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Post by DonaldDemon on Jan 30, 2006 10:30:42 GMT -5
Well...The big gig went down the tubes real fast. When I got there I was informed that there will be no sound check because of time limits; BAD idea.
People who we gave tickets to never showed so instead of getting paid for the $780 we made them, we owed them about $80. That's thanks to all my great friends who couldn't show up or make it on time. So even though we sold 78 tickets we ate it.
As for the sound thing, well, I'm pretty sure it couldn't have been much worse. The first song starts with just bass and drums and then I come in. Well, when I started playing I realized my amp was blazing loud behind me and I couldn't hear one d*mn thing in the monitors. The first song sounded HORRIBLE because I wasn't even playing in time with the drums. I kept signaling to the sound guy and after 3 songs I could finally hear the kick drum, that's it. No bass, snare, cymbals, vocals, etc. I played the songs along to the kick drum, not good.
I learned one important lesson: No matter how big the stage is STAY TOGETHER! Man, I was like 50 yard away from the drums and bass which id why I probably couldn't hear jack! I should have set my amp on their side of the stage regardless of the "order of the backline". Won't be making that mistake again.
I doubt we'll ever get a show there again. Not only did we have a rough start but we totally did not fit the bill. The "Unity Festival" was anything but unified or diverse. All screaming drop F flat whatever metal. I was the only one out of 10 bands to play a guitar solo!!! I did have a few randoms come up and say they liked it but I think they were just being polite. We did pull it together for a few songs but overall it was bad.
So the past few days I have been in a funk wondering why I even bother to play. We spend so much time and energy practicing and we seemed plauged by fate to have something go wrong EVERY important show. On top of that, no one wants to hear anything besides thrash crap metal or whiny girl pants emo. The heavier the bands are or pretend to be the more people think they "rock". Sad sad sad.
_End of rant (back to dead end job that pays like crap)
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Jan 30, 2006 10:38:25 GMT -5
Dude don't sweat it. I could tell you some stories about nightmare gigs. It happens to everyone.. EVERYONE at some time or another.
Don't let it discourage you or say things like you wanna quit playing. Remember why you play, its not for the emo girls and the nu-metal kids who will latch on to whatever style is popular tomorrow..
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Post by shreder75 on Jan 30, 2006 10:39:23 GMT -5
yikes man..you ARE in a funk...I am to (for different reasons) so I can kinda relate...
that totally blows...I can't beleive you OWED THEM money..what a f'ing crock! and it sounds to me like the sound guys (who SHOULD know what the hell they're doing at a venue like that) didn't know jack..
man, that sucks...TOTALLY sucks...nothing like a bad show to dampen your spirits...I feel for ya, brother...
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Post by shreder75 on Jan 30, 2006 10:40:15 GMT -5
Dude don't sweat it. I could tell you some stories about nightmare gigs. It happens to everyone.. EVERYONE at some time or another. Don't let it discourage you or say things like you wanna quit playing. Remember why you play, its not for the emo girls and the nu-metal kids who will latch on to whatever style is popular tomorrow.. exactly..play for you, not other people...remember, we're our own worst critics..if you can please yourself, nine times outta ten, the rest will fall in line.. |
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Post by Hacksaw on Jan 30, 2006 10:43:02 GMT -5
I feel your pain, as the others here, I sure they do too. bad thing, it happens to all of us! the good thing? you know how to fix it next time :-) it WILL get better.
we had people showing up at the door at one gig saying they where with the band, they got into a fight with the door guys, it just got worse from there. kept blowing fuses for the stage, they replaced the fuse with I dont know what, next thing I know the fire department showed up, as the PA circuit melted the wiring in the attic space. then the bar billed us for damages.
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Post by shreder75 on Jan 30, 2006 10:45:36 GMT -5
I feel your pain, as the others here, I sure they do too. bad thing, it happens to all of us! the good thing? you know how to fix it next time :-) it WILL get better. we had people showing up at the door at one gig saying they where with the band, they got into a fight with the door guys, it just got worse from there. kept blowing fuses for the stage, they replaced the fuse with I dont know what, next thing I know the fire department showed up, as the PA circuit melted the wiring in the attic space. then the bar billed us for damages. cripes..that sounds like when the blues brothers posed as the good ole boys! |
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Post by TJ on Jan 30, 2006 10:46:16 GMT -5
You owed them money??? WTF??? What is going on with the music scene in New Jersey? My goodness! Nightmare gigs will always come and go Don. Don't let it get you down. Sounds like you've already learned from the mistakes you guys made so put it behind you and move forward.
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Jan 30, 2006 10:46:54 GMT -5
hey just recently in December or bass player didn't show up for a big outdoor gig with 4 other bands.. we were screwed, he was broke down on the road and we had to do the gig with our other guitar player playing bass... it was horrible. Yeah it wasn't HOB, but still it sucked big time. We got through it and everytime we hit a clam, we just laughed like we meant to do it,, LMAO.. confidence baby, that will get you through it....
