Saturday August 18th
Back to the Well, featuring (very) longtime GN members Dan and Laura Lasley, makes their debut tonight, playing at The Attic at Harry's, which is on the second floor of 2949 East Lincoln Highway Sadsburryville, Pennsylvania. The show runs from 9 PM until 1 in the morning and the cover is $5. Come on out and have a fun time!
Our band Back to the Well played its first real gig last Saturday at The Attic. This venue is on the second floor of an old barn that had been long converted to a restaurant located on the edge of a fairly rough town. Until somewhat recently, this was a hot-dog place with a biker bar attached. But as the neighborhood changed to nicer homes, the restaurant evolved with the times. The restaurant still serves reasonably priced food which attracts families of all ages, and there is still a smoky bar open until 2am. They renovated the upstairs for private dining rooms, and installed a slightly upscale bar with couches and TVs, and a small stage/dance floor. On different nights they host open mics, poker games, karaoke, a DJ, and live bands.
Did I mention that this was a converted barn? The room for the musicians is two steps lower than the main floor! And we have to lug our gear up stairs and around through 3 rooms - duck your head in the doorways! However, a house PA is provided (bring your own mix board), and the area is quite spacious, if echoey due to the hard walls.
Anyway, we set up early, did a quick sound-check - which went very well! - and ate some of the reasonable food. The bartender was great! We were scheduled to play 9p-1a, and bands are expected to be on time. We suspected that we might run short of material, so we agreed that we'd reprise some songs from the first set, the old adage being that anyone still here from 3 hours ago, was no longer sober enough to remember the first set.
After the first set, we discovered that about 6 friends had arrived, one bringing a posse of another 8 people. My rough guess is that the room holds about 50 people, and we think about 70 people were there through the evening (we got paid a fixed amount, so I don't know how many paid the $5 cover). Most were young-ish (21-30), but enjoyed our music anyway.
We had arranged our set-list to start easy and build, with the second set the strongest, but none of them too weak. We had to cut one song from the first set as it was weak at the last practice. Laura had been working with her VOX amp to improve the various effects presets, and she played with more confidence all evening, including some small fills that had eluded her previously. Mark brought his attenuator so he could get the sound he wanted without blowing out the windows. I had my compressor on my bass, which kept my levels even, and Wayne played with his "chop sticks", which are responsive, but not as loud. Our sound was pretty balanced up the stairs and around the corner.
We practice hard to arrange nice harmonies between the 3 singers, and they worked all night. As might be expected, we played the first few songs a bit fast, but we settled down after that. The audience was attentive, and some of the girls were dancing together (that never gets old!). Later in the night, there were a couple of fall-down drunks that wandered too close to our gear, but they were friendly and moved away when asked.
All in all, a really good night. Not perfect by any means (and I have the recordings to prove it), but they liked us, and we had fun. Note that, after 30 years of jamming with friends, this is the first gig that Laura's ever been paid for, and only my second payday. Very cool indeed.
Set 1
Wild Night
Break Up Song
American Girl - they loved this!
We Got the Beat
Paint It Black
Baby Blue
Things Happen
Long Cool Woman
My City Was Gone
Get Ready
Angel From Montgomery
Stray Cat Strut
Set 2
Secret Agent Man
Cover Me
Come Together
Misunderstood
Gold Dust Woman - Hole version
Honey Hush - Albert Collins
All Day/Night/Destroyer medley
Mystery Achievement
Cruel To Be Kind
Take Me To The River / Somebody to Love medley
American Band
Set 3
No Matter What
White Rabbit
Pump It Up
Good Thing
James Dean
The Way
True Love - Pat Benatar
She's Come Undone - Wayne sings this very well
Runaway
You May Be Right
We Gotta Get Out of this Place
Set 3.5
Wild Night
Break Up Song
We Got the Beat
Paint It Black
Things Happen
Closing Time - trite, but they loved it
Dan sounds like everything went well always good to get the first one down without any major catastrophies.
Pretty decent crowd too when's the next show?
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Dan sounds like everything went well always good to get the first one down without any major catastrophies.
Pretty decent crowd too when's the next show?
We're aiming for one a month, maybe a little more. Our work schedules get complicated. The Attic does bring back favored bands, so I'm hoping to get into their rotation.
In Sept, we're the opening act (of 5) at a reunion show for a famous Delaware bar that close about 5 years ago. Wayne played in a band there many times, and has kept in touch with several friends. It's being held at a casino/racetrack, and there are supposed to be upwards of 500 patrons. We've got a 45 minute set.
Now that we've got one gig successfully under our belts, I can start to market ourselves more seriously, so hopefully we'll get a few more gigs - on the first floor!
I missed that part :shock: I think I would have walked out...J/K man 3 flights of stairs. I've been lugging two amps to the gigs I couldn't handle that.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Sounds like a great time and you guys have a cool set list.
Sounds like a great time and you guys have a cool set list.
Agree 100% - I'd have paid money to watch that set if (a) I lived a littler closer, and (b) even if I didn't know you! How was the audience reaction to "Things Happen?" Just curious - it stuck out a little from the set list, by virtue of not being a well-known (except to a select few, right?) song. And you played it twice!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Sounds like a great time and you guys have a cool set list.
Agree 100% - I'd have paid money to watch that set if (a) I lived a littler closer, and (b) even if I didn't know you! How was the audience reaction to "Things Happen?" Just curious - it stuck out a little from the set list, by virtue of not being a well-known (except to a select few, right?) song. And you played it twice!
:D :D :D
Vic
Vic, it's so hard to tell when the audience likes a song. Heads were certainly nodding to the beat. And yeah, we need more songs...
Nice report Laz!!! 70ppl is definitely a good turnout for a gig in the summer!! :D Yes, American Girl ALWAYS goes over well w/the the girls, I'm surprised you didn't put that in the 2nd set when the liquor kicks in you'll FILL the dance floor!! :D Glad the gig went well, look forward to hearing more tales from the road!! :D
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
That sounded like a fun gig. Glad it went well. You certainly sound ready for more. Can't beat that. :)
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
I'd be checking that out too if I lived closer. Nice set lists!
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Wow, that is an aggressive and awesome song list.
I'm betting you have something for everyone.
Think I'm going to have to steal a couple of them and recommend them to my band.
Thanks for the gig report.
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
