I Played My First Gig In 7 Years And It Was AMAZING

[GuitarIV]

What's up everyone,

just wanted to share my joy with all of you.

Yesterday it was finally time to go on stage with the band I've been rehearsing with the past 4 months. I haven't played in front of an audience in seven years, so I was kinda nervous.

I made sure I had all my equipment ready and brought spares for everything (apart from my amp but luckily it didn't crap out), we were supposed to be playing in the garden of the venue, however due to bad luck the weather was shitty and it was raining so we had to relocate inside.

We used an electric drumkit and I was surprised how good it sounded. This also allowed us to keep the noise level low and we got compliments on the sound. Surprisingly the space inside had perfect acoustics!

This is what it looked like all set up:



I brought my custom built HSS Strat with me and my ESP M-II as a backup guitar, my trusty 15 watt Laney IRT Studio amp, my JCM 900 1960 412 cab with Marshall branded V30 speakers and a small pedalboard setup with a Tuner, OD pedal, Delay and Chorus. Had my Octaswitch on the board as well to eliminate any need for tap dancing.

Before the gig I had 2 beers and a white wine spritzer to calm my nerves, I also had a big bottle of water ready next to me to stay hydrated. We got on stage and opened up with Highway Star. Glad to say I managed to not mess up the solo although I was nervous

It took me about 4 songs to completely let loose and from that point on it was just closed eyes, listening to the band members and wailing away. I missed this sooo much. It was beautiful!


We got compliments, people were happy, my band members were happy, and I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. All the hard work finally paid off in the 2 hours we were playing.

Another amazing feeling: we packed up all of our gear, our guitar player goes to the venue owner, she hands him the pay for the night and the tips people gave.

We count our cash and everyone goes home with a good amount of money. Drinks and food for the band were on the house.

I finally understand what it feels like to get paid for something you truly love doing. It was the icing on the cake!


I took the setlist home to pin it on my wall as a nice reminder of this night:




Unfortunately I don't have any additional footage at this point, but my sisters BF filmed everything with a HD camera and when he's done rendering he's gonna send the material to me so I can upload some pics and videos.


I am happy as a man can be. We have another gig in 2 weeks on a proper stage in a castle. I have no stage fright anymore, only confidence now. Can't wait to be up and playing again.


Have a great day guys!

 

[paul-e-mann]

What's up everyone,

just wanted to share my joy with all of you.

Yesterday it was finally time to go on stage with the band I've been rehearsing with the past 4 months. I haven't played in front of an audience in seven years, so I was kinda nervous.

I made sure I had all my equipment ready and brought spares for everything (apart from my amp but luckily it didn't crap out), we were supposed to be playing in the garden of the venue, however due to bad luck the weather was shitty and it was raining so we had to relocate inside.

We used an electric drumkit and I was surprised how good it sounded. This also allowed us to keep the noise level low and we got compliments on the sound. Surprisingly the space inside had perfect acoustics!

This is what it looked like all set up:

View attachment 60195 View attachment 60196

I brought my custom built HSS Strat with me and my ESP M-II as a backup guitar, my trusty 15 watt Laney IRT Studio amp, my JCM 900 1960 412 cab with Marshall branded V30 speakers and a small pedalboard setup with a Tuner, OD pedal, Delay and Chorus. Had my Octaswitch on the board as well to eliminate any need for tap dancing.

Before the gig I had 2 beers and a white wine spritzer to calm my nerves, I also had a big bottle of water ready next to me to stay hydrated. We got on stage and opened up with Highway Star. Glad to say I managed to not mess up the solo although I was nervous

It took me about 4 songs to completely let loose and from that point on it was just closed eyes, listening to the band members and wailing away. I missed this sooo much. It was beautiful!


We got compliments, people were happy, my band members were happy, and I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. All the hard work finally paid off in the 2 hours we were playing.

Another amazing feeling: we packed up all of our gear, our guitar player goes to the venue owner, she hands him the pay for the night and the tips people gave.

We count our cash and everyone goes home with a good amount of money. Drinks and food for the band were on the house.

I finally understand what it feels like to get paid for something you truly love doing. It was the icing on the cake!


I took the setlist home to pin it on my wall as a nice reminder of this night:

View attachment 60197


Unfortunately I don't have any additional footage at this point, but my sisters BF filmed everything with a HD camera and when he's done rendering he's gonna send the material to me so I can upload some pics and videos.


I am happy as a man can be. We have another gig in 2 weeks on a proper stage in a castle. I have no stage fright anymore, only confidence now. Can't wait to be up and playing again.


Have a great day guys!

Sounds like a success and a great time! Electronic drums is a great scenario to keep volume down

Looking forward to your sound clips and hearing you rip on those Judas Priest solos!

