Gig Reports - How did your gig go?

[Ross Brown]

People need time for their ears to recover, talk, etc. If that is the only criticsm you got.... you are doing just fine.

 

Our breaks were 30 minutes... too long I think. 20 minutes is good for me.

[jeremy c]

It was a first for me.....I played a sold-out show on Saturday. People were turned away at the door, but they wouldn't leave and somehow crammed into the place anyway.

 

It was a Hanukah show with four different kinds of Jewish music....

a large folk choir, a Ladino singer, a Klezmer band, and the band I was in playing Israeli folk dances. Our set ended up with musicians from the other bands joining us on stage.

Great fun was had by all and the latkes were great too.

 

glossary:

Ladino....a cross between Spanish and Hebrew...and a kind of music created by Jews of Spanish descent.

Klezmer....Yiddish word for traveling musician..now used to describe a type of music which comes from Eastern Europe, where Jews spoke the Yiddish language, which is a cross between Hebrew and German.

Latkes...potato pancakes eaten on the Jewish holiday of Hanukah. This holiday celebrates a victory in a war against the Syrians and the Miracle of the Oil, which is why we eat these pancakes fried in oil.

 

Both Ladino and Yiddish are dying languages and it is great to hear people keeping traditions alive.

[Richard W]

I don't think Yiddish is a dying language. There are a ton of books about it, and current ones, and I think it's still very common in heavily Jewish neighborhoods in cities like NYC and Philly.

 

I'm not Jewish, but live in a heavily Jewish area outside of Philly and it's not uncommon to hear Yiddish words being used--and by that I mean inserted into English conversations. If you want to read a great book, pick up The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten. It's a lot of fun, and you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate.

 

Sorry to hijack this thread--we now return to our regular topic: gig reports.

[Wally Malone]

One major reason a club owner would not like too short of a break is that is when they sell drinks. If patrons spend all of their time on the dance floor they are not drinking.

 

Wally

[Phil W]

The gig on the 2nd was a blast. Instead of the 100 we expected though only 30 showed up because of ice and snow. But they were a warm and appreciative crowd. One of my favourite musicians Matt Stevens played a solo guitar set and we followed with my new jazz trio - joining up with Matt for a jam at the end.

 

You can hear our whole set (warts and all here)

 

http://furnituremusic.tumblr.com/post/2153156445/live-at-the-miller-audio

 

 

[b5pilot]

Gig report, Sat., Dec. 11. (CAUTION) bit of a rant here.

 

Man we should either rename this band Murphy's law or the brokedowns. The night started out for me getting to the bar on time for set up and the drummer running to the car to inform me that our equipment van has broken down.

 

Now, GP got this van because the other van he had was breaking down and actually cost us due to cancellations. Sheesh! The last thing we need is to cancel again especially since I've been working on getting us into their regular rotation. So I drop off the stuff I had in my car and we drove our cars over to the guitard's house. We took everything we could load into our cars and hustled to the bar. Fortunately he lives close to the bar we are playing at. The setup went fast and we started playing about 15 minutes late.

 

The rest of the night went well. Had a pretty good house attendance. Unfortunately we basically played for free because we ended up giving the money to the guitar player to get his P.O.S. van fixed. He's broke and we need the van for next Fridays gig. It damn well better get fixed! We made arrangements with the bar to pick up the stuff Sunday morning.

[57pbass]

We played at Foxwoods Casino this past weekend Friday and Saturday night..... the place is always crowded and the dance floor was crowded.

They have a great sound man and a great sound system....

I used my Eden WT 550 with 2 Bag End S 15D cabs and my Nash P Bass

 

Fun weekend....

[Eric VB]

Fun weekend here, too.

 

A double-header with a new band, Snake Oil. Played mostly classic rock and a few modern rock tracks. Got to get the Led out with "The Ocean" and "Dazed and Confused". Sang a few, too. Oh, and I played skinny strings (acoustic) on "Eleanor Rigby".

[Cthulhu Fhtagn]

Played the local VFW last Friday night. Fourth time with the new key, first time live.

