the closing time thread

[mantis]

Hi Folks,

Here's an interesting idea (I hope) for an ongoing thread.

The idea here is this; to only add a post from those of you who have just gotten home from their gig.

Right now, it's 5am my time (Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada) and I've just driven home from my gig in Charlottetown PEI. A little spot called Hunter's Ale House.

It was a good gig; I happened to break in a new Traynor 40 and an extension cab with an Ash tele replete with hipshot b-bender rig. Good fun.

My other guitarist runs a Z. Clean spankin' tones all around.

We actually had guys coming up and commenting on our clean tone who weren't guitarists! Gotta love that.

High point of the evening - bonking a dude on the head with my mic because he wouldn't get off the stage. Good times.

So there you go. Any of you late nighters just wrapping up a gig? Drop er' down!

:)

[Big John]

Sweet dreams mantis ............... it's 9:14 AM here and i'm getting out of bed !

[Nick JD]

Closing time? I've just come in from outside watching the sun set and am about to cook dinner.

Good to hear your gig went well, mate.

[mantis]

Hahahah - wow! Thanks for the kind words - from sundown to sunset, heheh.

I love it here. So many guitarists from so many time zones.

Well...hope to hear some great stories. Would love to hear of the different bars, styles, gear, and so on that my fellow tele pickers could share.

:)

[mantis]

Figured I'd bump this by showing you pics of the last place I played - a nice little spot called "The Rare Bird Pub".

It's located in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada. A nice little spot off the water with some very friendly townsfolk.







Great spot...and some tasty microbrew. ;)

[mantis]

Any takers? I'd love to hear some stories. :)

[bendecaster]

I'll have to wait until Satuday around 3am. I'm doing my REAL job tonight!

[RickG501]

Guysborough, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Man they believe in painting things in those subtle earth tones, heh?

[Tim Armstrong]

I'm gigging Thursday, Friday and twice on Saturday, I'll post after at least one of those gigs!

Cheers, Tim

[woodman]

i didn't post over the weekend, but i had two VERY different closing-time experiences.

Friday, i played a hired-gun bar gig with a kid whose dad is paying old pro's good bucks to back up his 18-year-old son, who's a talented Santana-style guitarist but green as grass. they rounded up every piece of gear in the county and set up a massive PA suitable for a large hall. we were supposed to start at 10, but they didn't get the PA up and running til after 11. the few people who hung around left after about the fourth Santana song in a row. after the gig i felt hopeless, like why am i still doing this $hit at my age, and woke up in the morning feeling crappy and burned out.

then Saturday, my band (the Stragglers) played a show with a Cajun band opening for us and an enthusiastic crowd. it was our first full-band gig with a new keyboard player, and he knocked our socks off. it was one of those nights when you wish you could have played til 3 or 4 o'clock. the crowd loved it, and the band felt strengthened and rejuvenated. had to get up early Sunday morning for a family event, but felt great and the buzz lasted for two days. funny how that happens!

[getbent]

just got home from playing a car show (hot rods) in a little tiny town in the parking lot of the store/restaurant... it was pretty dang fun... the bass player and steel turned way up and made it tough for me... I have pretty much decided I'm gonna buy a silver face twin after this gig... then, there is pretty much no ceiling for me....

The promoter brought us beers and tri tip sammiches when we finished AND helped load gear and offered us several more gigs and paid in full and cash! Pretty good gig and the band played okay and several people told us we were "great"... we play an elks lodge tomorrow night.. and we have a regular thing at a local honky tonk next month and in oct...

things are good... right now.

[mantis]

Hi Guys,

Diggin' the stories!

Just finished playing to five people at the Five Points Lounge in Moncton, NB - a tiny little maritime pub that feels more like my extended living room than a bar.

I kicked back, grabbed a nylon string guitar, and played all the Willie Nelson songs I knew.

It was a few bucks and a kick in the a$$, but man, I just love laid back gigs like that sometimes.

Hope this becomes an ongoing thread. It's truly interesting to hear from all you pickers out there. Makes me feel I'm not so alone. :)

[Daddydex]

Just got home from a packed house at The Saloon in Wilkes-Barre, PA. 5 piece band every Wednesday night for the last 6 years. I have a bad cold but the band played so well tonight I forgot I was sick.

Dan

[crawdad]

Tonight was a family adventure for me. My daughter and my son went out to an open mic gig. Since my son is visiting from San Francisco, me and Mrs. Crawdad went out for the fun. I brought my mandolin and Martin and sat in with some of the performers--like my kids--and then I sang a couple tunes on my own. I had a blast--and it was one of those rare "play for free" gigs.

