Hello chaps - am after some advice, if anyone has any to spare?
During lockdown number 1, a few guys and I made the foolhardy decision to start up a band. We mainly 1990's/2000's rock / indie covers. Having worked up a decent set list over the course of the last 6 months or so, we're now in a position to start heading out and playing to actual people once June comes around we're all free to socialise indoors again.
So my question is, where to start with that? How do we go about getting gigs. What pitfalls should we avoid. What should we absolutely be doing, and what general advice can you generous FB'ers provide to help us on our way.
Any advice very much appreciated.
Comments
Take something to put on after a gig to absorb the sweat. Make sure one band member has your gear in line of sight so that no one tries running off with the aforementioned pedalboard.
See who's doing those, offer to do an hour slot, then smash it out of the park while getting someone to film it for you. Then spam it on your Facebook page and send it to all the pubs that book covers bands.
My Trading Feedback | You Bring The Band
Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youGet a 'band appointments diary' and keep it up to date. Agree which dates you are all free to accept bookings so that, if something comes up, you can say yes on the spot. I've worked through agencies before and they will have a pool of bands on their books. When a gig comes up it may get offered to several bands and the first to say yes gets it. Plenty of electronic shared diaries around. Just make it clear that if somebody ceases to be available it's up to them to update the diary immediately.
Most of our gigs come from repeat bookings. There is a 'circle' of licensees who see each other regularly and word spreads. This also means that they know how much we charge meaning that it is very difficult to increase fees, so be warned. In any field of business it can be very tempting to 'buy business' early on but raising prices is always difficult.
Get a Face Book page, people often ask. I would say that pictures are as, if not more, important as recordings as people form rapid judgements (like ‘curb side appeal’). Difficult when you haven’t played any gigs but shots that include the audience having a great time are invaluable. The message that you are trying to get across is that, if you book us, your punters / guests will have a great time and you will increase drinks sales / be the envy of your friends.
Be prepared to hustle but also be prepared to play to small numbers at first.
Make sure that you have a dry run before the gig. Set up as per on stage, stage lighting if poss, stage clothes, set list in order without breaks etc. I assume that you have your own PA system?
We built up a bit of a name over 3 years and had a lot of stuff cancelled last year, haven't been able to rehearse for the last 6 months and I think I have forgot how to play most of the 50 odd songs we were rotating.
I think we have one thing still booked for July, and am going to suggest we agree on the best hour set we can do beforehand so at least I can relearn those songs before we get to a rehearsal.
My main bit of advice to a first timer would be to try and get some original stuff worked in to the set as early as possible and to build on that.
I know all the arguments against doing originals vs covers, but in the long run I am convinced this is the right direction.
It is getting harder to use copyright material, and FB have started being aggressive about this, YT too.
You will have to accept you will be playing for nothing, drinks if you are lucky, for a long while- the main thing is to enjoy the experience and have fun, this comes across live and is contagious so will only be good for your reputation.
Get a short demo recorded, have it on CD to give to other bands who may be able to offer a support gig - that is probably the first way you will play, under the wing of someone who already has a bit of a name.
Set out some internal rules early on, who is going to do what etc, and try and get a non playing member involved, you need a set of ears / hands that are not on stage, follow their suggestions and get used to hearing the same things.
Try and be as professional as possible, as early as possible, it sounds boring, but it has to be done if you are going to be taken seriously and you might as well get used to what needs to be done.
This should include starting a fund, and maybe even a Ltd co, there will come a time when you need it to be paid, and having a kitty is helpful when you need to hire a van or equipment. Think about having a van and a driver??
Use your imagination, and look around for some of the more original ways of making a band useful, and eventually profitable, but above all--avoid arguments.
First gigs can be stressful, and at the most stressful, the weaknesses will show, if somebody isn't pulling their weight the rot will set in, and theres nothing worse than having a band with no drummer.
Above all, have fun doing it, it is going to be very weird, for a very long time, so use this time to get the plan together and get tight.
I am going to be having this same conversation myself very soon,it may make or break my own band, which would be a shame- but has to be done.
Do a warm up, favour type gig first for free. Use it to get audio video and pictures. Make the pictures look like there,s an audience even if it,s family and pets.
Have a clear leader to break deadlock. Don't be a dictator steer the band.
Pick an easy song to start the set with and something strong to end. Rehearse those two to death. Get both right and you can be a bit shaky in the middle. Nerves can make a band worse in a gig than rehearsal.
Rehearse the set not just songs when you have a gig lined up.
And finally make sure you have a decent monitor system and you can control the guitar volumes.
At the risk of drifting off topic, I know this problem all too well (in what is now nearly 40 years of gigging). If this is a social venture, which is what I consider my bands to be, then you have to cut some slack and recognise that people have jobs, families and other interests. You also accept that there will always be a strongest and a weakest musician in the band. Sometimes you are the big fish in the small pool and other times it's the reverse.
