We played a nice block party this past Saturday. I was very happy to see that someone had put up a large tent, maybe 24' x 12', which only had a back (no other sides). This was the only picture I took on a set break
We showed up late and took our usual 2 hours to unload the 3 vans and set up. It seemed to take forever. Grabbed some grilled food during setup and all was great. It seemed to take forever just to run all the cables, wire and whatnot to get everything working. We ran 3 extension cords off of 3 separate electrical lines to power up half the equip on one side of the stage, half on the other, and the 500w halogen lighting the ceiling of the tent.
Somehow I was asked to make up the set list. We learned 5 new songs in 2 practices and I had to allocate them. So I split them evenly in the 3 sets so we would not play any of those back to back. Funny, we sounded great on two of those for sure. Almost like we had been playing them for awhile. The first set went fairly well. I noticed near the end of it I'm fretting wrist started to hurt and was thinking I have 2 more sets to do. So I economized my fingering as best I could.
The night before we had a friend stop by our practice. We told him he could play if he wanted so he elected to do the solos to two songs. So during the set break I walk around behind the tent to see my buddy restringing his Flying V. Somehow he busted the 3 highest strings on his guitar and he was to do the 2 solos the first and second songs of the next set. When he was done stringing I tuned him up several times and told him good luck.
His solos sounded quited good. I thought for sure he'd be out of tune in the first ten seconds of the first solo. The second set went fairly well, too, with one funny exception. Since I have a wireless system I often walk out in front of the PAs to hear the mix. Well to my surprise on one song the PA's were off! The monitors were on. Weird. But I could still hear my amp and the rest of the band well. I tried to tell the guy running the PA but he could not hear me while he was busy playing his heart out.
We got that worked out and played some cool songs in the third set. The city ordinance is to not play past 10pm but we were lucky that we had a cop in the audience. He said if the cops came he'd take care of it. So we finished our 3rd set about 10:30. The drummer got off the kit and was done. The audience kept calling out request and asking us to play more so we repeated a few songs. But I put down the guitar and played bass while the bass player played drums. That is SO fun switching instruments. By the way, our bass player plays drums pretty well because he has a kit at his house.
After awhile we got some more requests and did some songs we had never rehearsed. Kinda a "well, I've played this song on my own before a long time ago so let's give it a whirl." Some sucked, some were passable. All in all it was a good night. We got to hang out and party with the crowd for another few hours and then the dreaded tear down and split. Got home about 2am so it was pretty decent. We unloaded the vans the next day and talked about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the day/night. I'm looking forward to our next gig.
Last thought, one of our guitar players joked that we should name our band "The Black Fans." Look in the picture you'll see 7 of the 10 or so we have at practice. LOL
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
Dennis,
Another good report, always fun to read and hear wht the real rock and roll stars are up to.
I was wondering since I can't see in the picture, do you mic up the drum set too?
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Hey Chris, a rock 'n roll star I'm definitely not. Maybe the other guys in the band. But it is fun to get out and do some gigs for sure.
For fun, you could copy the picture (right click copy) and paste it to your desktop. Then you can open it and scroll in holding using the mouse wheel. You'll see a black mic pointing downward on the top of the drums.
All of our instruments are mic'ed and go through the PA. You can see my Blond HRD amp on the left with my power conditioner just to the right of that. My cooler of beer, fans, and floorboard. You can see my tripod that holds the 3 red drink holders. One for water, beer and capo/picks. Convenient for sure. There was little room so my SG is in a stand just behind my amp on the other side of the tent out of the sun.
Just noticed that Matt's LP's are not in the picture so he must of put them behind stage, too.
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
a rock 'n roll star I'm definitely not.
Oh, don't be modest.
I see you have your own "fan club" and everything.
I count at least 7 of them. :wink:
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
"fan" club. That's hilarious! :lol:
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
Dennis
Great report, first thing I noticed in the photo was all the fans. I'm surprised you didn't get noise from the fans, they are pretty bad about doing that.
Sounds like you guys had a great time, nothing more fun than playing outdoors on a nice day. :D
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
its always great to hear a good report. Sounds like you had a blast :lol:
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace (Jimi Hendrix)
Well, as far as the fans, I was the instigator in the band. I've had many. I literally leave two in my trunk as well as a music stand in case I get to jam with some friends at short notice. I went to Menards (hardware store) and bought 6 new ones for less than ten bucks each. I offered each person in the band to buy them if they wanted. Almost all of them got one or two so there are many more in their garages or wherever.
I personally get really uncomfortable in heat so I'm the "fan" man. Even in winter I like to have a fan blowing at me while I'm playing. Right now as I type it's only a ceiling fan on 3 but you get the picture. Gotta say, another GN member and husband I jam with here and there out in Chicago (Kathy & John) has a HUGE fan in her basement. When I showed up (I think last summer or the previous) I was quite impressed at how great it felt in that basment.
I wear shorts and a cut-off T-shirt as much as I can year round. I don't know how people can play in pants and long sleeve shirts. Or even Cobain in that Unplugged video wearing, gasp, a sweater! :evil:
Neverthless, yea, I had a blast at the gig. For those of you who have played out, it's the best. No more woodshedding in your basement or a little room in your apartment. As an aside, I've been in the situation where I've jammed with friends on many occasion and had never heard or knew the song. I'm very uncomfortable in those situations as far as my playing. I like to hear a song and get a grip with it ahead of time. That's why I love gig because I've actually heard the songs and have worked on them many times. Maybe that's why I so much suck when I go to jam and the song is just tossed out there and most people know it and I'm in panic mode. :shock:
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
Great report Dennis. Glad to see you out having fun. Shoot me an email if you play down near me.
I use a (black) fan too, coinsidence?? Makes us look like we are in a Bon Jovi video when we are playing. :D I tend to get sweaty and uncomfortable in the heat as well. Last year we played a pool party on the hottest day of the year (105), no shade...and all of our equipment is black. Couldn't touch anything with our hands. This year my mother in law sewed us a strip of cloth (think bandana) with something inside which soaks up and holds liquid. So now we can put these in ice water, tie them around our necks (or wherever we need them) and stay relatively cool while playing. Big difference.
As far as the campground gig and how we got them. The other guitar player has a seasonal site there. We also picked up a Illinois campground brochure and we go through it and do cold calls, "Do you need a band???" If they have entertainment booked tell them to call you if they have a cancelation and offer to fill in. My friends who camp at Yogi Bear and other sites say they always have bands come out on the weekends.
Just remember to keep the music clean and fun. There are kids there.
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
Dennis,
I know what you mean about just going to a jam and have a song thrown at you that you don't know. I have trouble with that myself. I'd much rather play something I know, so sometimes the jams take some time to get going.
Been trying to do it every Friday and Wes has come by a few times. Man it's so much better when he's there he really whips us into shape.
Someday I'd love to play out somewhere anywhere a pool party would be nice, but I'm not sure it'll ever happen.
Keep on rockin bro!!
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
