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Would you take this gig?
- Thread starter baddarryl
- Start date
He probably still is thinking about it. Your post has value please don't succumb the trolls.
This is simply not true. Sure, today I can laugh at some of the bad gigs 20 years ago. But they were horrible nights. And the only thing I got out of them were stories 20 years later. I would rather not have the stories to tell.
Except NONE of the advantages afforded you are available to the OP, nor has he any experience in this area.
This isn't a " get your feet wet, it's all good" situation.
Trolls don't bother me too much. But I do have a few things to do today and reading seven pages of responses to a question that was just asked yesterday wasn't on that list
For the record, I agree with Two Fingers here. Not everything is a needed learning experience. Sometimes you can use good old common sense for the win. We don't have to learn everything the hard way.
My two cents.
I have a simple rule: Never enter in a stage to be seen as a stupid. A musician must take care of his reputation.
Of course you can learn with any experience but, honestly, you don't have to put your hand on the fire to discover that your hand will burn if you do that.
I've played countless small gigs with no drummer at all and it was never a problem. In fact it made me play better since all the timekeeping was my sole responsibility.
I can rehearse without a setlist. I can jam with friends without a setlist. However, I won't take a gig without a setlist. I like to be prepared and the prospect of been seen as an idiot on stage isn't one that I desire for myself.
I have a simple rule: Never enter in a stage to be seen as a stupid. A musician must take care of his reputation.
Of course you can learn with any experience but, honestly, you don't have to put your hand on the fire to discover that your hand will burn if you do that.
I've played countless small gigs with no drummer at all and it was never a problem. In fact it made me play better since all the timekeeping was my sole responsibility.
I can rehearse without a setlist. I can jam with friends without a setlist. However, I won't take a gig without a setlist. I like to be prepared and the prospect of been seen as an idiot on stage isn't one that I desire for myself.
Bring sand blocks, maracas, tambourines, rumba shakers, castanets, a few harmonicas and a tuba so all the party guests can join in. Let’s get this party rocking! If you have a bass drum, bring that too and give everyone a turn.
Where is this party? I want to come. (I have a nut allergy so no nuts.)
Where is this party? I want to come. (I have a nut allergy so no nuts.)
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Welcome aboard, I’m mediocre as well.
I’d take the gig being that they are clearly chilled out about the level of playing. Sit in, do your best and relax. They set the situation as a no pressure event, then just think of it as an open jam of sorts. Maybe no golden memories but probably a fun event.
I’d take the gig being that they are clearly chilled out about the level of playing. Sit in, do your best and relax. They set the situation as a no pressure event, then just think of it as an open jam of sorts. Maybe no golden memories but probably a fun event.
So the singer can’t even furnish a list of songs that she might choose from? She’s just going to call the tine and you are expected to know it? Sounds very loose and amateurish to me. I won’t take a gig unless I have a pretty good idea of what’s going to happen on that stage. It could be spontaneous and it could be fun, or it could be a train wreck.
Just bring a really loud amp and a couple of fuzz pedals and you should be able to dominate.
OP, I don't understand what your first sentence means, "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)). So there's a band that regularly plays the annual party? Why do they regularly play the annual party? Who hires this band, or offers to let them play? Sounds to me like the party would be way better off with a free D.J. that will spin records (as it were) for drinks. The trouble with office parties is that suggesting such things can cause drama.
It sounds to me like about fifteen minutes into the party they're going to wish they had hired another band. One that takes more pride in what they play. Personally, I don't buy the idea of a "jam band". I don't understand what the allure or benefit of performing with people who "play on the fly" would be. Or, having to listen to them.
Note: I am not a fan of office parties. I actually hate office parties. Every time I went with my wife to a Pacific Bell office party, her boss who wasn't bad looking would get smashed and hit on me. Her bosses boss would get smashed and hit on my wife. A woman who befriended my wife at work and who definitely wasn't bad looking would hit on me, too. She and her husband invited us to stay overnight at their vineyard in Sonoma County, California, and there this woman also hit on me. That time, I got smashed.