 

We weren't as tight as I would have liked (that comes with time). Because this keys is so damned good, our set list kinda go blowed up. There is so much stuff we've wanted to do but couldn't and this guy can get us there. Steppenwolf, Robbin Ford, Ides of March, Iron Butterfly (the radio version, the album version ain't happening with our drummer!) Procal Harum, a lot more blues stuff. As the youngest member of the band (yeah, I know, scary!), the keys, the lead guitar and the singer were calling out stuff I was vaguely familiar with and had not intrinsic understading the progressions. Spent some time finding the root/fifth and living there.

 

Great crowd. The old Nam-Korean vets were pounding down beers and diggin' on the old sixties stuff, the blues, and old school country (we keep about 10 in our pocket - just in case). A younger crowd was there for a 30th b-day. I was setting the PA earlier that afternoon and spent some time with some younger gentlemen (about my son's age) who were putting up decorations. Apparently, Iraq and Afganistan have created a large influx of marines and soldiers that have given the cranky old VWF a refreshing shot of youth. Being retired military myself, we spent a lot of time trading stories.

 

Those kids are great and I don't envy them a bit. Some of the stories brought a tear to this ol' vets eye. I know it's an "all volunteer" force, I know there are a lot of opinions on why and how Iraq and Afaganistan happened and that's not the reason for this. There are just some things an 18 to 23 year old kid shouln't have to be subjected to, or witness, or be compelled to do, whether it's in Kabul, Kuwait or Compton.

 

There was a lot of whoopin', hollerin' (in a good way) and that dance floor stayed packed. Best place I've played yet. Everyone was well behaved and there was no horizontal projectile vomiting. Lot of good reviews from the crowd, a lot of requests which we may have to work into the set list and an inviation for a set gig once a month. It doesn't pay much, but hell, we need to work on our stagecraft, it's a friedly crowd and I'm looking at it as a paid practice session.

 

There. I ended that on a positive note.

[Richard W]

SufferNoFools--did you notice a difference in musical tastes between the Nam/Korea vets vs. the Iraq/Afghanistan vets? I would imagine those to demographics--broadly speaking--would be into very different types of music, but maybe I'm wrong.

[b5pilot]

Gig report: Friday, Dec. 17. (caution, this could get long)

 

Played this Bar/bowling alley in Mount Clemens. The drummer and guitar player went early to set up the equipment so all I had to do was set my stuff up. Sweet!

 

Those two then showed up right at starting time, 9:00, +/- 5 minutes. We finally started playing about 15 minutes late. Not a good start.

 

Then things went downhill from there. Over where the bowling lanes are they were blaring music from a radio or juke box during our sets. It was so loud you could hear it almost over our music. Pretty distracting. We asked to either turn it down or off completely during our sets. For some reason they wouldn't or couldn't do it.

 

The bar portion was dead. So dead we were wondering why we were there in the first place. Being that dead management wanted to send us home early and pay us - at a cut rate. That didn't sit well with the guitar player/ band leader who then proceeded to argue with the mamager. We were there at a set rate and he wasn't taking less. Send us home early, fine, but pay us the rate agreed on. Or we stay. Either way he wasn't taking less. I can't say I didn't agree with him. Of course this then broke down into a discussion between the two about a bands role of being solely there for entertainment or as a source of supplying people for the bar.

 

So anyway, we finished the night, playing to tables, chairs, and the few people who were there. And those bowlers that could hear us. Later they did talk again and I think they smoothed things over. Summer gigs here are pretty good so I'd hate to lose the bar if just for that. We are scheduled to play there again Jan. 14 so if we are cancelled I'll have my answer. Then again, if we do I do hope things go better.

 

Been a crappy couple of weeks gig-wise.

 

 

[Cthulhu Fhtagn]

Yes, a decided difference. Nam/Korea was more into our old school country (Cash, Jennings, Nelson, Jones, Arnold) and some of our classic sets (Buffalo Springield, Elmore James, Doobies, Allmans, Dead).

 

I'm sure they (the post Desert Storm crowd) would have rather heard stuff we don't cover (Shinedown, Jet, RATM) but since it was an 80's theme b-day, we covered some Tutone, Kihn, the Mechanics, stuff from that era. They did seem to enjoy the faster "dance blues" that we were covering (Love You So Much - Moby Grape, Baby, What You Want Me to Do - Clapton version, but I funk up the bassline with a rip off from Outside Woman Blues, older Allman stuff.

 

Y'know, mostly, it was just a bunch of people who really enjoyed each other's company having a great time. Even the louder, faster stuff didn't drive the old folks home.

