Gig Reports - How did your gig go?

[Russkull]

We will need to work on figuring out how to win over a crowd, and I need to rethink using amps I don't know and how to properly set them to dial in a tone which will actually cut through in a live setting.

It seems to be very difficult to get that good tone if you don't know the amp - even what sounds good to you on stage may not get through to the audience in the full mix. And there's never enough time for setup....

 

Anyway, Eddie hope your shoulder feels better!

[EddiePlaysBass]

I thought you were going to say you got back to your car and found your gear missing...

 

No worries, it's Behringer Seriously now (although it is Behringer stuff) I figured that anyone wanting to steal a 4x10 cab from a car in the middle of town, REALLY wants the gear badly :grin: Calculated risk.

 

It seems to be very difficult to get that good tone if you don't know the amp - even what sounds good to you on stage may not get through to the audience in the full mix. And there's never enough time for setup....

 

Anyway, Eddie hope your shoulder feels better!

 

Yeah but I should have taken more time to work through it. Lessons learned, I guess. A better stage mix would probably have helped my playing because as on fire as I was last gig (at the tennis club), yesterday I seemed the perfect opposite ... Still, who pays attention to the bass player, right?

 

[edit] Just saw that the bar owner signed our guest book, stating that in his 5 years of hosting live music (and organizing 3 festivals) he's seen a lot of bands, and has put us in his top 10 favorites And here I was thinking we stunk up the place :grin:

[Ross Brown]

Earlier this week I had dislocated my shoulder during workout (popping it back in was about the most painful thing I have done so far - I damn near fainted) so I really hadn't practiced a whole lot.

 

Weakling! When I coached football (real American Football) I had a player that had a shoulder that would pop out every few days after a hard tackle. He put it back in himself and came back the next day ready to play. (He was under the care of an orthopedic surgeon who knew of this routine... surgery was planned for the end of the season). I also learned that when a player had that certain look in their eye and thier arm hung low, that they had dislocated their shoulder... I would walk very slowly towards them... 90% of the time by the time I got there, they had put it back into place by themselves.... Typically these were linebackers....

 

and you couldn't practice your bass..... ha!

[Nicklab]

Had a reasonably good gig this past friday in Brooklyn. It was 4-20, and I think the hipsters were happy to get out...that is, if they weren't slouched on their couches, completely baked out of their skulls! Why would they be at 11:30 at night?

 

The gig was a lot like other NYC club dates: multiple bands on the bill, and you use the house backline. Now, we've done a couple of gigs recently where the rooms just sounded horrendous. They were essentially concrete boxes with no redeeming acoustic characteristics. Spike Hill, the venue in question, has a rather large brick wall, but otherwise the room seems to sound okay. The band before (at least according to my drummer) seemed loud. Personally, I didn't get that. But I did get that the band in question seemed to really want to be like Wilco, but the singer was lacking both the talent and charisma of Jeff Tweedy. And these chaps also had a s***-ton of gear for a 5 piece band: A singer who was playing a couple of guitars as well as a Fender Rhodes electric piano, another keyboard player, drummer, bass player & a lead guitar player. And the reason I mention that is because turnover at these showcase gigs is a big deal. Take a long time getting off-stage and you're cutting into the next band's set.

 

After these guys get offstage, we're on there like a shot. And set up far more quickly than they seem to have been. Plus, a generous streak came across me and I returned the cell phone of the bass player from the previous band. But enough of those clown-shoes.

 

I got to plug into a Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550 head paired with a 4x10 cabinet. WOW. I've used hybrid head before, so the concept isn't new to me. It's a tube preamp section that goes into a solid state power section. Lots of amp designers have been doing this for at least a couple of decades. But this head apparently has a series of 6 preamp tubes. And damn, did the tone of this amp sound HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The set went reasonably well. Barring the crappy house drum hardware, we held things together and managed to sound pretty good. Oh, and did I mention that for the whole set our lead singer was in EXCRUCIATING pain? She gutted her way through the set, but wound up in the hospital the following morning. Because of that the remainder of our weekend tour through New England got cancelled. Disappointing? Yes, but the health of one of our own was a lot more important than dates in Vermont & Boston.

