Bad Gigs. What works for you?

[seismetr0n]

i think venue choice is the main consideration... the key is to network.. go to see as many shows as you can with bands that play similiar styles.... try to meet these people .. hopefully youll all get along and you can get shows with them at good venues in the future.. .. then this spreads across the state, then accross the country, etc..
thats how it works for me pretty much.. took about 2 years to get well connected in a multistate area... then the shows get better and better.. then your drummer almost ODs on heroin twice and moves far away and the band dies..

i personally cant see myself playing covers to satisify the audience, but i dont make my living playing out, i have a day job which leaves time for shows a couple nights a week.

do you really have a "performance coach"?

[demensia]

do you really have a "performance coach"?

Yes.

[Nick The Man]

My current band is the best one I've ever been in. All performances are more like jam sessions in that there's a lot of improvisation, so even for us as the players, it's always new and it jazzes you. And that always seems to come accross to the audience as well. If YOU are having fun, the audience can tell and it's infectuous. It's when you're going through the motions and just regurgitate cover tunes (like learning to order two beers in Spanish, it don't make you bi-lingual) that things get boring all the way around.

woo just read that over and over

[seismetr0n]

so you pay this "performance coach"? and he/she tells you how to perform better?

[demensia]

We barter.

He gives an objective view that friends and family can't provide.
He critiques my performances.. and points me in the right direction. Simple things usually.. Bow after the performance. I'd never have noticed that almost all professionals bow after the performance.

Performance is a skill like any other.. It has to be learned.
And even though it can be learned on ones own... A coach never hurt.

[Lt. Bob]

play covers how ever you wish. Change them up nightly and stretch your chops out.
people only care if they hear the hook line ..... period.

Half the time when they request a song and you play it they don't even notice. They just don't listen that closely ...... as long as they hear the hook lines whether it's the vocal chorus line or a particular ninstrumental hook so they recognise the song .... that's all you need to do. I don't mind playing covers and I do more cover band gigs than just about anyone and what keeps me happy and fresh is having rides in every song and playing them however the hell I want. Playing 5 and 6 gigs a week ... every week .... is pretty good substantiation of my opinion that they just want to hear that hook line 'cause that's all I give 'em and I turn down work that I can't get to.
I do make my living this way so it's working well.



And bowing after a performance? ..... hmmmm ..... certainly on a big stage but in a bar setting where half the people are mainly looking to hook up? .... I don't know. To me, those are the kinds of things that look silly. Like a band playing a small neighborhood bar for 30 people and bringing smoke pots and wind machines and such ...... just sort of silly when you have an audience that's wanting you to play more Jimmy Buffet.

[SHEPPARDB.]

Fact is, I believe the coach is right. Drunk people want to slobber some words to hotel california... and other songs they know.. I don't take his advice, I don't play the covers, and I don't connect with the bar gig audience...

The gigs pay, some well, some poorly. I try to think of it as a paid rehersal, sometimes I leave in higher sprits than others, but certainly not satisfied.

I play covers, but I chose obscure covers.. the ones that nobody knows. My entire set is pretty depressing as well.. I don't generally play anything uplifting.

What are some of the songs that you guys play that the drunk bar audience dig?

IMO when a bar owner hires you to play his club,he is paying you to entertain
the patrons of his establishment,not your self.If you are doing mostly original
and a few obscure covers,you are gonna have trouble reaching people.You
should take the advice of your coach,win them over with stuff they know,
then introduce them to some of your original stuff.
Learn some John Prine.All drunks love Prine.

[demensia]

Learn some John Prine.All drunks love Prine.

I'll check that out. Thanks.

[Zaphod B]

It all comes down to what the audience (and the bar owner) expects, and giving it to them. After all, they are paying you for a product, and that product should meet expectations.

If the bands that have been booking at some bar for years are playing covers, then the audience is going to expect covers. And not just any covers - you don't want to go in playing death metal in some place where people expect emo. So it's a good idea to find out before you play what kind of music they like.

OTOH, if it's the kind of place that has a wide variety of entertainment, or better, the patrons actually like original music, then the door is wide open.

One other thing. I have played at gigs where the audience was completely unresponsive, and then during breaks or after the gig is over, several people would come up to me privately to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Some audiences just don't reward you with feedback of any sort, so it's really hard to tell how you're doing. In that case, ask the bar owner or manager if drink sales were on par - at least you'll know whether or not you were running people off.

[cephus]

When you die at a gig, you're not really dead unless you look like it.

I am blessed for having a low threshhold of "fun", but I really do think people respond best if you look like you're having a ball. We have had great gigs at the fricking moose lodge playing to 10 backs at the bar. People always comment on "you guys look like oure having so much fun up there."

I play covers like I was handed a chart with the chords and lyrics.