Members El Mojito Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 Got a call to play at a party. Of course we're in. Well, as the details get a little bit more specific, the party is for a 16th birthday party. The mother/father wants to have a big 16th birthday party bash for junior and junior wants a band. Ok. So, as I dig a little deeper, they are sending out invitiations so the entire 10th grade of the highschool . Over 400! She's expecting about 150 or so to commit. I'm like, wtf. So I tell the mom, "well, I do have some concerns. #1 - our music and set list is reallly focused towards 28-50 year olds (bar scene type stuff). There is no Justin Beiber on our list. Do we scrub Cocaine lol? #2 - our youngest of the band is 30, our oldest is 50. Not to say we're a bunch of scrubby looking dudes, but we're not 16 year old idolesque." I suggest that she sends the set list to the son to make sure he's ok with it before we go any further. Not only is he ok with it, he loves it. I went ahead and confirmed the gig but now feel weird for some reason lol. He calls me! after I speak with mom and comments on loving our set list and then wants to know our band name. He's so excited he's already getting the word out. I mean, I'm 40 for god's sake and I'll be jamming for a room full of 16 year olds. I know music is for everyone, but it kinda creeps me out a little. To make matters worse, my bassist says, "you know that my daughter is a 10th grader at the school Anyone have any experience with this kinda gig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rezrover Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 Loco!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 Got a call to play at a party. Of course we're in. Well, as the details get a little bit more specific, the party is for a 16th birthday party. The mother/father wants to have a big 16th birthday party bash for junior and junior wants a band. Ok. So, as I dig a little deeper, they are sending out invitiations so the entire 10th grade of the highschool . Over 400! She's expecting about 150 or so to commit. I'm like, wtf. So I tell the mom, "well, I do have some concerns. #1 - our music and set list is reallly focused towards 28-50 year olds (bar scene type stuff). There is no Justin Beiber on our list. Do we scrub Cocaine lol? #2 - our youngest of the band is 30, our oldest is 50. Not to say we're a bunch of scrubby looking dudes, but we're not 16 year old idolesque." I suggest that she sends the set list to the son to make sure he's ok with it before we go any further. Not only is he ok with it, he loves it. I went ahead and confirmed the gig but now feel weird for some reason lol. He calls me! after I speak with mom and comments on loving our set list and then wants to know our band name. He's so excited he's already getting the word out. I mean, I'm 40 for god's sake and I'll be jamming for a room full of 16 year olds. I know music is for everyone, but it kinda creeps me out a little. To make matters worse, my bassist says, "you know that my daughter is a 10th grader at the school Anyone have any experience with this kinda gig? Just go rock it like you normally would. Odds are good that these young kids dont have alot of experience with a good live band. Its going to be as new as experience for them as it is for you guys. One way to bridge the gap might be to make it a theme type party where the kids do the throwback thing into whatever era your band really hits with your setlist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members El Mojito Posted November 10, 2010 Author Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 rhat, that's a great fugging idea. Thanks for making it seem somewhat normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 rhat, that's a great fugging idea. Thanks for making it seem somewhat normal. No problem ,, ya just have to use sales to package things into a great product. The kids will love it. The band can even dress up for the deal too going as rock stars from the set list era. good luck with finding someone skinny enough to be mick lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TrickyBoy Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 We mostly cater to the 21-40 age group as well, but we play an all ages show once a month at a restaurant. We opened the second set with Sweet Child O Mine and there was a 9 year old girl up front singing along word for word. I was like WTF!!! Some little teenager came up and requested two songs: Mustang Sally and Crazy Train. Also, I agree with rhat, make it fun. Also, get yourself a couple of cowbells, a tambourine, etc. and let them come up and play along. They'll love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 We have a few "all age gigs" we usually play each year. A memorial day street fair and a Church Bazaar. The ones enjoying the band are usually the kids. To everyone else we are just background noise. I say do the party and have a blast. The kids will love it. Like Jason said bring cowbells, tambourines and business cards for any moms & dads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members musicmanmu Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 I agree with everyone here. These kids have probably never experience live music, so you are going to "so rock" in their eyes;) I've done this before with one of my bands...playing to a bunch of high school kids at a big state-sponsored anti-tobacco summer camp thing, and you would've thought we were freakin' the Beatles back in 64! It was crazy...and our list is a bit more current, but they still dug tunes that were before their time. I bet you'll end up having a blast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCDEF Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 It just may work. We play one place that allows minors in. Last time we were there there was a girl's soccer team. There were about 20 of them and I'd guess they were probably 14 - 15 years old. They were tearing up the dance floor for a couple of hours. My daughter is 16. The youngest guy in my band is 37. She and a group of her friends come to see us whenever we play at that place and always have a great time. It may help because she's my daughter and I know all her friends, but the soccer team didn't know us and they seemed to really enjoy us. We play mostly 80s and 90s music. So, I wouldn't rule it out, though I'd bit nervous about it too I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rangefinder Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 I was like WTF!!! I would have been like OMGWTF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 I would have been like OMGWTF! ZOMGWTFROFLCOPTERS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jwlussow Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 ZOMGWTFROFLCOPTERS I'm almost afraid to ask...almost. WTF does that mean? Nevermind. Thank God for the urbandictionary.