This is the Predicament. Permit us present our imaginary Joe. He is a lead guitarist in a remake / covers group, preferring multiple electric guitars including a heavily used Gibson Melody Maker. He is a wonderful guitar player and cool under pressure. He works for a group we will call the Power Found. They are good and certainly shop Gibson and Epiphone Riviera. They are a five piece group having 2 guitarists, keys, bass and drums. The second guitarist additionally doubles as the vocalist. Still this is nightmare of Joe himself. Being a guitarist, this situation ought to induce uncontrollable trembling coming from all body parts and also have you messing yourself. This situation is most likely the gig from hell.
Believing that he begins at 10:00, Joe appears at the venue with two hours to spare. Well, it would be two hours to spare, but Joe was given the wrong data. The Group is due to commence at 8:30 and Joe has not even unpacked his gear yet, much less arranged. They had been trying to phone Joe on his cellular phone, however it had been switched off. Joe, retaining cool, unpacks his van in a big hurry and in some manner manages to get everything setup just 10 minutes late. The crowd gets ungratified, looking like they all want to turn down the volume of their Phonak hearing aids. The bar manager is livid. Joe is keeping his cool.
Simply no sooner than polishing off his very last tune up, the Power Found start. After one more minute of working out what song to play, the Power Found commences their first song. It sounds horrendous, with the guitar of Joe way too quiet and bass guitar far too loud. The group plays the song half-heartedly while they alter levels and then try to get things right. The audience is unsure about what the heck is happening, and the bar manager is wanting to know who the hell he employed and also the reason why. Joe is actually starting to lose his cool.
After standing about deciding what to play next, the band commences the second song as proposed by the drummer. This one sounds improved until the 1st chorus. Half way through the 1st chorus.. TWANNNGGG… Joe busts a string. Joe makes do for the time being until the solo, when he realizes that the guitar solo will most likely be relatively hard with just five guitar strings. Joe fumbles his way through until the end of the song. Joe is quite discomfited.
The band stands around for a minute or two while Joe replaces the broken string. After that is finished they start up into the next song. This one proceeds alright, plus the crowd appears to be getting into it a little bit more. The bar manager is starting to wind down, and Joe is starting to enjoy himself, restoring some cool.
In reality, everyone is enjoying themselves. And their brewskies. A touch too much. The Found start to get a little slapdash and beginning to overlook cues. Especially the vocalist. He is beginning to miss when he is supposed to be coming in, and slurring words. As the boys in the band are finding it entertaining, everyone else is not. Joe is starting to get tipsy.
The subsequent song the guitar of Joe starts producing funny noises, as well as the sound begins cutting out. Was it one of the Peavey amps or one of the many Crate amps? At some point the guitar of Joe is gone. He randomly stomps on several pedals and understands there is absolutely no power. He was sure the nine-volt batteries had plenty of charge left. Joe unplugs his electric guitar lead from control panel and plugs it directly into his amp. Joe finds himself getting irritated, identical to the crowd and the manager of the bar.
Two tunes from the close, the stage area goes dark. The whole set of amps shut down and all that can be heard is the drummer hammering away. After a few seconds each of the Found are milling about, looking dumb wanting to know what is happening. Around 30 seconds later on, the power returns. The band chats rapidly and determines to begin the song for a second time. On this occasion they get through all of it. They play their last song for the handful of remaining customers, shut down, pick up their check and then leave the pub, never to return.
Is this as bad as it could get for Joe and his group, the Power Found? I question it. However they may have made it through each of these difficulties by being completely ready. It may look insurmountable, but I have played a show where near all this happened within a night, and we survived. It is all homework. What follows are the measures you should adhere to to avoid something this nasty:
Know What Song Comes Next. Unless you are some freeform jam rock improv jazz type thing, you need to know what you are going to play. Every member of the band should know what song is coming next so they can prepare for it without having to debate first what song to play in the first place. Have a set list in sight for every member of the band. Know in advance what songs may require guitar changes or change of tuning so that you don t kick off the tune until everyone is ready. Moments like that are easily filled with some banter, ordinarily between the singer and the audience.
