Where To Start With Gigging?

Garold86

Hello chaps - am after some advice, if anyone has any to spare?

During lockdown number 1, a few guys and I made the foolhardy decision to start up a band. We mainly 1990's/2000's rock / indie covers. Having worked up a decent set list over the course of the last 6 months or so, we're now in a position to start heading out and playing to actual people once June comes around we're all free to socialise indoors again.

So my question is, where to start with that? How do we go about getting gigs. What pitfalls should we avoid. What should we absolutely be doing, and what general advice can you generous FB'ers provide to help us on our way.

Any advice very much appreciated.

KDS

What a great first post...... BTW welcome to the forum.

EricTheWeary

Welcome to the forum. 

I used to look at roughly similar bands and see where they were playing from their Facebook pages or look at venues I knew of and see what they put on. Then contact the appropriate venues by phone/ Facebook. If there’s a local gig guide see what is on and then go contact the venues. 

Quite often they want to know where you’ve played before so sometimes take pretty much any gig to get to play together and in front of an audience, even 15 minutes of an open mic or jam night. 

Sometimes it’s just word of mouth - probably the biggest gig I ever played came via our singer’s tattooist. Although we only got paid in tattoo shop T shirts. 

Sort a Facebook page with photos, a video if you can. If someone is willing to book an unknown band they might want some reassurance that there is a band who will turn up. 

Not impossible to use agencies but they tend to want you to do a lot of gigs and all over the place. Sometimes there are agencies who book on behalf of a chain of pubs/ venues which is probably more useful. If you speak to a venue and they say an agency books on their behalf just ask them who that is. 

Make sure you do at least one rehearsal as if a gig in a church hall or back room of a pub and possibly borrow someone with decent ears. Hopefully you’ll then know how to set up as a band and have a reasonable sound out front. You’ll discover a bunch of differences from playing in a typical rehearsal room. 

If you don’t have at least some kind of vocal PA you will be limited to venues with their own. Doable but means you won’t get private gigs, play pubs that put on bands once a month,etc. Nobody cares about your £1000 pedalboard if they can’t hear the singer. 

And band name - ask on here, get thirty suggestions such as Abortion of Chips then think up something yourself. Something that obviously reflects the music you do; people don’t like mystery in cover bands they are booking.

Take something to put on after a gig to absorb the sweat. Make sure one band member has your gear in line of sight so that no one tries running off with the aforementioned pedalboard. 

Try to get paid in cash. Agree the amount beforehand. If you are being paid based on ticket sales accept that there’s every chance you’ll earn bugger all and it’ll be an unpaid rehearsal. 

It’s a slow process at best and the timing isn’t the best, although maybe lots of outdoor gigs and local festivals will be thrown together over the summer now so you never know. Good luck. 

Oh, there is a website where you can put in a bid to get gigs, I can’t remember what it’s called. Can anyone else? 

We actually got a couple of well paid private gigs that way. 

Legionreturns

Getting known is the first step. I'm expecting a flush of mini festival type community gigs in summer, as people will be desperate to go to something! 

See who's doing those, offer to do an hour slot, then smash it out of the park while getting someone to film it for you. Then spam it on your Facebook page and send it to all the pubs that book covers bands. 

fastonebaz

Always take a hand towel in your gig bag.   I sweat so much during gigs I'd be drowned without it. 

pintspiller

Check the local papers, Facebook, etc to see which venues to approach. Cold call or phone to speak to who takes bookings, sometimes called entertainments manager. They may give you a number for an agency/booker. A video of a rehearsal may be enough to show in lieu of a demo tape.

Musicwolf

Get a 'band appointments diary' and keep it up to date.  Agree which dates you are all free to accept bookings so that, if something comes up, you can say yes on the spot.  I've worked through agencies before and they will have a pool of bands on their books.  When a gig comes up it may get offered to several bands and the first to say yes gets it.  Plenty of electronic shared diaries around.  Just make it clear that if somebody ceases to be available it's up to them to update the diary immediately.

Most of our gigs come from repeat bookings.  There is a 'circle' of licensees who see each other regularly and word spreads.  This also means that they know how much we charge meaning that it is very difficult to increase fees, so be warned.  In any field of business it can be very tempting to 'buy business' early on but raising prices is always difficult.

