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Post subject: Do you remember what it was like on your first gig?
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:14 am
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Do you remember what it was like on your very first gig, ever? Were you nervous? Did you sound ok (you and the band)? Was it successful, or a bomb?

For me, I was a drummer in my first band. I was in my mid teens. We had just formed a band and were not very good. One of the band members announced one day that he got us a gig (to my horror). We were not gig ready, but the members of the band agreed to do it anyway (I was drug along for the ride).

The gig was at an Italian social club. People there were a lot of old people who were not really into rock. I was scared to death, but.....they seemed to like us, and we had fun. We played for about four hours, until everyone left. I was able to get past my shyness, and I felt it helped me for the future gigs that we did (we got better with time).

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:34 am
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Very Cool Question. I am assuming that you are talking about any type of live performance playing a musical instrument?

If that be the case, mine was playing Clarinet in the School Band. I was nervous as hell (I was only 10). But it turned out to be a blast. I continued to play in School Bands (Marching and Concert) as a Clarinet and Saxophone player until I left High School.

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:41 am
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CAFeathers wrote:
Very Cool Question. I am assuming that you are talking about any type of live performance playing a musical instrument?

If that be the case, mine was playing Clarinet in the School Band. I was nervous as hell (I was only 10). But it turned out to be a blast. I continued to play in School Bands (Marching and Concert) as a Clarinet and Saxophone player until I left High School.


Any instrument.......any place..........any age......any live gig where you had to play in front of people, and perhaps......maybe even......you were terrified. Or....maybe not terrified at all.

I'm looking for the very first gig that you ever did.....and what were you feeling, how did you do.......success or bomb. Basically....what was it like for you?

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:49 am
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mine was 4th grade playing the viola in the orchestra, i sucked. gave it up 2 years later to star playing the guitar


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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:52 am
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flamekaster wrote:
mine was 4th grade playing the viola in the orchestra, i sucked. gave it up 2 years later to star playing the guitar


Anything about your first gig as a guitar player in a band?

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:53 am
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It was my first time in front of a live audience made up of fellow students and parents. Like I said I was scared as hell. I had butterflies as big as Boeing 747's. I played a few wrong notes, but kept going. I actually got a little bit of a rush out of it too.
My Music teacher Mr. Jackson thought I was the greatest thing in the world, not only playing instruments but as a singer too. My brother tells me to this day how Mr. Jackson used to ride him to be more like his older brother.

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:54 am
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Waiting to hear stories about people playing on stage with chicken wire across the stage, like in the Blues Brothers movie.........

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:23 am
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The Atomics was my first band, begun in the Fall of 1980. Everyone else in the band was undergrad age or younger (our drummer was about 14 or 15!). We played a bizarre batch of covers that basically just included anything we liked, from hard rock to punk to power pop to new wave.

Our first show was to have been at Lake Wauberg, a receation area for the University of Florida located just south of Gainesville. We agreed to play for free (as was true of almost all our shows) since there would be food and beer at this party hosted by some law school group. After schlepping our PA to the hall, tearing through our soundcheck ending with our deconstruction (most Atomics songs were deconstructions, as we seldom if ever attempted note-for-note covers, and hadn't any keyboards despite that numerous songs we covered did!) of Led Zep's "Rock and Roll," the noise complaints from the rich folks living on the other side of the lake began pouring in.

We were unceremoniously asked to leave, since the "guests" there had all paid a few bucks to get in and we had not. It was not even sugggested that we kick in a few bucks to stay, much less that our efforts in practicing up 4 sets of material and hauling and setting up, and then striking and loading out, our PA and backline might've been worth something. Our drummer, Chad, and our bassist Frank both wanted to commit a little mayhem in return for such shabby treatment, and in retrospect, that's exactly what we should've done. But I prevailed on them to simply eat and drink as much as we could during an extended load-out.

The Atomics' actual debut came a month or so later at another kegger, this time at an apartment complex then called Maracaibo Manor. We played 4 sets, marred only by my vocal mangling of the Records' "Starry Eyes." My brother Kerry and Kerry's friend Mike both sang leads on several songs. People danced and had a good time, and George Tabb [who has subsequently become semi-famous in punk rock circles via his column in the punk zine "MaximumRockNRoll" and his friendship with (and extremely short duration employment as a roadie by) the Ramones] and Bob Fetts of the local punk band Roach Motel slammed to our rendition of the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated."

