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Things I Learned from Last Night's Gig


venturawest

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We had a *great* show last night. Four hours of sweaty dancing goodness. A soundguy to make sure we sounded great and I didn't have to deal with it. Hot girls EVERYwhere. It was grand. However, here are some things I'd like to suggest to audiences everywhere, based on last night. Feel free to add your own comments.

 

1) Please, please, please - if you want to talk to the band, or suggest songs, or make requests: either do it between songs, or between sets. Please don't come up and try to talk to us in the midst of playing a song. We're a three piece - so we're busy, all singing, i'm on two instruments at once, and trying to put on a good show - I can't really concentrate on those things if you walk right up to the middle of the stage and WAVE US OVER so you can yell some idea of yours in my ear. Please.

 

2) On that note: THINK FOR JUST ONE SECOND before you make a request. Our last five songs, in order, were "blister in the sun", "what i like about you", "play that funky music white boy", "roller coaster" and "brick house". What in our history makes you think that we're going to play killswitch engage? While I might be a huge hardcore fan myself - are you kidding?

 

3) Same goes for "alan jackson", whatever the hell that is. Interrupting me between songs to ask if we'll play some "slow country ballads" for your girlfriend? Given our song history - not bloody likely.

 

4) Staring us down for an entire set is intimidating and unpleasant. If you're having fun, have fun. If you hate us, glaring at us for three hours straight is just plain awkward. Go find something else that you enjoy, since clearly it's not us.

 

5) If you're a great singer and you don't like ours, good for you. Coming up to us on a break and saying "I'm way better than your singer, you should hire me"? Not going to happen. Ever. Even if you really are a great singer, your attitude and ego alone would guarantee we would never want to play with you. If you're really that great, why don't you go start a band, learn 70+ songs in two rehearsals, and book your own gigs?

 

6) The stage is not an open invitation, nor is it karaoke night. Do I ever come up to your office and sit in your lap and start typing on your computer without an invitation? So what makes you think that it's ok to jump on stage in the middle of a song and grab a mic and start singing? Thankfully, our sound guy will cut that mic off instantaneously in the mains, so even though you may hear yourself in the monitors, nobody else can. We're working, and even though we're having fun, we're trying to put on a good show for the clubgoers and the club owners so we're hired back.

 

Rant over. It was one of the most fun shows we've played in a long time, and my complaints notwithstanding, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

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1) Please, please, please - if you want to talk to the band, or suggest songs, or make requests: either do it between songs, or between sets. Please don't come up and try to talk to us in the midst of playing a song. We're a three piece - so we're busy, all singing, i'm on two instruments at once, and trying to put on a good show - I can't really concentrate on those things if you walk right up to the middle of the stage and WAVE US OVER so you can yell some idea of yours in my ear. Please.


 

I never understood this. Can't people see you are kind of busy?

 

:rolleyes:

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6) The stage is not an open invitation, nor is it karaoke night.

 

Yeah, but you can still have fun with this. Crowd participation is cool: be glad you've got it.

 

We played a country club gig that got real crazy like this: we had 3 different people at different times "singing" through my microphone. I figured if I can't stop it, I might as well let em have fun, so I swiveled the mic around to face them and let em do what they do. I turned the gain way down though.

 

The rest of teh crowd that was packed at the stage didn't seem to mind...

 

The worst is when somebody tries to play my keyboards: that's no good - no can do - too easy to come off the stand. In fact, one of the "singers" at that club gig originally tried to play my keyboard. I handed her the mic instead....

 

After the song was over I asked the ladies what their names were, got on the mic and said: "Let's hear it for Ann and cathy on background vocals". The crowd ate it up.

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you can still have fun with this. Crowd participation is cool: be glad you've got it...


After the song was over I asked the ladies what their names were, got on the mic and said: "Let's hear it for Ann and cathy on background vocals". The crowd ate it up.

 

Agreed - and we do exactly that, turning the mic around for crowd singing, even running out into the audience with a mic and having people sing along, which is great.

 

Last night, two different guys just jumped onto the stage, in the middle of songs, and started singing into the mic, and stayed through the entire song. The bouncer came over and pulled them off after the songs. :confused:

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Agreed - and we do exactly that, turning the mic around for crowd singing, even running out into the audience with a mic and having people sing along, which is great.


Last night, two different guys just jumped onto the stage, in the middle of songs, and started singing into the mic, and stayed through the entire song. The bouncer came over and pulled them off after the songs.
:confused:

:lol:

 

Yea, at that same gig we started playing "Baby Did a Bad, bad thing" (which is a john lee hooker song so of course it's going to sound like "LaGrange", all of his songs do. :lol:)

 

THis drunk chick on my mic starts going "How, how how" and Tim looks at her, takes the microphone away from her (good naturedly) and says "Wrong song"....:lol:

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Bwa ha ha ha ha ha.
:lol:
:lol:
:lol:

 

my thoughts exactly:rolleyes:

theres a free bird guy at every show, he just might not always speak up.

 

i remember once at a bar gig years ago this guy wanted to fight us all be because we ruined "house of the rising sun". went from reggae to punk at the end, pretty bad in his defense, but he definetly overreacted.

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I remember when you couldnt play a bar gig without playing Freebird,Cocaine,or Riding the Storm Out.Corse when I was playing them they were still fairly new(less than 10 years old!).Damn! I am getting old.Hard to believe since I'm still so handsome,charming,charismatic,and HUMBLE!!! Lol

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Get yourself into a band that plays originals, and you won't have to worry about audience hassles any more.

 

 

Doesn't work. We keep getting people asking us to play songs that were on our first demo album, or other ones which we haven't rehearsed.

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3) Same goes for "alan jackson", whatever the hell that is. Interrupting me between songs to ask if we'll play some "slow country ballads" for your girlfriend? Given our song history - not bloody likely.

 

 

 

 

 

QUOTE]

 

LOL!! Yea Alan Jackson. I've heard of him. Some Nashville country guy. I don't think he has what it takes to make it big! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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LOL!! Yea Alan Jackson. I've heard of him. Some Nashville country guy. I don't think he has what it takes to make it big! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i found this humorous as well! :D Esp in Houston... but ya gotta remember, V-west ain't local, so I don't hold it against him that much... ;)

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Doesn't work. We keep getting people asking us to play songs that were on our first demo album, or other ones which we haven't rehearsed.

 

 

 

Keep getting more original until you have no audience at all. Then you're all set.

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