[EddiePlaysBass]

Weakling! // and you couldn't practice your bass..... ha!

 

I said "didn't", not "couldn't" Popped that baby in myself, too, by the way. But I ain't no linebacker - I don't swing that way

 

And I still don't understand why you guys call it football

 

[Ross Brown]

Weakling! // and you couldn't practice your bass..... ha!

 

I said "didn't", not "couldn't" Popped that baby in myself, too, by the way. But I ain't no linebacker - I don't swing that way

 

And I still don't understand why you guys call it football

 

 

It kicks your a$$

[Danzilla]

And the reason I mention that is because turnover at these showcase gigs is a big deal. Take a long time getting off-stage and you're cutting into the next band's set.

 

After these guys get offstage, we're on there like a shot. And set up far more quickly than they seem to have been.

 

A VERY important piece of making a showcase work well, and generating some goodwill between bands. Sure, we're only a three piece, but we can get set up or off stage in 5 minutes, maybe less if we're using backline. You take the stuff ofstage before you break it down. We've had bands before us that take their sweet time breaking down & setting up. Sometimes the promotor will cut them short, sometimes they won't.

[5 string Mike]

Bump

 

My work band played at the Kalamazoo Marathon on Sunday-

 

We were set up near the hospital where the race started, on the full and half marathon courses.

 

We played Sunday AM from about 8:30 until 1 PM.

 

Overall, the gig went really well. One of the race coordinators told us afterwords that the racers really liked us, the event coordinators liked us, and we had a blast.

 

The drama side- there was some last-minute things with the staging that we got 'relocated' from our first location and wound up in the front yard of a generous neighborhood homeowner- at 10PM.

 

Of our many fans, we had one lovely lady who made it known she (well, the whole neighborhood, according to her) was very unhappy with us being there. The "whole neighborhood was &%#$*) sick of it", and proceeded to give us the double middle finger as she peeled rubber away from the stage.

 

We found out later that she stopped by the water station going on about how we had to have a permit and she was going to call the cops (unbeknownst to her they had been by about 20 times already- in cars, on bikes, on cycles, go ahead and call...)

 

Then, after we were done, we could hear she had her home stereo cranked up loud enough we could hear it- we looked at each other, and said ' ok, music to break down the equipment by- cool

 

My guess is that she was upset that she was woken up at 8:30 on a Sunday morning that she didn't care if she made a jackass of herself.

 

So now we're an official rock band, right?

 

We had a blast, and aside of out one token village idiot, we were a huge hit.

[Ross Brown]

classic....

[The Bear Jew]

You're not really a rock n' roll band until you piss someone off with your music.

[b5pilot]

You're not really a rock n' roll band until you piss someone off with your music.

 

Oooooh yeah!

[Nicklab]

Last night I played with Starnes & Shah at Arlene's Grocery in NYC. It's one of the better venues on NYC's lower east side. And the neighborhood has become quite a good scene for live music with at least half a dozen really good venues within just a few blocks.

 

We had a prime slot: 9 PM on a Saturday night. But that also meant that we ABSOLUTELY HAD TO DRAW. We had a minimum draw number that we had to hit, otherwise there could be some serious circumstances. So as a result we've been putting on a full court promotional press for the past 3 weeks to lead up to this gig. And I spent the time leading up to our set counting heads as the clock ticked 'til 9.

 

When the previous band had broken down we started getting ready. Thankfully (since this is NYC), there was a house backline. This one was a Hartke hybrid head and a pair of TC Electronic 2x10" or 2x12" cabs. It sounded alright, although in the second number the sound man actually came up onstage to pull some lows out of my signal, somewhere around 125 Hz. It wound up helping considerably, truth be told. And I was happy to see that we had a soundman who was engaged, and wanted us to sound better. That being said, it isn't my favorite house backline, but it's not that bad, either.

