Bad Gigs. What works for you?

Zaphod B said:
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.
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By the way, I'm not suggesting that anyone needs to lower their "musical values," and play cover music, or any particular syle of music, in preference to what you really like to play.

You just need to be aware of the situation you are asking to get into. And understand that if you insist on playing music that can only be understood by your band and the three people that always hang around when you're rehearsing, it's gonna be tough going out there in the real world.
 
seismetr0n said:
so you pay this "performance coach"? and he/she tells you how to perform better?
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Most actors, athletes, politicians, musicians etc seek outside guidance. Call them "Coaches" or "confidantes" or "spin doctors" or "advisors" or "teachers" or "personal trainers", its all the same thing.
 
cephus said:
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."
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that's the biggest difference i've noticed at gigs - sometimes my band have walked on stage and we've been tired after a hard days work, or worried about the sound system - little things feel big on stage. and that always comes across to the audience. so we now we go out of our way to do stupid stuff that makes us feel comfortable and easy-going and at home. last gig we got on stage, and as the audience congregated around the stage, we sat down to take our shoes off. we'd all painted our feet bright colours and stripes and things, just for the hell of it. from that point in we were feeling as comfortable as we ever had done on stage, played like we were, looked like we were, and the comments afterwards reflected that.

but venue has a lot to do with it too. we try to only play places where people have come to listen, and want to hear us play.

Andy.
 
I about died at a gig recently. The state fair was going and a big event called Bikes, Blues, and Barbecue. There were like 10 people in whole club including the bartenders. Me and the other guitarist just got real drunk and played what we wanted to. If there's no one there, you might as well have some fun some how.
 
andydeedpoll said:
we sat down to take our shoes off.
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We played a gig out in the boonies. I can't remember the name of the place because the only signs anywhere in the bar said "NO FIGHTING". We dress like farmers when we play and we kinda got the idea to take off our shoes and play barefoot. The manager came running up "Hey, you can't be barefoot in here!" I thought it was a health code or something. She continued "If they see you with your shoes off, then they'll take their shoes off." Like it's really a problem out there to get people to wear shoes in the bar.
 
demensia said:
I'm tired of bad gigs. The bar gigs..
The ones where the people look at you like you're inturrupting them.
You know.. the ones that pay you ... to play for the people that don't want to listen to you.

It's an art, obviously to connect with people.
I'm not so good at it. I do great in listening rooms, when people are comming to hear music.

When people are comming to get drunk... how do you reach them.

My performance coach says covers.. Popular covers. Don't mess with them, don't make them your own.. play the song the way the song sounds on the album.

What kind of covers do you play.

If winning over these audiences means I have to sing Margaritaville and Lying Eyes and Tom Petty songs all night, then I better find another career.

What works for you?

-Luke.
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Make every song your own....your coach is a dumbass in that respect....people know if you like what you are doing, have fun with it, slip your own tunes in there and don't tell them it was yours....pretty soon you start getting requests for your tunes..........this comes from a guy that worked 5 days a week and played 6 nights a week for 10 years FWIW :D
 
Well...

For me I try and get the word out to people who like my music where I am going to be playing...


I cover some tunes that I really like a lot, most of them are the hard to pin down stuff...

Using tools like myspace.com and some others, as well as my own page....


I found that if you can get a handful of fans that will come out to see you play, have them show up at a gig, they will pull in the rest of the crowd to watch you play your set, from then on you just gotta rock the gang enough to make them remember who you are, after the show plug where you are playing next, have your website or myspace come up sometime in the show.

Do things that jog the mind of the crowd ask them outright if they are having a good time that night, is everybody feeling alright.

Did they come there to have a good time?

If you have people in the crowd that you know say hello to them from the stage...

Flirt with the staff if you have to.....

Make sure that they enjoy the show!


I really think that the biggest part of having a good crowd is just marketing to people outside of the venue.
 
jpw23 said:
Make every song your own....your coach is a dumbass in that respect....people know if you like what you are doing, have fun with it, slip your own tunes in there and don't tell them it was yours....pretty soon you start getting requests for your tunes..........this comes from a guy that worked 5 days a week and played 6 nights a week for 10 years FWIW :D
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Got that right jpw! The guy's coach has lost touch with the audience-if you aren't enjoying yourself and having fun with the songs-they will feel it and get bored.
 
I hate shitty gigs! I was a pro out west in the 70's and just got back into playing live again 3 years ago with Fastrac. I always kept recording at home over the years but it's not the same as being up there on a stage on Saturday night!!! I don't like to play for 6 people that's for sure . :p :p :p I have a Roland VS-1880 for my home studio now so I have the best of both worlds.
 
ya'll come on down to Virginia Beach- you can play to some drunken paddlewhackers excited at being surprised to hear Brown Eyed Girl- like it's the first time they ever heard it...
 
I gigged my ass off this year.. (well, last year), and I learned a few things.

1.) If I can make one person stop and pay attention, it was a good gig.
2.) People can tell what kind of mood I'm in.
3.) Coffee houses are more fun than bars.
4.) Busking sucks. Period.
5.) Never play an unrehearsed song. Ever.
6.) Check your equipment before the gig.
7.) Too much coffee makes for sloppy playing and a sweaty evening.
8.) People don't care about my funny intros or jokes.
9.) Folk artists aren't rock stars, so acting like one makes me an idiot.
10.) If you can sell a CD, someone payed attention. See fact #1.

and for prosperity:

11.) The performance coach is almost always right. The outcome of my performance is contingent upon how much advice I listen to.
 
Listen Luke, without any disrespect, whoever your coach is... drop him off!!
his tips are opposite to the essence of music and creativity.
Don't go for the safe zone. It will bore you and your audience.
I'm a stage performance coach myself and trust me, winning an audience has nothing to do with playing covers or not.
Whatever you play (covers or not) make it yours. Bring your personality into it. If you perform to be noticed, be yourself, don't copy!
I have nothing against cover bands and some of them are even fabulous but they have their own twist in it.
On a personal point of view, I do not like to cover a song or an instrumental unless I can bring something new to it.
If you are the creative type, play your own songs. As for the type of venues, look for venues that correspond to your type of ambiance. On "coming out to get drunk" venues, you better have a dynamic set but if you are more into songs with strong lyrics do not go to theses bars. It's all about knowing where you want to go with your career. From there, decisions and choices are easier to be taken :)

StageMasters
 
Too little, too late, Stagemasters.
Luke's post was 5 1/2 years ago. By now he's either 1) made a career out of it b) died broke in a gutter somewhere or iii) gotten a real job (or some combination of the 3)
 
I saw that after VomitHatSteve, but if my comment can help someone besides my comment about his coach :) But what did you mean by too little?
 
I just checked luke's website... under Music / News, his last gig was 2009... but hey, we live in hope that he'll come back one day... :thumbs up:
 
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