Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

How was your gig last night?


bassninja

Recommended Posts

Not really a gig, just the first band get-together for two years, and it went rather well..! I've not been playing at all in that time, what with one thing and another, so it was with some trepidation that I sat behind my drums again. No, it's not quite like riding a bike, but it does come back quite enough for our rehearsals. A dozen songs from our past repertoires (deUs, Bashung, Radiohead, REM, RHCP, Noir Désir, Chris Cornell and more..) Altogether two hours; we'll do another session next week. Tired, now, but it's worth it. B|

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Terrible gig last weekend: I was recovering from actual-not-man-flu and had not picked up the bass, or in fact left the house,  in 5 days. Got to watch my son's band first who were brilliant, and he's already a better bass player than me so proud father :) . Then a quick break and we're on, for a 90 minute set - when in fact standing without a bass for 90 minutes would have been a major challenge. As usual, we played at battle tempo, and I badly cramped my left forearm and then hand after about 30 minutes. Luckily we had a break and one of the bar staff had asked to play for a couple of songs, and I was grateful for the chance to recover. Hand and arm now back at full power, we belted out another five and I was really enjoying myself - when up comes the barman to ask us to stop mid-song! Noise complaint...? No - one of the staff had had a stroke!!! Cue a very fast tear down of the PA and kit as paramedics arrived and the pub cleared. Thankfully we found out a few days later that the patient had been discharged, and in fact we're going back there next month, when I'm hoping history will not repeat itself...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That reminds me of a few years ago at a pub gig in Crediton. We were well into the first set and became aware of blue flashing lights outside. Paramedics rushed in and went downstairs (where a punter had had a heart attack)  just as our singer got to the line 'Doctor, doctor give me the news, got a bad case of loving you'! 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, sonsman said:

That reminds me of a few years ago at a pub gig in Crediton. We were well into the first set and became aware of blue flashing lights outside. Paramedics rushed in and went downstairs (where a punter had had a heart attack)  just as our singer got to the line 'Doctor, doctor give me the news, got a bad case of loving you'! 

Now THAT is timing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, sonsman said:

That reminds me of a few years ago at a pub gig in Crediton. We were well into the first set and became aware of blue flashing lights outside. Paramedics rushed in and went downstairs (where a punter had had a heart attack)  just as our singer got to the line 'Doctor, doctor give me the news, got a bad case of loving you'! 

Blimey. Lucky it wasn't that Queen song... 😎

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First gig of 2018. We shlepped down to Birmingham for an 'originals only' night at a folk-club. I wasn't too hopeful. The usual mix of singer-songwriters, us and one other band (who most of the audience seemed to be there for). The promoter then swapped the running order so we had to headline to a crowd who had literally no idea what we sounded like and by the time we went on (very late and with no soundcheck) I was practically asleep. Despite all of this (and some awful level and feedback problems during the first two songs), we totally slayed and the crowd loved it. One of the loudest and most enthusiastic responses we've ever had. Apparently we totally rock. I just wish they could have heard us bring our A game. I'm starting to think that this type of audience - older, folkies - might be worth targeting. I'd assumed the thrash metal aspect of what we do wold be off-putting but apparently if you do it on a cajon and a violin, it's fine! 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another really good one under adverse circumstances. Mixed bill again and quite a rowdy audience. Everyone is watching my fingers during this intro on account of there not being any monitors. An older folkie couple came up and chatted afterwards, saying they'd seen us a few times and made the trip especially. Looks like my hunch about our target audience might be correct.

 

27913155_1655712941134283_5906527087188278991_o.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, radiophonic said:

Another really good one under adverse circumstances. Mixed bill again and quite a rowdy audience. Everyone is watching my fingers during this intro on account of there not being any monitors. An older folkie couple came up and chatted afterwards, saying they'd seen us a few times and made the trip especially. Looks like my hunch about our target audience might be correct.

 

27913155_1655712941134283_5906527087188278991_o.jpg

Nice pic!

Blue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First gig depping with a R&B this afternoon, whilst their regular bass player recovers from some serious medical treatment. 

It went pretty well - obviously no rehearsal (first time I met the guys was at the soundcheck) but we got through everything, with one slight issue that they play Black Magic Woman in a different key to what I was expecting. Good drummer, all great guys and overall really good fun. Roll on the next gig in a week's time. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, radiophonic said:

Wish I could stand still whilst playing! I've never been cool.