 

As for the set? Collectively, the band's schedules have made getting rehearsals together nigh-impossible. But we managed to get together a few days ago in order to prep for this gig. And we wound up being pretty tight! There were a couple of minor mistakes, but nothing earth-shattering. And seeing how this was our first gig after we had to cancel our New England tour a month ago due to a bandmate being injured, it was pretty good. Oh, and that crowd? Well, Arlene's isn't huge. But we managed to hit our number, and in the process we squeezed about 75 or our own people in there for last night's set. I think the room probably tops out at about 110 for occupancy, so I think we managed to do okay.

[EddiePlaysBass]

Just got back from a gig with Dusty Dollar. We were scheduled to play in the home town of one of the guitarists, so he was more nervous than usual. I had never been there previously, but it was a nice bar. Stage was wooden and built especially for the occasion. We were about 1 meter above the floor which meant we had a great look on the crowd. I really wish I'd brought along a camera (mostly for one of the waitresses :grin:)

 

First set went by okay, we had a slight imbalance in the volume department but by the second set this was fixed. Sound in the room was not super great, due to the very high ceilings but hey, it is what it is. In the second set we were joined by the 17 year old guitarist of the "other" band in which our singer and one of the guitarists play. This was unrehearsed and not planned or discussed until about an hour before the gig but IMO it went down great. We played tighter than expected :grin: Will post some audio tomorrow.

 

At the end of the last encore, I had already taken off my bass when I noticed the drummer wanted to extend the ending (on E) so I just held it in my left hand upright-style and played the open E. People thought it was part of the show :grin: While tearing down, the DJ who came after us told me he really liked my style; and how relaxed I -apparently- am on stage I guess it helped that I only slept about 3 hours last night and mentally am still living the Friday instead of Saturday

 

All in all, a nice gig!

 

[Nicklab]

Last night I played with Starnes & Shah at Arlene's Grocery in NYC. It's one of the better venues on NYC's lower east side. And the neighborhood has become quite a good scene for live music with at least half a dozen really good venues within just a few blocks.

 

We had a prime slot: 9 PM on a Saturday night. But that also meant that we ABSOLUTELY HAD TO DRAW. We had a minimum draw number that we had to hit, otherwise there could be some serious circumstances. So as a result we've been putting on a full court promotional press for the past 3 weeks to lead up to this gig. And I spent the time leading up to our set counting heads as the clock ticked 'til 9.

 

When the previous band had broken down we started getting ready. Thankfully (since this is NYC), there was a house backline. This one was a Hartke hybrid head and a pair of TC Electronic 2x10" or 2x12" cabs. It sounded alright, although in the second number the sound man actually came up onstage to pull some lows out of my signal, somewhere around 125 Hz. It wound up helping considerably, truth be told. And I was happy to see that we had a soundman who was engaged, and wanted us to sound better. That being said, it isn't my favorite house backline, but it's not that bad, either.

 

As for the set? Collectively, the band's schedules have made getting rehearsals together nigh-impossible. But we managed to get together a few days ago in order to prep for this gig. And we wound up being pretty tight! There were a couple of minor mistakes, but nothing earth-shattering. And seeing how this was our first gig after we had to cancel our New England tour a month ago due to a bandmate being injured, it was pretty good. Oh, and that crowd? Well, Arlene's isn't huge. But we managed to hit our number, and in the process we squeezed about 75 or our own people in there for last night's set. I think the room probably tops out at about 110 for occupancy, so I think we managed to do okay.

 

Post script to this gig? Apparently the booker for New York's Knitting Factory BK was in attendance. And it seems that we impressed her enough to get a gig offer on the spot. Not bad in my book!

[EddiePlaysBass]

I think we were loud last night, but here goes:

 

Dusty Dollar feat. Stef Paglia: Further On Up The Road

 

This was unrehearsed and a somewhat different arrangement because of the guest guitarist. But we had fun Opening solo is our jazz guitarist, first solo into the song (IIRC) is Stef. Rest is trade-offs.

