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Would you take this gig?

#21
baddarryl said:
Boss is very cool. No risk there.
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Then do it. Worst case is she gets laughed at when she goes back to work :D

Honestly, if it's a laid back-play what/when you want type gig then I think you will have fun. I'm sure most people will be light hearted IF you made mistakes, knowing you're a fill in. That is, if they EVEN NOTICE.

If you are THAT uncomfortable about it, then no sweat respectfully declining. If you do it, we want updates :laugh:
 
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#24
HolmeBass said:
I would pass unless I had absolutely nothing going on. Or they were paying me some money.

The situation is tricky. Does everyone, especially the boss, know you’ve been invited to sub? Will you be going whether or not you are playing? If the answer to both of those is “yes” it might be better to just do it rather then spending the whole party explaining why you chickened out.
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This is exactly the scenario. We will be going anyway.
 
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#25
buldog5151bass said:
It could go great, but if it doesn't, how bad will your wife be hurt at work? Let her make the call.
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#26
Nope. Not even close.

I would do it. But I've been doing fill-in gigs for a couple decades. I know 500 songs and can fake 500 more.

But I wouldn't take a jazz gig last minute because I don't know enough jazz.

I wouldn't take a metal gig because I don't know enough metal. (Unless I got a set list weeks out.)


You are going into a situation where you .... in your own words..... don't have the tools for the job. If you take your rig, some weirdo on a microphone WILL say "Come on man! Just play! It'll be fine!". About the time you get up there he'll call five songs in a row you don't k ow at all and you'll look silly. Non musicians won't understand why the other two cam play all night and you can't. They don't understand you have to actually know the songs.

No way. No how.
 
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#28
baddarryl said:
My wife’s boss is having his annual party and the regular band’s bassist can’t make it (a trio with no drums (I think)). Through a serious of obscure events they have asked me to sit in. There is no set list and though say they’ll try to find common ground the singer generally decides why to play on the fly.

Now I am in the mediocre bassist club and am certainly no gigging pro with 300 covers under my belt. That being said I can play and know quite a few. My weakness is improv and “jamming” though. I have only played a few live gigs and am considering this as a huge learning experience among friends. Reminds me of an open mic I did once where I played 3 songs I didn’t know. Oh yeah, I have never played with these dudes before and only am vaguely aware of the material they play. They said I can just play as much or as little as I want. Train wreck or possible Gold Star memories? Lol!
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Make sure they all have plenty to drink, then it'll be ok...

Seriously, if you're not used to playing on the fly, it can be quite a daunting task. If it's real casual it might be ok.
I would ask for some kind of a list before the gig to at least familiarize yourself mostly with what will be played.

When I'm freelancing I always ask for a list with keys. I know a thousand songs but I may not know the 40 they are going to whip on me.
 
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#34
baddarryl said:
My wife’s boss is having his annual party and the regular band’s bassist can’t make it (a trio with no drums (I think)). Through a serious of obscure events they have asked me to sit in. There is no set list and though say they’ll try to find common ground the singer generally decides why to play on the fly.

Now I am in the mediocre bassist club and am certainly no gigging pro with 300 covers under my belt. That being said I can play and know quite a few. My weakness is improv and “jamming” though. I have only played a few live gigs and am considering this as a huge learning experience among friends. Reminds me of an open mic I did once where I played 3 songs I didn’t know. Oh yeah, I have never played with these dudes before and only am vaguely aware of the material they play. They said I can just play as much or as little as I want. Train wreck or possible Gold Star memories? Lol!
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No set list, no dice. Especially if you're not big on improv, this is just setting you up to fail. Not that I haven't done it myself, but at least I knew the drummer pretty well.:D
 
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#38
baddarryl said:
My wife’s boss is having his annual party and the regular band’s bassist can’t make it (a trio with no drums (I think)). Through a serious of obscure events they have asked me to sit in. There is no set list and though say they’ll try to find common ground the singer generally decides why to play on the fly.

Now I am in the mediocre bassist club and am certainly no gigging pro with 300 covers under my belt. That being said I can play and know quite a few. My weakness is improv and “jamming” though. I have only played a few live gigs and am considering this as a huge learning experience among friends. Reminds me of an open mic I did once where I played 3 songs I didn’t know. Oh yeah, I have never played with these dudes before and only am vaguely aware of the material they play. They said I can just play as much or as little as I want. Train wreck or possible Gold Star memories? Lol!
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Who is playing the chords? What instrument? Do you have chord charts? If an instrument is playing the chords, remember, the bass have a volume knob, it works both ways. If you get over your head, turn down and play the root and the 5th of the chord.

Or not. If you don’t feel up to it, don’t. It isn’t worth the stress.
 
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#39
Been there, done that, more than once.

I'd ask for a song list with keys. Tell them if there's enough tunes you know and/or feel good about, cool.
If they won't/can't do at least that, they don't need you and it's probably gonna turn out like twofingers said, you'll look like a fool and your wife will be embarrassed. Find common ground BEFORE you put your rig on the stage!
 
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