Get a Face Book page, people often ask.  I would say that pictures are as, if not more, important as recordings as people form rapid judgements (like ‘curb side appeal’).  Difficult when you haven’t played any gigs but shots that include the audience having a great time are invaluable.  The message that you are trying to get across is that, if you book us, your punters / guests will have a great time and you will increase drinks sales / be the envy of your friends.

Be prepared to hustle but also be prepared to play to small numbers at first.

Make sure that you have a dry run before the gig.  Set up as per on stage, stage lighting if poss, stage clothes, set list in order without breaks etc.  I assume that you have your own PA system?

andy_k

After such a long layoff, I think I am back to square one here as well.
We built up a bit of a name over 3 years and had a lot of stuff cancelled last year, haven't been able to rehearse for the last 6 months and I think I have forgot how to play most of the 50 odd songs we were rotating.
I think we have one thing still booked for July, and am going to suggest we agree on the best hour set we can do beforehand so at least I can relearn those songs before we get to a rehearsal.
My main bit of advice to a first timer would be to try and get some original stuff worked in to the set as early as possible and to build on that.
I know all the arguments against doing originals vs covers, but in the long run I am convinced this is the right direction.
It is getting harder to use copyright material, and FB have started being aggressive about this, YT too.
You will have to accept you will be playing for nothing, drinks if you are lucky, for a long while- the main thing is to enjoy the experience and have fun, this comes across live and is contagious so will only be good for your reputation.
Get a short demo recorded, have it on CD to give to other bands who may be able to offer a support gig - that is probably the first way you will play, under the wing of someone who already has a bit of a name.
Set out some internal rules early on, who is going to do what etc, and try and get a non playing member involved, you need a set of ears / hands that are not on stage, follow their suggestions and get used to hearing the same things.
Try and be as professional as possible, as early as possible, it sounds boring, but it has to be done if you are going to be taken seriously and you might as well get used to what needs to be done.
This should include starting a fund, and maybe even a Ltd co, there will come a time when you need it to be paid, and having a kitty is helpful when you need to hire a van or equipment. Think about having a van and a driver??
Use your imagination, and look around for some of the more original ways of making a band useful, and eventually profitable, but above all--avoid arguments. 
First gigs can be stressful, and at the most stressful, the weaknesses will show, if somebody isn't pulling their weight the rot will set in, and theres nothing worse than having a band with no drummer.
Above all, have fun doing it, it is going to be very weird, for a very long time, so use this time to get the plan together and get tight.
I am going to be having this same conversation myself very soon,it may make or break my own band, which would be a shame- but has to be done.

TheBigDipper

If you don't know it, have a read of a book called "Bandalism" by Julian Ridgeway. There's nothing in it that is earth shattering, but most of it is on point and helpful. And amusing if you've made some of the mistakes yourself!

slacker

All of the above and I'll add some...

Do a warm up, favour type gig first for free. Use it to get audio video and pictures. Make the pictures look like there,s an audience even if it,s family and pets.

Have a clear leader to break deadlock. Don't be a dictator steer the band.

Pick an easy song to start the set with and something strong to end. Rehearse those two to death. Get both right and you can be a bit shaky in the middle. Nerves can make a band worse in a gig than rehearsal.

Rehearse the set not just songs when you have a gig lined up.

And finally make sure you have a decent monitor system and you can control the guitar volumes.

Musicwolf

andy_k said:

First gigs can be stressful, and at the most stressful, the weaknesses will show, if somebody isn't pulling their weight the rot will set in, and theres nothing worse than having a band with no drummer.
Above all, have fun doing it, it is going to be very weird, for a very long time, so use this time to get the plan together and get tight.
I am going to be having this same conversation myself very soon,it may make or break my own band, which would be a shame- but has to be done.

At the risk of drifting off topic, I know this problem all too well (in what is now nearly 40 years of gigging).  If this is a social venture, which is what I consider my bands to be, then you have to cut some slack and recognise that people have jobs, families and other interests.  You also accept that there will always be a strongest and a weakest musician in the band.  Sometimes you are the big fish in the small pool and other times it's the reverse.

