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What was the first gig you remember playing?

#61
I was 10 years old. I played guitar at the time btw. It was at a local music shop and they had a stage and had about 5 bands play. We played 3 songs. Just out of sheer luck I happened to break a string on the last not of the last song. It was awesome!! The band that played after us was like, "Now that is a way to end your first gig!":bassist:
 
#63
I was 13, labor day Sunday before school started. Our church use to let my guitarist friend and I use the auditorium to jam, so we could play a bit louder than at home. The were having a picinic and came to us about a month before and said now was time to pay them back for the use of the hall. A friend of us was played drums and had to borrow his older brother's kit. No one could sing, so we did instrumental and very rudimentary versions of Zepplin songs.. no solos except the guitarist learned the solo from the live version of Stairway. No internet, no tabs, a fender mustang through a fender twin does not quite cut it for Zepplin. I played a a white Segova Bealte bass through a 50 watt Fender Bassman.. Took us 2 more years to come out of the basement again... never could find a singer.
 
#64
First Gig - www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpTdnzrItCA

Second Gig - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvav-XXwsY0

Both gigs were about 3 years ago now last month. I'd started playing stand up in 6th grade and since my orch teacher played both, he encoraged me to pick up electric. I picked it up in November that 8th grade. Late May for the first one and early June for the second.

They're both talent shows, but with two different bands. The first was me and some guys in my class and the second was with some guys from a different school a year younger than me that I had known a few years earlier but got reconnected with them once we all found out that we were musicians.

It was around when Green Day's latest album had come out and been "all the rage" around here.

I was terrified. My first gig ever started out with me soloing to the national anthem?! Its a shame I didn't have the skills that I have now to Hendrix-it-out-on-bass, but they needed someone to do it. It was kind of funny when I told my guys we were the first act and they were all kind of mad, but it turned out that everybody basically liked our performance the best of the other bands that played. :smug:

The second gig was really funny because it was at a Catholic grammar school (K - 8). I thought "What the heck am I doing here," because all of the other acts were all basically kindergardeners doing tumble-rolls on mats and whatnot. :rollno:


I look back and I can't believe that I had difficulty playing and learning those songs back then, but now there just simple "warm up" songs at unofficial jam sessions. :p

Hope You Enjoy! :D
 
#65
My first (and only gig) was 2 years ago when I was 21. We played mainly covers and 1 song of our own. It was in the back room of a dive in Aberystwyth, West wales.

I was really nervous and spent most of my time concentrating on not screwing up. It was good fun, and we were awesome!
 
#66
People cover Zappa? That's awesome!

My first gig was with my brothers Christian Punk band, I was 10 and everyone else was 14 (my older brother and his friends) at a lock-in at his friends school. Four ****** original songs, and I stood there like a dufus singing with my head down just tapping my foot staring at a piece of paper with the words on it because I was so damn nervous!!! lol

First gig of my own (that i was an original founder) band I was 15; We were about to start out saturday band practice and I got a call from one of my friends in another local band asking us to come play the show in about an hour cuz someone canceled just then. We only had one song, because all of us (for some ******** reason) decided we were not gonna do any covers, all originals. I spoke for the rest of the band and said yes, and as they all showed up for practice I met them downstairs yelling with excitement "HURRYUPANDPACKUPTHESHITWE'REABOUTTOPLAYTHEARMISTICEROOM!!"
(Armistice Room being the name of the venue) We got there and set up and about halfway through our only song, I realized that nothing was to come after that. We finished the song, then looked at each other like "what now?". The guitarist and the drummer then gave up their instruments to some guys who asked them if they could go ahead and play, and I was extremely pissed. I broke down my small 1x10 amp (was miked for the set, didnt know if anyone could hear) and went to McDonalds with my girl while she consoled me. Good times.
 
#70
My first real gig was in Germany (my dad was in the army) at a German high school gym in 1977. Pretty big gig, I remember a lot of people there. Well the guitard starts in on stairway to heaven and since we had been drinking all day, you know, to calm the nerves, I had to go to the bathroom pretty bad. Well the stage is on one end and the bathrooms are out where everyone paid to get in so I unhook and hall butt out there to go. Well i start to go back in and the people charging at the door wont let me back in until I pay!! I spent all my money on beer so that aint happening. True story that was the 1st time I ever used "I am with the band"...and it didnt work. So we are arguing half in english and half in german until someone comes out and says yeah they saw me up there playing. In the meantime the guitarist is playing slower and slower because I am now running through the gym to get back to the stage (in bell bottoms and 6 inch platforms, it was the 70's you know) when my part comes up. Talk about a dirty look from the guitarist :scowl: Anyway everything else went great until after the show everyone in the crowd was buying us beers and I fell off the stage trying to break down our equipment...but thats another story. :rollno:
 
#72
I played my first gig I think in 1970. I was 19. We named ourselves "The J Boys" at the last minute because we couldn't think of a better name. We were pretty bad; three piece - guitar, bass and drums. I think we only knew a dozen or so songs. We played Proud Mary, Mr. Bojangles, Santana's Evil Ways ... all over the map stylistically.