After we ran out of material, George Tabb somewhat sheepishly approached me and asked if Roach Motel could play a set on our equipment. Frank, who also played in RM as their drummer, vouched for them so we said OK. They played a short set of 5 or 6 songs including "Burger King Is Dead" and "Brooke Shields Must Die."

Here are some pics of that fateful night!

Me:

Image Image

Roach Motel playing our gear:

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:44 am
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I figured a nice, pressure-free way to get my first gig over with would be to do a high school talent show my junior year. I was going solo acoustic because I didn't have a band at the time, and I honestly wasn't that worried about it. On the night of the show, I was sooooooooooooooo wrong. My auditorium is huge, and there were about 250-275 tickets sold. Now that's kind of a big crowd to start out in front of. I was getting pretty nervous backstage. My performance had a long instrumental intro, and everyone I talked to thought it was a matter of time till I choked when the singing came in. Luckily I was blinded by the stage lights and everything went as planned. I don't know if I've ever had so good a feeling as the one you get after you successfully finish those first few gigs you ever do. It's an amazing feeling. I want it every time.


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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:57 am
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A total state of terror would discribe my state of mind for my first gig. I had started with the band as a stage tech. The band leader/bass player was impressed with my playing during a sound check where the lead guitarist was late; after a band vote, I was in.
I remember focusing on the snare drum, the first few chords - and then,4 hours later, the gig was over. The lead guitarist said, " you did great - we'll keep ya". Thus, a three year run with the band began.


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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:03 pm
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I remember my first gig. I was scared to death. It was at a christmas concert at our school. We ended up messing things up a little bit and we all looked stiff lol but other than that we were ok as we were told. We did the opening music and to our surprise, the audience that was there wanted an encore after the whole x-mas concert. I was very surprised although we never did one, we were still told we were great for about a week after lol. I was on vocals, but I play lead and rythm guitar as well as bass. I am young, but I am trying to get out and meet other musicians. :oops: :lol:

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:07 pm
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I was scared as hell, 16 years old, and it was relatively good. At least I think so...
Right now I don't have time for bands but I do an unplugged concert now and then with my friends. I'm not scared of the stage anymore. It's cool up there 8) .


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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 12:45 pm
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I was in the (78 to 81) service in Hiwaii; I was known around the barracks (dorms) to play my guitar most everynight; it sometimes had advantages but that's anither story for another time/place. Anyway...
I met a guy (in 79) that played bass very well; we played a few times; he was great; most players I had been exposed to were the ones that said they knew how to play; didn't have their own stuff and when they showed up I was giving them basic lessons I know all of us have been there.
So without further eloquence... somehow we were jamming across the street from the dorm; but we had a drummer and that was very cool!
We played a good long while; "Cocain" and some blues jams I think; everyone wanted to hear "Cocain; we played that a lot but no one sang...
Lots of young women there dancing; very pleaseing to watch...
Anyway I knew this bass player as "Doc" a black man that I had the pleasure to know only a short time. I found out some years later that he tried out for the Air Force's "Tops In Blue" a talent contest that (if you win) takes you all over the world for a year playing your instrument! That's why he disapeared form the Base.
I learned all this when I ran into him in San Angelo, Texas at Wendy's we both were having lunch with friends and we sat at ajacent tables; he leaned over and said "Excuse me but didn't you play guitar in Hawaii?"
in the Air Force? all that was 14 years before.....


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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:05 pm
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1 song for Spirit Week - the Junior's (my class) theme was We Will Rock You - for some reason everyone had '60s garb. So we played Hey Joe, our 1st real show. The crowd (9th, 10th, and 11th graders, teachers) all cheered, the Seniors didn't. Oh well. I (we) was so nervous for that 1 song. After that, we did a school talent show 2 months later. We played 4 songs, all original. The crowd; well our parents and close friends were the only ones clapping - it was our 1st attempt at Hardcore, and noone like it I guess :) We soldiered on as a band for another 2 years, then my best friend (the guitarist) and I (bass) started a different band and gig all over the NE until I started driving semi in the lower 48/Canada.

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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:43 pm
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still looking foreward to my first


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