[Eric VB]

A Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde weekend.

 

Dr. Jekyll booked a Sunday afternoon show well in advance. He sent everyone a set list including the sub drummer. One rehearsal without the drummer and it doesn't look like we'll get to have one with him. No worries; drummer is amazingly solid at shows.

 

Mr. Hyde was a text I got Tuesday afternoon. He wanted a sub for a Friday show. No problem; I had subbed for them once before. It wouldn't be difficult to brush up on their set list.

 

Then they said they wanted to change the set list because the venue wanted to accommodate the Hoedown goers with more country and rock (from an r&b/dance band). Ok. I know country and rock.

 

Can I rehearse Thursday night? It's almost midnight on Tuesday now. Sure, I can make it.

 

At rehearsal we wait around for guitarist. He's an hour late. Then I find out the guitarist is also a sub. Except he doesn't know more than maybe five songs on the set list. We spend the entire time -- hours -- playing mp3s for the guitarist to learn. Drummer drove 2 hours, lugged his kit, set it up and never played a note.

 

The band decides to play their regular set instead of inviting disaster. Fine. Guitarist says he will work from home on Friday so he can learn the songs. Sounds good.

 

Show details are discussed. Someone finally catches that this is a five hour show, not a regular four hour one like the set list is designed for. After some debate it is decided that songs will be stretched out with solos, etc. Ok.

 

Dr. Jekyll manages to get a run-through rehearsal in with the drummer on Friday. (By coincidence this is the same guy who wasted his Thursday night with Mr. Hyde.) Most time is spent tweaking beginnings and endings. For a two hour show we spend two hours rehearsing. Everything sounds great with a few minor issues that get worked out in short order. Excellent!

 

As evening arrives, so does Mr. Hyde. Drummer announces he plans on getting trashed to make it through the night. I consider joining him. This is even more tempting when we find out drinks are only $2 for band members.

 

First set is a little shakey but no train wrecks. Looks like guitarist did his homework. Only he keeps asking me what key each song is in. Hmm.

 

Mind you the only instruments are guitar, bass and drums.

 

Starting with the second set things start to deteriorate. It becomes obvious that the guitarist only worked out the first set at home. He's now playing most songs by ear. Songs he's never heard before. At every change the guitar drops out until he catches on to what I'm playing.

 

A song comes up that starts with a distinctive guitar intro. I ask if he knows it. Nope. No problem, I actually do so I play it and off we go.

 

To his credit he is exceptionally good at playing by ear. The songs without complicated structure settle in after a verse and a chorus. I'd shout out "guitar solo" and it wouldn't suck.

 

The songs were stretched. Long solos were taken. Songs were jammed. The vocalists would cue us and we'd go back into the 10th chorus or whatever. I remember at least three long drum solos taken in the middle of songs. Crowd loved it. We were playing 45 minute sets; I think one set we only played 5 songs.

 

And then we'd get to a song the guitarist really didn't know and he'd just follow my bass line with power chords. That was all fine and dandy except the guitar part was supposed to be a counter. So after a while I just let him play the bass line and I played the guitar counter with double stops.

 

Now, some songs were added to the set list at the last minute. I didn't know 'em and the guitarist sure didn't know 'em. We had no choice but to drop 'em. But would we have enough material?

 

To help things out I opened the fifth and final set with a solo performance. No, not on bass. I grabbed a guitar (asked first, of course) and stepped up to the mic. I made up some bs that the band bet me the audience wouldn't like my performance just to help win them over. It didn't totally suck; a couple people clapped. And at least the guitar part was played correctly, sounded like it was well-rehearsed and didn't drop out unexpectedly. But yeah, nothing says "desperate" like the bassist doing a solo number on guitar, right?

 

Then we suddenly started getting "requests" for songs we'd already played. The vocalists basically called up the ones that went well earlier. It wasn't overdone, though; in all there were only two repeats I think.