Tomorrow I will be in a club in Birmingham, Michigan--a paid gig. Friday will be an outdoor concert and Saturday is also an outdoor show. Sunday is a solo gig. I can pass on tales from those gigs after they happen. Being a musician is definitely an interesting life!

[crawdad]

OK. Tonight was a club date in Birmingham, Michigan with my classic rock band. The place is called Edison's and has a motif based on the inventor. We start at 9pm and do three one hour sets. When we started, there were about six people in the place, but by 9:30 it was pretty much full.

It was a great night for me. Many friends came out and my son, who is visiting from San Fran came, as well as my wife and my daughter, who sang with the band on a number. We got several audience members up to play cowbell and tambourine--or to just be a part of the music on stage. It was a pleasure. Crowd reaction was great and we had a lot of dancers as well as listeners.

I used my Tele, Allen Old Flame and a few effects for the show. Crowd reaction was excellent and the time flew by. I got to drive home with my son, talking about life, music and making a living.

I really feel blessed to be able to make music at my age--to have such wonderful friends and a strong family. It all came together tonight. I'm not getting rich, but I am wealthy when I consider that I have such a wonderful set of family and friends and that I get to put a guitar in my hand to make a living. It is priceless, really.

Tomorrow is the Johnny Cash Tribute Show. Our friend and member here--Rockin' Carl--is also doing some of these shows, so there is a common bond for that show here on the TDPRI. Until then....

[winny pooh]

Finished up a small gig on bass last night in Covent Garden in London, Pretty diverse members, 1 Italian (vox), 2 Brits(keys & vox), 2 French guys (drums & perc), 1 Belgian (on trumpet)and unclassifiable me, playing groovy latin funk folk.

Its our first gig after 2 2hr rehearsals and we did pretty good
Watched the following band, had some snacks with the wife and got home early.

[zoppotrump]

i just got up out of bed. we played a charity event for severe ill kids in our neighbour town. weather was fine, beer was cold and food was plenty and a lot of people showed up, so they got a lot of money collected for these kids. PA was ok, there were 4 bands beside us and at the end there was a big session on stage, which ended up as a big mess, because three singers ( of different bands ) started an argument on stage ...which next song to do...what key...who´s singing lead.... and so on. it was a bitter drop in a nice day.
then something wonderful happend , when all the other fellow guitar players and me joined together and imagine or not, we all had the same opinions and headshakes about our front men discussing in front of the audience. so we started playing not giving a darn about them.... giving them a real hard time to come in....
i think only a few out of the audience took notice of this mess, so the people enjoyed themselves very well and had a great day...

zoppotrump
:O)

[Tim Armstrong]

I just got out of bed, too, forgot to post last night. My brother and I did our acoustic duo thing at a local restaurant (we play there most Thursdays). It's a low-key kind of gig, we play while folks are eating dinner, so we don't get very loud (Mike plays his really sweet Martin D-41 and I play my bass into a Yamaha Magic Stomp into the PA system). As is usually the case, there were very few folks left for the last set, so we had some fun, did some songs we've never practiced ("Behind Blue Eyes" was particularly fun!).

The beer was cold, had some really excellent sushi before the gig, and I got paid, so I reckon I can tolerate being ignored by diners...

Cheers, Tim

[crawdad]

Tonight was a Johnny Cash Tribute Show in Wayne, Michigan. For this show, I play my Tele and a martin acoustic on a few tunes, and I do some harmonies and a Carl Perkins cover to give the "Cash" impersonator a break.

It was a hot and muggy night, but there was a crowd of about 350 people who were Johnny Cash fans, eagerly awaiting the show. I got there early. Part of the deal was that the band would get dinner. Well, dinner turned out to be salad and some two hour old pizza which I passed on.

Finally, the band before us finishes and we get set up. For me, most of the show is clean Telecaster into my Allen Old Flame, with a bit of slapback echo. Once I get that dialed in and soundcheck my Martin, I am good to go. The stage is big and we have a pro sound company--big mains and real nice monitors.

We get a good groove happening right from the start. The bass player has a new upright semi-solidbody bass and it is getting that beautiful thump that you only get with such an instrument. The drummer is cracking with crisp energy and our frontman is in great form. I have the Tele set up for that Luther Perkins kind of twang and it is real fun to lock into that stuff. At some points, its almost like early electric Dylan--cool!

