dmpoole's tips for new gigging bands

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

Man of Honour
Joined
29 Mar 2003
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Location
Stoke on Trent
1 - Please tune up before you go on the stage.
1b - If possible, all use the same tuner because believe it or not there can be differences.

2 - You are now out of the garage and there is an audience in front of you so face the audience, don't keep looking at each other and try to ENJOY yourselves.
There is nothing worse than watching a band going through the motions.

3 - Be quiet between songs. If somebody is talking to the audience then shut up.

4 - If a song is introduced then don't decide for fun to play another riff by the same band confusing the rest of the members who then try to follow in a fashion
eg We're going to play a Deep Purple song > guitarist decides to play the riff to Smoke On The Water > drummer tries to follow > bass player twiddles > dirty looks all around > no, this is Black Night > the proper song now starts.

5 - When the song finishes then be quiet. Do not go into another riff by the same band confusing your own band and confusing the audience who don't know whats going on.
5b - When the song finishes do not tune your guitar immediately when the song as just finished
eg the song crashes to an end and the guitarist goes - de de de de de de (going from high E to low E)

6 - Dry vocals sound awful and too much reverb sounds awful - find a happy medium

7 - Don't ask friends or family if your band is any good. Find some old muso who will be honest with you.

8 - Keep your instruments down to a minimum. Again theres nothing worse than a guitarist who spends 2 mins between songs changing guitars.

9 - If you have a roadie/soundsman then check his hearing out when watching other bands

Feel free to add more.
 
dmpoole said:
2 - You are now out of the garage and there is an audience in front of you so face the audience, don't keep looking at each other and try to ENJOY yourselves.
There is nothing worse than watching a band going through the motions.
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Very good point, been to a few of my friends gigs where other local bands have been playing, and when a couple of the other bands have been playing it's like they have no confidence because they sign with their back to the audience! :confused:

What do you mean by dry vocals and reverb?
 
10- Don't get too drunk or high, especially if you're the frontman, from what I've seen they always ending up looking mighty smug or pulling sex faces when they make a bend on the guitar. :rolleyes:

11- Rehearse as much beforehand, and have the setlist layed out clearly in your mind before the gig, there's nothing more annoying then someone forgetting lyrics or a solo, let alone what song comes next.

12- Never make excuses or explain your mistakes to the audience, just try your hardest to make it not look like an intentional mistake.
 
$loth said:
What do you mean by dry vocals and reverb?
Click to expand...

Go and watch any 'top' band and a touch of reverb is added to the vocal.
A dry vocal is one without reverb and can sound awful but too much can also sound awful.
Elvisfan started a thread about this a couple of weeks ago.
 
Chet Atkins always used to love reverb, as he said it made you sound good. :p

When Tommy was recording his album with Chet, he was in the booth and Chet asked him, "would you like some talent on that?". I'll always remember that. :p

*Goes off to buy expensive reverb unit*
 
13. If you're playing in the local, don't get big ideas and start posturing around like you're in a stadium. Ever.

14. Respect your audience. If some slightly over-enthusiastic chap comes up to you at the end and pays you compliments then try to be gracious, however annoying he might be. Politeness costs nothing and I hate it when people are arrogant and have the 'whatever mate, you don't know what you're talking about' attitude to the people who effectively pay to listen to them ;)

15. Even if a song is going fantastically well, don't drag it out. Listeners tend to bore more easily than players; an epic 30-minute jazz exploration might be hilarious to play but dull as anything to listen to.

16. At the same time, don't rely on over-rehearsed tracks that everyone's heard before to pad out a set. Take a few chances, and try to play something new at least every now and then to keep things from getting stale. Quite often they can end up being the best songs of the night :)

dmpoole has a fair whack more experience than I do (or most, really!) so I'll stop there :)

arty
 
dmpoole said:
I wouldn't get paid.
A landlady on friday night was trying to get our pay down because we were only going to do 90 minutes.
Click to expand...

Didn't we establish last time that covers bands are a law unto themselves?

*n
 
dmpoole said:
Go and watch any 'top' band and a touch of reverb is added to the vocal.
A dry vocal is one without reverb and can sound awful but too much can also sound awful.
Elvisfan started a thread about this a couple of weeks ago.
Click to expand...
This really annoys me. But I can never, even in practice, figure out the desk to put reverb on the vox. ****es me off, frankly.
 
17) Don't trust the band's minder to not start a fight with your lead singer and end up getting the gig cancelled ;)

18) Leave the band immediately when your lead singer turns up late, and dressed in a studded purple cod-piece.

19) If you must "fraternise" with two female audience members after a gig, don't be surprised if, and in accordance with Sod's law, you bump into them the very next day when you're out shopping with your girlfriend.

20) Don't let the bass guitarist set his own levels EVER!
 
ElvisFan said:
You've no business gigging TBH. :)
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Just cause I can't figure it out, doesn't mean other members of my band can't. I don't like clean vox either. A touch of reverb is nice.
 
21) The drums, bass and rhythm guitar should be viewed as a single entity. If they work together as they should, that's what gives a "tight" sound, so it's most important for any practice session, for them to get it right with each other before adding in the lead/vocals/keyboard, etc.
 
I go to watch a lot of local bands and nearly every point mentioned above comes up again and again. There is one local band I go to watch who are an absolute pleasure because of their professionalism on stage.
They tune up from the same tuner ten minutes before they go on.
Two mins before they go on the singer stands halfway in the audience with a decibel meter and checks each instruments levels are the same.
They kick in and when the song stops it stops.
The other four band members listen closely because they don't have a setlist and whatever the singer shouts out they play but once again there have been no noises between songs. This goes on for the whole set.
There are no guitar changes and because the guitars are so well setup they never go out of tune.
From the minute they start to the minute they end they look as though they've enjoyed every second which makes a big difference to me because if they enjoy it I can enjoy it more.
Every band member will spend time with the biggest plebs in the pub and of course they have to put up with members of Creme Broulaille (in joke).
It really does sadden me when I go to watch bands and they act as though they're in their rehearsal room.
 
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