Talk About Your Last Gig Here

[brookdalebill]

My gig with Nathan for St. Mary’s Catholic Church’s Jamaica Fest in Lockhart, Tx. was fun!
We were under a big metal pavilion, played on a huge wide stage, to a big crowd.
I’d guesstimate around 1,000-1,500 people were there.
We played and sang our best.
Sub drummer Brandon plays better with every gig.
His dad, our regular drummer, hopes to be back in action in September.
He’s still recuperating from a discectomy.
I’m sorry his surgery was not as successful as mine was (31 years ago).
Another good one!

P.S.
A few pics.

 

[RomanS]

Was supposed to play with a couple of friends at a local beer garden last Thursday - I play bass with those guys, it's a side project of another band, just the singer/rhythm guitar player, a percussion player, and me. We played that place last year, it was packed (ok, maybe 80 people, but that's pretty much their max. capacity).
Well, right when I left my house, it started to rain; by the time I got to the venue, there was a torrential downpour - cars had to stop because of too much water on the street, pedestrians running for cover (I later heard there even were some mudslides in a suburb).
Since we were already there, we decided to play inside, but because of the weather, almost nobody showed up (yeah, I wouldn't have left the house, either, to see a band, in that weather).
So, basically, it was a public rehearsal in front of about 15 people - what can you do...
At least we got free food and drinks...

 

[dougstrum]

It was really hot playing this afternoon In spite of the heat everyone did a great job playing. Lots of compliments and good tips. Playing eith Dave on harmonica, the blue guitar cuts through much better than the cherry guitar. Both teles needed a got cleaning to get them desalted. Back at again tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Gene O.]

Our trio played a private birthday party this afternoon. The birthday girl was one of the two sisters that own the venue (that's normally not open on Sundays). Our band (usually 4-pc) plays at this venue 2 or 3 times a year. It's about 14 miles from my house. They don't really have regular entertainment, but we're one of the few bands they have playing there. We played from 4-7 out on the patio, and it was too warm for my liking - 90° when we were setting up, only dropped 2 or 3 degrees by the end. It was just very uncomfortable. I know you southerners are probably laughing right about now, but I've had more than enough of this kind of weather for outdoor gigs.

Anyway, it was pretty laid back, although they had a DJ that played mostly 80s rock (rather loud) while we were setting up and on our breaks. We took an extra long 2nd break and sat inside in. the AC and got some food. No one really danced for our stuff, other than at their tables or wherever they were standing, but a few some were dancing to the DJ's music when we can back outside for our last set. We didn't care. All we wanted to do was finish and go home.

We didn't put out the tip jar, but they gave us $100 more than the agreed price.

 

[dougstrum]

Fun time again this afternoon, a few intrepid folks actually danced in this oppressive heat and humidity. We played and sang well, apparently the folks in attendance also thought so.

At the end of the 1st set it began to pour, and by the time we moved the mains up onto the stage it stopped. Half way through our last song a tremendous gust of wind roared across the stage. It blew over my mic stand and the main on my side of the stage. The speaker seems to still work and I will test the mic out tomorrow. Pretty wild end of our show

 

[brookdalebill]

I had a very pleasant gig with Nathan at the Martinez Social Club in San Antonio this afternoon.
We played to a capacity crowd, there to celebrate the 113th anniversary of the founding of the club.
I used my usual rig (Cabronita and Cube), except for two polkas, I played my Strat on those.
Alas, I’m just not a Strat guy.

 

[srblue5]

My newest band played two gigs this week -- one as "the house band" for a local variety show, the second as part of a local musician festival/showcase.

The variety show was kind of a mixed bag, to be honest between the small venue space (requiring the band to be very cramped together onstage and play at a very low volume) and some miscommunication from the organizers resulting in our playing time being cut fairly significantly (so we were more a musical guest than a "house band" as originally intended). It also did not help that the lighting in the venue (which was below ground without any windows or naturally lighting) was quite low, so it was very dark and difficult to actually see where I was on my fretboard. Still and all, we played fairly well under the conditions, although it would have been nice to play more as originally agreed upon.

For the second gig, we played a 30-minute set at a local festival/showcase. It was hosted in what seemed to be an empty art gallery/multipurpose space. Not the most ideal acoustically -- sound was bouncing around everywhere, the EQ was somewhat muddy, and it was hard to hear much of anything (including my guitar unfortunately being quite out of tune for much of the performance, and especially the vocals). We played very well and went over well with the audience -- they were up and dancing/clapping along for pretty much the entire set. It's always a joy to see people singing along with cover songs (and we admittedly do some slightly obscure ones at that, so it's cool that some people know/remember those) -- it's also helpful in case I forget the lyrics (which happens more often than I would like to admit ).

For both gigs, I used my Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb amp and a core selection of pedals (phaser, chorus, +/- analog delay). For the variety show, I used my AO '70s Tele Custom and for the festival/showcase, I used my Squier Offset Tele (which unfortunately went out of tune a couple of songs in without me realizing it -- until I started wondering why it sounded like the chorus pedal was still on detuning things when it actually wasn't). Both sounded good (although the Squier going out of tune, which has happened a few times, was a bit disappointing -- I may need to look into some hardware upgrades).

 

[teletimetx]

Very short set to help a campaign launch party for a neighbor who is running for local city council. Just 3 of our usual 5-piece.

I guess we played ok, because we got asked to do similar set for a person who is running for Mayor.

Played just acoustic, simple set up.

