First gig advice

ShriekingSheet

Hi all, I haven't been on in aaages due to change of job and college too.

Anyway, our band our playin' our first gig next month and just wondering if you more experienced fellows had any advice or help with how to avoid the most likely things to go wrong! We're playing in Crawdaddy, apparently it has a decent stage set-up.

Doctor J - did you find a drummer in the end??

Fusion251

Things only really go wrong if you havn't practiced enough. Make sure ya got your set tight and written down preferably. NEVER stop during a tune. If you are/have a singer make sure the mic is set up well, nothin worse then not hearing the singer properly, oh and make sure your set up is right so you can all hear each other clearly...an of course last but not least get the crowd on yer side!! Play something EVERYONE will know to get some attention

Doctor J

What Fusion said... though I would rather blow people away with original music than a cover. Be prepared, be very prepared to the point of being anal. Your drummer is the boss, he/she is everyone's point of reference for the start and end of the song. You can get away with wrong bit on every other instrument but if your drummer stops playing cos he thinks it's the bridge and you all go into the chorus and the song grinds to a halt... it's not a nice position to be in. Try to keep eye contact frequently, especially around any big changes and always before a song starts, make sure everybody is ready to go before every song. You'll be nervous so make sure you put on new strings and tune your guitars well, try and eliminate as much that can go wrong as possible before the gig, - ie replace pedal batteries and get rid of any dodgy leads, etc. Guitarists - WRAP YOUR LEAD AROUND THE STRAP BEFORE YOU PLUG IT INTO THE GUITAR! It's embarassing to see how many songs are ruined by some simpleton with a crackly lead or worse still, standing on the lead and pulling it out of the guitar. Oh, and straps that come off, get stap locks or tape the ****ers on. Make sure your strap button is secure in the guitar. Things will go wrong that are out of your control, so ensure everything you can control goes right. Spend as much time in the soundcheck getting things how you want to hear them. The soundcheck is for you to get things right on stage, more so than the sound engineer to get FOH sound, he can adjust things at his own behest later. Get your stuff sorted, top priority. PLay your loudest and quietest parts. If you're not happy with something, politely ask the sound engineer to adjust to your liking. Don't play a full song, it's a total waste of time. Play half a verse or half a chorus, you should know what needs to be changed in that time. Playing full songs is ****ing pointless in a soundcheck. Don't arrive on stage and stare blankly at each other "What will we play?" at the soundcheck, you will piss off the sound engineer which is a bad thing to do. Help your drummer with his gear onto that stage first, the drums will take the longest time to set up, so help him wherever possible. Know what tone you want and get it asap. Don't turn your amp up too loud, you will just make it harder to hear everything else on stage and out front. If you can bring a spare guitar but make sure your primary guitar stays in tune once in tune and it better be in tune before go onstage. introduce yourself to the sound engineer and explain the setup of your band and what you want onstage. Watch what goes wrong for the other bands on the bill and learn from it. Try not to look like you're sad or emotionless playing your music. If you're sad to play it, why the **** should anyone be happy to listen to it? Get into it, if your music isn't good enough to move the people who wrote it then it shouldn't be played in public.

Rule number 1 though, playing music is ****ing great. Enjoy it.

Oh, as for the drummer thing, thanks for asking, we're still looking

Buddhapadge

Try and make sure you have spares of anything that can break. Strings, straps, cables, fuses, sticks, maybe even spare guitars if you have more than one you can use. I've seriously seen every one of these things break at one stage. If you have the money, Boss also make a great foot pedal-style chromatic tuner - they're built like tanks and they're very accurate, so it's a good investment for any guitar player. I hear the Crawdaddy is a great place to play though, so as long as you's are tight there shouldn't be any worries. So just relax and have fun.

ShriekingSheet

Much thanks guys, this thread will be printed out as my point of reference and I will be promptly hounding my band Monica Geller style (how rock 'n roll!) to have everything in it's right place!

I'm unbelievably looking forward to it! I'm doin a solo thing on a ucd open mic night just to have a practice run at puttin myself under a bit of pressure to perform!

I'll keep yis posted!

Doctor J - Man that sucks! It's been aaaages! Man I could've learned drums and joined yis in that space of time

Mr. CooL ICE

Spare instruments is important. At our first proper gig (we played a school and youth centre for 30/40 people at a time) in a pub, ten mins before we went on, my only bass, complete with new strings and my pedal had new batteries... The jack input went. The wiring just went for some reason, and i couldnt borrow a bass from another band becaude we were the only ones playing that night, but luckily, someone found one in a rehearsal room nearby.

About strings, its a good idea to not put new strings in that day, but rather the day before or before that even, just so the bridge and strings can settle. Very important if you want the tuning to stay tight

masto1983

Doctor J wrote:

Guitarists - WRAP YOUR LEAD AROUND THE STRAP BEFORE YOU PLUG IT INTO THE GUITAR! ..... standing on the lead and pulling it out of the guitar.

