Probably the easiest gigging job - I reckon even I could do it!

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axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
Just been on holiday for the week with the family in a caravan park. In my entire life I have never been to any of the holiday 'entertainment' that you get at these sort of places, we usually just do our own thing. However ..... I went to the bar one eve with my daughters to pick up some wi-fi tokens, and  a 'party band' was playing live. They liked it so we hung around for a few songs, and then went and saw a similar band a few days later. It was all pretty basic but kind of fun looking at the same time. The second band had a very entertaining singer, a guitarist, a drummer, and backing tracks with bass and keys. It was the first time ever that I saw a guitar player and thought, Hey, I could probably get through that gig! I'm a pretty basic guitar player but I think I could handle that level of playing. Boy am I setting my sights low! To be honest, I'm too long in the tooth to think of that sort of thing now, but I certainly could have played guitar, bass or keys for that sort of thing. Would have suited a low self esteem hack musician like me!

Needless to say, a pretty forgiving audience of middle aged parents, old folk and young kids.
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Comments

  • zenzeypherzenzeypher Frets: 265
    Why so negative dude? I play like absolute crap... I lied to get into the band and had to learn barre chords 2 weeks before a gig... the notes were written on the back of my telecaster neck @sweepy I'm sure remembers those days.

    No such thing as long in the tooth, if you wanna do it, do it! I didn't give a shit and we played packed out shows all over the place, signed to R.Runner... before the bassist boned everyones girlfriends.

    I'm still a shit guitarist but it won't stop me being in a band... as long as I'm having fun.

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  • PlectrumPlectrum Frets: 494
    edited July 2017
    There's a big gap between being an entertainer and self-obsessed tosser. Those guys clearly know which is the right side of that line I've just come back from watching a a very dear old (in both senses of the word because he's 72) friend doing a storming 3 hour solid set with just acoustic, harmonica and a bass player. Not a single sweep-picked arpeggio or harmonic minor run in the whole evening yet the punters loved it. Aren't people weird?
    One day I'm going to make a guitar out of butter to experience just how well it actually plays.
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  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    edited July 2017

    I'm still a shit guitarist but it won't stop me being in a band... as long as I'm having fun.

    ...and there endeth the lesson! Have a Wis!  
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71955
    I've depped in a band like that a few times - three-piece, with all the instruments on a sequencer except lead guitar and some occasional keyboard parts that the keyboard player/singer actually wanted to play live, and another female singer who did most of the lead vocals. No pretence that it's anything other than semi-live, no attempt to learn the songs accurately, just wing it and don't play any obvious howlers and it's fine.

    Ironically they're the best-paying gigs I've ever had, for by far the least work. It doesn't do much for your pride as a 'proper' musician, but who cares? The audience are under no illusions either - it's clearly not a fully live band since there's no drummer on stage, even if they could recognise the difference between a guitar and a bass - and just want music to dance to that's a bit more 'real' than a DJ playing records.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • DiscoStuDiscoStu Frets: 5377
    There's a few of them up my way as we have several beach caravan parks. One of the bands is a husband and wife duo playing along to backing tracks, and once claimed to be the hardest working band in the country with something like 250 gigs a year.
    If they can make a living out of music then hats off to them.
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  • StageStruckStageStruck Frets: 102
    There used to be a guy near me who done the backing tracks with live vocal, lead guitar or keyboards. Guitaraoke as a pal of mine called it. You could almost set your watch by where he would play songs in his set. It got him plenty enough gigs though. If fairness he was a decent guitarist and keyboard player.

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71955
    There used to be a guy near me who done the backing tracks with live vocal, lead guitar or keyboards. Guitaraoke as a pal of mine called it. You could almost set your watch by where he would play songs in his set. It got him plenty enough gigs though. If fairness he was a decent guitarist and keyboard player.
    There's a really great player I know who does that too, just guitar and backing tracks mostly, with a bit of vocals - a lot of guitar instrumental music which seems to be popular, surprisingly… everything from The Shadows to Satriani. I suppose if you're a good enough player - and he is - then the guitar part is interesting enough even for non-musicians to listen to.

