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Post by larryguitar54 on Feb 2, 2020 14:49:35 GMT -5
So we formed a new band a few weeks ago. We had a couple rehearsals. The proposed songlist is fairly long but we are still working through the common core. We had about 5 or 10 songs down when we got an invitation to do a 90 minute set at a local dive.
So with one rehearsal we just added about 10 songs believing on faith it would all work out. The extra songs were standards like "Little Sister" and "Stormy Monday" which are staples in the blues jam circuit. I kinda thought 'heck we know those songs let's just do them.
I had this weird fantasy we were gonna blow everybody away and get invitations to be the permanent house band and go on tour. My lead solos were gonna be so incendiary the crowd was gonna drop to their knees in supplication.
Well....let's just say it didn't quite work out that way.
First thing was we were pressed for time and no sound check. So we hauled our equipment from the parking lot to the stage and set everything up in about 20 minutes. I had to hand carry an oversized pedal board and amp across a parking lot in the rain. Then all the equipment had to be transported. Then I had to connect all the power and cables on a dark hot stage.
By the time we were set I was physically exhausted and dripping with sweat head to toe.
Then because of the 'no sound check' I guesstimated the settings. Within 15 seconds I thought to myself, "Damn this tone sucks...it is way to buzzy and I can't distinguish one note for another...it just a bunch of crappy noise.
Later I figured out the drive setting on the Fulltone accidentally got nudged to max but I didn't see it at the time.
Then by about the 4th song I still had not recovered from the setup and I was starting to feel faint. I needed to just sit down and cool down and relax and catch my breath. But no---it was time for my lead solo on Comfortably Numb. I hit that critical first note but got something like nails on the blackboard. Totally off.
Later realized going from hot car to cold outside to hot inside the bar you need to let it settle in for a few minutes. It was the 'neck humidity thing' I let slide. Basically just before we started I forgot to adjust the tuning one last time.
As the night progressed the lack of rehearsal showed. The first 5 songs were okay but when we got to the end of the song list with the 'add ons' it become clear maybe we should have worked out the changes. You can tell the band threw it together at the last minute by the way the end the song. It's not crisp. It's just a kind of mess that trails off.
So the lessons:
a.) No more gigs without some minimal rest between set up and playing. If it's that important then hire a roadie.
b.) Gotta have a strategy for a minimal sound check. Even if it's 3 minutes. It can't be zero. Before the first song yank those strings and tune up again. Then do it after the first song again.
c.) If you naturally run hot body temp then do not leave home without a dedicated floor fan. It's as important as a guitar and amp.
d.) Don't play a song for the first time on stage at a paying gig. If you care enough then rehearse the damn thing at least once.
It proves the point. It's not enough to know your songs and be able to play. You gotta be able to deliver reliably in a live setting too. Playing out live is a learned skill just like actually learning your instrument.
I"m sure I will come up with others.
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Post by Vibroluxer on Feb 2, 2020 15:19:36 GMT -5
Some good learning, thanks for teaching.
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Post by rickyguitar on Feb 2, 2020 22:18:21 GMT -5
It will get better.
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Feb 3, 2020 13:03:02 GMT -5
I just went through something kind of similar. We had a gig scheduled, and had a guitar player quit a few weeks before the gig. We found another guitar player right away, a good one, he and I get along great. We had a few practices but still, we weren't really "ready" and there were about 10 to 15 songs added in the last couple of weeks, some that we only practiced once.
We got really good crowd response, and the owner was pleased at the end of the night. But I sure wasn't, I walked out feeling embarrassed and thinking I was the only one that even tried to come prepared. I had 35 chord charts that I loaded into my iPad a couple days before the gig, after purchasing Onsong, which is great software. Everyone else was going by memory and/or winging it. A lot of the songs were 3 or 4 chord country songs, but if you don't know where the chord changes occur, there's still a lot of room for error. And having an older drummer that can't remember what beat to use in any given song.....
I think we're lucky we didn't get booed out of the place.
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Post by larryguitar54 on Feb 3, 2020 19:14:44 GMT -5
Thinking on it I realize we are our worst critics. I truly care about what I do and when I perform I don't want to 'half ass' it. I"m resolved to soldiering on and making it better the next time.