Stay Sober, Clean and Straight. It does not make a difference just what you think, you will not sound better when you are smashed. Sure, perhaps to your ears, although not to mine or the ears of anyone else. A few years ago, I remember playing a huge New Years Eve show where they had 2 bands. There was us playing inside, and the primary group playing on the exterior stage. The other group I had seen frequently before and they were superb. The truth is they were essentially the most preferred bands to play this unique venue. Between sets, they were going up to their own rooms, getting stoned and inebriated, then coming back down to play their set in a somewhat comatose state. We were inside, enjoying a couple of drinks in between sets and keeping it together. Our sets overlapped moderately and by the end of the evening, anytime both bands were playing, inside was crammed and outside the other group was dismissed. The following year, we were asked back to play New Years once more as the only band. In fact from then on New Years gig we were booked regularly to play both nights of the weekend on a monthly basis (think about that for a second, we had been booked for 25% of the venues available shows). It may be pleasurable to get tanked and play, however it will nott get you anywhere.
We Don t Need No Filty Electricity. There is not a lot you can do about this but ride it out. Although it s not as bad as it sounds. When a venue looses power, you can be sure it will be up in less than minute unless something MAJOR has gone wrong, in which case the venue will normally shut if it is a building wide blackout. So for the next 60 seconds, what do you do? It s easy. Nobody stops. The entire band keeps playing. The singer goes to the front of the stage and starts yelling the lyrics at the crowd. I am yet to see this not work. The crowd will start singing back. When the power kicks back in the band hasn t missed a beat and the crowd will go crazy. It is slick and professional and will fire up the crowd for the rest of the night.
If it goes over the 60 seconds just finish the song and wait. Not much more you can do, but at least you tried.
Always Stay in Contact. There is no excuse to be late to a show. With modern communications technology, all of us have the potential to be contactable at all times. Even if Joe got the time wrong, a simple phone call would have solved all of the difficulties. However, it is always a great concept for any group to meet at a central location sometime prior to a show, and travel with each other convoy style when possible. This can be a sure way to ensure absolutely everyone gets there punctually, does not get lost, or will get aid if something really does go awry.
The spill over effect of this is that when you arrive on time, you can take your time and set up properly, sound check, as well as check your equipment for problems and in general, relax before the show starts.
Aways Keep a Spare. It s not always possible, but you should aim to have a stand-in guitar ready to go at all times. This is especially true for a band with two guitarists like the Nymphos. With the second guitarist still playing, and your backup guitar primed for playing, it is more than feasible to switch guitars mid song. It takes about 10 seconds and looks very professional. Even if you are the only guitarist, depending on the song you can sometimes get away with it as well. However sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and get through it. Once the song is over you can grab you backup guitar and play the rest of the set without keeping everyone hanging around while you change a string. Change it between sets or if you only have one set then don t bother.
If you can t keep a spare guitar handy and need to change strings, have some backup material. This applies to all band members. You should have a song that can be played when any member of the band is incapacitated. Then any running repairs can be made while the rest of the band covers.
Never Trust a Battery. To this day I still cannot believe people run their effects off batteries. It is just a disaster waiting to happen. Sure, I have batteries in my pedals that I swap out every few months. But they are the BACKUP for when some drunken idiot in the crowd falls onto the stage and pulls out a power lead or something comparable. Or perhaps you accidentally leave a cable plugged in between sets and the battery drains on you. If you do need to run off battery, work out how long they last and change the battery in half that time. This should help avoid unwanted failures at decisive times, and make sure you have extra batteries.
Be Ready. If you are well prepared and use common sense, you can cope with any disaster. I personally have had all these issues, aside from the drunken stupidity, happen in one evening, and we survived through an escape strategy and staying with it. Grab your Gibson Flying V Guitar by the throat and get to it. It s not too tough to develop your own personal unexpected emergency get away course, and I trust these examples can inspire you to be even more gig ready.
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