We do a chronological pacing of Cash's hits and we have a girl who does the June Cash character. It goes over REALLY well. At the end we do "Jackson" and the crowd brings us back. We do "Hurt". When we finish that song--ten seconds of dead silence--the audience isn't sure that the song is over 'cause it ends abrubtly, but them the applause comes. It is real satisfying. An hour and a half of music and we are all soaked with sweat, but smiling because its gone well. We've done a credible and inspired tribute. I feel like a million bucks because I get to do this stuff. I'm hot and my clothes are soaked, but I drive home, blasting the air, and think about how good it felt to make music tonight. I know all my gigs won't have this kind of payoff, so I bask in the moment and look forward to the next gig tomorrow.

[toadman]

tonight we played the local gin mill(we do it once a month) normally we play 9:00 till whenever they close(usually about 12:30 or one.) with a first set of about 2 hours, take a break and then play till whenever.tonight we decided to break early and do a marathon 2 hour set and close. we got about 8 songs into the second set (about 11:00) and the bartender gives us the "two more songs" sign. we were a little dsmayed but cashed in early nonetheless..
it was a bit of a dissappointment because the crowd, whil small in numbers, was big in enthusiasm. oh well.... we got paid the same!

[Leon Grizzard]

Well, this is right after a gig of sorts: I just dropped my wife and a load of runners off in far north Austin for an 18 mile training run.

I had two gigs yesterday. One was in the middle of the afternoon at a nursing home. Our fiddler works the Old Folks Circuit, and I try to make this one monthly gig at nursing home with a lot of folks with mental deficits. Sometimes Tom will do a Gospel number. Yesterday he called In the Garden. These little old folks, many of whom can hardly speak, sing or mouth the lyrics along with the band. You look out in the hallway, the staff is singing along too. It is just so touching. We did Amazing Grace there a few months ago, and it was amazingly powerful.

Then last night a little coffee shop gig, just steel, bass and guitar. We do it about once a month in place of a band practice, and publicly try out new tunes or ones with rough spots. When/if we get an audience, it turns into a regular performance.

At both gigs I played my recently acquired DRRI. What a sweet little amp. My SF Twin is my total reference, and the DRRI is a not exactly like a lighter version of the Twin, but a similar, great tone. This was first time I played my Epi Dot (Gibson PU’s) through it at a gig, and it really sounded nice.

[Tony474]

I just got in from a gig at a recently reopened pub in Caledonian Road, north London, right opposite HM Prison, Pentonville - yup, a real salubrious area! Knowing from past experience that it was a bit tight for space and also having strained my back recently, I left my 60 lb Music Man amp behind and instead took the little Roland Cube 60 I bought just for fun, using my pedalboard into the JC Clean channel, lined out through the PA.

Stone me, what a great sound I got tonight! The other guys in the band were delighted, the punters were highly complimentary and the guv'nor booked us again for next week after a mere two songs.

I have lots and lots of amps but this one really hit the spot. Has to be the greatest bargain in the whole music trade.

[toadman]

just got home from a gig at Black Eyed Sallys blues +BBQ bar in Hartford Ct. 'Twas an interesting night!
the college kids came out late in their skin tight mini dresses and their boyfriends were drunk and loud. had a few sit-ins. a guy named "Washboard Slim" joined us for a few tunes with a "full dresser" washboard with the bells and whistles and stuff on it. a guy from Laffayette, La joined us on guitar (strat) and then some Irish rugby players came in. large chaps all with orange shirts on. they had just won some kind of tournament and were quite "celebratory". one of them was a novice accordion player and talked the
boss into letting him play a few tunes! pretty unusual for our band, for an accordion "sit-in"! but we did a cool, off-the-cuff- version of "Ratlin Bog"! very weird for a Zydeco band to play irish music to a crowd of teenyboppers! but lot's of fun!
played my Vibro Champ miced into the house PA(only because i know the soundman and he's a good one) sounded great!

FYI i love this thread!

[Rombel]

I just got back from a festival gig with my Eagles tribute band. It was a hot rod/muscle car thing, and there were scantily-clad vixens galore during the afternoon (lots of walking around to kill the time at those gigs). At concert time, the vixens showed up and danced in front of the stage while the carboys nursed their Budweisers.
It was a really fun gig. Good crowd, good ambiance, good staffers.
I had a new toy to break in, a BBE Green Screamer, which I like a lot. I was able to dial in a great creamy tone immediately, just before soundcheck. I sing the Henley numbers, and play most of the licks and solos, so there's little time for me to bend down and tweak while playing.
It was a long day. We had to be onsite at 2:30, setup and soundcheck asap, and be done by 5. The gig itself was at 9. That gave us time to wander around and check out the babes and the cars.

