Open jam night blues

So, I've got this new little band going. Our unofficial name is "Please Love Us". The other name we're thinking of is "We Have Hugely Inflated Egos, But We're Still Better Than You".

The band consists of me on guitar, a singer, a bassist and a drummer. The bassist is actually probably better than me on guitar, but he doesn't need to know that. The drummer is really good, but lacks self-confidence. The singer is alright at singing, but has a lot of energy and a good frontman personality.

So, I'm putting this band together for a battle of the bands type thing happening in February. We've been jamming together for a few months now, and we're reasonably tight, but I'm afraid that the drummer and bassist will be thrown off by playing in front of a live audience, since neither of them have performed live before.

That was the reason why we all trekked out to some smoky bar uptown for their Tuesday night open jam. The house band was super tight, but didn't have a good singer. A couple people went before us, one guy singer who did a couple blues songs; another guy who sang some of my favourite classic rock songs, but didn't have a good voice or any stage presence at all, and was singing way to quietly; a girl who had a wicked voice and did three Aretha Franklin songs; and a drummer who also sang a couple while drumming. These guys all seemed like they do this every Tuesday (well, maybe all except the quiet guy). Also, notice that there have been no full bands yet, and too, that no one has played any real rockers.

So, it was now our turn. A couple things went wrong right away. My drummer wanted to get used to the kit so he starts a beat (which actually sounded pretty good), but one of the house band guys tells him to wait for the rest of us to play. Meanwhile, I'm trying to set up my gear, but the house band guitarist (a real jerk) is rushing me, telling me that I don't need to patch in my own effects, since he has some kind of crappy multi-effects unit that he expects me to figure out in the 30 secs. he's so generously giving me to set up. So, I finally get all my pedals set up (which, actually, was kind of dumb of me, I only really needed distortion and wah, but I panicked) after much fiddling. The house band bassist was really cool, seemed to enjoy our set, and actually helped my bassist tune up.

We did three songs; Peaches by the Presidents of the USA (which we normally go nuts on in practice), Aeroplane by Red Hot Chili Peppers and Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz.

We pretty much sucked as a band, but individually, we all did our thing OK. The drums were speeding up and slowing down in some parts, probably out of nervousness, but otherwise there were some good fills. The bassist did great (great slap bass solo in Aeroplane). The vocalist did his thing but was way too loud. And then there was me; I was way too quiet which is a little quirk I picked up a while back when I played a talent show type thing and people started walking out since we were too loud. Anyways, I was OK, a little nervous and stressed out by the house band guitarist's rushing me. Too bad no one could hear me, though. I think, given the chance again, I'd probably just patch my wah into his rig and use his distortion. All I had was my MT-2, which sounded awful in Are You Gonna Go My Way.

So, at least we got our first "show" out of the way. A couple more months of practice should make us tight for the real show, and then I think we'll head back to the pub for another go, and maybe I'll get into a brawl with the house band guitarist.

Anyways, just thought I'd vent here! Thanks for listening!

Very nice and congratulations. Do you do any other covers... or are those just the ones your starting out with? How many people were at this bar?

My band does a cover of "suck my kiss" by the chili peppers. We also do a cover of " limelight" by Rush ( took me an hour to figure out the effects on the solo.

There were probably about 50 or so people in this little room at the back of the bar. It was open jam night, so everyone got 3 songs.

Sounds........ fun i gess
Understandable first time playing live... but congrats!
Do u guys evr write any stuff? or is this just a fun cover band u got goin on?

-peace




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You'll feel your fingers burnin, and want to quit the guitar
Isn't this great?

Wee that sounds like it was fun. Thanks for the story it was interesting to read.

Originally posted by Rrhoads154
Sounds........ fun i gess
Understandable first time playing live... but congrats!
Do u guys evr write any stuff? or is this just a fun cover band u got goin on?

It wasn't my first time playing live, just the drummer and bassist, and the first time singing live for the singer (he was my drummer in another band before, and we did a couple little shows). I've played a few times live, and even had a concert in my backyard (lots of fun - if, for some strange reason, you really want to know more about it, I think I posted something about it before. OK, I found the post) However, that isn't to say that I wasn't nervous about performing and stressed out by the house band guitarist hovering over me, rushing me and generally being very unhelpful.

I've got another band where we do only originals. For now, this band (Please Love Us/We have Hugely Inflated Egos But We're Still Better Than You/Robots Are People, Too/Khakis Are Pants, Too) is strictly a cover band, since I only formed the band for a battle of the bands thing. But, if we get tighter and find a sound, maybe it'll turn into something. The only problem is that the singer isn't really a singer, it's just that the people that will be at the battle of the bands will all know and love him and he has a lot of energy and a good stage presence. So, I seriously doubt (actually I know he won't) that he'll write lyrics and vocal melodies. So, I'd need to find a singer. The other guys are good to go, though.

interesting story. thnx for sharing. firsts never always go perfect but there's always the second time to improve. It reminds of a school gig that I played with my old highschool band called EMANON (that's no name spelled backwards). It consists of 3 people- me on rythm and vocals, my friend Allan on lead guitar, and Joseph on drums. It was international night at school so its a very big audience- (around 400- 500) the gym and the hallway leading to it were jam packed with insiders and outsiders. It's one of my most memorable gigs. Allan and Joseph haven't experienced playing live before. Only I have. Hours before the show, I thought the principal and coordinator of the activities won't let us play because they thought we suck. You see, during the many runs and preparations done months before the event, none of us came into practice. And if we did, either, we're incomplete or there's no equipment lol. For instance, there was this time when only me and the drummer came- it was the last rehearsals i think a week before the show. I thought the music department would take care of the equipment but there was no drums and mics!!! None the less, we had to show our stuff because it was protocol. It was the most horrible **** that I've ever been so far lol. Anyways, when the day of the show came, the principal insist that we don't play that day. Lucky for me, I have a couple of teachers who trust me and together we convinced the principal to give me a chance. When our time came to perform onstage, we just gave each other a good look. Although we've never ever practised together as a group, I just had to trust their instincts and their musicianship. It was the most magical show I tell you despite of the technical (equipment) problems on stage- Allan's distortion pedal stopped working before we played our song on stage but he got it to work just in time (It's funny because that moment was the last time his pedal worked, its like his pedal gave it a one last try before it died). In the middle of the song, the music department's drums were starting to fall apart and were starting to move. It's good no one noticed it on stage. Only the drummer did- and he remained a professional during the situation. He just played like nothing was happening.
Everyone was just jumping and screaming. WE ACTUALLY PULLED THE DAMN SONG!!!

Anyways, I hope you guys do good on that battle of the bands thing. I hope you guys pull it off.

kool
Happy new year evrybody

Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Originally posted by iiholly
Wee that sounds like it was fun. Thanks for the story it was interesting to read.

I AM STARTING TO TIRE OF YOUR CONSTANT SARCASM!!!


Ok, just kidding.

What is an eggman anyway? Is that, like, someone whose flatulence reeks like egg? ;)

koo-koo-k'CHOO! :)

maybe he likes eating eggs for breakfast...