for many of us there is little else more satisfying than entertaining a crowd and touching them with our art. tell us about your best moments on stage and what made them so fantastic.
I've got my first ever gig in 2 days. found out that I'm getting $20 for it. i offered to play for free. :sunglasse I played twice at these open mic nites 600 miles from where I am now, but they didnt go too well, the mics were rather shitty.
They're all the best. Except for maybe the time the tide came in and washed half the stage into the Gulf of Mexico. Well... come to think of it, even that was pretty cool.
Last fall, I was playing with a southern rock band (Our old neighbor's daughter's husband was the drummer) in this little community center in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and I blew the speakers in an amp and started playing through the other guy's backup Mesa/Boogie. I ended up leaving because the place was a shithole and my amp speakers were gone... found out the next morning that everyone got drunk on jello shooters and the cops had to make them leave because of noise complaints. Atop that, some redneck hunters crashed the party (It was my mom's friend's birthday party... and she just happened to be the niece of our neighbor) and tried to steal all of the beer.
Ive had some really nice gig experiences, most all of the ones I have done have been positive. One of my faves was being paid a nice sum to take a dive at a battle of the bands. If you know you arent going to win, theres nothing holding the band back! Was on the lake and great pro sound, big crowd, and only one set. Another fave gig was a Diwali Festival that gave me the chance to perform on sitar. My first with a good tabla player, and it helped my sitar teacher when she organized a festival here in our community. Another great gig was a trip to texas to do a 60s theme party with santana and hendrix tribute bands for halloween. We did a batch of Janis/BigBrother, and everyone there was really into the hippie sounds of the night, and was a blast from start to finish. Overall my best gigs have been ones that have good sound, and at least a few people for an audience. Having a full house always helps the energy of those onstage.
the times you can get your audience all on the same wavelength, thinking the same thoughts... thats what i try to do.
I've only done one gig....but the best part was when I looked at my friend in the audience for some feed-back and he gave me a thumbs up & smile...and I could tell he meant it.
My favorite memory was in the mid nineties,we were getting good and got an opening slot for this up and coming band Brainiac on the Touch and Go label. The show was sold out and I just remember being overtaken by this vibrant energy, getting lost in it, and looking out and seeing people packed up to the stage getting into it...what a high that is when everything works out. But I've liked at least 2/3 of the shows I've played...I always felt really let down afterwards if we didn't play well.
I recall the very first gig I ever did, we had a local bar that was willing to let us play our Sabbath and Misfits cover songs. It was a great night, and in our third song a barmaid dropped a napkin at my feet. I STOPPED the band in the middle of the song, and made this announcement: "Ladies and Gents, we have just gotten our very first request! It says ....... 'Turn it down, people are leaving'". We jumped right into an impromptu riff, and created the "people are leaving" song right there onstage. We all found it hilarious, and I still think of that at times.
i cant choose a gig because each one of them is amazing and truly spectactular each time because ur giving the crowd a piece of ur soul u know
true, they are all different experiences in their own. There are some similarities that run across the board... usually in the form of the guy who wants to talk your ear off about something. One fella gave me his whole medical history while we were breaking down the gear. I commented on it to my guitar mentor later, who laughed and said "yeah, man, theres a plate-head in every crowd!" that bit of advice sticks with me to this day
Venue: Live From La mer (one): 1.17.03 -- Attendance: 126 Band: "Good Times" *Myles: Guitar and loops *Steve: Bass *Dave: Drums This was one of the greatest days of my life. We set up on the second floor balcony of the house, looking down to a pool and hot-tub full of people. The keg had just arrived and people were starting to get loose. We started are first set at sunset, so we could play our mellow day time tunes to the setting of the sun. During out reggae-tune "rock tumbler", our other friend Dave, came onstage to do a "drums-jam" with us....so we slowed it down, and I kicked out some killer loops and at the same time, a siren from a distant Ambulance was in peferct beat with the jam...unknown to us at the time, but heard later in the recording, it was just one of those "magic" moments. When the sun went down the place started to get packed. The crowd of 30 jumped to 60. By 9pm the crowd was topping 100 people. By the time we finished there were 126 in attendance, and they loved it! When the second set fisnished, we had gone through all our material and had even repeated a few jams just cause we in the mood. But the crowd wanted more. They were clapping and cheering. I had never had a crowd that excited about the music. And as we walk of the balcony a big group of guys, start cheering "MORE! MORE! MORE!"...I was higher than I had ever been, and it was all from cheering and applause...it was crazy...So I look to the rest of the band, my bass player wearing this big goofy hat, my drummer tweeking out on life, and i'm like "what do we do?"...my bass player replies "lets just jam"....so we go back out, start up this mellow, arabian jam and just start to move with it....but as it builds and the beat tightens up, I start to play this funk line, that just explodes into this mean jam that went on for 25 minutes....the crowd was freaking out, dancing like madmen, thrashing around...we started to do these "short-stops" that went right back into the jam, and in the "short-stop" i yelled "WE ARE GOOD TIMES!".....and "ENJOY YOUR NIGHT!"....(which is we the title came from when we named it)....then BOOM! we finished her out and walked off the stage, to just insane applause, so beautiful....and unkown to us at the time, the cops were at the door argueing with the owner of the house as we closed out the song....perfect timing....
