Accepted a gig for Friday night with a band I've never giged

[Marshallman]

Hey guys -

need your advise... I just agreed tonight to play a gig Friday night at a fund raiser with a band I've never played with before... they were stuck and their guitar player decided to quit two nights before the gig.... not cool. I've heard them before and I'm familiar with a lot of the songs they play, but I've never played them with these guys and want to be tight as much as I could.

Anyone of you ever been in this situation before? I'm really doing it to give these guys a hand... however I may end up with two bands if things work out well....

 

[Mudder]

If people can recognize the songs, and it's a fund raiser, then no one will really care. Have fun.

 

[berklee]

Just have fun with it. I'd rather play with a fill-in guy who tanks 30% of the notes and has a blast than plays perfectly and stares at his third fret all night.

 

[Shark Diver]

Yes. I've done it a lot. If all of you are pro oriented it will go fine. It will be one of the more fun things you could do. Always great to jam with new guys.

 

[glpg80]

its one of those things where you get to practice your on the fly note choices and fly-by-the-seat of your pants fun tatics.

warm up good before you go on, knock one back to kill the nerves, and just have fun with it.

i have filled in for a band in a simillar result - i was supposed to learn 8 songs a week between a job and education/studies, so you can easily see those songs didnt get the full attention. as long as you have timing and are even vaguely familar with the songs you will do just fine

 

[ke2]

If the drummer and bass player have done this together for a while, you'll be fine.
As long as it isn't super tight, technical metal or similar, you should be able to swing it with general knowledge of the songs, a cool and positive attitude and a shit eating grin on your face

 

[glpg80]

If the drummer and bass player have done this together for a while, you'll be fine.
As long as it isn't super tight, technical metal or similar, you should be able to swing it with general knowledge of the songs, a cool and positive attitude and a shit eating grin on your face

+1 big time, i leaned heavily on watching the bass player + alot of volume knob adjustments on my part when i had to do it.

would i do it again? no, but i survived and it was a memorable experience

 

[ke2]

If the drummer and bass player have done this together for a while, you'll be fine.
As long as it isn't super tight, technical metal or similar, you should be able to swing it with general knowledge of the songs, a cool and positive attitude and a shit eating grin on your face

+1 big time, i leaned heavily on watching the bass player + alot of volume knob adjustments on my part when i had to do it.

would i do it again? no, but i survived and it was a memorable experience

I love my 5-string bass, but in cases like that, it's easier if he/she plays a 4stringer. Translating the root note with a glance is easier with a 4-stringer

 

[glpg80]

If the drummer and bass player have done this together for a while, you'll be fine.
As long as it isn't super tight, technical metal or similar, you should be able to swing it with general knowledge of the songs, a cool and positive attitude and a shit eating grin on your face

+1 big time, i leaned heavily on watching the bass player + alot of volume knob adjustments on my part when i had to do it.

would i do it again? no, but i survived and it was a memorable experience

I love my 5-string bass, but in cases like that, it's easier if he/she plays a 4stringer. Translating the root note with a glance is easier with a 4-stringer

amen, at a glance GDAE and like you said, as long as its simple 4/4 - you have reaction time available

 

[King Guitar]

Dude, 1 part Heineken, 1 part Wah pedal and 1 part Pentatonic Scale and your perfect. (Works for Hamster)

 

[Marshallman]

Just have fun with it. I'd rather play with a fill-in guy who tanks 30% of the notes and has a blast than plays perfectly and stares at his third fret all night.

I agree!!!

 

[smdb]

I did it last year and played a bunch of alternative music that I normally would never play. It went really good and turned out to be a really cool night. I should have charged more than I did for the gig though, I had to learn a bunch of new songs in a very short period. It was a lot of work for $165.

 

[Mokaccino]

Are you man? Don't be a vag and do it!!

Joke aside, go there and have a blast, with all the clams and anything that can happen. You might even end up in another band, meet new people and have fun, because that's what it's all about: fun.

 

[reverymike]

This is what separates the men from the boys (or the pros from the amateurs).

I just picked up a gig playing with a country band (I'm a rocker thru and thru). So, I had to learn about 30 tunes that I had never ever even heard before, and do the gig in under 2 days. Played my Tele, and twanged it up more than usual. . .pretended I was Keith Urban and Brad Paisley, and just went for it.

I basically learned the keys of the songs and just played solos and fills and complimentary parts and the rest of the band handle the rest. I had some notes on the set list to cue me to certain things as well. I learned on the job, and was able to figure out chord changes and arrangements as we were playing. Honestly, you learn a LOT doing it that way. It's like your brain is really cranking, soaking things up.

Long story short, that was a couple weeks ago. Now, I'm playing with them regularly, and they want me to join full time.

Do it! Step out of your comfort zone, and let the experience make you a better musician!

Good luck!

 

[JackTripper]

Ask if the band has any practice recordings, live videos, etc of the songs they currently play. This way you will know exactly how they do a certain song and there will be no surprises.

 

[Marshallman]

This is what separates the men from the boys (or the pros from the amateurs).

I just picked up a gig playing with a country band (I'm a rocker thru and thru). So, I had to learn about 30 tunes that I had never ever even heard before, and do the gig in under 2 days. Played my Tele, and twanged it up more than usual. . .pretended I was Keith Urban and Brad Paisley, and just went for it.

I basically learned the keys of the songs and just played solos and fills and complimentary parts and the rest of the band handle the rest. I had some notes on the set list to cue me to certain things as well. I learned on the job, and was able to figure out chord changes and arrangements as we were playing. Honestly, you learn a LOT doing it that way. It's like your brain is really cranking, soaking things up.

Long story short, that was a couple weeks ago. Now, I'm playing with them regularly, and they want me to join full time.

Do it! Step out of your comfort zone, and let the experience make you a better musician!

Good luck!

I agree that I will be a better musician at the end of the night because of pushing my comfot zone. I'm getting all excited like the first time I played with my current band. Should be fun and thanks for the advice!!

 

[berklee]

That is exactly why I believe in jam nights (at least where a good house band is getting paid).

There's nothing better for you than throwing out all the overly-rehearsed stuff and finding out what you sound like within the context of whatever's thrown at you.

The best jam nights I've been to are the ones where a band shows up to play four well-rehearsed songs for their friends, and the host intervenes and says "if you guys want to play, great. Your guitarist will play with that guy sitting at the bar, your drummer will play with that dude over there with the acoustic..." etc.

 

[stratotone]

Hey guys -

need your advise... I just agreed tonight to play a gig Friday night at a fund raiser with a band I've never played with before... they were stuck and their guitar player decided to quit two nights before the gig.... not cool. I've heard them before and I'm familiar with a lot of the songs they play, but I've never played them with these guys and want to be tight as much as I could.

Anyone of you ever been in this situation before? I'm really doing it to give these guys a hand... however I may end up with two bands if things work out well....

Been there, done that. Ask em if they stick to the recorded versions, be sure and find out if they tune down 1/2 step on any songs for vocal reasons, if there are any weird endings or songs that run together, etc... do your homework and have fun! I did it a few times and had a blast. Last time I got a call an hour before the gig and it was 40 minutes away... was interesting to be on the spot like that but the show went great.

Pete

 

[degenaro]

Less forum more writing cheat sheets or practicing.

In all seriousness though, depending on what kinda gig it is...if it is roots or Blues based you can pretty much fly blind if the rhythm section is solid.
If it's Rock you likely will have to know some of the signature riffs so concentrate on that and then roll with big ears.
If it's Country know a few patterns, stay out of the singers way and when it's solo time...burn.