In the long run though you can only make it work if people want to do it (there are quite a few people out there who start off with good intensions but who just can’t maintain it).  By way of example I’ve been helping out a mate, a great musician, who is trying to put a band together but who insists on working with a particular drummer.  I worked with this drummer 35 years ago and he hasn’t changed.  Great technical ability but conversations always seem to start “XXX is a great drummer but…………..”.  The fact is that to be a good drummer the most important thing is not to be able to play in 15/8 time, it starts with being sat behind your kit, sticks in hand, when and where you are needed and having learnt the song.  If I want a drummer in the band who isn't actually there I may as well say that Ringo plays with us.

mudslide73

Save Dakota and Don't Look Back In Anger until the end! I think there's mileage in picking the not so obvious songs from well known bands... But when we started out we had a "two best known numbers from any act (unless it's the Stones)" policy. This meant that once people were dancing they very rarely sat down again. This obviously goes out of the window once you start adding new ones but b-sides and rarities shouldn't feature.

I think @EricTheWeary said this.. forgive me if wrong but it's something like this: "people appreciate a simple song done really well much more than a shaky difficult one". This is bang on imo - just get it solid and repeatable then add the frills.

Get some long mains extension leads as even pubs that put bands on never have enough sockets!

Musicwolf

slacker said:

Have a clear leader

Good point.  Every organisation / band / team needs leadership.  This isn't the same as being the boss or the front man and it doesn't mean that the leader has to do everything (though it often feels that way).  Leadership is about pulling the team together, providing motivation, keeping things on track etc.

EricTheWeary

mudslide73 said:

Save Dakota and Don't Look Back In Anger until the end! I think there's mileage in picking the not so obvious songs from well known bands... But when we started out we had a "two best known numbers from any act (unless it's the Stones)" policy. This meant that once people were dancing they very rarely sat down again. This obviously goes out of the window once you start adding new ones but b-sides and rarities shouldn't feature.

I think @EricTheWeary said this.. forgive me if wrong but it's something like this: "people appreciate a simple song done really well much more than a shaky difficult one". This is bang on imo - just get it solid and repeatable then add the frills.

Get some long mains extension leads as even pubs that put bands on never have enough sockets!

Sounds like something I’d say although it probably wasn’t an original thought! 

Oh yes extension leads - you can never have too many extension leads! 

slacker said:

All of the above and I'll add some...

Do a warm up, favour type gig first for free. Use it to get audio video and pictures. Make the pictures look like there,s an audience even if it,s family and pets.

Have a clear leader to break deadlock. Don't be a dictator steer the band.

Pick an easy song to start the set with and something strong to end. Rehearse those two to death. Get both right and you can be a bit shaky in the middle. Nerves can make a band worse in a gig than rehearsal.

Rehearse the set not just songs when you have a gig lined up.

And finally make sure you have a decent monitor system and you can control the guitar volumes.

Bit of basic proximity effect that people will tend to remember your first and last songs. When we did two sets in a pub if we had something that went over particularly well in the first one we would stick it at the end of the second one as well. 

Danny1969

One piece of advice I would give is don't start gigging too early, make sure you are ready as a string of bad sounding gigs won't help your reputation. I have friends in bands who have done this and it took then years to lose the bad rep of the early gigs. 
There's 2 things which really important to the sound of a band, the lead vocal and the drummers ability to stay in time. The lead vocals importance is obvious but I pick on the drummer because if he doesn't play in time then nobody does. So many bands don't realise  that, they let it slide and never get past being mediocre at best because of it. 

You have to be your critics to begin with. Record rehearsals, listen back. If something jars then it needs to be talked about and fixed before you go out live. 

Pay attention to harmony vocals. A covers band with an average singer supported by some decent harmonies will sound better than a covers band with one brilliant singer and no harmonies. 

Try and play things more or less right. These days with every song broken down and explained on Youtube that's an easy ask these day. Pick songs that suit the vocal range though. Tune down / change key if you have too though. 

Have fun and try not to drink too much  

Roland

EricTheWeary said:

mudslide73 said:

Get some long mains extension leads as even pubs that put bands on never have enough sockets!

Oh yes extension leads - you can never have too many extension leads! 

And a circuit tester. I’ve played pubs where sockets are incorrectly wired.

Garold86

Thanks guys! Really appreciate the help thus far. I think we're all on the same page regarding the band - it's a fun / social enterprise as Musicwolf / Andy have said, hence trying to keep it that way with a few actual gigs thrown in for good measure.

