Members wheresgrant3 Posted November 19, 2015 Members Share Posted November 19, 2015 So last weekend we played a Bar Mitzvah 2 1/2 hours away out on Long Island. We had been booked months ago without any real details through an Entertainment coordinator our drummer has worked with. We had pretty vague info leading up to the event until about a week ago. We knew we would be playing along with a hired DJ and that we didn't have to bring any lights and sound. The pay $2400. OK... sure, we'll take it. About two weeks ago we get the final confirmation from the Event Coordinator that we will play just two half hour sets and if we could play the following songs. Only a few are in our current setlist but we've all played with other bands. Sure, no problem. BAND DANCE SETJACKSON 5 ABC AND I WANT YOU BACKSWEET HOME ALABAMAAC/DC - SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONGLIVIN ON A PRAYER-BON JOVI - BAND TO PLAYHIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOTSWEET CAROLINE-BANDPOUR SOME SUGAR ON MEROCK N ROLL ALL NIGHT KISSJUMP AROUND HOUSE OF PAINTALK DIRTY TO ME POISONWERE NOT GONNA TAKE ITDON'T STOP BELIEVING - JOURNEYSTAND BY ME - THE DRIFTERSEVERY LITTLE THING - POLICEI WANT YOU TO WANT ME-CHEAP TRICK We've all done our share of bar mitvah's, weddings and private events. So what made this different was that #1- We didn't use our name. We were used as a set piece interchanging with the DJ and the MC. We played two 30 min sets of music... that's all. In fact most of the time we sat around, out of sight, ate food and bonded. LOAD IN: 5:30pm Truck / trailer meet time 2:45pm at Pilot. (2.5 hr drive) ATTIRE: " black on black …so nice black pants or black jeans ,black shoes and button down …" SET TIMES: "8:30 -12:30 you will be performing on and off within that time " We get there at 5:15 and load in was a bear. There was a 17' box truck blocking the delivery gate to the country club so we had to unload the trailer a few hundred feet from the ballroom entrance. When we got to the ball room it was split in half by a large black curtain. On one side 200 chairs were set up for a reception. The other half all of the dining tables, staging, PA equipment, were packed on one another. When we first arrived the stage hadn't been assembled and there was very little room for our gear. So we had just packed our gear into the corner and waited until 7:30pm. There was a service between 6:30-7:30. Since it was the same room and vendors were still setting things up we were asked to leave out the back door to avoid disrupting the ceremony. The bummer was that there wasn't any food arrangements. We had to wait until guests puttered out of the cocktail lounge and then pounce on food trays that were litterally being stripped away. I think I had 2 peices of roast beef, some cocktail shrimp and some martini olives. LOL Then we waited until the ceremony was over and that's when the madness began. They had one hour with about 20 people to remove the chairs and restage the entire ballroom for the reception. The entertainment company already had assembled a 20 ft truss with 80" screen, but the lighting, moving heads, projector, and stage had to me arranged and assembled. Everyone was scrambling..... Things were literally down to the last min and 30 secs and they were still stringing HDMI cable across the ceiling to connect to the projection unit mounted on the ceiling. . We managed a quick sound check. Then they opened the doors and we left through the back door again until 10pm. Played the first set until 10:30. Left the room again until 11:30 and played till midnight. So 60 mins of performance, 5 hours of travel, 2 hours of set up and tear down and a lot of waiting around. I think I got home about 3am so it was a full 12 hour day with travel. After gas and tolls it was about $320 a man. Not a bad gig at all. https://vimeo.com/145801920 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted November 19, 2015 Members Share Posted November 19, 2015 We played two 30 min sets of music... that's all. In fact most of the time we sat around, out of sight, ate food and bonded..... So 60 mins of performance, 5 hours of travel, 2 hours of set up and tear down and a lot of waiting around. I think I got home about 3am so it was a full 12 hour day with travel. After gas and tolls it was about $320 a man. Not a bad gig at all. Nice stuff! Hurry up and wait! Welcome to MY world...lol. My problem is the band is getting spoiled with short sets. Anything that goes much over two hours and everyone is complaining. And I agree that a scheduled 4-hour performance is too long for most private events. I rewriting our contracts to specify that we only play 3 hours (with breaks) before it goes into extra money. (Tell people we will play for up to 4 hours and many will insist we do even though having the band play that long usually isn't the best thing for their event.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StratGuy22 Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 The video won't play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted November 20, 2015 Members Share Posted November 20, 2015 The video won't play. Works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members capitalist Posted November 29, 2015 Members Share Posted November 29, 2015 Kudos! Sounds like it went well. We charge about the same for weddings. They are often 8+ hour gigs. I was intrigued by the song requests by the E.C. Popular songs that are 30+ years old? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted November 30, 2015 Members Share Posted November 30, 2015 Kudos! Sounds like it went well. We charge about the same for weddings. They are often 8+ hour gigs. I was intrigued by the song requests by the E.C. Popular songs that are 30+ years old? Guess depends on how many parents and their friends are going to be at the bar mitzvah as opposed to the kids. And if the EC is choosing off your set list, then they can only go with what you give 'em. Weddings are certainly a mixed bag. Just got this email for a wedding we're doing next weekend: I have requests for the first two songs you play, and the last two songs you play: 1st - Sweet Child O Mine - Guns N Roses 2nd - Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 2nd to last - You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC Last song - Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond My fiancé likes the 80s rock and I like current top hits, and our guests want a good mix of oldies and country, so basically play anything you think is a good hit and we'll love it. Here's are a few songs that pop out to me in your song list that I know we'd love, but I completely understand that you all will choose the playlist for the evening: I Wanna Dance with Somebody - Whitney Houston California Gurls - Katy Perry Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy - Big & Rich Highway to Hell - AC/DC Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield Any Way You Want It - Journey I Gotta Feeling - Black Eye Peas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gismo recording Posted November 30, 2015 Members Share Posted November 30, 2015 WERE NOT GONNA TAKE IT I'm guessing this is the Twisted Sister song and not the Who. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted November 30, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 30, 2015 Well... being in the NYC area we've done about a dozen Bar Mitzvahs over the years and each event was split with a DJ. I can tell you from experience the band is there to purposely please the adults. The DJ is there for the kids and keep everything current. We played a few current songs, but mostly the requests were made for the adults. Given the fact that Poison, Twisted Sister, Journey, ACDC were hand picked by the clients I'm gonna guess (given their age) they and their close friends graduated in the mid 80's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted December 1, 2015 Members Share Posted December 1, 2015 Hey, something I just thought of--- "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas. This song was obviously huge a few years ago, but we let it slip out of set list a couple of years back as it got dated and haven't played it in a long time. Never performed it with the 2 singers we have now. But it still remains on our published set list. No biggie any of that, but I've had two gigs in a row where it's specifically picked as something they want to hear. Has this song reached "classic" status? Is it worth re-working up? Or should I just delete it from the setlist so no one asks for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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