Talk About Your Last Gig Here

[Gigante_Miguel]

We have only gigged a few times in the past couple of years, and one thing we've made a point of, as things have opened back up for us, is that we're much more selective with the shows we do.

Our last show was also the first time we hit the road together for a road trip. We played with a friend's band down in Ventura, at a former punk rock bar called the Garage. As our friend's band was local, there was a decent turn out, and the bar staff was super friendly. The PA was good, but there was nobody on hand to run it, so the vocals wound up pretty buried, which sucked, because we were in great form. In spite of that, we were well received, and will be down that way to play again soon. Oh, and we sold enough merchandise to cover the gas on the trip (no small feat in California).

I think the thing I was most stoked about was that we travelled well together as a band, and they want to do more of it.

Crappy video here:

 

[Warhol]

About 3 years ago. We played for a Retirement home for new years. We played for 3 hours for 300.00. At 71, that will probably be the last gig I ever play. But I had a great life.

Never say never !

 

[robinrockus]

How'd it go? Any pictures or video clips? Anything happen that was memorable? Anything you'd like to forget?

I'll start...

Played a Farmer's Market gig this morning with The Colorado Green Band our groovy little trio. We had to play early as our bassist had a wedding gig with another band and had a 12:00 noon load in, so we wrapped it up by 11:30. We played two sets and took a long enough break to go shopping as we were paid with "Market Bucks" that were good at any booth. Needless to say I got stocked up on groceries.

The vendors gave us props and the folks who thought we were too loud last time were happy. We played real quiet. Our drummer used her "$#!+ kit" that has an Irish bodhran for a kick, bongos for toms and a little snare from a cocktail kit along with hi hat and cymbals. Bassist used a little bass amp and I used a Peavey Backstage Plus. We didn't have the Bose for this gig, so we put a little Yorkville Elite cab on a pole and had it behind us as the PA. Bassist forgot his regular mic stand, so he improvised with a boom on a clamp that he hooked to the drummers hardware and shared his mic with the drummer for background vocals.

People passing by would kind of do a bit of a bop as they walked by. Parents had their little ones dancing to us and the market staff in the next booth clapped for almost every song. A train passed by and we broke into a medley of Folsom Prison Blues and Mystery Train. The guy at the cutlery booth came over and tipped us saying "You timed that perfectly." (Well, not really...)

The set list was peppered with more obscure Grateful Dead songs as it was the anniversary of Jerry's passing. One of our original tunes was responded to surprisingly enough as they could only have heard it the last time we played. We started from the back of the songbook and played some songs we hadn't played in a while. It keeps the rhythm section on their toes.

A woman who said she was an empath complimented us on our music saying "it grounded her immediately" and that she would have bought a CD if we'd had one. She got our contact info and said she had a friend who helped put together the local gallery walk and thought she might be able to get us a gig. You never know what contacts will pay off.

All in all, a good way to spend a sunny Sunday morning, playing music for friendly people.

Your turn...

Regular monthly gig at a dinner club. Great crowd at first (8-11) but the place cleared out around 9:30! Staff started cleaning up, then at about 10:05 a huge group walks in and we end up playing 30 minutes over (11:30). Made great tips and establishment paid us extra. Sometimes you gotta hang in there and play for that one table! Ya never know when things are going to end up.

 

[Laydownsally]

not a great clip.. but this was a couple weeks ago in Ohio coverband 101 songs LOL
oddly. not playing my tele.. I played at this past weekend gig.. Hamer into Princeton clone 12"

 

[zambiland]

How'd it go? Any pictures or video clips? Anything happen that was memorable? Anything you'd like to forget?

I'll start...

Played a Farmer's Market gig this morning with The Colorado Green Band our groovy little trio. We had to play early as our bassist had a wedding gig with another band and had a 12:00 noon load in, so we wrapped it up by 11:30. We played two sets and took a long enough break to go shopping as we were paid with "Market Bucks" that were good at any booth. Needless to say I got stocked up on groceries.

