This past Saturday night my band SLIGHTLY OFFENSIVE played @ Rokwelz (Orland Park). This is a new room for us and when I arrived there was a LONG table up right in front of us with about 20 people there for a B-day party and another table behind them w/about 6 people and a spattering of people up by the bar. I thought to myself that once we start playing this table was going to just get up and leave and then the place would just be EMPTY (not good). So I started loading in and setting up my gear and the manager came up to me & asked “are we expecting a good crowd tonight?†I thought to myself...that's kind of a loaded question, you never know how your going to do. I know I have my friends down from Milwaukee visiting and they said they were coming but then again they might not show either if they're having fun back at the house. So I told him I know I have people who said they were coming out. Keep it low key. So after we set all the gear up we sat a one of the empty tables and hoped for a good size crowd tonight.
During this time we had a “band meeting†outside to discuss the last couple of gigs and what we can do to improve them. Mainly it was about volume/tone control and our drummer who is a LOUD player wasn't hearing any of it. I guess there were some complaints @ The Tilted Kilt gig about the band being LOUD & I haven't heard about us being booked there for next month's St Practice Day yet so maybe that's a factor? The other pressing issue now is we'll see if he decides to stick around and either use an electronic kit @ the smaller rooms or learn to play quieter.
So we come back in and that small table starts really WHOOPING IT UP. I mean they're “wolf whistling†@ Cory carrying Jennie's purse back to where she's sitting in the back & I'm thinking THIS is going to be a fun group tonight!!! :D When we started playing the B-Day group (20ppl) up front STAYED and really enjoyed themselves and the rest of the bar before I realized was REALLY filling in!!! There had to be about 80- 100ppl in the place & the staff was barely keeping up. We had a great crowd reaction to most of the tunes we played. One guy came up to me and said I needed to turn my guitar up and he also said that later on when I was walking through the bar too but & I said I would but really...after our discussion outside I wasn't going to mess with the mix tonight. We had the crowd singing along, they'd come up as a group & dance up front w/us it was a FUN NIGHT for sure & AMAZINGLY we had around 30ppl still there when we finished our second set at 1:30am which is usually down to about 10-15ppl by then.
Overall it was a great night for us, the owner, manager and staff were VERY HAPPY & I'm sure we'll be re-booking here again soon.
Pics are FINALLY UP from Jack Desmonds, The Tilted Kilt & Rokwelz on my Facebook page (Tom McLaughlin) & on MySpace (Tommy Gunz) and I'm sure they will be up soon on the band's Facebook page “Rock Slightly Offensive Band†& at slightlyoffensiveband.com. Also check us out on MySpace too!!!
Next Gig is THIS SATURDAY!!! 2/26/11 – Jameson's (2755 Black Road, Joliet IL). We played here for their Halloween Bash on 10/30/10 & it was CRAZY PACKED!!!! I'm REALLY looking forward to this one since my friend's band played here 2 weeks ago and he said it was a GREAT CROWD!!! Should be fun!!! :D
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
During this time we had a “band meeting†outside to discuss the last couple of gigs and what we can do to improve them. Mainly it was about volume/tone control and our drummer who is a LOUD player wasn't hearing any of it. I guess there were some complaints @ The Tilted Kilt gig about the band being LOUD & I haven't heard about us being booked there for next month's St Practice Day yet so maybe that's a factor?
Tommy, being too loud will cost you jobs, ESPECIALLY if you want to get into private and corporate work where the real money is. There's club owners and patrons out there that simply won't tolerate loud bands. Also, if there's noise ordinances in place for the town you're playing, it's possible that a band that's too loud can garner a fine for the club - which really sinks your chances of repeat gigs.
You gotta remember that the venue expects you to ATTRACT patrons with music and KEEP THEM THERE to spend money. No matter how good a band is, if they're so loud that it hurts to listen to them, people will leave - fast! Clubs know this, and will quickly blacklist any band that chases their customers away.
If your drummer doesn't control HIS volume, so that the rest of the band can control THEIR volume, it's gonna hurt your chances of getting hired. He needs to get with the program or get out.
Playing guitar and never playing for others is like studying medicine and never working in a clinic.
Totally agree Moonrider!!! Not the first time I've had this issue in a band, both with drummers and 2nd guitar players. My wife said the patrons need to be able to talk to thier friends (saying how great the band is) while we're playing and if its too loud they can't do that. Bigger rooms are not an issue, we just haven't gotten to that level yet. Last week I told the band leader I would bring in a soundman that a previous band used to use & I would pay for it. That idea got "nixed" so this could be the beginning of the end for the band...but we'll see how it plays out. I'll do my part and be a "team player" for the band but outside of that I don't have much control.
Ambition is the path to success...persistence is the vehicle you arrive in!!!
