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Outstanding gig last night...and boy is it hard to get a band off the ground

wesg

By wesg
in Backstage With the Band

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wesg Newbie

wesg

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Hey, I don't normally post "band updates" but I'm in the mood to share this morning.

Finally got my band back off the ground and out of the basement, after losing our frontman singer/bass-player. The new line-up is a five-piece, with the frontman playing guitars and hand percussion.  Boy I've been wanting to get out with these guys for a while.  We're not playing anywhere near Sventvgk's level, but we have five competent musicians without egos or drama that are working together as a team...even for PA setup and teardown  (which is quite complex, we have a LOT of instruments on stage).  The teamwork thing makes everything else so much easier and better. And FUN.

I stopped by the venue last Saturday to scope it out.. about 20 people in the joint, sitting as far from the VERY LOUD and poorly-mixed power trio as they could. Mostly or all friends of the band.  It is a small tavern that closes up early due to licening regulations so I definitely wanted a feel for the flow of the night.

The room is difficult because it has hard walls, low ceilings, a different ceiling height for the stage area, and bulkheads that drop down 18" every 25 feet or so.. I think they are 150-year-old ceiling beams.  Anyhow, I managed to get the mix dialed in by the second set (had to ask the band to turn down....and they did!!!). After that the vocals were clear throughout the venue but I got the odd squeal of feedback that I was never able to sort out adequately....but it didn't happen very often. 

People danced for roughly 50-60% of our songs  (goal is 100%), and the crowd was willing to sit in the seats closest to the band.  I take that as a good sign that our volume was not too loud.  I ran my Leslie 760 with almost no reinforcement and I didn't need to put my foot to the floor.  FOH was a pair of Yorkville NX55Ps, with kick but not bass guitar in them.  The limit light never came on.  Except when I played the breaking glass sample for "You May Be Right".  It was WAAAAAAY too loud. I forgot to sound check the iPad.

We got a bunch of compliments on the set list, which we try to keep a bit different from other bands in the area, but we are not playing "deep cuts" or anything like that. I was surprised to hear so many people I didn't know complementing a song list. "Don't Fear The Reaper" got outstanding response even though my harmonies were pitchy (I'm just learning to sing).

What really made the night great, though, was that we almost packed the joint. We're a new band, so don't have a following (except for friends of the band), so I am always worried about attendance. The bar did not have enough staff scheduled and were run off their feet. We converted some of the left-over dinner crowd into dancers for two sets, and had a steady stream of new arrivals that stayed, some which came because their friends phoned them to come. A young group of new-blues-band kids were bar hopping, stayed for a few tunes....then came back for the whole third set.

Outstanding!  I am even happier today than my hockey-fan-wife who is in the living room listening to our national anthem!

Wes

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nchangin Newbie

nchangin

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Excellent it worked out well for you! No subs at all? If not why not? I would think it would give you more overhead for the lows? Just an observation from the outside or maybe I missed something :) 

Those 55's have been a topic of discussion recently in the live performance forum so just inquiring why not adding subs to take a little bit of the workload off the speakers. 

 

 

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wesg Newbie

wesg

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Well, subs cost money - and I'm out.

I had enough headroom anyhow. No limiters kicking in and plenty loud for the room. I could have turned up but I would have buried the vocals, which were limited by GBF. I will probably be looking for feedback elminators before I go looking for subs. I could use the automated help when playing keys and running the board simultaneously.

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SeeU 22 Newbie

SeeU 22

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Outstanding!  I am even happier today than my hockey-fan-wife who is in the living room listening to our national anthem!

 

Wes

 

Congrats on the successful gig. I get a kick out of the hockey fan wife bit. I got home at four thirty from the gig. Out here is Saskatchewan, the game started at six a.m. I figured I might as well just stay up and watch it. Great way to cap off a great evening and a great Olympic run for all of our athletes. Our drummer went straight to the bar in Regina after the gig as our bars out here were given special licensing to open up at five thirty for the game.

 

Neil

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wesg Newbie

wesg

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I'm in Ontario, so the game started at 7:00am. My wife arrived home with me at 2:00am (last song ended at 00:05) and promptly set her alarm. We both just got up from afternoon naps like a couple of 3-year-olds, LOL.

The nearest Long & McQuade is 200km away. I could probably find something similar locally, but won't bother for that room - 100 person or so cap, don't need 'em for Classic Rock IMO. It would be different if the bass player were in the PA, but he has a 500W Mark Bass amp.. Larger rooms would need them, but there are few larger rooms locally which do not supply PA.

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WynnD Newbie

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Congrats on the gig. Lower volume helps pack a place. High volume chases clients out the door. I also have a 760 Leslie. I refuse to mic it. that 3 dimensional sound gets lost in a PA. Mine is good for about 118 dbc flat out without distortion. I find that to be enough for most clubs at rational levels. (I'm running a VK-77 and if it has to go through the PA, I just use the direct out with the internal rotary effect, which is pretty good.) Outdoors, I just add my 825 Leslie to the other side of the stage. (We're usually only playing to a hundred outdoors max.)

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