This has happened to me alright, was during the soundcheck and the place was pretty empty so no-one noticed except the sound engineer, who had a great laugh to himself.

Doctor J wrote:

Make sure your strap button is secure in the guitar.

Yep, this happended to me too, I just got the loan of the guitar for the gig and in the middle of a solo out pops the button and off flies the strap. I had to lay on the ground to finish the song, trying to pretend it was all part of the show!

Doctor J wrote:

Rule number 1 though, playing music is ****ing great. Enjoy it.

True, It is ****ing great!!!

Doctor J

LordChessington wrote:

About strings, its a good idea to not put new strings in that day, but rather the day before or before that even, just so the bridge and strings can settle. Very important if you want the tuning to stay tight

Nah, if you put the strings on correctly and stretch them (also removes any slack behind the nut and around the tuners) you can play a 2 hour gig 5 minutes after putting on new strings and not go out of tune... or a four hour rehearsal, as was the case last time. Most people just don't know how to put strings on properly, there's more of a proper technique to it than you think.

NeMiSiS

Right I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to this, I brought a spare pair of socks to out last gig, because it was raining outside..and I figured I would'nt want to be on stage with wet feet..it would be annoying like. I explained this to my drummer and he had done the exact same thing.. anayways !

What everyone else has said; But from a guitarist point of view, this is what I do.

Change my strings the day before, more so because I know I won't have time to be arsing around on the day of the gig, clean your guitar, get all the dirt and **** off it while the strings are off. And make sure your guitar is in good working order, along with your leads, pedals , and anything else that is going to be attached to your guitar.

Have new batteries for any pedals you use, do not rely on there being a plug on stage where you can power up any of your pedals. I'd also invest in decent quality leads to be honest, if you have one of those piece of **** nameless black leads.. that look like they have been thrown together by a badly trained hippo,bin it, get Planet Waves.

Know where the gig is as in.. have a definate idea of it's location, how long its gonna take to get there ,and get there early. If you can,get one of your band there earlier than the rest of you if possible, in case someone gets lost or delayed, its allways good to have a representitive of the band there in case **** arises with promoters etc, like running order, problems with the backline.#

When you do eventully get there, find out what time you are on, what time doors are etc. Also get to know the other bands playing the gig, if they are unresponsive ignorant ****eads they aint worth knowing, but if they aint it's your chance to get to know new musicians, and if you don't have a back up guitar or have forgotten any equipment, another band willing to help you out could be your saviour. I once ordered a taxi to pick up my guitar for a guy who had just broke a heap of strings on his guitar and forgot to bring spares..

Now its time to soundcheck! Before you get up on stage have your instruments tuned, sound engineers aint too fond of people who get up and start tuning, tune again right before you go on stage, then tune on the fly during the gig..muted of course. Ok have an idea of where everybody is going to be on stage, you gonna be left or right of the drummer basically, do you need to face towards Meca or any crazy crap like that ? Tell the Engineer what you would like on vocals etc stuff like reverb. Play a predetermined song, not all of it, you wont need to. What you are listening for is, can you here yourself through the monitors, can you hear everyone else, can everyone else hear you, do you need more drums bass whatever through your monitor?

Have your setlist sorted, running order etc. Go over any parts anyone aint sure of. Then go get yourself a pint. Relax, wish any of the others bands good luck. Don't get locked.. and respect any other bands equipment that might be up on stage.. but if its in the way get them to move it.

Get up there and rock the **** out.

My hangover is really starting to kick in so I'm gonna leave it at that.

Tom

daram

Never ever play anymore than one song during sound check unless something is seriously wrong. My pet hate is when bands play a string of about six or seven ****e songs for their soundcheck. It's seriously depressing and makes you no friends.

superconor

Ok. I would advise having a whiskey or whatever while you setting up, then get a red bull just before you go on and take it up with you and sip between songs.

Drummers, bring
- Towel
- Sticks
- Drum Key
- wrist bands (the fabricy ones, everyone wears them)
- head band

I wear a white tee shirt when im playing but take it off sometimes half way through, white shirts are better IMHO.

In the last minutes before you go on, STRETCH. Arms, legs, back. Repeat.

Hug a man.
Hug a woman.

Rock.

NeMiSiS

My x used to give me a blowjob before I went on, then **** the brains out of me afterwerds.. God Bless That Girl.

Tom

feylya

NeMiSiS wrote:

My x used to give me a blowjob before I went on, then **** the brains out of me afterwerds..

She used to do that for me too

Seriously, have fun playing. There is nothing worse than seeing a bored band playing on stage. Move around a bit. Go and stand beside the other members of the band but just have a laugh.