I thought it might be interesting to share our experiences of doing dep gigs and how we manage them.
Last night was a fairly typical gig, I got a call about 3 weeks ago asking if I was available, I always ask for a setlist, times and location then agree a fee. Setlist arrived by email on Tuesday, I've played with this band before a couple of times - 8 piece function band with brass so lots of standards.
Thursday night I went through the set and made my own setlist with notes, they have music stands so as much as I hate them I know it's ok to just write out some songs and read them instead of learning them fully. I focus on songs that I start and pick out the most important riffs and melodies that would be obviously missing. Saturday afternoon print my notes and spend an hour wizzing through them to check I'm ok with the key parts or songs I haven't played before. About 30 songs Steve Wonder, Abba etc
Saturdays gig was a function so get there just after 6 and set up - for deps I use simple setup, at the moments thats an ax8 into a friedman asm12 with my old dg stomp sat nearby so I'm covered if the amp dies they could route my signal into the monitors and if the pedal dies I can swap it quickly. Used the prs cu24 with a les paul on a stand just in case a string goes.
Sound check and then get a copy of the setlist to check it's the same. Last night it had a few revisions including two extras so I pop out to find somewhere quiet I can google chords and listen - rolling in the deep and unchain my heart. Write some notes and play along enough times to feel half confident.
Gig goes great as it should - a fun band playing classic pop and soul songs to a couple of hundred drunk revellers.
Finish playing not long after 12 and pack up and around 1 leave to head home - I make a point of helping sort their gear and offer to carry things as I'm convinced I get calls from being helpful and organised rather than any play ability.
As dep gigs go that one was a lot of fun as they are nice people - some bands make you feel part of the gang and some less so but it's always good to play with different people and do songs I might not do otherwise.
Comments
I think the things that help you get lots of dep work are being a generally easy going person to work with and having good recognition of intervals, to the point you know what the chords and notes are gonna be even if you have never played the song and it's a key dependent skill. And knowing a lot of people helps enormously, running 2020 Studios for 5 years put me in contact with hundreds of muso's in countless bands, many of which are now friends and fellow band mates
Got paid in cash straight away, can't think of a better way to spend a Thursday night
Turned out to be an easy fun gig at a wedding in a big marquee and a good chance to compare gear and playing styles with the guitarist - I took the ax8 and Friedman asm, had a drri and a ton of pedals. Was the first time I've used my organ style presets live and they worked really well in a full band mix.
happy days
How are you managing the gear for those? The same ht5 rig for all gigs? Just thinking that I like a minimal fast setup for festivals and you're going to be very busy moving between shows.
I'm using a borrowed HRD amp with the GT10 in the loop for tuner and some effects. I use my own Dr Watson IEM box which gives me control of my vocal and guitar in my ears completely independent of the soundman so I'm travelling light and good to go.
Last night for Superheroes we used 3 different Dep singers as Matt our normal singer has just had heart surgery. It's dep everything at the minute
Got a dep gig lined up on bass for early August, I haven't gigged on bass for a long time so will have to get practicing for that
Nice work - I invariably get frustrated when playing bass full time in a band but dep gigs on bass are a great chance to do some.
I've got a dep tonight with a band I play with every couple of months or so - two guitars and bass and I dep for any of the 3. It'll be a mix of classic/glam rock with a few modern indie tunes so an easy and fun gig - only two miles from home as well
I think I'll have done 8 or 9 gigs in July, 17 would wipe me out!!