The vendors gave us props and the folks who thought we were too loud last time were happy. We played real quiet. Our drummer used her "$#!+ kit" that has an Irish bodhran for a kick, bongos for toms and a little snare from a cocktail kit along with hi hat and cymbals. Bassist used a little bass amp and I used a Peavey Backstage Plus. We didn't have the Bose for this gig, so we put a little Yorkville Elite cab on a pole and had it behind us as the PA. Bassist forgot his regular mic stand, so he improvised with a boom on a clamp that he hooked to the drummers hardware and shared his mic with the drummer for background vocals.

People passing by would kind of do a bit of a bop as they walked by. Parents had their little ones dancing to us and the market staff in the next booth clapped for almost every song. A train passed by and we broke into a medley of Folsom Prison Blues and Mystery Train. The guy at the cutlery booth came over and tipped us saying "You timed that perfectly." (Well, not really...)

The set list was peppered with more obscure Grateful Dead songs as it was the anniversary of Jerry's passing. One of our original tunes was responded to surprisingly enough as they could only have heard it the last time we played. We started from the back of the songbook and played some songs we hadn't played in a while. It keeps the rhythm section on their toes.

A woman who said she was an empath complimented us on our music saying "it grounded her immediately" and that she would have bought a CD if we'd had one. She got our contact info and said she had a friend who helped put together the local gallery walk and thought she might be able to get us a gig. You never know what contacts will pay off.

All in all, a good way to spend a sunny Sunday morning, playing music for friendly people.

Your turn...

Hey, I'm in Colorado, too! My band, Shakedown Street, just played at Wibby Brewing in Longmont. As a GD tribute band, we covered selections from 5/7/77 (which I attended) and 5/8/77. Everything went smoothly and our rhythm guitarist got to use an Ibanez Bob Weir Cowboy Fancy.



Earlier in the month, we played at the Ball Arena, aka the Pepsi Center, in conjunction with a Nuggets game, a Mammoths game, and then the Avalanche. Also big fun!

We'll be in Aspen on Friday and then Denver for the last weekend of the month.

 

[jluke711]

Still trying to get the tomato stains out of my tweed case… That’s all

 

[tm1303]

Last gig was a blinder...
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

 

[Chiogtr4x]

Just wanted to post photo (2 weekends ago) of our Duo's new Frontman!
( House Anniversary Party/ host's grandson)
Edit- if you zoom, you may see the kid's guitar is the old 'Woodstock' poster

 

[Stratocast]

Wedding at the Mandarin Oriental last night- a very swanky hotel in Boston. It was a black tie situation, one of those gigs where you gotta shine your shoes beforehand and tape down all your cables. No cases on stage, no walking through the front door with any gear at all.

It was a very good crowd who were absolutely there to dance, but as often happens at high end venues; a four gig started with two hour and thirty minute dinner set. The bride and groom had planned a ton of uptempo dance music with me, but they also seated both sets of grandparents directly in front of the PA speakers (despite me drawing a diagram explaining how speakers project and where the loudest spot in the room would be), so our hands were a little tied. We got them up and dancing between courses during dinner, but the catering people came over and asked us to get everybody to sit down, so we had to resort to jazz.

It was a good night and we got a nice tip, but I really do hate it when I feel like the client isn't getting quite what they paid for.

Yes I remember those days. Bands I was in in the past used to get compliments quite a lot. We were a cover band. Doing a variety of songs over the decades. One guy told me at one of our last gigs we played a certain song just like the original band did. I suppose that is a supreme compliment. We never got any boos ever. A good sign.

 

[SoK66]

My last gig was our 50th anniversary reunion concert, August 2016. Coincided with our lead singer, Jimy Sohn's 70th birthday and the 50th anniversary of "Gloria." The concert was well recorded and released on CD last year after a battle over copyrights, etc. (Music industry is a PITA!)