[jlrush]

We played last Sunday at a benefit for a local lady singer, Joyce, who has fallen on hard times. Due to problems with her health she has lost her job, racked up astronomical medical bills, and still needs more surgeries.

Five bands played at the event and kept the house packed all day long. It turned out to be a great success, with raffles, auctions, donations. Our small corner of the community turned out in force to help out a friend in need and this will help her make ends meet for a little while.

And the music was very good too! All of the bands donated their time as well as participated in the raffles, etc. to help our cause. Other events are planned in other towns in hopes of helping out more, and if we are asked to play again we will gladly do so.

[Cthulhu Fhtagn]

Well, we didn't suck so bad that the VFW wouldn't have us back. Gig on 1/15/11. One of the local franchise rib joints (Tony Roma's) is now featuring live music. Our drummer got us in the door there the day before. They are booking the class "A" local acts - yeah, I can't figure out how he got us in there with them, but there we are.

 

We will have to see how "not suck" we are.

[Phil W]

Very good St Stephen's Day service today. Excellent band. The MD played organ and he is a great arranger/leader. The one hour rehearsal was the most efficient I have ever been in.

 

Line up was drums, bass, acoustic, guitar, piano, cello, violin, flute, trumpet and two lead singers.

 

The trumpeter sang an excellent solo too.

This guy:

http://www.daviderik.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Erik/115299325202204

 

We played some traditional carols, some modern tunes and a jazzed up 'Wenceslas'.

[Phil W]

Sounds great! Wish I could have been there!

 

It was a first for me.....I played a sold-out show on Saturday. People were turned away at the door, but they wouldn't leave and somehow crammed into the place anyway.

 

It was a Hanukah show with four different kinds of Jewish music....

a large folk choir, a Ladino singer, a Klezmer band, and the band I was in playing Israeli folk dances. Our set ended up with musicians from the other bands joining us on stage.

Great fun was had by all and the latkes were great too.

 

glossary:

Ladino....a cross between Spanish and Hebrew...and a kind of music created by Jews of Spanish descent.

Klezmer....Yiddish word for traveling musician..now used to describe a type of music which comes from Eastern Europe, where Jews spoke the Yiddish language, which is a cross between Hebrew and German.

Latkes...potato pancakes eaten on the Jewish holiday of Hanukah. This holiday celebrates a victory in a war against the Syrians and the Miracle of the Oil, which is why we eat these pancakes fried in oil.

 

Both Ladino and Yiddish are dying languages and it is great to hear people keeping traditions alive.

[Russkull]

This is a busy time of year for church events and I'm playing a lot right now. That is, when I am actually able to be heard...

 

Set up for our Christmas Eve service with very little practice time, quickly ran through the songs and got off stage. Went back on, service started, and NO SOUND coming out of my bass.

 

We go direct and use monitors, so I look at the sound guy several times to see if he forgot to turn me up. Since we're all volunteers it happens sometimes. He's as flustered as I am, messing with the board but nothings happening.

 

Our lead guitarist, who is an awesome player, immediately notices and switches to playing more full chords and hitting the bass notes, but obviously it's not the same. I try to discretely check everything, but I can see the signal in my preamp when I play so it's got to be something with the house.

 

3 songs go on this way and then a break and I start pulling wires, unplugging and replugging everything. Suddenly I have signal, just in time for the last song. Think it may have been a loose XLR going into the DI.

 

Only one person in the church notices (or at least, only one told me) but he says "Your playing was the best tonight - I was only listening to the bass." He's my friend and was joking, but still....ugh....

[Phil W]

New Years Eve (I'd never spent it in a church before but we played a service and it was great!) Had a little party for the worship team before an hours rehearsal then playing the service 23.15 - 00.15ish. Great band (3 singers, guitar, piano, bass, drums: great drummer - first time we'd played together. Everything really swung - especially the hymn based on Auld Lang Syne.

Played a couple of more traditional numbers and, for pretty much the first time, felt able to improvise on and embellish the written classical lines and enhance them. Really chuffed to be able to make that work. Like any style of music, you have to immerse yourself in it to speak the language.

[jcadmus]

Things went great last night -- packed house. We had two younger guys in the band and two older ones, so the crowd was a nice mix of older folks and tatted-up youngsters.