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mikem
Wholenote
Musician soundman musician soundman
Posts: 233
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Post by mikem on Feb 4, 2020 9:24:09 GMT -5
As mentioned above most of the time we are our own worst critics (I am, so sure).
Maybe I'm of a different breed but I do not want to hear cover songs played note-for-note....
In December I quit a band that started out as "let's take covers and make them our own" but soon turned into a "band-of-copiers"; guitarist / bassist / drummer learning tunes by rote, "it goes this way, like the recording..." zero creativity....
Some of your songs may not have gone well in your opinion but may have been taken in a better direction...have you thought about that?
A live performance taking a curve is cool as long as a band does-not-panic while doing so and ends together.
(Nothing is worse than seeing a band end a tune and immediately start muttering about while shaking/hanging their heads on stage - total gig-kill in my book.)
If I want to hear a song note-for-note I'll listen online.
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Post by mikecito on Feb 4, 2020 20:29:50 GMT -5
It's tough to be the quality control guy in the band, but it will get better. Try to make your first song more of an easy jam so everyone can get the tones levels dialed in a bit. Give yourself a couple bars of wank time to check your drive pedals/channel. You can tell the audience this is your new hit single called "Sound Check" and try to get them engaged. Usually they want you to sound good and might help you with setting levels. You get a bit of grace time to do this, but then come out swinging with something tight. Remember that you can think your sound is totally garbage and you can sound great out front. Just happened to me last weekend. I was convinced our sound sucked (this is a seasoned band) and many of our trusted ears out there said it was one of our best sounding shows. It's a journey...
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jdawg
Wholenote
Posts: 152
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Post by jdawg on Feb 5, 2020 13:09:34 GMT -5
To those that try and get the song to sound just like the record, good luck. I like to watch live performances on you tube and even the original artist most often has quite a bit of difference between the live version of a song and the studio version. Sometimes there is a riff or part of a song that isn't played in the live version and it will take away from the song. So we try and give a good representation with our performance of a song and play some of the signature parts but it is never the same as the original recording.
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Post by Vibroluxer on Feb 5, 2020 14:45:52 GMT -5
"To those that try and get the song to sound just like the record, good luck"
The only band I'm aware of, and that isn't saying much, is Skynyrd. Van Zant was addament the band could go note for note.
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Post by larryguitar54 on Feb 5, 2020 15:55:43 GMT -5
It isn't like it was my first gig. So generally I know better. But I still get miffed when I know we weren't 'on'. But it's all good. I'm back at it.
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Juice N
Quarternote
I’m just a dude, playing a dude, pretending to be some other dude
Posts: 27
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Post by Juice N on Feb 6, 2020 9:34:53 GMT -5
I feel your pain Larry. There’s nothing I hate more than having to do a rushed setup and then have to start playing immediately. I played an Octoberfest event a few years ago that we only had 30 minutes between bands for the previous band to tear down and for us to set up. I literally went from plugging in my guitar, and striking the first chord of our set when our time to start hit. No time to do anything to make sure everything was correct. Obviously the person that set the schedule had no clue about how long it takes to set up and tear down. I damn sure let them know after.
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Post by hushnel on Feb 6, 2020 17:59:32 GMT -5
Yeah, we’ve all been there. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s all on me. If I can be calm and nail my bass lines with confidence and authority the other players fall in line. When we near the end of the tune I lock in with the Drummer. If we nail the ending, it just works, the guitar and other sides are aware when the rhythm section drops out. Then manage a fair end, no one is paying that close of attention, unless they are musicians.
Played with this really talented guitarist song writer who never had his leads timed out, the drummer and I knew he would stop mid measure and we’d have to catch him. We got so good at it that he thought he was nailing it “o)
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Post by WireDog on May 4, 2021 23:12:01 GMT -5
I had almost the exact same thing happen this weekend. It was my first time playing out in many years. My jam buddies and I got a chance to warm up a party for a popular local band. We were to use their equipment, and they would be there to help us with our sound so that we wouldn't mess with their rather complex rigs.
