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What was it like playing your 1st gig?

#21
My first gig with a rock band was my Grade 9 prom (Jr. High)...we had the most popular dude in the school as singer, and he sung like crap, but we still kicked ass due to his status, I remember doing Baba O Reilly, Don't Stop Believin and SpaceShip Superstar very well...the rest is a bit of a blur.

I was not nervous at all, I had loads of performances as a recital pianist and in school bands (Jazz, Symphony, Orchestra etc) under my belt.

I was under the radar in the school until that moment....that was the clincher for me that this is what I wanted to do for a career.

Scored the chick I was after all year after that show....I shoulda played a gig on day one, and saved myself all that teenage angst. hahaha
 
#22
My first gig, I was nervous and we were pretty bad, but not blisteringly bad. The gigs back then were all a blur, but I think the one we got was at a backyard party I think I'm thinking of the right one. I'm pretty sure it was one of those situations where we'd been practicing for what we thought was a long time, and finally we thought we were ready. Our dumb 16-crappy skills were not ready, but it's what you gotta do as a musician - put yourself out there. The next one was better, the next was even better.

After just a few gigs, I remember that pretty quickly, word got out that the creepy/dorky kid who never talked to anyone had a band and they were pretty good (for some dumb 16 year olds), and we got to play at Ron Cartier's party - a popular guy who seemed to always have the big, crazy parties that I never got to go to 'cause I was a geek. We rocked it, and for a 3-4 month period before the band deflated, I was sorta popular, and we played at some decent High School parties... then I slumped back into social mediocrity. Aahh... high school...
 
#25
We rented out a hall and bought a bunch of kegs. Now a-days that would never happen.

Everyone was wasted and we were playing Stranglehold and 2112, it was packed and they loved us. We were 16 and could rock with long hair and jump around high energy.

At least that's how I remember it now ;)
 
#26
my first gig ... well, dinosaurs still walked the earth in those days, and so we had to wait until none were around before we started playing, as brontosauruses in particular were known to respond to bass guitar playing.

Seriously? I don't remember. It would have been 1965 or so, playing a Hagstrom bass in a decent cover band with other 13 and 14 year olds at a junior high school dance.

We must have done OK, because everyone wanted us back, and I played with those guys all the way through '69, at which point we were pretty professional. The trumpeter and keyboard player in fact became well-known professionals. (I am not, but I still gig and love it.)
 
#28
First gig. 2003. We are playing in between a Hip Hop act.
Play 1st set. Who's knows what we played.
Insert rapper, here.
MC says "alright were gonna bring the band back up.." and from the back is heard
"We don't wanna here that bull$h!t..!"

I like being the underdog and only respond to negative stimuli at times....add the to the fact I am a severly sarcastic....we had a great 2nd set.
 
#29
I can still remember mine to a T. I was in a pop punk band at the time and I spent the whole morning and some of the afternoon (of course taking some breaks) practicing our set list over and over for the gig we had that night. We were playing at a pretty big and well known venue around here so It was like diving in head first. I remember when I was loading up my stuff to head to my guitarists house where we were all meeting up and then loading up the other stuff and heading to the gig I constantly checked to make sure I had everything. At the gig it was a good sized crowd crowd which made me nervous so I made a quick trip to the bar for a beer and then we played and it turned out to be a very successful first show, crowd was into it and also we made no major mistakes and the other bands were very supportive. It was a great feeling and that was years ago. Even today I still get a little nervous, however also a majority of it is pure excitement.
 
#31
I will never forget my first gig on bass...

I had been playing bass for a just two or three months (I was a trombone player before I got reformed). My teacher, who is an awesome musician, decided the time was right and subbed me one of his gigs.

Jazz trio, no drums, at a convention. Piano, trumpet, electric bass.

The piano player is a monster who has since moved to L.A. and now plays with Christian McBride and subs on American Idol. The trumpet player is one of The Four Freshmen.

All I can say is they were very nice and tolerant of me. They put up with my BS and we're very encouraging even though I know I totally sucked then.

That was more than ten years ago, and I am now friends with both of these guys and have done countless gigs with them.

I will never forget how terrified I was!
 
#32
Junior High School dance in the gymnasium. 1984. I was a junior in high school at the time. I remember we started with Van Halen's Eruption guitar solo. A must learn by guitar players back then. Our set list included Jump, Should I Stay or Should I Go, Can't Explain (The Who), Cinnamon Girl, Working Man (Rush), Walk This Way, etc. Anyway, I was very nervous at the beginning but the butterflies went away and the night ended up being a blast! :bassist:
 
#34
I was nervous as heck, but I had the same feeling I had when I played my first song with other people. It was magic. I could hear the song and it was 'just' like it was on the recording. I just kept thinking to myself, holy cow, we're making this happen! Best feeling ever and I was hooked for good. A lot of enthusiasms have come and gone in the intervening years, but the joy of making music never went away and never will. Matter of fact, I'm enjoying music now more than ever before.
 
#36
Eric Albany said:
Hey all you guys and gals of TB. I want to know what it was like to play your 1st gig. Did it suck or rock? Were you nervous or not? What ever.
Click to expand...

I used to play exclusively with a pick when I first started gigging. I was so nervous I couldn't even hold the pick steady due to my hand shaking. I had to play 8th notes as quarter notes bc I couldnt make my hands work right.

I also had to poop the whole time.
 
#37
chuck3 said:
my first gig ... well, dinosaurs still walked the earth in those days, and so we had to wait until none were around before we started playing, as brontosauruses in particular were known to respond to bass guitar playing.

Seriously? I don't remember. It would have been 1965 or so, playing a Hagstrom bass in a decent cover band with other 13 and 14 year olds at a junior high school dance.

We must have done OK, because everyone wanted us back, and I played with those guys all the way through '69, at which point we were pretty professional. The trumpeter and keyboard player in fact became well-known professionals. (I am not, but I still gig and love it.)
Click to expand...

So you're 59 as in born in '52?
 
#40
First time in front of a crowd was 8th grade talent show-crazy nervous, but excited. We played "Big City Nights" by the Scorpions- 1986. We have it on video. The crowd goes crazy, we look like tiny kids in Iron Maiden shirts, we are so nervous that not one of us even looks up from their necks. It sounds "stiff" but overall, it's ok. Afterwards we are riding the best high ever and our parents took us to pizza to celebrate. -Hooked for life.
At 19, had my first bar gig. I got recruited by some neighbor guys in their mid-20's and I had to lie and say I was 21. The club owner asked us what we wanted to drink and the other guys ordered Long Island Iced Teas. I had never drank at a bar before or had much experience with mixed drinks, so I just said I would have the same. The bartender kept brining us free drinks, so I was quickly pretty wasted. One of my roomates used a fake ID to get in and he started drinking my Long Islands and he was quickly wasted too. He was also covered from head to toe in scabs from a mt. bike crash (face looked like Star Trek Wrath of Kahn) and I remember at one point looking down from the stage and seeing him making out with a woman in her 40's and then hearing her daughter's friends screaming that "Emily's mom is making out with a scabby kid!". Good times, except that I drove home while I was extremely intoxicated because I was worried that someone might break into my truck to steal my crappy crate head and old peavy cab. I got home safe, but even at 19, I should have been smarter than that. Lucky kid.
 

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