Being unable to stand still while playing is a good sign, because that's how the audience should feel too (unless they decide you look desperate for a pee and all crowd into the loos instead!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, FinnDave said:

Being unable to stand still while playing is a good sign, because that's how the audience should feel too (unless they decide you look desperate for a pee and all crowd into the loos instead!)

Coincidentally, I was in fact desperate for a pee. If you look at the b/w photo earlier in the thread, you will see that someone had thoughtfully blockaded the door to the Gents with a table! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had two gigs this weekend - at the first in a smart town centre cocktail bar ( £5.40 a pint ffs) our percussionist turned up despite having had the flu all week - looked like crap on the night. We did about eight numbers when 16 bars into 'Heat Wave' the drummer stopped - I turned round and saw that the percussionist had fallen over and was lying on his back, unconscious. We stopped and pulled out the gear around him, our singer is a nurse and another nurse and a consultant oncologist from the hospital joined her sorting him out. Like the rest of us, he's no spring chicken so it was all very worrying. 

One of the nurses called an ambulance and they showed up after about half an hour which at nutter time on Friday was not bad. He was taken to A and E and we abandoned the gig ( the manager paid us half the money which we didn't expect). A couple of the guys stayed at the hospital until he was out of the woods. He's making a good recovery and should be back with us in a week or so. The lad that stayed half the night was still running on adrenalin the next night and we had a cracking gig  with a heaving dance floor. 

On 09/02/2018 at 16:18, sonsman said:

That reminds me of a few years ago at a pub gig in Crediton. We were well into the first set and became aware of blue flashing lights outside. Paramedics rushed in and went downstairs (where a punter had had a heart attack)  just as our singer got to the line 'Doctor, doctor give me the news, got a bad case of loving you'!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did three gigs this weekend (handing our regular Sunday jam night over to friends for the night).

The first gig was a rock night at a club in Ashton-in-Makerfield where we went down a storm with the crowd, which was slightly depleted, due to a load of them apparently going to watch Livewire in St Helens. We were asked to keep it down slightly to stop the mad woman from next door but three turning up in her nightie again and doing her fruit about the noise. No mad woman and our regular drummer was unwell, so we got a stand-in  that we have had play with us for a while last year and it was a fairly solid showing. The crowd loved us, but when I went back to the venue today for a re-booking, their diary is full for the rest of the year, but we are good for next year...

The second gig was a pub near Rochdale. After securing some quite difficult parking outside to unload, we carted our gear down a long narrow room down to a quite narrow but deep stage area, with a wall in front of us up to our waists. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the amount of room we had to set up in at first, but it sounded surprisingly good in that small boxy area. The crowd were into it, though we had to stop for the boxing. Our regular drummer had shaken off his lurgy and we played well.

28166578_1965636400117390_69019084530523

Last night (Sunday) we took a night off from our regular jam night and played at the Talbot in Burnley. Sundays there are usually 6 til 9 and you do three sets, rather than our usual two. Some friends turned up to watch us and the gig turned out to seem to be effortless to play and we got a lot of compliments afterwards. This video is from the gig..

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, early in the New Year I decided that 'if you do what you always do. you get what you always get', so instead of scouring sites for bands looking for a Bass, I'd tell the world I was available  ( for the stuff I want to do). I placed an ad as 'Bassiest' (which tickled me), and listed my faves. Got about 5 replies over a couple of weeks, the first response was a band called The Bad Cowboys from Glastonbury. They sent me 7 songs, I learned them and went to audition. They have gone out and write as a duo, but were putting a band together and were looking for a Bass. I was successful and It is my first originals band, 2 acoustic guitars, fiddle, cahon and bass.

I'd had 2 unhappy gigs with the Soul Band in January and decided I'd put them out of their misery by leaving (keys left in the summer, then the drummer, so we got by with deps.) as I just thought the standard was not good. Sax player said 'there are worse bands out there' but it seemed a good time to go....