    Choice of gear may help too... he uses a Line 6 Spider - exactly because it lacks dynamics (the usual complaint about them) it works well against the backing tracks - a 'proper' amp is too dynamic and doesn't sit well in the mix… horses for courses. (He uses Marshalls in his 'real' bands.)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • trolleytrolley Frets: 88
    ICBM said:
    There used to be a guy near me who done the backing tracks with live vocal, lead guitar or keyboards. Guitaraoke as a pal of mine called it. You could almost set your watch by where he would play songs in his set. It got him plenty enough gigs though. If fairness he was a decent guitarist and keyboard player.
    There's a really great player I know who does that too, just guitar and backing tracks mostly, with a bit of vocals - a lot of guitar instrumental music which seems to be popular, surprisingly… everything from The Shadows to Satriani. I suppose if you're a good enough player - and he is - then the guitar part is interesting enough even for non-musicians to listen to.

    Choice of gear may help too... he uses a Line 6 Spider - exactly because it lacks dynamics (the usual complaint about them) it works well against the backing tracks - a 'proper' amp is too dynamic and doesn't sit well in the mix… horses for courses. (He uses Marshalls in his 'real' bands.)

    A guy no longer with us (Al Hodge, of he & the Mechanics fame), used to do gigs around Plymouth 30 years ago with backing tracks. Just him singing & playing. I was told he got £250 a night!

    He was good, mind.

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  • PolarityManPolarityMan Frets: 7273
     signed to R.Runner... before the bassist boned everyones girlfriends.

    What band were you in? I'm a fan of quite a lot of roadrunner stuff.
    ဈǝᴉʇsɐoʇǝsǝǝɥɔဪቌ
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  • StageStruckStageStruck Frets: 102
    ICBM said:
    There's a really great player I know who does that too, just guitar and backing tracks mostly, with a bit of vocals - a lot of guitar instrumental music which seems to be popular, surprisingly… everything from The Shadows to Satriani. I suppose if you're a good enough player - and he is - then the guitar part is interesting enough even for non-musicians to listen to.

    Choice of gear may help too... he uses a Line 6 Spider - exactly because it lacks dynamics (the usual complaint about them) it works well against the backing tracks - a 'proper' amp is too dynamic and doesn't sit well in the mix… horses for courses. (He uses Marshalls in his 'real' bands.)
    I can't remember what the guy near me used to play through to be honest, I suspect that he used an early modeller via his PA, just given that he had a keyboard setup also.

    Speaking of The Shadows, I accompanied my dad to a Shadows Fan Club event in Toronto many years ago. There were a variety of full Shadow imitator bands, but there was also a chance for solo performers to play on stage Via an AC30 and tape echo to their backing tracks. Some of those guys were pretty good players, but there are only so many times you need to listen to Apache or FBI in one day!

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  • IvisonGuitarsIvisonGuitars Frets: 6838
    tFB Trader
    While it looks easy, I doubt the schedule is, they are probably playing 3 sets a night, 6 nights a week. Many of those bands 'tour' round the local holiday parks all session. Hard graft is what it is, making it look easy and fresh for the next weeks new arrivals is the skill.
    http://www.ivisonguitars.com
    (formerly miserneil)
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  • PlectrumPlectrum Frets: 494
    miserneil said:
    While it looks easy, I doubt the schedule is, they are probably playing 3 sets a night, 6 nights a week. Many of those bands 'tour' round the local holiday parks all session. Hard graft is what it is, making it look easy and fresh for the next weeks new arrivals is the skill.

    Yes I know someone whose band does that during the summer holidays. They spend most of their time driving from one end of the country to the other.
    One day I'm going to make a guitar out of butter to experience just how well it actually plays.
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    miserneil said:
    While it looks easy, I doubt the schedule is, they are probably playing 3 sets a night, 6 nights a week. Many of those bands 'tour' round the local holiday parks all session. Hard graft is what it is, making it look easy and fresh for the next weeks new arrivals is the skill.
    Yeah, I wasn't referring to everything, the guys had driven from up north to the south coast for the gig! I was merely referring to the guitar input relative to other types of bands.
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24208
    edited September 2017
    I remember being on holiday in Tunisia once and the restaurant had a pianist, providing soothing background music.  I took a closer look as he seemed to be a very good pianist.  He wasn't even playing a note.  He was just pressing keys and moving his hands about to simulate playing while the MIDI sequencer played everything!  He didn't even attempt to hide the MIDI box - it was sat on the top of his piano!

    Another time in Cuba, I watched a 'band' of maybe 10 people all pretending to play their instruments while the actual music came from a CD!  If that wasn't bad enough, the music was STILL shit, distorted to hell through a knackered PA and sounding like it was recorded on a phone at the gig of another band that WAS playing their instruments!

    Hang on... maybe THAT band was doing the same too and the music came from another band who were also do...

    Oh-Oh....  It's a Kursaal Flyers moment...



    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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