 

[BanditPanda]

Congrats on the the gig Ivy. Must've been great. A wonderful experience for you.
Hopefully the filming and audio turn out great and you've got that for posterity.
Wish for you many more.
BP

 

[bad565ss]

There's just nothing like playin live. It will keep getting the more you play together too.
I've had my band together for 4 years and we're still getting tighter and interacting better as a band as time goes on. Keep it up!

 

[Lance Chambers]

I would like to hear that song title "You got another think coming".

 

[BftGibson]

awesome...i dream everyday of getting back out live !! hope the Wife heals soon...it really is the culmination of all the tone seeking..practice & gear love..to get it out & share...nice set list !!

 

[fifteenohms]

Oh ho ho... you is the Man today!

Apart from the drinking, congratulations!

You are the one who got up out of bed:

-you made it happen
-you checked your cables, packed it up
-you made no excuses
-you proceeded despite usual mistakes
-you packed in then unpacked home

Well deserved props, you could have goofed off this weekend like 99% of the population, but you went forth anyways and for that you got the admiration and envy of probably anyone else in the crowd who hasnt changed their strings since the Bush Administration.

Because you "wasted your time" as they say. You know, the grasshoppers vs the ants naysayers.

Well well. Even got some gas money out of it? I love it.

If society as a whole were more supportive of the arts - individually pursuing music and live performances on their own - there would be more diversity on the radio.

 

[fifteenohms]

I would like to hear that song title "You got another think coming".

Thats actually a cover tune.

The artist is Judas and the Priests I believe

 

[Lance Chambers]

Thats actually a cover tune.

The artist is Judas and the Priests I believe

Yes, I know! Judas Priest............"Screaming For Vengeance" album. I was just hazing GuitarIV.

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

What's up everyone,

just wanted to share my joy with all of you.

Yesterday it was finally time to go on stage with the band I've been rehearsing with the past 4 months. I haven't played in front of an audience in seven years, so I was kinda nervous.

I made sure I had all my equipment ready and brought spares for everything (apart from my amp but luckily it didn't crap out), we were supposed to be playing in the garden of the venue, however due to bad luck the weather was shitty and it was raining so we had to relocate inside.

We used an electric drumkit and I was surprised how good it sounded. This also allowed us to keep the noise level low and we got compliments on the sound. Surprisingly the space inside had perfect acoustics!

This is what it looked like all set up:

View attachment 60195 View attachment 60196

I brought my custom built HSS Strat with me and my ESP M-II as a backup guitar, my trusty 15 watt Laney IRT Studio amp, my JCM 900 1960 412 cab with Marshall branded V30 speakers and a small pedalboard setup with a Tuner, OD pedal, Delay and Chorus. Had my Octaswitch on the board as well to eliminate any need for tap dancing.

Before the gig I had 2 beers and a white wine spritzer to calm my nerves, I also had a big bottle of water ready next to me to stay hydrated. We got on stage and opened up with Highway Star. Glad to say I managed to not mess up the solo although I was nervous

It took me about 4 songs to completely let loose and from that point on it was just closed eyes, listening to the band members and wailing away. I missed this sooo much. It was beautiful!


We got compliments, people were happy, my band members were happy, and I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. All the hard work finally paid off in the 2 hours we were playing.

Another amazing feeling: we packed up all of our gear, our guitar player goes to the venue owner, she hands him the pay for the night and the tips people gave.

We count our cash and everyone goes home with a good amount of money. Drinks and food for the band were on the house.

I finally understand what it feels like to get paid for something you truly love doing. It was the icing on the cake!


I took the setlist home to pin it on my wall as a nice reminder of this night:

View attachment 60197


Unfortunately I don't have any additional footage at this point, but my sisters BF filmed everything with a HD camera and when he's done rendering he's gonna send the material to me so I can upload some pics and videos.


I am happy as a man can be. We have another gig in 2 weeks on a proper stage in a castle. I have no stage fright anymore, only confidence now. Can't wait to be up and playing again.


Have a great day guys!

Congratulations brother, I knew you would be fine, and I am looking forward to hearing some of the footage shot from the gig!
Cheers Mitch

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Good job man!! Sounds like great fun. And as @fifteenohms said, as long as you're out doing it the money is a bonus, really. At least it sure is to me.
Keep it foing. Nothing more fun in my books.

 

[MarshallDog]

Congrats Bro! Sounds like all your hard work paid off! Theres nothing like playing live especially after the nerves calm down. I for one would love to do it more!!!

 

[d10221]

Cheers Man!

I know how it feels haven't played live, in front of an audience, for about ...15 years?
Sh*t I miss it!

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

Congrats, there's nothing quite like playing live !
Venue owner and customers were happy, and you got more than what was agreed ? Looks like that's a repeat gig waiting to happen. Good on you, well done !
Cool setlist btw. Must be a blast to perform these (well, I've played some of these live through the years, so I know for a fact these numbers are).

 

[Midnight Blues]

Cool and in the immortal words of Steve Marriott: "Rock on!"