Oh, and I bought myself a cowboy hat :-)

[crawdad]

Saturday afternoon I played classic rock at an outdoor mall. Though that might sound like a nightmare, it is actually a really fun gig. The band plays and people gather and listen. It becomes a concert atmosphere. We open up the show to requests from time to time and we have fun with the crowd. We had about fifteen little kids onstage dancing at the end, playing percussion instruments and generally going nuts. What a hoot...we usually gather 100-150 people for each set.

Its funny. I look out and see some people who are 60 and up. At first I think--oh no, they want fifties music. But then we will do some AC/DC or something and I see them all singing along. I guess the page has turned.

For the outdoor gigs, I am starting to wish I had a Twin Reverb--just for the clean headroom. Then, I remember I am my own road crew...

[trag-o-caster]

I played outdoors in the rain last night. It was for a big restaurant, out on their back deck, overlooking a big beautiful lake. It wasn't my band. I was working for someone else (and that someone else is a bit of a control freak).

It started raining on our second set, complete with thunder and lightning. He ordered us to keep playing. Then suddenly BOOM!!! I didn't see it, but the drummer said that it looked like ball lightning right over our heads!

I turned my amp off, and yanked the power cord out of the socket. I then lied telling the bandleader (who was strumming flattop electro-acoustic while his wife continued to sing) that my amp died. The set was going overtime anyway, and there was no good reason to continue. He just wanted us to carry on because he said so.

We took a long break, waiting for the rain to let up. It did, and we went back on. Then here came the rain, thunder and lightning again, just as soon as we set back up. This time I was running the guitar through the Morley JD-10 direct to the PA (because my amp was supposedly dead). Two songs later we quit, with the bandleader making the suggestion that we were wimps and unprofessional, etc. etc.

How DARE we want to quit while getting drenched with lightning striking above us!

[DonoMondo]

My band played last night at a great venue in Grapevine, Tx. called Tolbert's. We were scheduled for 9:00 - 12:00 and they requested that we play an additional hour! So that means after teardown I got home around 3:00 - 3:15, asleep around 4:30. As usual, being "age-challenged" I find it difficult to sleep late, so I was up around 9:00am.

The gig was cool - we "introduced" several "new" tunes we've never played in front of "real people"; Reeling in the Years, Running on Empty, Summer in the City, and Galway Girl. We played Maybe I'm Amazed and Touch of Grey for the second time. I'm pleased to say they didn't suck! The new songs weren't great - but we didn't embarrass ourselves - and everyone loved them! Hard to beat that!

Broke a string on my acoustic during Story in your Eyes - that was inconvenient.

And, we got fed. Tolbert's offers *great* food! If you live in the Metroplex make sure you drop in.

[mantis]

This weekend, I was very happy to perform at the Boardwalk in Saint John, New Brunswick:



Basically, just out of view on the left side of the picture was an outdoor stage. It was a beautiful night for playing some good ole country. And surprisingly, it was fairly warm for maritime weather, so no numb fingers! The crowd was polite but receptive.

At the end of the night, we were also treated to a Saint John, port-city, classic - a mini bar brawl between a half dozen fellas. Ah, the maritimes.

[romo]

Played with my band on saturday at a bank. It was the bank's anniversary party and they were giving out free lunch to anyone who stopped by. Here is a shot of the band rocking with a couple of teles! I'm the one in the middle playing the paisley. I wish I had a picture of what were were looking at. The parking lot was filled with people showing off their classic cars and cool stuff for the kids. This was sort of our first official gig. We played all classic rock covers. I've got another band who I do all original stuff with, but its more indie rock kinda thing. I've been playing with that band for about a year and a half, it's nice to have a couple different bands to play different types of music with. Tough to have a paying gig without a cover band though.

Overall the gig went pretty well. We played two 45 minute sets and a third short set to close out the afternoon. We had a few rough spots, mostly because we just haven't played together too much but in the second set for sure were gelled pretty well. Got a lot of complements, hopefully more paying gigs for us to come. Other than the heat (like 90 and sunny) it was a pretty cool day!

[crawdad]

I am enjoying reading all the gig reports and glad to see so many out there making music!

Today's gig for me was a solo thing at a familiar Carribean themed chain restaurant. Five sets to people munching on dinners and slurping up island drinks. Not much to do but be background entertainment. After three nights of real inspiring venues, this was a "back to reality' gig. Payed well, though.

This Thursday, I have an interesting one nighter on a riverboat cruise. Playing country music no less. If this thread lives, I'll post back with a report.

[Daddydex]

Originally Posted by crawdad

I am enjoying reading all the gig reports and glad to see so many out there making music!

Today's gig for me was a solo thing at a familiar Carribean themed chain restaurant. Five sets to people munching on dinners and slurping up island drinks. Not much to do but be background entertainment. After three nights of real inspiring venues, this was a "back to reality' gig. Payed well, though.