In the long run though you can only make it work if people want to do it (there are quite a few people out there who start off with good intensions but who just can’t maintain it). By way of example I’ve been helping out a mate, a great musician, who is trying to put a band together but who insists on working with a particular drummer. I worked with this drummer 35 years ago and he hasn’t changed. Great technical ability but conversations always seem to start “XXX is a great drummer but…………..”. The fact is that to be a good drummer the most important thing is not to be able to play in 15/8 time, it starts with being sat behind your kit, sticks in hand, when and where you are needed and having learnt the song. If I want a drummer in the band who isn't actually there I may as well say that Ringo plays with us.
I think @EricTheWeary said this.. forgive me if wrong but it's something like this: "people appreciate a simple song done really well much more than a shaky difficult one". This is bang on imo - just get it solid and repeatable then add the frills.
Get some long mains extension leads as even pubs that put bands on never have enough sockets!
Good point. Every organisation / band / team needs leadership. This isn't the same as being the boss or the front man and it doesn't mean that the leader has to do everything (though it often feels that way). Leadership is about pulling the team together, providing motivation, keeping things on track etc.
There's 2 things which really important to the sound of a band, the lead vocal and the drummers ability to stay in time. The lead vocals importance is obvious but I pick on the drummer because if he doesn't play in time then nobody does. So many bands don't realise that, they let it slide and never get past being mediocre at best because of it.
You have to be your critics to begin with. Record rehearsals, listen back. If something jars then it needs to be talked about and fixed before you go out live.
Pay attention to harmony vocals. A covers band with an average singer supported by some decent harmonies will sound better than a covers band with one brilliant singer and no harmonies.
Try and play things more or less right. These days with every song broken down and explained on Youtube that's an easy ask these day. Pick songs that suit the vocal range though. Tune down / change key if you have too though.
Have fun and try not to drink too much
I think I'm best placed to advise what not to do.. The story of my life actually. I sometimes think I should write a book entitled "What could possibly go wrong?"
But I have learned that most issues are a product of Making Assumptions.
Like assuming that when the venue host provides a marquee for you to play in, it will be rainproof...
Or that the bass player will bring along a spare instrument for when his jack plug socket disintegrates...
Or that you will have plenty of time to set up and do a proper soundcheck, not five minutes after the dancing class have just vacated the hall.
Or assuming the drummer understands that "no alcohol during the gig" includes beer.
Or that the stage will not be being used as a temporary storage facility leaving you precisely one square foot of space to stand on.
Or that when the organiser tells you it is a Blues Brothers themed party, she has also told the audience.
You can get paranoid about instrument/electrical failures, often unnecessarily, but doing your homework about the venue, the audience and your set, is essential.
But even with all the preparation something will go wrong, it's then how you deal with it.
A simple example, I remember we went to one "do" armed with a two and a half hour set. Set up, did the sound check, only to be told literally minutes before we were due to perform that it had to be cut to an hour. We panicked, in disarray simply because we hadn't considered this possibility, and the first few minutes of our set the audience patiently watched as we finished rehashing our song list.
The real thrill of playing live is when you get an appreciative audience, there's nothing like it, and there's also nothing like playing to an unresponsive crowd either, it will make you feel like you are standing there with no clothes on. One thing I've learned from playing "low profile" gigs and venues is it's all about entertainment, and how you present, what you look like, how you move, what you say between songs, is just as important as how you play. If you can, get someone to video your first attempt and review it critically. Its so easy to get wrapped up in your own performance you forget how the whole thing is coming across.
- If you can, take your own gear. I know it means lugging heavy amps and cabs around but that's your sound and you know how it works. If you have to share anything communicate with the other bands on the bill BEFORE the actual show, not 5 minutes before you're playing to suddenly ask what guitar amp you're using.
- Don't lend out anything to any other bands like cables or such. You won't get them back.
- Take spares of everything, as something will break and I guarantee it'll be when you're in the middle of your set.
- Make an effort to watch the other bands sets too, they'll know if you've buggered off to the kebab place next door and only come back when you play before shaking hands with them going "Great set dudes...."
- Rehearse your show as if you're playing the gig. I.e set up your gear the same way it'd be on the stage. Time your set too to make sure it fits within however long your set time is.
- Make sure everyone knows the setlist and any cues between songs for guitarists to tune, etc. Also that the vocalist has a few words to say between songs. Not in a life story rambling on way but the name of the band, and some interaction with the audience etc.
- Always be on time, be polite/professional to everyone - esp the soundguy. Learn their name and don't call them "dude" or "mate".
- During the changeover make sure all your gear is pretty much setup and ready to swap. They only last 15 minutes and there isn't much time to get all your stuff on, plug it all in and make sure there's a sound coming out of it all. Nothing worse than pissing off the soundguy taking ages.
There's probably more that I have forgotten but those are the main ones.
Good luck.