The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of my next gig

[draggindakota]

I spent many of my teenage years playing in our church band 3-4 times a week, either at our church or at others in the area. We were all just amateur hacks, but we sounded ok. A lot of the time these were basically the church version of an open mic, so we always had a lot of guest players and singers rotating through of every skill level (or lack thereof). My point: Don't get too hung up on putting together a polished "professional" performance. Sure, you need to rehearse together, but in the end just have fun and roll with whatever happens.

 

[Boris Von Teufel]

The Bad Buoys had their final rehearsal on Thursday, & confidence is high. Today is the DOG (day of gig) and I'm getting ready to pack for the show. I've got my Breedlove acoustic, G&L Tribute ASAT Classic, 60s Strat partscaster, & Princeton Reverb head & 2x12 cab ready to rock. Looks like weather will be cooler than expected (mid to high 80s w/low humidity) but still loading up on fans, towels, & gobs of water.

My last "gig" was last year so I'm really excited. Some musicians dread the "unexpected" but I love the idea that even though we're pretty well rehearsed, anything can happen as far as calling up the songs. We're going to read the crowd and go with the flow. If they want to dance, we'll lean on that portion of the list & if they feel like listening, we'll give them something familiar. Thanks to all for the advice & support. Post gig report to follow. Happy Father's Day to all.

 

[Boris Von Teufel]

I'm happy to report that a good time was had by all (band & audience) at Saturday's gig. The weather was perfect, food was great, & nobody sucked. Myself & the bassist provided the PA (a biamped rig w/a pair of 15" 2 way tops & 15" subs, 2 floor wedges, & a 16 ch. mixer) so we started setup around noon at a leisurely pace and got it ballparked in about an hour. It was pretty much a set & forget mix which worked fine.

Tunes that got the biggest pop from the crowd were Mustang Sally, Wagon Wheel, & Mary Jane's Last Dance. Yeah, they're overplayed standards but it's not like we're a working band that's played them to the point of fatigue. The big surprise was an uplifting rendition of Will the Circle be Unbroken. The crowd must have felt the holy ghost because they got up dancing like it was an old time tent revival meeting. We even threw in an impromptu call for an "offering" for the band and got an unexpected payday.

I was so impressed with our performance after only 4 rehearsals. The pros stepped up and kept us all together and the rest of relaxed and let them drive. It reminded me why it's still fun to play after 40 years of gigs both good & bad. We all hung out late & got swelled heads as everyone commented on how "you guys were better than the "real" bands that we pay for." If I get to play with this "group" again next year as my one & only gig, I'd be truly happy. We're all of that age where we don't need to do it for the $, and the whole dynamic would change were this to become a job rather than leisure. Hats off the Bad Buoys & looking forward to just one more gig.

 

[57joonya]

Yes. Put together the set list so that they can play on songs that they know and sit out on those they don't.

Short story, had a friend who played the harp and he'd come to our gigs and ask to sit in. He's an OK player, and we told him which songs would work with harp. He'd plug his mic in and after the songs were over, he'd stay and keep playing over our stuff. (We think he wanted to join the band, even though we don't really need a harp player.) After a few gigs where he did this, and we'd tell him to sit out and he wouldn't, I was appointed to tell him, gently, that we don't need harp on every song and that we rehearse this material to get it tight and to get arrangements down and he was welcome to sit in for a few songs where the harp worked. The result? He stopped coming to our gigs.

I’ve been in this scenario. I really love it as little fills here and there . But it’s hard to incorporate a harmonica player into a band , outside of the studio. Unless of course you’re a blues band

 

[brupop]

I'm happy to report that a good time was had by all (band & audience) at Saturday's gig. The weather was perfect, food was great, & nobody sucked. Myself & the bassist provided the PA (a biamped rig w/a pair of 15" 2 way tops & 15" subs, 2 floor wedges, & a 16 ch. mixer) so we started setup around noon at a leisurely pace and got it ballparked in about an hour. It was pretty much a set & forget mix which worked fine.

Tunes that got the biggest pop from the crowd were Mustang Sally, Wagon Wheel, & Mary Jane's Last Dance. Yeah, they're overplayed standards but it's not like we're a working band that's played them to the point of fatigue. The big surprise was an uplifting rendition of Will the Circle be Unbroken. The crowd must have felt the holy ghost because they got up dancing like it was an old time tent revival meeting. We even threw in an impromptu call for an "offering" for the band and got an unexpected payday.

I was so impressed with our performance after only 4 rehearsals. The pros stepped up and kept us all together and the rest of relaxed and let them drive. It reminded me why it's still fun to play after 40 years of gigs both good & bad. We all hung out late & got swelled heads as everyone commented on how "you guys were better than the "real" bands that we pay for." If I get to play with this "group" again next year as my one & only gig, I'd be truly happy. We're all of that age where we don't need to do it for the $, and the whole dynamic would change were this to become a job rather than leisure. Hats off the Bad Buoys & looking forward to just one more gig.

Congrats on the fun gig. Going in with a good attitude means coming out with a good result.

Were you able to get a video or audio recording of this?

 

[RCinMempho]

Congratulations on a good time!!!