Froggy

It's been a nightmare for me, so much so that I've given up even trying to find a new band to join, let alone start one up. To be fair though, I'm only in the UK every other weekend, which makes joining an established band almost impossible. Got fed up of flakes in the end.

Sounds like my old band!

Never played anything but bass, although I did want to be a drummer when I was at school. I do recognise some chord shapes though, because they're relatable to the arpeggios I've learned on bass.

Never get nervous before I go on stage, but I do get really nervous before my exams. Just did my grade 2 and feel I screwed it up because of the nerves. Weird huh?

Not really rap, but i was excited to see Ice-T's Bodycount are performing at Download this year. I remember listening to them, and Ice-T, back in the 90s.

We don't need a Wurzels tribute down here, we have the real thing. My dad knew them very well 😂 I pulled the trigger and quit last night. The more sensible guitarist took it quite badly, but I expected that anyway. Got a singer, guitarist and drums lined up for the new project, which is basically 80s pop/rock for pub gigs. Bands down here seem to spread right across the decades, with the 80s being largely missed out other than a few def leppard or bon jovi numbers in each set, and I'm thinking something more focussed might have a good chance at getting going.

The problem is Pete, that I only have time to concentrate one one. I work away from home all week, I lose about 60 to 100 quid getting home for Tuesday night rehearsals. That said I think the best option is clear. I'm going to quit the band after rehearsal tonight and work on the new project. Now I need to learn how to promote a band and get gigs instead of the random short notice bookings I grab at the moment.

Haha I'd get rid of them like a shot if it was up to me, but the other guitarist makes all the final decisions. He doesnt feel confident enough in his own abilities to get rid of f**kwit and won't kick the egotist because he allows us to do stuff like Jump and Hold The Line.

Time to ask those with more experience than me. I've been playing in a band since last summer, but the thing is, I don't think it's going anywhere. Firstly, it's a 6 piece. F**kwit guitarist, egotistical keyboard player, intelligent and reliable guitarist, new drummer, will be a new vocalist cos we just sacked one, and myself. I feel it's far too big for the kinds of pub venues we're likely to play. It's a real squeeze getting everyone in. Gigs are all booked by myself and the more human of the guitarists, we can't trust any of the others to do any of the legwork. Secondly, we played our first gig at the beginning of July last year, and in all that time we had only 5 gigs, one of which was the keyboard player's birthday party. Plenty of promises to rebook, but nothing that materialised. We have just 3 gigs in the diary for this year, and the first of those is for the end of June. Finally I think the set list leaves a lot to be desired. We always said that we wanted to play popular rock covers, but stay away from the same old songs that every covers band plays. As a consequence of that we're playing stuff from the early 60s right up to the present day. I feel that it's too wide a demographic. I think that as a punter it would be like listening to one of those compilation albums, where you enjoy half the songs, but skip the other half. I've had an idea for a project that seems, on paper, like it should work in our area down in Somerset. The new drummer is on board with it, and will bring his guitarist son into it, and I've got a possible vocalist lined up too. With that information, would you leave the present band to pursue the new project? I don't have time for both due to work. Either way, how do you go about getting gigs? Are promoters worth it for covers bands? Videos? Demo CDs? Any and all advice gratefully received.

My amp and one of my cabs have pretty much lived in my car for the past year cos I can't be arsed to haul them up and down to my flat every week after rehearsals/gigs. No Ill effects yet.

I use my old daysack, pockets everywhere. Enough so that everything has it's own pocket. Only think in the main compartment is my multi effects board.

The "Kids React to" series of videos are quite good.

I play in a classic rock covers band, so, as others have said, 30 to 40 songs per gig that ard pretty simple to play. I won't have a stand on stage, even though I'm never without one in rehearsals. Personally I don't like them, I even told one of our guitarists that he'd be sacked when he wanted to use one. It annoys me that our singer has to have the lyrics on a tablet, but I make allowances because it's really noticeable if he forgets the words. I feel it just doesn't look like a rock band if there are music stands everywhere. That said, I can fully understand people using them when they need them, depping or function bands for example, and I'd certainly not complain if I went to see a band who were otherwise excellent but using them.

This thread is like the log that you just can't flush away. You think it's gone and it pops up again when you least expect it!

Again, thank you all for the clarifications. I seriously doubt our PA has the ability to handle everything. We are slowly upgrading everything so in the future I suspect that I'll be able to make use of the advice offered but for now I'll just have to try to get a good sound and not muddy the vocals too much.

Thanks guys, that's what I thought but never hurts to check.

Further to the connecting to the PA thread, I have a question about connecting to the desk. I usually play Bass>Effects>Amp>Cabs while the rest if the band (2 guitars and keys) go into the desk and out through the PA. We don't have subs for the PA. Is there any reason to go through the desk? What are the advantages/disadvantages? Finally, how would I achieve this? My amp had a DI out with a post/pre switch, we dont have a d3dicated soundman, and most of our gigs are pub/club venues. Thanks in advance for any help.

I agree with what's been said. It's something I wish I had worked on more at the start. As has been said it feels alien at first. I'm incorporating it more into my scales and warm up exercises hoping that it will follow naturally when I'm playing.

Sometimes it's the bass player! I've managed to pick up a groupie. Apparently she's had a thing for bass players since she was a kid and fancied the bass player in Mcfly. Im not complaining, she's almost half my age! 8)

[quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1505811064' post='3374406'] Walk This Way is another classic, had to laugh when Girls Aloud covered it! [/quote] Not just me then hahaha Out of interest, because I haven't actually heard their version, did they change any of the lyrics?

Prepare for a new addiction. I played my first one a couple of months back at 42. Now I get a buzz every time I know I have a g8g coming up.

I guess I was pretty lucky when I found my band. Found their ad on joinmyband, and I was honest upfront about my lack of gigging experience, and the fact that I was very much a beginner. I made sure to learn 4 of the songs in the week I had before meeting them at rehearsal and we took it from there. I had 6 weeks to learn 15 more songs ready for a gig, then we played another and I'm coming to the end of a second 15 songs in 6 weeks. We're getting bookings and things are going well. I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes the inexperienced new player will put in the time to practice and make sure they're ready. Maybe it's because I'm a bassist though, because all of us here know that we'll put in the time right?

I thought i was doing well with 16 in 6 weeks! Now I have to do it all over again because we need to double the set length for the next gig. I'm feeling better about it now after seeing your task! On the plus side my playing and technical ability has come on leaps and bounds since I joined the band!

I try to avoid telling my band this, especially ad we have a very critical guitarist. I do however tell them that even the pros make mistakes, and that what makes them pros is how they deal with them. It might be utter bull, but it seems to calm the guitarist a bit. This should however be taken with the caveat that we've only been together two months, and that it's my first band.

Played my second gig tonight. Weirdly I felt more nervous beforehand than I did for my very first gig. New one on me, we played a village fete, I didn't even know these things had bands on. Set went down great with the punters and the lady organising paid us an extra 50 quid and booked us to play again at the end of next month. Result! I'm still buzzing now, I just wish I had started learning to play when I was younger.