THE GIG THREAD

[mortlock]

my band 'reverse headlines' almost every gig we play..

[giantchris]

Get your shit on and off the stage as quickly as possible.

^^^^
Best advice.

So I've played 3 live shows ever now but I'd like to add a couple tips.

1 - Set up in your practice space how you are going to be on stage so you get used to hearing or not hearing the band

2 - The sound on stage is most likely not going to be very good and you probably won't be able to hear the whole band because your first shows are probably going to be in shitholes and the sound guy most likely isn't very good unless your lucky. 

3 - If you are the singer (like me) make sure the mic is not going to electrocute you BEFORE you start your set.  This is going to happen more often then you would expect. 

[liquidsmoke]

Good stuff. Exactly how much does it hurt when the mic shocks you? I can't imagine even doing the set. I bring my own mic and my lips are on it half the time I'm singing.



Went to a show tonight, 5 bands, long show. Like our show last night the stage was VERY DARK. I never really thought about it before. I'm guessing most real venues don't mind putting the stage lights on a bit but it's probably considered lame. Since I never went through that decade of playing guitar or bass 3 hours a day like most people do I'm not that good and have to pretty much stare at my fretboard during most of our songs. So it's basically start practicing 10 times as much with my eyes closed or bring a light/ask for more light on stage which is probably 15 year old beginner stuff. When I can't see the fretboard dots I often don't know where I am on the neck until I hear myself playing the wrong note. Fuck.

Anyone have any thoughts on this other than 'you suck, give up or starting practicing 3 hours a day with your eyes closed!'?

[BastardCthulhu]

Maybe a little diy stage lighting for your own benefit?  A band I used to do shows with would plug in a couple table lamps on either side of the stage, probably more for themselves, but it was a cool effect as well.  Made me want to kick back with a cigar and a newspaper.

[Discö Rice]

I don't really see too well when I'm playing. Between stage lights, sweat, and a blur of arms and sticks, it becomes a lot like playing blind. I've gotten used to it, though, and my instrument doesn't require me to find a dime sized button on a box the size of an Altoid can to bring the heavy, so it's nowhere near as important for me to be able to see as it is for a guitarist with more than say, two pedals.

[chille01]

My contribution to the gigging advice would be... always know what is coming next in the set.  We usually write the set in advance and jam it in order at least once or twice, so I have a pretty good idea anyway.  But I always make sure while playing one song that I glance at the set list and know what the NEXT song is.  That way you can plow through your set without looking like a bunch of schlubs.  And it helps avoid that embarrassing situation where the drummer counts the song in and you're the only guy on stage that doesn't know what the fuck is going on.

[giantchris]

Good stuff. Exactly how much does it hurt when the mic shocks you? I can't imagine even doing the set. I bring my own mic and my lips are on it half the time I'm singing.

At the first show we played I'm not gonna lie it fucking hurt a lot and it was completely unexpected.  Hit me right when I leaned in to sing on the first song and snapped my head back.  I had my head so far away from the mic apparently people could barely hear me singing.  The second time it wasn't that bad but it was definitely noticable.  I think it depends on how bad the club's electrical is but any sort of shock at all is going to be very noticable when its hitting you in the mouth/face area.   

[Volume]

Maybe a little diy stage lighting for your own benefit?  A band I used to do shows with would plug in a couple table lamps on either side of the stage, probably more for themselves, but it was a cool effect as well.  Made me want to kick back with a cigar and a newspaper.

With an old band of mine we had a lot of lamps and lights on stage. They were mostly junk we found or our parents were about to throw away. We tried to hide them behind amps and drums and it looked pretty cool. We also used colored plastic sheets so that the light would be red, green or whatever instead of white, like Yngwie says "No white light on stage!".

[liquidsmoke]

Good stuff. Exactly how much does it hurt when the mic shocks you? I can't imagine even doing the set. I bring my own mic and my lips are on it half the time I'm singing.

At the first show we played I'm not gonna lie it fucking hurt a lot and it was completely unexpected.  Hit me right when I leaned in to sing on the first song and snapped my head back.  I had my head so far away from the mic apparently people could barely hear me singing.  The second time it wasn't that bad but it was definitely noticable.  I think it depends on how bad the club's electrical is but any sort of shock at all is going to be very noticable when its hitting you in the mouth/face area.   

This generally only happens when one is also playing guitar or bass right?

I saw it happen once or twice years back but I don't remember where.

[liquidsmoke]

Maybe a little diy stage lighting for your own benefit?  A band I used to do shows with would plug in a couple table lamps on either side of the stage, probably more for themselves, but it was a cool effect as well.  Made me want to kick back with a cigar and a newspaper.

With an old band of mine we had a lot of lamps and lights on stage. They were mostly junk we found or our parents were about to throw away. We tried to hide them behind amps and drums and it looked pretty cool. We also used colored plastic sheets so that the light would be red, green or whatever instead of white, like Yngwie says "No white light on stage!".

Once in awhile I see bands bring there own lights for effect, never so they can see what they are doing though. It amazing the shit out of me that most people can play most of their songs without having to look at their fretboards at all. I don't think I will ever know the guitar that well. Really I started getting serious too late and feel I've past the point of ever getting "good". I'm half thinking about quitting the live thing after we get a few more gigs in but I want to keep writing music and can't see not recording and releasing it.

[VOLVO)))]

The whole lights out thing never bothered me. My pedalboard is littered with way-too-fucking-bright LED's, so I can typically always see, furthermore, it's good effect that my pedals ARE my light setup.

If anyone noticed the puns, you win.

[liquidsmoke]

The whole lights out thing never bothered me. My pedalboard is littered with way-too-fucking-bright LED's, so I can typically always see, furthermore, it's good effect that my pedals ARE my light setup.