 

Then ... we were done. We'd made it! Mr. Hyde did his worst and we managed to walk away without any wrecked trains. On the contrary, throughout the night the crowd favorites had people dancing shoulder to shoulder. The venue staff said they liked us and they seemed to have a good night.

 

Dr. Jekyll? A bauble here and there but nothing the crowd picked up on. They loved us. In fact they want us back next year for their annual party. But next time they want to pay us more.

 

The big difference was the (lack of) preparation. Mr. Hyde was a complete stress-fest. Dr. Jekyll was relaxed and I got to enjoy the ride a whole lot more.

[EddiePlaysBass]

Sounds like two dream gigs, Eric! What a story :grin:

[Richard W]

And kudos for using the Jekyll and Hyde reference correctly. In my experience, it seems most people think Dr. Jekyll was the evil one and Mr. Hyde was the good one, when in fact the exact opposite is the case. That's a great book, by the way.

[Phil W]

Quite a week! Jubilee Sunday I played two church services with a small gap for a soundcheck at the BBC next door in between. After the second service we raced back to the BBC (the drummer and I) to play a jazz set luckily we had amps and kits set up in both places. Then we played a couple of 30 minute sets at the BBC's new media centre for a party. Standards and a jazz arrangement of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance.

Then on the Wednesday I played a jazz gig with my trio. Musically this was great, but sadly attendance was poor. British people had been out partying Friday and Saturday, the Sunday was Jubilee and people and Monday and Tuesday off work. So by Wednesday practically no-one was out. Hope we keep the residency!

Then this Sunday I played a gig with Delicatessen doing the Greek, Turkish, Spanish, Sephardic thing. Neat!

Then this Friday playing for a Scottish Ceilidh dance.

Beat that for variety.

[Richard W]

Well, completed my first gig ever singing in public. All in all, I'd say it was a success and I was happy with my performance (both on the bass and vocally), except for the occasional clam.

 

We played a bar in Stone Harbor, NJ. The bandstand was behind the bar, so it was a bit strange to be so removed from the audience. Tight space--only about 12 x 8, so we were packed in pretty tightly.

 

The bar owner didn't want us to go on until 9:30 and he wanted us to play until 1:30, which meant we had to scramble a couple of days in advance and add a bunch of songs to the set--we picked out some old stuff that we know cold, like The Beatles "Slow Down" and "American Girl" by Tom Petty.

 

If I never play "Werewolves of London" again, I'll be happy. That song is so boring.

 

Smallish crowd, I would say, but appreciative and at one point, during "Before You Accuse Me," we did manage to encourage a woman to get up on the bar and dance. That was a first for us.

 

Gig ended at 1:15am. The last set was a slog--we are a bunch of middle aged guys and not used to playing so late. Unfortunately, I had to drive home after we broke everything down--about a 90 minute drive back to Philly. That wasn't so smart--I was spaced out pretty good and was probably not the safest driver on the road. But got home safely about 3:45 and slept all day. Haven't done that since college.

[Richard W]

Well, it's just a coincidence that I'm posting consecutive stories here, but I had two gigs within four days.

 

We had our best gig ever last night. Played an event for the Philadelphia Business Journal, a weekly business newspaper published here in Philly. Several reasons it was so successful:

1) Had a really great sound man who set us up with terrific monitors and who did a great job controlling our mix and volume during the performance. Heard ourselves really well, which supported our vocal performance.

2) Played from 5pm to 8pm, and not the usual 9pm to midnight. Hey, it made a difference to our energy.

3) Second gig in four days: we knew our material really well and the band was relaxed.

 

The event sponsors were very happy, going so far as to say we "made the event." The audience was about 200+ corporate types, so we are hopeful to get some future gigs out of it.

 

All our gigs should be this successful. I know they won't be, but wish they could.