 

[Sapphire Sounds]

Keep on rockin in the free world

 

[MarshallDog]

What type of venue was it???

 

[tallcoolone]

Congrats on putting yourself out there--music is meant to be shared

 

[tubes]

I have no stage fright anymore, only confidence now. Can't wait to be up and playing again.

Have a great day guys!

Cool IV.

> I have no stage fright anymore

That's very good.

Personally I have always had more 'rehearsal fright' than stage fright.
This makes sense: your band mates are the people in a position to be closely critical of everything you play but your audience just wants to have a good time.

 

[GuitarIV]

I would like to hear that song title "You got another think coming".

Bahahaha, I didn't even notice! Fun fact: my singer printed the setlists and he's Irish, so the only English native speaker amongst the rest of the band. I'll rub it into his face next time I see him haha

Congrats, there's nothing quite like playing live !
Venue owner and customers were happy, and you got more than what was agreed ? Looks like that's a repeat gig waiting to happen. Good on you, well done !
Cool setlist btw. Must be a blast to perform these (well, I've played some of these live through the years, so I know for a fact these numbers are).

Yes, everyone was happy in the end and if they need a band again it's not unlikely they'll give us a call. Had the weather been better there would have been even more people since we were supposed to play in the garden inside of the building and you would have heard the music out on the streets.

The setlist was great fun, my favourites are Highway Star, You got another thing coming, Green Manalishi, Road back home and Never enough. We are about to add in new songs as well so in a few months we should easily have enough material to cover a 3 to 4 hour gig easily. I pitched Money by Pink Floyd and what a surprise, my bassist is totally game hahaha

What type of venue was it???

It is a type of hotel in the middle of town with a nice green outdoor garden. A little bit on the fancy side (looks more like you'd host a wedding in there rather than a hard rock concert) but mostly frequented by locals. The boss there is the cook and he actually made it a theme evening, he named cocktails and dishes after songs we played. So if you ordered War Pigs you got some Spareribs, Paranoid was a cocktail he invented and he named his chilli "You better run". Appropriate name I guess, run to the bathroom?

Cool IV.

> I have no stage fright anymore

That's very good.

Personally I have always had more 'rehearsal fright' than stage fright.
This makes sense: your band mates are the people in a position to be closely critical of everything you play but your audience just wants to have a good time.

Yes it amazes me everytime, I did fuck up here and there as did my bandmembers but no one in the audience noticed. They all said it was perfect. I knew where I made mistakes but I learned a lesson through all these years: never stop playing and never show with your body language that something is wrong. Continue playing the right notes or if need be stop playing for half a bar and start the next one right again. Only you and your band members will know. And the occasional musician in the crowd with crossed arms watching your every move and listening to every note




Thanks for all the positive responses guys. I can't wait to get some material up online to share with all of you.

In the meantime now that I had some time to reflect about the whole evening there are a few things I wanna mention:


First of all I got massive compliments on my tone. I brought my V30 equipped cabinet because I know the importance of mids in a mix and during soundcheck I also bumped em on my amp. By itself very nasal and honky, once the band kicks in it sits perfectly, riffs and chords are defined and crunchy, leads sing.

Say whatever you want about V30s. There are days I hate em playing on my own. But it's hard to beat em live.

Next up the pickups: I put a DiMarzio Paf Pro in the bridge of my Strat together with the humcancelling Area 67 in the middle position and the 58 in the neck. The Humbucker is low to medium output, matches the singles well and is very versatile. The singles are not the real deal because they have a dummy coil underneath, yet with the band no one would ever notice and I had zero hum.

The versatility of a HSS Strat is hard to beat when you need a wide range of tones.

My 15 watt amp was more than loud enough even without being miced, my channel volume controls were both under 4 on the dial and it was exactly in its sweet spot.

Due to the electronic drum kit which allowed us to play quieter there was no need for earplugs. People could sit and eat and still hold a conversation. I myself enjoyed this very much and I could hear all my band members and myself very well.

I kept the mix knobs on my Delay and Chorus pedals as low as I could so you could still notice and hear the effect but where it didn't dominate the signal. This helped to retain the clarity.


All the years of geeking out on wonderful forums like this one here helped me to be prepared and make no mistakes when it came to setting up. It was beautiful to be able to finally apply that knowledge I gained succesfully!

Last but not least: getting paid more for 2 hours of playing music on stage rather than waiting tables for 8 hours was one of the best feelings ever. I have contacted my old guitar teacher and I will start taking lessons again to learn music theory, I was too lazy to do it when I picked up the guitar 10 years ago.

My goal is not to become a rockstar or anything like that. I wanna play 2 paid gigs a week and cut down on my hours as a waiter. And to make that happen I need to step up my game. But I will do it and I will make it happen!

Sorry for the wall of text. Music is a gift from god and I am happier than I have been in a very long time. Only a little bit less than 2 weeks till the next gig!!!