@@TheArtofGuitar Also as an Aussie, I was completely WTF seeing 'Hallelujah ScoMo' on an @The-Art-of-Guitar thumbnail. For reference I think that photo became famous during the horrific Australian fires last year as ScoMo showed a complete lack of leadership and compassion. His 'faith' was largely derided by the nation
Mine was that we had to play for an Elementary School-organized gig outside a Museum in a one-stoplight town. We are a metal/drunk punk band. Had to learn oldies and light music, almost no booze... And got $50 each---1.5 hours away from home... Hahaha.
I wish I could learn all the instruments from you personally because you would be the best teacher but I live far away... I am from India ❤️🥰 with love from India Sir Mike G ❤️
I once played a gig on the West Coast of the south Island of New Zealand where the ratio of dogs to punters was 5:2 (ie: there were two blokes at the pub with five dogs). Great gig. We all got hammered on local ale. True story.
@TheArtofGuitar i love hearing an i love lucy reference i was born in 1999 and all my favorite stuff is all before my time man. Blame my dad, i picked up guitar in high school, all i would hear as a kid was jimi, and bootsy collins, boston, journey, from there to the clash, the doors just all kinds of stuff, zeppelin , michael jackson i just consumed all this as a 7 year old and to me all this music is MY MUSIC. its not my time but i grew up on it. And im grateful. Im going to start gigging again soon and i really think it all started with listening to sabbath and zeppelin as an 8 yr old.
Great "crazy gig" story! Being from the Minnesota of Canada (Saskatchewan) I have many similar stories that feature extreme bad weather. One time there was a massive snowstorm and we called the high school where we were booked and asked them to cancel the dance since no one was going to be coming to the dance anyway because of the absolutely wretched weather and forecast. However, the nice teenage girls at the school insisted we drive out. So, and I don't know how we rationalized this, we drove out--a one-hour drive taking four hours on the almost impassable roads. Five people showed up for the dance and we drove back for another 4 hours of absolutely terrible roads. Like any weird gig story, the weather was just the backdrop. We had a new, young drummer who were were gradually learning was a jerk plus he didn't know how to drive in snow and ice but insisted he take his turn in driving the van. I remember him getting stuck in the snow on the street, pressing the gas, and asking "what's that sound?". Someone moaned "Ah, dude that's the sound of the tires spinning!". I could go on!
Sound man here. My strangest gig (among many) was a Derby Week gig. Now I’m in Louisville Kentucky so there’s a ton of gigs to be had Derby Week - right? “Derby City” And all that. Well right across the river in New Albany, the civic leaders decided to try and ride them some Derby coattails or something and have our little old rock band play at their outdoor amphitheater. Great pay too! You should have seen the crowd! It consisted of me. And one couple. So yeah - two random people just happened to be walking by and heard music and wandered in. Barring that cosmic happenstance there would have been literally nothing but empty seats and a vacant dance floor. Oh well. At least we didn’t have to listen to David Miscavige drone on and on.
I've played some weird ones (as an indie musician playing whenever and wherever), but my favorite was a local music festival. All sorts of businesses were hosting bands for a 24 hour non-stop music marathon. I'm solo, so they put me in one of the smaller places. As it happens, it was a lingerie shop. What I was not expecting was that the shop was so tiny and packed, they put the performers in the display window (on a 3 foot or so rise). A couple people came to see me play, but for the most part, it was the other band and the shop owners (who absolutely loved it). Two of the bands booked for that venue cancelled, so on one hand gear setup was low pressure. Local fests are always a bit of a mess, but this was way more chill. So my kinda tubby 40 year old goth dude ass in the window of a botique lingerie shop, which felt extra funny given I was playing a sold-out show opening for one of my favorite bands in another city the next week (not sold out by me, but the band personally invited me to play so that was pretty awesome). The weird are gigs always memorable, and always special.
Im mainly just struggling with self doubt, i been playing for a week almost, and i almost got the caged system down, the only one im needing work on is D, and im trying to just loosen up but its hard to just let go and play😂
Lol figuring out the religion was easier than figuring out the band director... still haven't figured that one out... I only know one modern keyboardist and that's Shernian lol
I love playing bass gigs, not that the terrible songs (SHA, MS, BEG you know what they are) that I have to play are tolerable! I would have liked to have put “HAIL XENU” in electrical tape on the back of my bass in preparation for the gig!
And dumb stories like this make me almost not want to try playing gigs. I'm too much of a control freak to get into those situations. I would've been gone as soon as the gig ended. No waiting for a chance to grab my gear undetected, just grab it during the speeches and split
I would've just slept in the car until morning tbh you blew over $200 for a hotel room lol Still, the gig had a great payout, better than most for sure. I'd be lucky if I make over $300 sometimes.