"Tonight Matthew, I'm going to sell my soul" - 1st backing tracks gig coming up

bigjon

This Saturday, I'm going to break my duck and do a whole 2-hour set playing and singing to Backing Tracks - no more blaming the bassist for getting the chord progression wrong or the drummer for coming in too early, this time all mistakes will be mine and mine alone! I won't spam you with where it is, because if you're out in Cambridge on Saturday you should go and play at the Rock Jam at the Emperor instead!

Here's the setlist:

INSTRUMENTAL: Chameleon, Cissy Strut, Funk #49, Footprints, So What, Watermelon Man

WITH VOCALS: White Room, Gimme All Your Loving, Mary Had A Little Lamb, SCoM, Baker Street, All Right Now, Hey Joe, BMW, While My Guitar, Going Down, Honky Tonk Women, Knocking On Heaven's Door, Little Wing, Cocaine, Stormy Monday, Superstition, Purple Haze, Sweet Home Alabama

 

viz

I used to love playing to backing tracks - mike_strat and I had a 3 hour set of rock songs - we were called Double Whammy. No shame in it mate!

EricTheWeary

When we used to get gigs through an agency it was a fixed fee. £300 for the 6 of us or £300 for the single acts singing to backing tapes. From that perspective it looked like a good idea!

maltingsaudio

Can't beat 'em join 'em.! I do a bit from time to time IMHO takes more practise to get it right to track because its so unforgiving although giving the computer a solo is a no no! 

bigjon

maltingsaudio said:although giving the computer a solo is a no no! 

I have got a 16-bar drum break to cope with during Funk #49 - my plan is to scratch along with wah pedal!

koneguitarist

I used to play in a 3piece called "the good the bad and the Welshman" where all 3 of us played guitars and we used a DR5 for backing. We had to program all bass and drums, but it gave us so much scope with 3 guitars. Good fun, but volume is critical on stage, you had to be able to hear the backing more than in a a regular line up. Have a good gig.

Emp_Fab

You... you........ karaoke whore !!!

digitalscream

My dad used to do this for years - good money maker. Even back in the late 80s/early 90s, he was pulling in £120/night.

For his first attempt, he made sure to book it at about 50 miles from home, so nobody would be able to remind him of the horror

ESBlonde

I have done this with a pro female singist. We did the first set just 2 vox and my acoustic. Then for the rest I played along to her tracks adding percussion/guitar and harmonies. 

The sad thing is Joe Public doesn't know you just mimed an electric guitar solo on an acoustic, you even get applauded for it!!! 

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It is in some ways easier, but beware you are very much the centre of attention and must 'entertain' all the time when there are no band mates to distract eyes. Staring at your shoes is a no no.

axisus

What a cool setlist! I think it's a great idea. I'd love to do it if I was good enough, but I can't sing and I'm hopeless at learning songs.

I've often thought that I'd like to do some town centre busking like that, but just obscure instrumental stuff I know.

Emp_Fab

ESBlonde said: The sad thing is Joe Public doesn't know you just mimed an electric guitar solo on an acoustic, you even get applauded for it!!! 
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See.... and we spend thousands on boutique amps and pedals, endlessly tweaking and adjusting in the never-ending quest for tonal nirvana, and the people we play to wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a fucking cello and a bassoon strung with cheesewire.  Christ, they can't even tell something's amiss when a solo act is managing to produce the sound of a full band, with harmonies from a single mic and guitar !

TTony

Emp_Fab said:

See.... and we spend thousands on boutique amps and pedals, endlessly tweaking and adjusting in the never-ending quest for tonal nirvana, and the people we play to wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a fucking cello and a bassoon strung with cheesewire.  Christ, they can't even tell something's amiss when a solo act is managing to produce the sound of a full band, with harmonies from a single mic and guitar !

Be fair ... we don't spend thousands on boutique amps (etc) for their benefit.  That's purely for us.

Good luck BigJ.  I think you'll do just nicely.

PolarityMan

For my next gig I'm just going to play our CD. The mixing is way better than what a soundman can achieve anyway.

mike_l

At least you have a soul to sell....

 

Best of luck fella. See you soon.

daveww

Good luck to you. I think I'd miss the comradery even if band mates can be a pain in the butt. I'd be as nervous as hell too. Oh yes, and not forgetting I can't sing a note!

bigjon

Well that didn't pass off too badly! Lot's of minor mistakes but only one song-killing one where I pressed the skip button on the mp3 player mid-Cissy Strut, had to skip back and then fast-forward to my best guess of where I was, then work out where I'd landed, all on the fly! Found the overall sensation a bit flat, usually when you get to the climactic solo, the band gets louder etc, but it was fun to do, and nice to have agreement over how many beats to wait in White Room before the solo (the correct answer is 10, by the way) :-)

Danny1969

I did a stint in the nineties playing guitar  along to mini disc with another fellow playing bass and singing. Money was good, about £100 each but I felt a bit exposed with just the two of us .......... being used to rocking up with 5 band members, 3 roadies and a car of Wags normally. 

So fair play to you for having the balls to do it 

:-c

firepaulmusic

I've been playing guitar to my self-produced backing tracks for 20 years now as a 3-piece with 2 girls, a duo with bass player and solo. When I first started out after my band split I found it a little flat sounding until I realised it's all to do with getting a big ballsy sound from your PA which really must have bass bins. Once the required kick and level was achieved it really all came together and I had lots of really great gigs over the years in venues usually reserved for full bands. I met Buster Bloodvessel just before I was going on stage once and he said "give it the bollocks!". Playing with tracks you need to do just that.