 

Four piece -- drums, bass, electric guitar and acoustic guitar, w/vox.

 

Everyone had a great time, but never got out of hand. The crowd was digging us.

 

We played a bizarre mix of stuff -- from Guns and Roses to the Stones to Roger Miller, and the people seemed to really like all of it.

[jeremy c]

Pretty nice New Year's gig.

It was a jazz trio and we played mostly background while the guests worked themselves through eight courses of dinner.

We even got three courses ourselves.

 

The restaurant has three Michelin stars. The food was "to die for."

 

The downside was that they didn't really give us any place to set up. I sat on my cube amp next to the pianist. The drummer brought a snare drum and was actually in the next room (on the other side of an archway and I don't think anyone ever heard him.

 

They loved us and we made hella good money. If you look down below, you will see the guests paid somewhere in the range of $850 per couple. Some paid more than that: there were "extras" on the menu.

 

New Years Eve Celebration

December 31, 2010

The Restaurant at Meadowood Resort, St. Helena, California

 

Reception 7:008:00 pm with champagne

and caviar

Dinner 8:00 pmmidnight

 

MENU

Potato Parfait

Osetra Caviar, Watercress, Oyster

Flowering Broccoli

Scrambled Egg Agnolotti, White Truffle, Bottarga

Lightly Smoked Ocean Trout

Sorrels, Kohlrabi, Trout Roe

Duck Roasted in Meadowood Pine

Winter Fruits, Foie Gras

Slow Cooked Beef Strip Loin

Parsnip, Matsutake, Black Truffle

Goat Cheese Marbre

Figs, Bitter Greens

White Chocolate Ganache

Passion Fruit, Carmelized Banana

 

ENTERTAINMENT

Live Music

New Years Balloon Drop

Midnight Celebration (Countdown)

 

ATTIRE

Black Tie with accents of red

 

Dinner $295 per person, with wines paired $425

[jlrush]

This NYE gig marked one year to the day that I've been with my current band. We played at the same place we played last year and it went really well. I'm singing about a half dozen songs now and will be working in that many more soon.

Good things are happening all the time with this band.

[b5pilot]

Played a little bar on Harsen's Island New Years Eve. Thankfully no drama, no breakdowns and no equipment malfunctions like the last couple of gigs. Everybody had a good time. It was a very nice night.

[picker]

This NYE gig marked one year to the day that I've been with my current band. We played at the same place we played last year and it went really well. I'm singing about a half dozen songs now and will be working in that many more soon.

Good things are happening all the time with this band.

 

So cool, man. Glad it's going well for you.

[jlrush]

So cool, man. Glad it's going well for you.

Thanks picker!

[SteveC]

I made $250 for 2 sets in a blizzard for about 75 people.

[jlrush]

I made $250 for 2 sets in a blizzard for about 75 people.

I'd say you earned your money there Steve!

[Mark Schmieder]

Worst gig of my life, but I already wrote about it in the Keyboard forum (which I visited first tonight). I played bass at the gig though, not keyboards.

 

We backed various people who came up to the stage. I won't say anything beyond that as this is a publicly searchable forum. :-)

 

Bottom line is the crowd had a good time and we god paid. :-)

 

It seems unfair that my brand-new Squier Jaguar Bass had to be tainted by this virgin live experience. I promised her I'd make it up later. :-)

[SteveC]

I made $250 for 2 sets in a blizzard for about 75 people.

I'd say you earned your money there Steve!

 

It ended up being an OK gig. Load out happened during a calm in the storm so we hustled and got home.

[Chad Thorne]

We played at the NYE celebration that the town of Gorham, Maine puts on. Second year doing this. Played in a gym, with attendant sublime gymnasium acoustics. Gym was about 1/2 mile from downtown so we only had about 25 people max all evening. Played 8-10, home by midnight, $150.

One nice thing: Last year a little Iraqi girl who'd been shot in the head in the war was brought to Maine where James Wilson, M.D., repaired her injury gratis. (Dr. Wilson repaired my ruptured disc some years ago. Awesome guy.) She and her foster mother were at the gig and she seemed to really enjoy the music. Duane gave her a t-shirt; I guess she's due to go home soon. That was a nice moment.

[butcherNburn]

If only it was this good

[video:youtube]