How are you going keep your eye on your wife to protect her from all the #$%$# that goes on at such affairs if your on stage "jamming" with a band that "plays on the fly"? I think it's probably a vast conspiracy. Somebody is trying to get rid of you and distract you so they can hit on your wife.
It sounds to me like about fifteen minutes into the party they're going to wish they had hired another band. One that takes more pride in what they play. Personally, I don't buy the idea of a "jam band". I don't understand what the allure or benefit of performing with people who "play on the fly" would be. Or, having to listen to them.
Note: I am not a fan of office parties. I actually hate office parties. Every time I went with my wife to a Pacific Bell office party, her boss who wasn't bad looking would get smashed and hit on me. Her bosses boss would get smashed and hit on my wife. A woman who befriended my wife at work and who definitely wasn't bad looking would hit on me, too. She and her husband invited us to stay overnight at their vineyard in Sonoma County, California, and there this woman also hit on me. That time, I got smashed.
How are you going keep your eye on your wife to protect her from all the #$%$# that goes on at such affairs if your on stage "jamming" with a band that "plays on the fly"? I think it's probably a vast conspiracy. Somebody is trying to get rid of you and distract you so they can hit on your wife.
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No, it doesn't. But you can't know that because you weren't there. I would rather not have the little chuckle stories and had never played those gigs. They were horrible and embarrassing.
If you offered me a horrible embarrassing gig today by promising me it would make for a great story ten years from now I would still turn it down.
I don't volunteer for embarrassment unless it involves dancing with my daughters at a father daughter dance. The rest of you can suck it.
If you're cool with the risk, cool. I know literally thousands of songs and play for a living. If someone told me something as vague and frankly stupid as we play enough we can just go on the fly I'd politely remind them as a new part of "we", no "we" don't.
The really stupid part is that the person calling the song will have a comfort level, not you. I get that with some BL's... and I want to ask them if they're cool with me calling a few songs too. I know they aren't. Not even close.
The upside is that it may end up being a good experience. The downside is your wife hearing how much you sucked (even through no fault of your own) until her next job. Good luck.
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OP, I don't understand what your first sentence means, "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)). So there's a band that regularly plays the annual party? Why do they regularly play the annual party? Who hires this band, or offers to let them play? Sounds to me like the party would be way better off with a free D.J. that will spin records (as it were) for drinks. The trouble with office parties is that suggesting such things can cause drama.
It sounds to me like about fifteen minutes into the party they're going to wish they had hired another band. One that takes more pride in what they play. Personally, I don't buy the idea of a "jam band". I don't understand what the allure or benefit of performing with people who "play on the fly" would be. Or, having to listen to them.
Note: I am not a fan of office parties. I actually hate office parties. Every time I went with my wife to a Pacific Bell office party, her boss who wasn't bad looking would get smashed and hit on me. Her bosses boss would get smashed and hit on my wife. A woman who befriended my wife at work and who definitely wasn't bad looking would hit on me, too. She and her husband invited us to stay overnight at their vineyard in Sonoma County, California, and there this woman also hit on me. That time, I got smashed.
How are you going keep your eye on your wife to protect her from all the #$%$# that goes on at such affairs if you on stage "jamming" with a band that "plays on the fly"? I think it's probably a vast conspiracy. Somebody is trying to get rid of you and distract you so they can hit on your wife.
A couple bottles of Everclear in the punch bowl should alleviate any concerns about Monday morning water cooler talk about the bassist.
In a conversation we had last night (with the drummer and soundperson) we were laughing about the fact that the people we play for honestly thought that the performance process was:
1. name a song and
2.play it.
Yes, they had no idea that we might actually have to learn a song. This stuff really is magic to some folks. But when you're standing onstage with absolutely no idea what the next frickin' note should be, you get a real understanding of how much wiggle room there isn't with playing bass.
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