[Chad Thorne]

We played the Jazz & Blues Festival in Edmundston, NB, yesterday. The event organizers treated us like rock stars and we got a standing O at the end of our set! Good $, too.

 

Oh, and we were on TV, too. You have to toggle forward to segment #6 on this link, but there we are!

 

http://www.radio-canada.ca/audio-video/pop.shtml#urlMedia=http://www.radio-canada.ca/Medianet/2012/CBAFT/LeTelejournalAtlantique201206211659.asx

 

Oh, and everybody in Edmundston was sweet, friendly and helpful. A wonderful experience!

[Big Daddy from Motown]

I just finished a stint of playing Upright 5 nights in a row.

1 blue grass jam, 2 rehearsals and 2 gigs. By 1:00 last night I was leaning on the Bass!.

My hands feel OK though and that means a lot.

I still haven't figured out a good sounding yet portable amp.

I used a Line Six 60 watt 1-10 combo last night (realist pickup) and it sounded crappy.

The wonderful thing about playing bluegrass is everybody standing around in a circle with no amplification at all.

[Wally Malone]

My URB seems to sound best through my GK-MBE. This weekend I am going to try it with my Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 and the Accugroove Tri112L. I'm just starting back after about a two year lay off with the URB due to the time before and after my surgeries. I can only play for short periods but am working on increasing my time. It's good that your hands fell OK.

 

Wally

[EddiePlaysBass]

Just got back from a gig with Dusty Dollar. We were booked by the "Klaxon Blues Club" or something. Bunch of blues aficionado's who host a (yearly?) blues gig at whatever location they can find. This particular one was a very cool little venue. Room for about 80 people, I would guess. I think we drew about 50 (including spouses and such) which was okay, considering this is over an hour away from the nearest band member's location.

 

I'd worked way too much the past week and I was dead tired today, so I'd be lying if I said I looked forward to this gig. Still, I arrived at 6:15 PM (we were to be on at 9 PM), shook hands and set up. We sound-checked a bit, and everyone admired the new Gibson Les Paul Custom which the Jazz guitarist bought this afternoon. Bold move to take it on stage, but it sounded delightful in an aggressive way

 

Organisor said we were to go on at 9 PM sharp, and he'd do the introductions. At this time the venue was quite empty so I was looking forward to a well-paid rehearsal but around our starting time, more and more people started showing up! We started the gig with our three usual songs, then brought back an "oldie" which we hadn't played in months. By this time I was being blown away by my own bass cab (4x10 Behringer - yes, Behringer) and wondering if I was not too friggin' loud!!

 

First set came and went. It always feels so short ... We took a break and were told we'd get food! This is only the second time that we actually got food at a venue so I was pleasantly surprised by this act of generosity. During our meal, the organizer asked if we play "Stormy Monday" at all ... Blues guitarist starts laughing as he looks at me: he auditioned me for this band with, amongst others, that particular song which, almost 2 years later, I still haven't bothered to learn ... We say we'll get through it and carry on eating.

 

Second set comes by. This one's a bit louder, and with more crowd interaction. Band introductions during the last song feature a solo by each member - all the more reason for me to hate "Sweet Home Chicago". I am always glad when my 12 bars are over!! We play our now usual encore of Neil Young's "Cortez The Killer", which always goes down well.

 

Organizer climbs up on stage and we launch into Stormy Monday, in G. Jazz guitarist keeps turning his back to me, and the singer (standing at the side of the stage) keeps motioning him to turn to me. "Luckily" for me he honours his name and plays jazz chords, which shape I do not recognize. Guess which song I will finally learn tomorrow?

 

We proceed with our final encore: ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid" in a Joe Bonamassa reworking. About 30 bars from the end my right hand cramps up completely - I try the Jamerson approach first but to no avail and end up riffing with my thumb. Something I am not particularly good at.

