urb Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Call me cynical, but I didn't have high expectations of this pub gig I got booked to do last night, but the last pub gig I did (that I can remember) was pretty horrible, I was with my five piece jazz funk band and we followed an pretty awful indie guitar/vocals trio, who basically brought their own audience, so as soon as we started the place was half full... the sound was also horrible, and for some reason the Jeff Berlin markbass combo I was using just didn't give me anything like the sound I wanted, which I thought it could/would. Anyhooo, last night was such a pleasant surprise in terms of general vibe and playing and even the Lambeth locals proved themselves a lovely bunch. It was pretty much the same band and the venue was a bog standard (you could smell the gents, never a nice adition to a venue ) pub, and they've only been doing live music for three weeks. There were a couple of local 'characters', one who tried to impress us with some 'pub singer' style crooning, which he was using to serenade our female drummer, and another guy in a flat cap and buck teeth who set himself up at the bar are started chucking mild insults at us as we set up... mmm, sounds familiar. But as this was an absolutely no pressure gig, which for me was great as I've been doing some quite pressured gigs of late, we just let the funk out and let rip. And as we were all so relaxed, the two horn players do all sorts of weird working gigs, from cabaret clubs, to jazz gigs, to corporate things, we all had a good blow, I think I took about 5 solos too (not my usual quota at all). And the crowd loved it, I got lots of nice comments from a couple of younger dudes wacthing who obviously don't check out much jazz related music, one was so funny at the end saying "wow man, that was sick! You werre crawling all over the bass, and everyone got to have a little go (i.e. solo)", but he genuinely enjoyed it. Someone even opened the door for me when I was carrying out some gear to the car at the end of the night. The promoter turned up an loved it, paid up no problem, the venue wants us back and even the two nutters couldn't help themseles at the end of the night and came up to shake our hands and mumble "you guys were f***ing brilliant"... you should play at Ronnie Scotts (some of us have). I've got quite cynical about the general public's perception of music and the lack of any other form of music aside from highly produced pop and rock getting any sort of attention in the mainstream media... but to play to people who just really appreciated and enjoyed what we were doing, shared our entusiasm but also gave us some respect for playing well (which I'm always grateful for) was nothing short of heartening. The place might have been a bit smelly, and had its share of slightly off the wall characters, but hey it had heart and soul and a great freindly (dare I say community) atmosphere, who'd have thought it in big bad London where some people can and are utter c***s, a very pleasant gig for all the right reasons. Anyone else had their faith in music/playing restored like this? Thanks for reading this very long post! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 (edited) There's one shithole in Soho we used to play fairly regularly. The gigs were quite fun but some of the compliments completely floored me. [i]"I saw Hendrix and Cream back in the day... and you guys are right up there with them"[/i] [i]"We have bands like you back home [/i][the Mississippi Delta and New Orleans][i]... but you guys are better"[/i]. Another moment like that was at The Jazz Café where the applause just didn't seem to stop and where the crowd and promoter insisted on not one but two encores. Can't beat the feeling of "holy sh*t - this [i]isn't[/i] actually a self-indulgent, monumental waste of time, money and energy". Edited November 28, 2009 by The Funk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urb Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 [quote name='The Funk' post='668165' date='Nov 28 2009, 12:01 PM']Can't beat the feeling of "holy sh*t - this [i]isn't[/i] actually a self-indulgent, monumental waste of time, money and energy".[/quote] LOL - thankfully I've had that a few times this year - I think my new policy of less gigs but better quality ones has worked - but it's all in the lap of the musical gods when you plug in and play - nothing is guaranteed! Nice one M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Good policy! When are you guys playing next? I popped down to see you guys once somewhere in West London a couple of years ago. Very enjoyable gig! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urb Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 [quote name='The Funk' post='668175' date='Nov 28 2009, 12:10 PM']Good policy! When are you guys playing next? I popped down to see you guys once somewhere in West London a couple of years ago. Very enjoyable gig![/quote] Not sure yet but I think it'll be sometime in Jan (maybe Dec) - I'll be sure to let you know - would be nice to actually meet you sometime... M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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