Luckily our drummer is pretty decent, and is probably the most motivated of the lot of us to get in front of people playing. No, you can't have him for your band.

Backing vocals - certainly one to work one.

Band leader - absolutely agree. There's a reason Bruce was called The Boss, and it wasn't anything to do with his choice of pedals.

Set list choice - we're trying to operate on a one-for-them, one-for-us basis at the minute. That's not to say we're doing B-sides, but slightly more obscure choices (Arabella instead of I Bet You Look Good etc.).

List of things to take away so far;

1. Band Name.

2. Social Media.

3. Rehearse.

4. Rehearse.

5. Rehearse.

...

...

187. Find local venues that put on similar styles of music and beg / steal / borrow the chance to play without doing future prospects too much harm.

188. Check the venue in advance for power, PA etc., so no surprises on the night.

189. Bring a towel.

190. Make sure no-one tries to nab your gear when your back is turned.

191. Be respectful, even if it's a tough gig / crowd / venue, as you never know where it could lead.

Neill

There's so much good advice here already, what a great thread.

I think I'm best placed to advise what not to do..  The story of my life actually.  I sometimes think I should write a book entitled "What could possibly go wrong?"

But I have learned that most issues are a product of Making Assumptions.  

Like assuming that when the venue host provides a marquee for you to play in, it will be rainproof...

Or that the bass player will bring along a spare instrument for when his jack plug socket disintegrates...

Or that you will have plenty of time to set up and do a proper soundcheck, not five minutes after the dancing class have just vacated the hall.

Or assuming the drummer understands that "no alcohol during the gig" includes beer.

Or that the stage will not be being used as a temporary storage facility leaving you precisely one square foot of space to stand on.  

Or that when the organiser tells you it is a Blues Brothers themed party, she has also told the audience.

You can get paranoid about instrument/electrical failures, often unnecessarily, but doing your homework about the venue, the audience and your set, is essential.

But even with all the preparation something will go wrong, it's then how you deal with it.

A simple example, I remember we went to one "do" armed with a two and a half hour set.  Set up, did the sound check, only to be told literally minutes before we were due to perform that it had to be cut to an hour.  We panicked, in disarray simply because we hadn't considered this possibility, and the first few minutes of our set the audience patiently watched as we finished rehashing our song list. 

The real thrill of playing live is when you get an appreciative audience, there's nothing like it, and there's also nothing like playing to an unresponsive crowd either, it will make you feel like you are standing there with no clothes on.  One thing I've learned from playing "low profile" gigs and venues is it's all about entertainment, and how you present, what you look like, how you move, what you say between songs, is just as important as how you play.   If you can, get someone to video your first attempt  and review it critically.  Its so easy to get wrapped up in your own performance you forget how the whole thing is coming across. 

Lestratcaster

After playing in gigging rock bands for 15 years these are the things I've learnt:

- If you can, take your own gear. I know it means lugging heavy amps and cabs around but that's your sound and you know how it works. If you have to share anything communicate with the other bands on the bill BEFORE the actual show, not 5 minutes before you're playing to suddenly ask what guitar amp you're using.

- Don't lend out anything to any other bands like cables or such. You won't get them back.

- Take spares of everything, as something will break and I guarantee it'll be when you're in the middle of your set.

- Make an effort to watch the other bands sets too, they'll know if you've buggered off to the kebab place next door and only come back when you play before shaking hands with them going "Great set dudes...."

- Rehearse your show as if you're playing the gig. I.e set up your gear the same way it'd be on the stage. Time your set too to make sure it fits within however long your set time is.

- Make sure everyone knows the setlist and any cues between songs for guitarists to tune, etc. Also that the vocalist has a few words to say between songs. Not in a life story rambling on way but the name of the band, and some interaction with the audience etc.

- Always be on time, be polite/professional to everyone - esp the soundguy. Learn their name and don't call them "dude" or "mate".

- During the changeover make sure all your gear is pretty much setup and ready to swap. They only last 15 minutes and there isn't much time to get all your stuff on, plug it all in and make sure there's a sound coming out of it all. Nothing worse than pissing off the soundguy taking ages.

There's probably more that I have forgotten but those are the main ones.

Good luck.