a screwdriver.

Damned if it didn't put the fire out.

Tom the owner, in true Hole In The Wall tradition, affected his own DIY repairs by pulling the breaker for the HVAC system and spraying a couple dozen cans of Home Depot expandable insulation foam through the hole I made. He effectively entombed the attic space and everything in it.

Next gig we had there, Tom had gone out and bought a couple of decades old, 4x4 footprint, military surplus swamp coolers.

After that, the joke was, "Did ya hear there was a fire at The Hole In The Wall? It did $200 worth of improvements."

Old low-res pic of The Hole In The Wall back in the day:

 

[conttador]

playing music you are passionate about to an appreciative audience. everything else is icing on the cake.

^This is it for me

 

[climber]

Any I get to do with the guys I play with are good. Great players who can literally play anything, and we only play what we want to play.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

Just curious, what makes a good gig for you? Does everything have to be perfect or just a few of the many things that are key for it to be considered a good gig? Or is it just the pay? Audience reaction/reception?

So, in my gigging experience all of the following play into my enjoyment of the gig:

Enjoy the repertoire.
Enjoy the musicians I play with.
Enjoy that hang.
Ease of load in and out.
Available parking (at or close to the venue).
Pay.
Stage size or room for setup.
Good sound.
Competent sound person (people) provided.
Not starting too late and getting home too late.
Playing for a large audience.
Playing for a receptive audience.
Getting people up and dancing.
The friendliness of staff and patrons.
Proximity to the venue.
Length of the gig.

^ All of the above. However, I will add that on top of friendly staff at a venue, it's always nice to be looked after with a decent rider and proper green room too.

 

[kevindahl]

In no particular order.
Cool staff
easy load in/out
A decent house system and lights with an in-house sound tech
A proper place to setup ie stage
A receptive audience that wants to dance
Free meal
Appropriate pay
Green room or a place to change and hangout bewteen sets.

 

[dalkowski]

Backfield (not mine) in motion.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Having fun.

 

[DaveParker39]

9/10 times if the vibe with the crowd is good the gig is good. Then I play my best and we play our best as a band, and any flubs get recovered quickly/go unnoticed.

Subsequently:
Whoever is running the establishment is going to compensate us well and have us back if the vibe with the crowd is good, because that means they are making money. So it's a win in that regard too.

 

[BassyBill]

Just curious, what makes a good gig for you? Does everything have to be perfect or just a few of the many things that are key for it to be considered a good gig? Or is it just the pay? Audience reaction/reception?

So, in my gigging experience all of the following play into my enjoyment of the gig:

Enjoy the repertoire.
Enjoy the musicians I play with.
Enjoy that hang.
Ease of load in and out.
Available parking (at or close to the venue).
Pay.
Stage size or room for setup.
Good sound.
Competent sound person (people) provided.
Not starting too late and getting home too late.
Playing for a large audience.
Playing for a receptive audience.
Getting people up and dancing.
The friendliness of staff and patrons.
Proximity to the venue.
Length of the gig.

You pretty much nailed it for the most part. The only edits I’d make would be to say the shared humour amongst musicians is always terrific and late finishes never bothered me - in fact, I always loved gigs with an overnight stay whenever possible. Coach travel for the band and our gear was also a great bonus if we could afford it out of the band’s fee.

 

[DrThumpenstein]

Connecting with my bandmates and the crowd. Making good music and great memories.

 

[logdrum]

Getting paid what I was told in a timely manner. Helps if the band is good, too.

That's a pro right there. All the other things said here are band leader items some are band manager items IMO

 

[Pdaddy1978]

Dancers ...boom
Telling bands their doing something right since....forever.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

You will know... You just will.

 

[mrjim123]

Good: Band hitting on all cylinders, crowd engaged, faces melted - mission accomplished.

 

[bigmikebass]

Good Pay
Good Material/Music
Good Musicians/Friends

Take the gig if you have 2/3
Great gig if you have 3/3

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Good Pay
Good Material/Music
Good Money

Take the gig if you have 2/3
Great gig if you have 3/3

Good pay and good money? It sounds like you're doubling up there!

 

[bigmikebass]

Sorry- fixed it

 

[Bassdirty]

Chicks?


T$

 

[NickyBass]

Home by dinner time, in bed at 10 would be ideal.

I like your list:

Aside from the pay, the two projects that checked the most boxes on your list for me were volunteer.....a community orchestra and the worship team at church.
Both had good musicians, good people, a receptive audience who knew the rep, nice venues, good sound, good music, parking, easy load in, early performances, close to home, short performance times, etc.