The drummer's dad, a cop, got us a gig playing a party in another cop's basement. By the time we got there the cops and their wives were all pretty well lit.

Not long after we started playing, one of the cop's wives, a real fox, started taking her clothes off. She got all the way down to a one piece spandex singlet (I don't know what else to call it) before her husband stopped her (dang!).

We took a break and I was standing by the food table. The drunken "stripper" tried to French kiss me, but I couldn't kiss back (not that I really wanted to, with her husband there and all) because I had a mouthful of cake. She told me I didn't know how to kiss.

I never played another gig with those guys. They were not that serious and so I moved on. We did stand in at a bar one night after many shots of Jack Daniels and totally embarrassed ourselves. Ah, the good old days!
 
#74
First gig on bass: 1970. Backing up a singer/ guitard on a Sunday morning variety show on tv. Did a couple of stones songs IIR. First playing gig 3-4 months later at a high school prom. 8pc group I had joined a month before. Played lots of Chicago, BST, Motown. Made about $25-30 each
 
#75
I guess it was in 1976, I was 16 at the time and in a horrible garage band. Our first (and only) public gig was at a local church for a youth group event. We did a few songs by the Stones, Eagles, Pink Floyd and Kiss. One of our guitarists, who had a knack for being able to negotiate, got the gig for us. We didn't get paid (frankly, we didn't deserve to get paid) and we didn't get any more gigs as a result of it. I moved on shortly after that.
 
#76
Back somewhere around 1973 I played harp in a grateful dead turned bluegrass type of band. Thats right I am a frustrated harp player turned bassist. We got a gig ina tiny little bar in the woods of Pennsylvania. None of us were adults let alone old enogh to drink and neither were any of our friends. The owner didnt care as long as somebody was buying booze. Gotta love the 70s
 
#77
I just turned 17 and it was during a break between the school's chorus and orchestra. We did 3 songs and got a standing ovation after each song. Probably one of the best gigs I had. My bass sounded good, the drummer and I were very tight, and nothing bad happened. All in all it was a good performance.
 
#78
Gig? That implies an audiance, but does it include getting paid?

My first live performance on the bass in front of people (no money, just beer) was shortly after high school circa 1985 or so. (Peavey T-40)

My first paid bar type gig was probably about 1991. (B.C. Rich platinum Warlock before the goofy ass headstock on that model)
 
#79
oh boy...dont remind me...

This was my fist gig on bass, or any rock instrument for that matter. We were a new band with some cool tunes, but struggling to find a gig. The mom of our guitar player found us a gig at a young teenage birthday party. It was at this small pool/entertainment center(no bar) about an hour away from home in this tiny-middle-of-nowhere-texas-town. This place was sorta new, and there were a few people there watchin some nascar thing, and about 20 kids...

So we set up, and we are a bit nervous, being our first gig and all.
First song has a guitar intro, then everyone comes in pretty loud. First note- i break my E string. Yes. My E string. ?! I dunno, maybe i was so tense that i snapped it by plucking too hard. I was 17, never had any experience, so i of course didn't have a backup bass or extra strings. My band played acoustic stuff to keep the crowd in check while i drove half an hour away to the nearest wallmart for some FA strings. I get back, string it up, we do our set, it rocked. I think we got payed more for that gig than any we've done since :rollno:
 
#80
First time was as a sophomore at U.C. Santa Barbara, playing a party in front of our house on Del Playa Drive -- I had been playing guitar and piano for a few years before that, but bass maybe only six months or so. I would describe myself as an advanced beginner at the time.

We played a lot of covers (ten or fifteen) and a few originals. The covers -- CCR, Santana, Pink Floyd, Allman Bros., Eric Clapton. We had two guitarists, sax, a keyboardist (with a Hammond B3 and a leslie cab; owch, my back still hurts thinking about that thing), myself and drums. It went over fairly well, all told. Not our best moment, but not our worst, either.

The crazy part of this was that shortly thereafter -- within a few months -- we played a Friday night at the Whisky A Go Go, which actually went over very well. We were much tighter by that time.
 

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