 

[padreraven]

I don't have creds like a lot of these folks. Last electric gig was when I retired in 2018 at a church in California. We put together a band with pretty good skills, put together a set, practiced it for six months, and played oldies for whoever showed up, after some other musical presentations. It came off great, lotta volume for a small room. I moved away but the band with a little different lineup played a reprise as a fundraiser the next year. Last acoustic gig, again a church but this time in Seattle, three of us who had been playing together once a week (outdoors, so people would walk by and hear us) for fun were asked to play their picnic outdoors. A lot of good old folk music, we all had a good time with tunes like "Long Black Veil" and "California Stars." But people were distracted by eating so I'm not sure how much we got heard. Right now I'm just playing with an acoustic jam group while I try to get things organized at our new place on the Olympic Peninsula. I'll never be a rock-and-roll star but I have a good time.

 

[johnny7]

WoW ..long time for me. How to make a long story -=not-so=- short ... started late (age 50+) only jams for about 5 years. then I took 4 years away (life crisis) and did nothing music related. I was never in a band.

Fast-forward to this year. A friend of mine (drummer) in a band. I started going out, following them. He's disabled so I took it upon myself to help him (free roadie). I got re-interested in music, asked and received their set sheets and started practicing for no other reason then to get back into it. My friend asked if I was planning on playing anywhere, I said no but I was comfortable enough again to fill-in if necessary - which I eventually did for one last-minute show that their bass player couldn't make. Oh, did I mention that I play bass? Time goes on, their bass player was not keeping up with new stuff so they decided to replace him, I was first choice I went from not playing to a audition/practice on a Wed to a back-2-back Fri/Sat that weekend. I should note, no hard feelings with the previous bass player, it wasn't his style of music and wanted to return to playing what he was more comfortable with.

This leads up to this weekend. Some friends of the drummer, of whom hadn't heard the group in 3 years, came to listen. Their response? "You guys sound better than ever and now you have a girl bass player - she's very good" Yup, that felt good.

That is a phenomenal third post. Welcome aboard.

 

[OneDude]

We played last Thursday for an Assisted Living/ Rehab facility. A one hour set; 17 or 18 songs. We play 50', 60' and 70's rock and popular songs. Most of our gigs are at assisted living or retirement facilities, and consist of the same format; one to one and a half hours; one set; it's a very appreciative audience. We have just started to play our normal schedule again since Covid began. We have a regular circuit of venues that we usually play; in 2019 we played 40 dates, and had 39 booked for 2020. Of course that didn't happen. We also play occasional private parties and festival gigs.

One_Dude

 

[Jazzcaster21]

I Played a gig this past Saturday early evening with the Bakersfield/Americana band I am in. It was outside and we had to stop twice due to rain. So, a three hour gig ended up being close to 2. I am not complaining but, aside from not enjoying playing outside for a number of reasons, it's even worse when you have to deal with the impending threat of rain, be ready to shut everything down and cover it up at the drop of a hat.

I was happy with my sound in the first set but after set break something happened where my volume was significantly reduced and I think it had to do with perhaps some water getting into my Boss chromatic tuner pedal, which is first on my pedal board. I noticed my volume cutting in and out, I had my amp cranked too, and still not nearly as loud as it was in the first half. I even changed out my guitar cable to see if that would help but it did not.

What started off as an enjoyable gig ended with a little bit of frustration b/c I couldn't hear myself as well in the second set as the first. Little mishaps like that: pedals malfunctioning, etc. can really throw me off my concentration and take me out of the zone.

Anyway, I cleaned all my pedal and amp inputs on Sunday with some contact cleaner and let them sit overnight. I plugged everything in last night and.....problem solved.

 

[Jazzcaster21]

My last gigs…played the trio gig at Eddie V’s Fort Worth on Thursday. Great crowd, REALLY good tips, a ton of requests, great response, very fun gig.