Anyway 2 rehearsals with Bad Cowboys  we were ready to gig on Friday night gone at the City Arms, Wells which was fun:

 

Edited by yorks5stringer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Played a new venue in Corby last night - St Jame/Breakers bar. Huge venue on an industrial estate - two large pool rooms, snug and bar area with a stage/dancefloor one end. Good crowd though the format means they are seated stage left and in front of you you have 8 pool tables with players playing all evening.

Large screen sky sports going as well. We're a loud funky soul band so that's not an issue and from the get go we had them up and dancing in the dance floor in front of us. What was significant was the green room/dressing room!! - The owners clearly haven't read the manual about band facilities i.e if they really insist - stick em in the meter cupboard and they can change in the gents - standing on one leg trying to keep your stage gear out of the fosters on the floor.

No this was deeelooouxe - easy chairs, practice amps, sky tv, fridge full of softs and beer - optics on  the wall with Vodka, Jaegermeister and Jack Daniels. Had we not been driving we would have given that lot a bit of damage!!

Anyway - we had a good night despite the snow - happy crowd, happy bar manager, happy band.

 

28575693_1989154154744498_7953006407786582985_n.jpg

28577046_1989154158077831_9176868519208382928_n.jpg

Edited by dontregartha
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We didn't have a gig last night but we did have an open rehearsal. This is in a larger space which we can use to set up our PA system in. We ask people along for feedback on new songs. Unfortunately an hour before hand our singer decided to slip a disk in her back ...

So up I stepped, up the guitarist stepped, up random audience members stepped.... it was great!

Only issue was, our audience consisted of 6 people and two pool tables.  

 

And there were club matches being held on the pool tables at the time. 

 

But hey, I put my new GB streamliner through its paces. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/4/2018 at 11:55, dontregartha said:

Played a new venue in Corby last night - St Jame/Breakers bar. Huge venue on an industrial estate - two large pool rooms, snug and bar area with a stage/dancefloor one end. Good crowd though the format means they are seated stage left and in front of you you have 8 pool tables w toith players playing all evening.

Large screen sky sports going as well. We're a loud funky soul band so that's not an issue and from the get go we had them up and dancing in the dance floor in front of us. What was significant was the green room/dressing room!! - The owners clearly haven't read the manual about band facilities i.e if they really insist - stick em in the meter cupboard and they can change in the gents - standing on one leg trying to keep your stage gear out of the fosters on the floor.

No this was deeelooouxe - easy chairs, practice amps, sky tv, fridge full of softs and beer - optics on  the wall with Vodka, Jaegermeister and Jack Daniels. Had we not been driving we would have given that lot a bit of damage!!

Anyway - we had a good night despite the snow - happy crowd, happy bar manager, happy band.

 

28575693_1989154154744498_7953006407786582985_n.jpg

28577046_1989154158077831_9176868519208382928_n.jpg

My opinion, it's difficult for most local level bands to compete with;

1. A main bar that's in a separate room from where the band is playing or even a bar in the same room but considerable far away from the the band.

2. The clientele is not necessarily there to hear a live band.

3. Very active series of pool.

4. Major sporting events on loud wide screens.

 

Those are just a few, there are many others.

In my area not many bar owners put much thought into the logistics of live music. Don't get me wrong, few places are great and know what they're doing.

Blue

Edited by Bluewine
Link to comment
Share on other sites

New venue last night. None of us had ever been before so didn't know what to expect. Turns out the owner insists on filming 30 seconds of your sound check, then puts it on Facebook to advertise that evening's entertainment. A little risky I'd say😂

Anyway,  smashed it and went down a storm to the point where we think he's now cancelled someone else's gig and given the date to us. Not very nice for the other band but we'd be daft to say no. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our first gig for a few weeks last night, it went well right from the start , the sound check got a round of applause so we dived  straight in . 

We blooded 3 new tunes all went down well, so a good night. A busy March for us as the next 4 weekends are all booked 👍

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

First Wirebirds gig since November last night, so a little bit rusty, but as soon as we started, it just came naturally. Ended after three (I think - I lost count!) encores and were packing away to calls of 'one more...one more'.

Landlord and agent happy, band happy, and that's what it's all about, really.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Played a great gig at scruffy murphys in Birmingham last night, we seemed to go down well despite not being too well known outside of Coventry, great atmosphere and sound and I had a blast, bloody warm though...

29101901_1469211103188332_76794387883842

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...