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Post by shreder75 on Jan 30, 2006 10:50:43 GMT -5
tell ya what Don, if you can make my gig on saturday night, I'll buy you a beer =D
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Post by DonaldDemon on Jan 30, 2006 10:53:43 GMT -5
Yeah I know there are just bad nights that are out of your control and beleive me we have had more of them than good nights but I just wish it didn't happen at this gig. I don't know if we'll ever get to play some place as good as that again in my life, especially from a non-trendy band who requires some sort of risk to listen to or even book on a bill with mainstream bands. Its discouraging knowing that the ones w/o the talent and full of schit are the most popular but thats the way its always been I guess. If we had been able to hear each other at all we would have blown those lame bands outta the water.
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Post by DonaldDemon on Jan 30, 2006 10:57:34 GMT -5
You owed them money??? WTF??? What is going on with the music scene in New Jersey? My goodness! Nightmare gigs will always come and go Don. Don't let it get you down. Sounds like you've already learned from the mistakes you guys made so put it behind you and move forward. Yeah pretty coo huh? We made them $780 on just tix sales not including drinks and we were supposed to get $154!!! Well we got nothing and paid extra because the tickets weren't returned in time and weren't all paid for. the strategy was to settle all that right before we went on stage while they were wauting for us to go on, this way we were rushed and got screwed. |
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Post by Hacksaw on Jan 30, 2006 11:19:26 GMT -5
I feel your pain, as the others here, I sure they do too. bad thing, it happens to all of us! the good thing? you know how to fix it next time :-) it WILL get better. we had people showing up at the door at one gig saying they where with the band, they got into a fight with the door guys, it just got worse from there. kept blowing fuses for the stage, they replaced the fuse with I dont know what, next thing I know the fire department showed up, as the PA circuit melted the wiring in the attic space. then the bar billed us for damages. cripes..that sounds like when the blues brothers posed as the good ole boys! LMAO... yes.. and there was a bar up north central Oklahoma Kansas line called the State line. chicken wire, dirt floor. what a dive.. the other guitarist wore a japanese flag shirt, ( the guys only 4'10') red spandex, it was all we could do to keep him from gettin beat up ever 10 minutes.. that was the roughest crowd we ever had , especially for us long haired rockers LMAO.. I still dont know how we ended up with that booking! |
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Post by TJ on Jan 30, 2006 11:27:45 GMT -5
cripes..that sounds like when the blues brothers posed as the good ole boys! LMAO... yes.. and there was a bar up north central Oklahoma Kansas line called the State line. chicken wire, dirt floor. what a dive.. the other guitarist wore a japanese flag shirt, ( the guys only 4'10') red spandex, it was all we could do to keep him from gettin beat up ever 10 minutes.. that was the roughest crowd we ever had , especially for us long haired rockers LMAO.. I still dont know how we ended up with that booking! Hacksaw, We played a gig last year in Tulsa at a place called the "Elephant RUn" Cool place but the crowd was expecting a band that played a bit more reserved type of music. Luckily for us, myself and the bass player used to play in a country band so that got us through the first part of the night w/out any bad tidings. 2nd set a more normal type crowd arrived and the Splawn kicked in. LOL!!! |
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Post by shreder75 on Jan 30, 2006 11:31:17 GMT -5
cripes..that sounds like when the blues brothers posed as the good ole boys! LMAO... yes.. and there was a bar up north central Oklahoma Kansas line called the State line. chicken wire, dirt floor. what a dive.. the other guitarist wore a japanese flag shirt, ( the guys only 4'10') red spandex, it was all we could do to keep him from gettin beat up ever 10 minutes.. that was the roughest crowd we ever had , especially for us long haired rockers LMAO.. I still dont know how we ended up with that booking! oh geez...sounds like that other guitarist had a death wish..lol |
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Post by Hacksaw on Jan 30, 2006 11:33:03 GMT -5
LMAO... yes.. and there was a bar up north central Oklahoma Kansas line called the State line. chicken wire, dirt floor. what a dive.. the other guitarist wore a japanese flag shirt, ( the guys only 4'10') red spandex, it was all we could do to keep him from gettin beat up ever 10 minutes.. that was the roughest crowd we ever had , especially for us long haired rockers LMAO.. I still dont know how we ended up with that booking! Hacksaw, We played a gig last year in Tulsa at a place called the "Elephant RUn" Cool place but the crowd was expecting a band that played a bit more reserved type of music. Luckily for us, myself and the bass player used to play in a country band so that got us through the first part of the night w/out any bad tidings. 2nd set a more normal type crowd arrived and the Splawn kicked in. LOL!!! Know it well, Had our musicians Spot awards party there just a few months ago.. after 10pm the rock crowd get out.. its just that first crowd deal is pretty normal here. LOL congrats on getting Okie'd! Where you located TJ? Where not just good, we're Ramada inn good! LMAO |
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