 

[dougstrum]

Saturday evening back Eastwood with K&T. Always a fun gig, close to home, not too late, good pay, they like us~what's not to like.
I'll bring a pair of teles my small amp and an overdrive.

 

[Gene O.]

Our full 5-pc band played one of our regular summer gigs this evening - Roses Run [public] Country Club - out on their large patio. Okay, we don't actually get to set up on the patio, but out at the end of the veranda. We had a surprisingly good crowd considering how it was raining all day and got pretty chilly while we were playing. I actually had to wear my hoodie during the last set. Instead of selling lousy hamburgers they had a food truck there. If it wasn't for the food truck we probably would've thought they weren't going to be open because there were no servers scurrying about and it didn't even look like the bar was set up. But open they were, and the people came pouring in. Normally they make us park along the entrance road, but tonight we just left out cars in the setup area, which was very convenient. The pay is pretty good and we got some pretty good tips as well, probably because some guy took our tip jar around.

 

[dannyh]

Played my every-other-Thursday trio gig last night. Ok crowd, decent tips. Our regular keyboardist had to go out of town for a family issue, so Eric subbed for him; did a great job as usual.

I haven't hardly even looked at a guitar in the last few weeks, much less picked one up. My gig calendar hit a pretty dry spell last month, and with other things going on I just hadn't had the inclination. Felt good to play music again. Felt rusty too. Funny how quick that will creep up on you. Played the AVRI 57 Strat through the Princeton Reverb.

 

[Gene O.]

Our 5-pc band played again this (Friday) evening. This time at a little dive bar just 9 miles down the road, out among the corn fields. This bar has been around since the 60s and hasn't really changed much in all that time... until now. Some new owners are refurbishing it little by little. They are purposely maintaining some of the old vibe while upgrading things like seating, HVAC system, etc. The owners have some grand plans for the place. I hope totally updated bathrooms are part of that plan.

It was pretty slow when we got there, but we ended up with a good crowd, and everyone enjoyed themselves. With the previous owners we played 8-12, but we are now quitting around 11:30.

Unfortunately, the pay is just okay, and tips were typical tonight (aka "meh").

 

[brookdalebill]

My gig with Donn this evening was pleasant.
Our crowd was smaller than usual, but were rowdy and seriously good dancers.
I used my Ibanez Artist on the first set, my parts Strat on the second set, and my workhorse Cabronita on the last set.
I fielded a slightly odd request.
The person wanted Simon & Garfunkel’s Cecilia.
As no one knew it, they requested any other S&G song.
I know April Comes She Will.
I delivered a simple solo arrangement.
Fun evening!

 

[Gene O.]

Our 5-pc band played at a bar called "Bud's Corner", out in the pavilion. One end has 4 or 4 garage doors, and there is an open corner in t he back. We setup in the opposite corner from the opening. The load-in/out is pretty awful, but the people there - all ages - are there to dance, and dance they did. It was lot of fun. The pay is what we might refer to as standard for the band, and the tips were okay.

 

[dannyh]

Played a Toby Keith tribute show in Huntsville Texas tonight. I’ve played this theatre several times before but always with some Elvis tribute shows, never anything else. Great crowd and they really got into it. Had a comp’d chicken spaghetti dinner too. Win-Win….Fun gig. Played the red and black teles through the Deluxe Reverb.

Here’s a band selfie Dewayne (“Toby”) had taken during the show lol.

 

[dougstrum]

Had a lot of fun playing last night, as a jazzer I used to play with would have said "we wrecked the joint".
Though it was finally cooler yesterday, it is always hot up on the stage at Eastwood.
Played the cherry tele almost the whole night. I started the last set with the yellow tele; after the first song asked Kat how she liked it. She quickly said she prefers the cherry guitar. I like all of them but also prefer the cherry one, especially when playing cranked a bit.

 

[soul-o]

Had a really good one in Newport, RI last night with a cool surprise. All the toasts were about how the bride loves to play pranks on everyone and her husband got her pretty good. We started off the bride/ father dance with a recording of “I Loved Her First “ that quickly dissolved into technical issues. I added 60Hz hum and a bit of feedback and then had an air traffic controller clearing a flight for takeoff on runway 7. The bride looked mortified as I apologized and everyone on stage acted confused and our soundman looked super frustrated and started pulling cables out.

And then we introduced Jason Albert, the lead singer of Heartland, who had flown in from Alabama to sing the song for her. Super nice guy and he hung out and took photos with all the guests and danced right through to the end. We even made him come back on for “Sweet Home Alabama” for good measure.

 

[WireLine]

Ended up playing my beloved 30 yr old partsocaster tele all night in Tucumcari NM. Folk that hired us were some of the nicest most accommodating we've met in many years. God bless em.

Still trying to figure out an effects board though... it's a matter of fine tuning what I need to able to jump from Waylon Jennings to Bad Company to Bob Wills to Bob Segar with minimal footwork.

 

[AAT65]

Bedlam House Band gig on Saturday afternoon back at Fopp record shop for the third time. Slightly odd situation to be playing in a shop amongst the CD and LP racks, but quite good fun. We got good response from the shoppers for some songs, complete silence for others… depending more on who was browsing at the time than the quality of the playing, I think! A few shoppers taking phone videos of us as we played so I like to think that’s a positive reaction .
I played the Jazzmaster through the GP-10 straight into the PA for this one to keep the load-in simple.

 

[Harmonic]

Gig went OK. It was raining when I loaded up the car. The gig was dry. Someone recognized me from a gig that I played about 6 years ago.