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rangefinder Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 I'm almost afraid to ask...almost. WTF does that mean? A more intense version of "rolling on the floor laughing". It has a couple of dozen literal interpretations at this point. I always picture somebody laughing so hard that they are spinning around on the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 ZOMGWTFROFLCOPTERS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outrider Posted November 10, 2010 Members Share Posted November 10, 2010 My kid just turned 14 and I've been having trouble relating to his friends I finally gave up and started treatinng them like "guys" instead of "kids" and it instantly made a huge difference. Treat this gig the same way! Guitar Hero has been laying the groundwork for you...they know the songs. Do as many songs from the games as you can, even if they aren't perfect. They won't care about that. Then say "here's another one from that band..." and segue into something else. We did a Sweet 16 last year, and I felt much like you do. One thing we did to broaden our appeal was to find out 4-5 modern rock-ish/pop songs that the birthday girl wanted to hear. Ended up opening sets with requests from that list that won them over completely. i think it was "Use Somebody", "Love Drunk", "I got a Feeling" and one more. Not our usual stuff, but they were easy and the kids loved it. Good luck! Knock em dead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members warmeverest Posted November 11, 2010 Members Share Posted November 11, 2010 When I was in highschool (four years ago), we used to have a week dedicated to bands coming and playing shows in our classrooms. School would shut down and such. Tons of us just LOVE music, and we appreciate anyone that can play. Not just our peers, but our "older" guests. Don't go into this gig feeling like they have expectations for you to play "their" music. I would be absolutely flattered by this, and not to mention pleased to know that younger generations love the same music that you do. You're going to be great, and it'll be a lot of fun. PS: We had our peers (other students) playing "classic" rock: full sets of Zeppelin and actual blues jams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted November 11, 2010 Members Share Posted November 11, 2010 I teach high school in Youngstown Ohio, a half-day Career-Tech (vocational) school, and I provide Sound for all school functions (free). Last annual Xmas talent show Toys-for-Tots fundraiser, I hauled in my band gear, me on bass, another teacher on guitar, another on keys, Principle fronting, my buddy on drums, we opened with just two numbers (didn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hegmatronicon Posted November 11, 2010 Members Share Posted November 11, 2010 Just make sure nobody takes a "groupie" backstage! The gig will be great - the kids will love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted November 11, 2010 Members Share Posted November 11, 2010 I'm almost afraid to ask...almost. WTF does that mean? [YOUTUBE]GDeqc8sTLpc[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted November 11, 2010 Members Share Posted November 11, 2010 Our sax player was the band director for a local Middle School until his recent retirement. Over the years, we did a handful of events at his school - and had a great time doing every one of 'em. Although none of us had kids in the audience - as parents ourselves, we felt pretty good about the gigs and were happy with the response we got. Strange as it may sound - the "kid gigs" (as we took to calling them) always gave us the feeling that there was something special and significant about having the opportunity to perform for kids. Looking back - they were a good experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dessalines Posted November 11, 2010 Members Share Posted November 11, 2010 Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnelly428 Posted November 11, 2010 Members Share Posted November 11, 2010 definitely bring business cards for the moms and dads. This could be HUGE for your private party bookings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members X2Nforever Posted November 14, 2010 Members Share Posted November 14, 2010 Got a call to play at a party. Of course we're in. Well, as the details get a little bit more specific, the party is for a 16th birthday party. The mother/father wants to have a big 16th birthday party bash for junior and junior wants a band. Ok. So, as I dig a little deeper, they are sending out invitiations so the entire 10th grade of the highschool . Over 400! She's expecting about 150 or so to commit. I'm like, wtf. So I tell the mom, "well, I do have some concerns. #1 - our music and set list is reallly focused towards 28-50 year olds (bar scene type stuff). There is no Justin Beiber on our list. Do we scrub Cocaine lol? #2 - our youngest of the band is 30, our oldest is 50. Not to say we're a bunch of scrubby looking dudes, but we're not 16 year old idolesque." I suggest that she sends the set list to the son to make sure he's ok with it before we go any further. Not only is he ok with it, he loves it. I went ahead and confirmed the gig but now feel weird for some reason lol. He calls me! after I speak with mom and comments on loving our set list and then wants to know our band name. He's so excited he's already getting the word out. I mean, I'm 40 for god's sake and I'll be jamming for a room full of 16 year olds. I know music is for everyone, but it kinda creeps me out a little. To make matters worse, my bassist says, "you know that my daughter is a 10th grader at the school Anyone have any experience with this kinda gig? Hahaha, my band had the exact opposite thing happen. About 2 years ago, when we were younger lads, we were asked to play a party for a parents friend's neighbor. We said yes, because we wanted to play. It ended up being 50 year olds listening to death metal...It was awkward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted November 15, 2010 Members Share Posted November 15, 2010 Anyone have any experience with this kinda gig? I am 42 and play in an all-80s band and it never ceases to amaze me how familiar college-age kids are with the music we play... not only knowing what we are playing but making requests... even had detailed discussions with kids probably 19-22 on certain 80s groups or albums. We are winding things up at the end of this year sadly but this Thursday we are playing our last public gig at a college pub Bud-Light hot tub party. Think "hot-tub time machine". My wife's best friend's daughter is a freshman and may be there. It's a bit weird but I am sure it will be a blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted November 15, 2010 Members Share Posted November 15, 2010 I am 42 and play in an all-80s band and it never ceases to amaze me how familiar college-age kids are with the music we play ... this Thursday we are playing our last public gig at a college pub ... My wife's best friend's daughter is a freshman and may be there. It's a bit weird but I am sure it will be a blast. I'm 54 ... and last year played a reunion gig with that featured 4 bands that played in and around East Lansing (Michigan State Univerisity) back in the early 80's. All 4 bands featured "all original member" lineups some 25+ years after the fact. The event put 550+ paid entries through the door - including at least 6 of the performers' kids that are now MSU students themselves (my freshman son included). Although my kid has been around me and my "geezer" bands all his life - he had some newfound respect when his dad and some geezer band buddies absolutely packed one of the town's longest running live music venues in what my youngster consider "his town". The gig was special on many levels for virtually everybody involved in it. Here's hoping your's turns out that way for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.