 

Organizer climbs up on stage again and says he wants to see "the kid guitarist" come up on stage. This is the 18-year old guitarist who plays in another band along with our singer and the Blues guitarist. I had previously spotted their bass player in the crowd so walk up to him and ask if he feels like playing a few tunes. Luckily for me, he obliges and has no qualms about playing a 5-string tuned down half a step. He is a great player and it was great fun to hear my bass being played by someone else!! He complimented my rig (which consists exclusively of Behringer stuff - he plays Markbass himself) and was even kind enough to help me carry it to the car after the gig.

 

This jam (consisting of our drummer, the shared singer, our Jazz guitarist and their guitarist and bass player) lasted about 30 minutes (3 songs - loads of soloing) and went down really well. I was very happy to not be part of it, since improvising is not my strong suit and well, there's the matter of the cramps :grin:

 

All in all, I think it was a very good gig! We even sold some demo's, despite the "not for sale" warning on 'em. Hey, if people want to give money for it ... One guy started asking me where he could get one, while I was playing. Ehm yeah, I'm on stage for a reason, dude!

 

Off to bed now

[Phil W]

Amazing how despite however tired you are, a good gig always raises the energy levels David. TBH I learned more when I stopped watching the chord shapes...just listen to the roots and try to remember for the next chorus.

 

Last night we had a special service at church on the theme of depression. Incredibly moving night: we had talks from psychologists and doctors and a quite brilliant sermon. Anyway, I was playing Davo's fretted fender jazz in the band. The drummer was my friend Ian who is phenomenal. The bass and drums just knit perfectly, the song choice was excellent (more questioning to begin with, joyful at the end) and the band played a dream - 2 lead singers, acoustic and electric guitar, violin, piano/organ. The congregation sang their heads off.

One of the really great things about playing in church, apart from the massive variety of musical style, the quality of the musicians and the worship, is the experience of spending a couple of hours with charts: arranging and rehearsing stuff which we then play live and the music is just gone into the air. We probably never play that exact arrangement again, every line-up is different. I've learned a lot from it: especially about playing with an MD/conductor, reading charts and sight reading.

[EddiePlaysBass]

Amazing how despite however tired you are, a good gig always raises the energy levels David.

 

Part of the trick is, I treat a gig like it's work. In the sense that I have been hired by someone to do what I do well (enough) and get paid for it. But the whole truth is, I love this band and our repertoire so much that it just really raises my energy levels, like you say!

 

Listening back, I also really have to give thumbs up to my drummer. He and I can really "ride the train": if we decide to keep things down and easy, the guitarists WILL follow. If we pick up the pace again, so do they.

 

Ironically, the only song where I seem to have trouble picking up on the "moment" is our jam song "Cortez The Killer" where I get so deep into the "zone" that I forget to actually hear what is going on and am just grooving my arse off :grin:

 

TBH I learned more when I stopped watching the chord shapes...just listen to the roots and try to remember for the next chorus.

 

Yes. Next step in my progress

 

Last night we had a special service at church on the theme of depression.

 

Any chance of getting a recording of this?

 

D.

[Phil W]

Any chance of getting a recording of this?

 

D.

 

The service on depression. Sure.

 

http://markmeynell.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/facing-up-to-depression-so-now-it-gets-personal/

 

And the recording of the talks:

http://www.allsouls.org/Media/AllMedia.aspx

[Groove Mama]

Never EVER thought I'd be posting in this thread, but here's photographic evidence:

 

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm28/nhopp/ECB1.jpg

(Don't know why these danged pics are always so big. Tried to downsize it in Photobucket, but no dice, I guess. Sorry about that.)

 

Anyway, after hearing about my music camp experience, my friend Dave offered to let me sit in with the Empty Can Band for one song. They play "The Weight" about 25% faster than the recording, so it was pretty much all I could do to jump in and hang on for dear life, without any fancy stuff. Went pretty well, however; only one slight screw-up on my part.

 

Biggest thrill was not public performance, however, but the mere act of making a collectively good sound with other players. Guess maybe I just need to find a jam group to get my musical jollies.

[Wally Malone]

Right on Nancy!

 

Wally