But they weren't there; just their gear was set up. None of us felt comfortable turning on their gear, plus we'd agreed not to. Twenty minutes before show-time, they returned. There were some glitches, and no actual sound check took place. We just had to go with whatever tone we happened to have.
Tuning became an issue for me, as my clip-on was unreadable in the direct sunlight. The temperature cooled off and within three songs we sounded like a bunch of cats having a freak-fest out in the wood-line. There are two other guitarists, BTW, and we were all off some. I finally had to stop playing and seek some shade in which to see my LED lights, barely getting tuned up in time for my one and only solo.
Today I bought a nice pedal tuner with an ultra bright LED. Never again will I let that happen.
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Post by Larry Madsen on May 5, 2021 10:03:03 GMT -5
Thinking on it I realize we are our worst critics. I truly care about what I do and when I perform I don't want to 'half ass' it I don't play live, but I do other things live. Nothing easy about working (without a net) among folks who don't know or care how screwed up they might be. With that said, I learned long ago to never expect perfection ... however, I do expect excellence as a reasonable goal. |
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on May 5, 2021 19:59:04 GMT -5
We've all been there.
More than once.
Here's the good news about a situation like that: you learn way more from a 90-minute trainwreck gig than you do from 10 good band practices.
Take-aways--in addition to your observations:
1. Stay hydrated.
2. Use a dolly to move gear. Collapsible/fold-up dollies that can carry 300 lbs are available and inexpensive. Carrying gear will drain you of energy.
3. Mark all the settings on your floor and rack effects with a dot of white paint. Before the first count-in, a quick scan will tell you whether any of the controls are out of range.
Break a leg on the next gig!
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Post by hushnel on May 14, 2021 11:33:58 GMT -5
I had a bad night a few years back. I guy I’ve known for years in south Florida played in a band that often booked at the same venues we coved. He’s also a bass player. He now lives up here in north central Florida.
He shows up in my front door freaking out a bit. He begged me to take a gig that evening. He had committed to cover for a bassist that couldn’t make it. I initially told him no, that I prefer more lead time. He was a mess, but not my problem. Yeah, I’ve known him a long time, we’ve always been friendly with each other. The tunes his band played in south Florida I would never consider adding to our sets. Still he was a wreck. I told him get the guy on the phone.
I spoke with the guy and knew my friend was out of his league, he gave me a quick run down example of his sets. The guy sounded pretty confident, it would be a challenge I could handle, so I agreed. I did have a problem with about 4 of his tunes due to an unfamiliar time signature. The first one, I was off a few times, we spoke quickly about the problem before the next tune. I told him I didn’t get the timing, he told me they had about 6 tunes in the list with the same timing. I told him I wasn’t getting the changes, if I could see his fingers on the guitar I’d be OK. So we he did and I stumbled once or twice but I know how to cover that without the whole train wreck thing.
I pulled it off, got compliments from the audience at the breaks and end of the night. The keyboard and dummer both thought it went well, the keyboard asked me for my number that he would gladly use me again. Even the guitar player warmed up to me and paid me an equal share.
This was a couple of years before I spent that week with Victor Wooten and friends. I can’t recall the time signature but it wouldn’t hurt to get more familiar with uncommon timings.
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Post by larryguitar54 on May 17, 2021 16:40:35 GMT -5
I learned a few things from my mistakes which I applied to recent gigs.
a.) Recently acquired a pickup truck. I keep a loaded bin on the truck at all times with Power box, fan, cables, mic stands, amp stand stool (even a change of clothes) etc. I even left a spare bare bones pedalboard on the truck. All I have to do is remember a guitar and amp.
b.) Last gig I set my stuff up at noon for a 6:30 gig so I had time to go back home and take a quick nap.
c.) The bar stool and fan was a life saver. I found that all I needed was the ability to rest on the stool for 2 minutes every three songs and I was good to go.
d.) I've run into the problem of timing the changes. For some reason--maybe it's the venue or maybe it's me--but for the life of me I cannot hear the changes. I can't hear the modulation. It all sounds like a wall of noise to me and I"m walking around in the dark. It's especially a problem when it's two guitars and I'm the lead guitar. I was in a 7 piece once and I just won't do that again. If I had my way I would stick to a power trio and maybe a dedicated lead singer.
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