If anyone noticed the puns, you win.

Could you play just as well without your pedalboard lights? Just curious.

[VOLVO)))]

The whole lights out thing never bothered me. My pedalboard is littered with way-too-fucking-bright LED's, so I can typically always see, furthermore, it's good effect that my pedals ARE my light setup.

If anyone noticed the puns, you win.

Could you play just as well without your pedalboard lights? Just curious.

Yeah, I cheat, my stage axe has knife notches cut into the bottom of the neck on the odd frets.

[liquidsmoke]

The whole lights out thing never bothered me. My pedalboard is littered with way-too-fucking-bright LED's, so I can typically always see, furthermore, it's good effect that my pedals ARE my light setup.

If anyone noticed the puns, you win.

Could you play just as well without your pedalboard lights? Just curious.

Yeah, I cheat, my stage axe has knife notches cut into the bottom of the neck on the odd frets.

Ah, not a bad idea. I'm going to get some type of LED reading light for my pedalboard and point it up at me. If that isn't enough I'll rig up a dim lightbulb or something for my board.

[Pissy]

I have an MXR Carbon Copy that has a bright blue LED on it that it way too bright.  I put some blue masking tape over it so that it didn't blind me, I can certainly still see the light as it shines right through, but it isn't as harsh anymore.  I can't imagine staring at a whole pedalboard full of those things.  That would drive me nuts.

[Baltar]

I have an MXR Carbon Copy that has a bright blue LED on it that it way too bright.  I put some blue masking tape over it so that it didn't blind me, I can certainly still see the light as it shines right through, but it isn't as harsh anymore.  I can't imagine staring at a whole pedalboard full of those things.  That would drive me nuts.

I do whatever my pedals tell me to do...

[liquidsmoke]

haha! Behringer uses those super bright blue LEDs too. Taped over the one on my little pedalboard vocal mixer.

I'm going to stick a red light bulb on my board so I can see what I'm doing. Plus I'll be red and evil.

[Baltar]

I used to have a couple of the Snarling Dogs pedals and a bunch of glow-in-the-dark stickers.  Those are all awsome under a blacklight.  I always thought about putting one on my board.

[liquidsmoke]

I found a company that makes glow in the dark fretboard dot stickers, might give that a try although it's pretty cheesy looking.

[Drama]

It's down to muscle memory. Play your set to a click or backing tracks when you're at home, focus on a tight, mistake free run thru each time. If you find yourself making a mistake, go back and work on that part. There's nothing worse than drilling in mistakes. You'll just get better at playing things badly.

Before you know it you'll not be looking at your guitar at all for your set. Hell, you won't even be thinking about playing, it'll just flow. Thus freeing you up to scope the crowd for the hotties

[liquidsmoke]

Warning, babbling here.

I figure it will happen when it happens. The more I practice the better I get but I'm not willing to play 2 or 3 hours a day just so I don't have to look at my fretboard sooner. For some parts I don't need to so I practice looking straight ahead and around while singing for those parts but when I'm sliding all over the neck kind of fast, especially on the high frets it's really easy to be half an inch off and fuck up.

I always go for a tight mistake free run through each time. On my own I'll play harder parts over and over to get them down but during band practice I just make a mental note of mistakes or sloppy parts.

With regards to my technique on guitar I'm probably only about where the average teenager is after playing for a year. Through my 20s I mainly just fooled around with guitars and basses, not actually writing any songs. Only over the last few years have I gotten more serious about playing and writing. I have wrist problems and in the past I used to usually play sitting down and I'd start falling asleep after a few minutes. I was a loser through most of my 20s. Hated my job, major anxiety issues, scatter brained, etc.. over most of that now thankfully. I should do hard fretboard and picking exercises daily but I still HATE that type of stuff. I'd rather play our songs over and over as boring as that usually is. Not a good approach I know. Tuning down to B on shitty guitars and not having low action doesn't help. I can't stand fret buzz.

Poor baby right? 

[Drama]

Ah man, I feel you, drilling scales and arpeggios and the like is dull but the benefits are huge. It's worth it if you can get yourself in to it.

Smash em out to a click and you can at least measure speed progress. Give you something tangible to aim for.

I don't know how far you've looked in to it and I know Theory is not for everyone, but I'd definitely suggest taking a basic look at scales & chords and their relationships. You don't have to go too deep but basic stuff like relative Majors and Minors and scale degrees etc will really open things up for you and I bet you'd get more in to the scales etc.

Once you look at how chords are constructed you can also throw away all the crap! If you look at an A Major Barre chord, you have (from 6th string up to first) Your Root A note on 6th string, E on 5th, A on 4th, C# on 3rd, E on 2nd and another A on the 1st. I tend to throw out all the octave notes so I'm just playing the Root, the E on 5th and the C# on 3rd string. Often a much more desirable sound when you're tuned down and playing thru a ton of fuzz and you still have the three important notes in there.

Damn man, rambling here, but yeah, if it's something you're in to, delve a little deeper, I promise you won't regret it!

[liquidsmoke]

My wrist hates real chords 
But I should study them more. I know the "blues box" and know the extra notes to add to it to make it sound more metal when I want that. Mostly I ignore all that when I'm writing riffs and just write what feels good but I do use the limited theory I know about fifths and octaves and what not when needed. Writing riffs is the one thing I think I am good at so I've got that at least.

[Drama]

Mostly I ignore all that when I'm writing riffs and just write what feels good but I do use the limited theory I know about fifths and octaves and what not when needed. Writing riffs is the one thing I think I am good at so I've got that at least.

That's the one man, if it feels good and sounds good then it is good. The route you took to get there doesn't matter at the end of the day.

[liquidsmoke]

^ Yup.

Got the red light bulb set up. It looks cool and I can just barely see enough. Win win.