This Thursday, I have an interesting one nighter on a riverboat cruise. Playing country music no less. If this thread lives, I'll post back with a report.

Five Sets? There oughta be a law...

Dan

[Telemarkman]

This weekend was my annual gig, the Sky-Festival, actually more of a jam for me + some heavy friends from the past (though we never played together). We dedicated our set mostly to Cream, who were favorites of ours back in the days.

Hadn't played the songs in 35-40 years, but strangely I remembered them all: Sunshine of Your Love, I'm So Glad, Strange Brew, Crossroads, Born Under a Bad Sign and Spoonful. (We played some other stuff too though - both soul and country).

I played my '52 RI Tele through my new Blues Junior Ltd. Ed. in relic'd tweed. Holy Mackerel what an amp! I wish I'd used my 60's Classic Tele though, 'cos we played between 2.00 and 3.30 Sunday morning, and it was chilly and damp and the maple fretboard was getting pretty sticky.

The reason we played so late was that we were at the very end of a long playlist, which was probably good 'cos most of the other bands are gigging bands - one even professional. We had a great time though, and I slept on the stage (outside, but with a tarp over it) in a sleeping bag ... But not until I finished my set ... Hee, hee!

One thing I gotta mention: One of my 'heavy friends' - who also brought his own band - (mostly) played a Shadows Custom Signature Burns Ltd. Ed. guitar in Fiesta Red - and man!, what a TWANG!!! He also had a '52 RI Tele '89 model, but the Burns beat it in the twang department. In fact , I don't think I've EVER heard a more twangy guitar sound in my life - at least not in person. He played through a MusicMan 210 'Sixty-Five'. (He played Pipeline, Ghostriders, Ebb Tide a.o.) Absolutely amazing - and beautiful - tone!!!

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by Daddydex

Five Sets?

Yup. 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 10-8...

[Rombel]

Bwaahahahahahahahahaha!

[JasonRobert]

did a gig yesterday at a pub which was having some sort of festival. I was under the impression there would be at least 3 bands, but it was just us. We played from about 7 - 9:30 with a break in between. We played some beatles, elvis and stones as well as some newer stuff like Blur, Arctic Monkeys and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Unfortunatly we had to play inside with speakers outside as it was scheduled to rain. There were lots of drunk people coming in trying to get us outside but we couldnt. Then lots of drunk people came inside and we had to play our hour set again because they liked it so much! It went ok considering our drummer couldnt make it and me and my mate (who isnt in our band) switched between playing drums and playing lead and singing.

I was also testing out my les paul style guitar I made with a strat neck and a gate hinge as a tailpiece. I was actually testing a switch I added which bypasses the volume, so if I set the volume about halfway, when I flick the switch and bypass the volume I get added volume for solos. It worked very well.

[zoppotrump]

again out of the bed....
played a little bar gig, just filling in for a band from farther away, who got stuck in a jammed highway and could not show up in time.
some sort of grab your guitar. basic equipment and rush to the bar, where folks are already waiting to hear some good music.
after the first set a friend from another band showed up and we ended playing the whole night as a duo, trying to remember every song the crowd asked us for.
we got the whole pay from the band, that didn´t show up at all ( after an car accident they closed the highway down for hours ) and were asked to perform every four weeks....
it was a real fun night and i played a lot of songs i never pplayed before...

zoppotrump
:O)

[mantis]

It's 3am Atlantic time and I just finished playing a bunch of Waylon tunes at the local watering hole. Place holds about 50 people. Just me, my nylon string, and 15 of my friends.

Best gig I had all week.

[Buckocaster51]

I've been home a few hours.

Played outside near Iowa City IA.

Nice warm day.

Not many clothes.

Started a band divorce.

Other than that, every thing was normal.

[Rombel]

Weekend stint for me.
Huge festival gig near Ottawa on Saturday, wedding gig with a friend's band (on bass) on Sunday. Much distance in between the two gigs, like the Eagles sang: "I had to stop for the night"...
Got home around 3 this morning, there are bags and cases all over the place.
Reminds me of my touring days. As soon as the espresso kicks in, I may start thinking about doing some laundry and putting stuff away.

Wait.
The friggin' cat is clawing away at my Coveramp.
Think I'll put that away first.

[TwangoBango]

Played an "End of Summer" Labor day gig yesterday. We went on at 5 pm but didn't play til about fifteen mins later due to PA problems. The event had a racetrack, so there were plenty of race fans ... there was a Beergarden handily erected right in front of the stage so we had a built-in crowd. Plenty of eye candy... I love late summer