Played a full band gig at Eddie V’s Dallas on Saturday. Slow night, crowd was like playing to a morgue, lousy tips. The Bose system is still down (been down for close to a year, having to use a loaner PA they found somewhere), the lightbulbs over the stage have been out for close to six months, we’ve requested they be replaced repeatedly to no avail.

I’m really tired of Eddie V’s Dallas. They’re opening a new one in Frisco. Hoping we can get in there. It’d be a much longer drive for me, but the apathy from management in Dallas towards the bands has gotten on my last nerve.

Ok, rant over.

Are you playing guitar at Eddie V's? Just asking because they have one in Charlotte but it's piano trio only.
However I wouldn't be thrilled about playing a four hour gig, which is how long they are here.

 

[String Tree]

Sat in as Sound guy for my Freinds Band Friday and Saturday night.
Kind of a mis-mash of House Sound gear.
The house board only has 8 inputs.
So I brought my Trusty old 16-channel Mackie.
Had a good weekend, even got paid.

 

[dannyh]

Are you playing guitar at Eddie V's? Just asking because they have one in Charlotte but it's piano trio only.
However I wouldn't be thrilled about playing a four hour gig, which is how long they are here.

Yeah, the ones here started out as a piano trio only with strictly jazz, but for the last 10-15 years it’s gotten pretty “liberal” as far as the music selections and the bands go.

 

[FaithNicole]

That is a phenomenal third post. Welcome aboard.

thank you. I feel like I've missed a lot yet, truth be told, life was probably holding back for this moment when everything came together. I was ready, band was there, great group of guys, no personality clashes, I'm the youngest at almost 62 .. ok, maybe that last part doesn't matter .. hee

 

[Stratocast]

I don't have creds like a lot of these folks. Last electric gig was when I retired in 2018 at a church in California. We put together a band with pretty good skills, put together a set, practiced it for six months, and played oldies for whoever showed up, after some other musical presentations. It came off great, lotta volume for a small room. I moved away but the band with a little different lineup played a reprise as a fundraiser the next year. Last acoustic gig, again a church but this time in Seattle, three of us who had been playing together once a week (outdoors, so people would walk by and hear us) for fun were asked to play their picnic outdoors. A lot of good old folk music, we all had a good time with tunes like "Long Black Veil" and "California Stars." But people were distracted by eating so I'm not sure how much we got heard. Right now I'm just playing with an acoustic jam group while I try to get things organized at our new place on the Olympic Peninsula. I'll never be a rock-and-roll star but I have a good time.

I can understand where you are coming from. From 2005 to 2019 I was in 3 different gigging bands. The longest run was 2005 to 2015 with the same band. I was 50 years old in 2005. We were doing 60’s and 70’s covers.. the second band we did A lot of 80’s and 90’s covers with some 70’s tossed in and a little bit of 60’s …a real mix. Then lastly at 63 I got in a band with younger people wanting to do a lot of 90’s and newer stuff. It was a real learning experience for me cuz songs these guys all knew …for the most part ….was completely new to me. I did the most gigging in the last band though ….doing about 3 gigs a month. After about a year or so. I had had enough The band kept gigging with different members but I have been semi retired from it for about 3 years now. In a way I miss it but then again not.

 

[Stratocast]

I like this thread a lot, too. It's cool to hear the wide variety of gigs going on out there. I don't know about you guys, but I got a nice feeling reading about the house gig up above. I have never had a bad time at a house gig- and it's always 25 or 30 people, but they are really listening. I did one last year where I opened for Peter Case of the Plimsouls and it was wonderful. I sold all the merch I brought with me.

Several years ago the band I was in could have been considered the house band. It was every 2 weeks we were the only band playing there and we could leave our smps and p.a. Mics etc. behind. That went on for about a year. We had to keep learning new stuff and rotating songs around between lists or on and off so the regulars wouldn’t get bored with us. It was ok.