Members MartinC Posted October 23, 2014 Members Share Posted October 23, 2014 So, I had only done one gig this year. A wedding in may that was not much fun. After 39 years of gigging, I am good with that. Usually after accepting a gig, I regret doing so. Then normally I do the job and it turns out to be fun. A month ago I agreed to play for a former bandmate's daughter's wedding. I hadn't played electric guitar on a gig for many many years, so I thought I'll get to play my PRS at a gig for the first time. It was an awesome gig. Everyone played well, my guitar sounded great, and we played music I had never played before. A few weeks later another old bandmate invited me to play a 35th anniversary gig with his band. It was at the Great American Music hall, a great venue. Although I have managed to play at most of the major venues in the bay area at some point, I had never played there. I have seen many acts there, including BB King, Albert King, Shankti with John McLaughlin, and others. I brought the PRS but when packing for the gig, I thought if I break a string with this floating tremolo, I'm out of business. So I packed a Mexican strat and put it on a stand. Sure enough, at the end of the first song a string broke. The gig was super fun in part because my adult daughter and her friends came out. She had never seen me play in a rock band playing electric. I had not played in the group for more than 20 years, and seeing the new guys, the old guys, some old fans etc, was great.Got a call from an agent to do a private. The gig is for one set, four guys. Good money. First gig for my group since the wedding in May. My nylon string has a rather expensive pickup in it, which goes to a preamp box. I've had that box for 25 years and it's beat. At the wedding, and occasionally before that, it would become erratic. I sent an email to the fellow who makes them, and he replied with a suggestion to apply De-Oxit Red liquid to improve the connections. I ordered it on amazon. He also pointed out that he had revised the preamp nine times in the last 20 years. After considering that his piece of gear lasted more than 20 years, and helped earn me thousands of dollars, I figured I should buy a new one, and a new acoustic amp. So, I already spent more than I'm making on the gig. Welcome to the music business.Finally, I get an email from the agent saying do not approach any of the guests during the gig as they are owners of major league baseball teams, in town for the series, and this event is for them. Gig is today, and I'll be packing my new amp, pre amp, and god knows what else. Woke up this morning dreading the gig. It will probably be a blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted October 23, 2014 Members Share Posted October 23, 2014 Make sure you play "Centerfield" by John Fogerty Have fun with the gig. Wes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted October 23, 2014 Members Share Posted October 23, 2014 I dont want to derail the thread but we were asked to learn Center field for a bar gig we did a few weeks back. The crowd went crazy for it. Not sure why the locals at this bar wanted to hear it but we were asked to learn it 2 weeks before the gig and it worked well... We will probably play it once in awhile when we see we have an older crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 23, 2014 Members Share Posted October 23, 2014 Those major league baseball team owners are just so damned unapproachable.... Sounds like a fun gig though! Glad to hear you're back at it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted October 24, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 24, 2014 Yeah, thanks guys, it was a really fun gig. Thousands of folks there, so if the "owners" were there I wouldn't have noticed anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 24, 2014 Members Share Posted October 24, 2014 I just find it funny when agents think they have to tell us unwashed musicians how to act properly in certain social settings. I don't make it a habit to go up and randomly start talking to guests anyway, but what if I did strike up a conversation with one of the owners--- What do they think is going to happen? I'm going to say inappropriate things to his wife? Ask him to share a joint with me out back? Hit him up for a loan? Glad it was a fun gig though. Go Giants! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted October 24, 2014 Members Share Posted October 24, 2014 Every agent's nightmare: "Hey, don't Bogart that joint! Oh, and can I borrow twenty bucks? I'm trying to sleep with your wife." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 24, 2014 Members Share Posted October 24, 2014 Well, we ARE musicians..... I get it. I'd probably be sending out the same 'warnings' if I was a booking agent. I just still find it a bit funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MartinC Posted October 24, 2014 Author Members Share Posted October 24, 2014 Right, like I'm going to go up to the Giant's owner and ask for a tryout..................Another thing-they prohibit us from passing out cards, but don't provide their own. Last night a woman came up after the set. I recognized her name when she introduced herself. She is a big wig. Wanted a card. She loved our band and all I could do was tell her the name of the agency. Not cool. she will likely forget the name and that's it. Oh well, it was really great to play the World Series Gala. I guess a friend of one of the band members was one of the chosen 2k people invited and he sent us this shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 24, 2014 Members Share Posted October 24, 2014 Another thing-they prohibit us from passing out cards' date=' but don't provide their own. [/quote'] That's just bad business. I'd have given the lady a card anyway. Maybe put the name of the agency on the card or something. But they should be providing you with band cards with their number on them if they want to make sure they get their cut of the next gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted October 30, 2014 Members Share Posted October 30, 2014 Here's my take of the original post, just like high school, jocks don't want to be associated with musicians cause they are a lower on the totem pole? Yeah, it went like that in the 80's anyway. Oh your in band? Punch. Oh your in the choir? Head nugie. They really told you don't talk to the people? I'm waiting for the day a musican needs a third party authorization form signed in order to talk or sing to people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 30, 2014 Members Share Posted October 30, 2014 Well, it wasn't jocks. Team owners. Bigger nerds than musicians, LOL. But yeah, not fraternizing with the guests is SOP at these sorts of events. Technically, we're the hired help and, like those serving the food and pouring the drinks, are supposed to be seen and not heard. With the band, it gets a bit different sometimes because we're sometimes seen more as the Celebrity Entertainment and people are more likely to come up and start talking to the band members than they will the girl handing out hor d'evours, but technically speaking the band is just supposed to show up and do their job and go home and not disturb the client. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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