New Playing Record

[Maximus]

Ok so its not a music record but a playing record.

Last weekend my cover band was hired to play at a wedding party, it was a posh party, everybody including myself was wearing white and it was at a beach-side hotel, of course they booked the whole hotel for the guests, we started playing about 9:30 PM and we finished at 2:30 Am, four sets at the beach, soundcheck at noon (after a 3 hour drive), man i was tired although we were playin poolside and there were some really, really hot teeage girls with bikini's on:eek: :cool: :biggrin: :wink: very, very Hmmm... distracting although they've made me feel like a dirty old man, cause one of them called me Sir....... when requesting a briney spears song.

anyway it was the latest i've ever finished playing, ive done a lot and seen a lot while playing i've been flashed (Oh and at the wedding a woman sitting poolside with her feet on the water pulled a Sharon Stone on basic instincts for us), once groped by a groupie, seen girls make out in the audience twice and once on stage, 4 rehersals in day, played beachside on the pacific ocean and the atlantic ocean in less than 24 hours, once played for 50,000 people, been on the road touring for a week playing every night, once played 3 gigs in a day, played in a piano recital by myself for 300 people (record on been scared shitless while playing) but this one takes the cake on finishing the latest and also on the been tired while playing (probably because it was hot and im not so young anymore)

im not saying this to brag, although im proud of these things, i've worked hard for them, and been lucky enough to get these gigs, playing is why we do these things, and im sure when im older i will look fondly on these memories, but so that we can all share some of these experiences and records with he rest of the forum

im looking foward to some of the older forum members (FL, Chis Mac, Richard, OM. you all know who you are)

[bobbykunkle]

sounds like a rockin time dudes

[Staccato]

Man, you have got to be at least 500 years old to have accomplished all of that!;) Jokes aside, seems like a really nice time!:)

[-=AnatomiC=-]

played in a piano recital by myself for 300 people (record on been scared shitless while playing) but this one takes the cake on finishing the latest and also on the been tired while playing (probably because it was hot and im not so young anymore)

Yeah, lol - I'm shaking in my boots also, if I have to play solo-piano pieces :eek:
But when I have to perform "my own" music at parties, I'm 100% relaxed!
I just don't understand it :confused:

It looks like you have a very good musical life going out there. Gratz...
All hard work is finally paying of...

I dream of big gigs also, but first I have to work hard (and so far, I'm working pretty hard, I think) on my skills... and also to earn some cash for new gear :biggrin:
So, I hope, in 7-10 years, I will have enough experience to do big gigs...
(for now, just small/medium sized parties in nightclubs, of my friends... lol - I think I have like 4 clubs where I can perform anytime, just in my neighborhood. So it's a good place to start :cool: )

Now, I don't have a band, and I perform solo - and I think I will keep it this way... but it would be cool to have a V-drummer and singer with a guitar also...

[Maximus]

Now, I don't have a band, and I perform solo - and I think I will keep it this way... but it would be cool to have a V-drummer and singer with a guitar also...

Now thats something i really want to do, Do a solo gig of my own music, like you, the electronical thing, but havent had the inspiration and commitment to do it, last year woul've been perfect for that, cause now i have a new day job and im becomming a fucking workaholic, it sucks but i want a new car, and a really hot new girfriend, and this is the only way to affort them.

BTW you dont need to be really good in order to get the big gigs, its more important to get noticed in your regional music scene, and know a lot of players and singers, i was lucky enough to get my first paying gig fron a very well known (in my country) female singer, she does the news now, but that opened a lot of doors for me.

[-=AnatomiC=-]

it sucks but i want a new car, and a really hot new girfriend, and this is the only way to affort them..

Don't forget - M3 :biggrin:
Lol, I would like to have a big car also, to move my stuff - I'm still a student: like I said, working my ass off in the vacation to pay off everything I need.
A girlfriend? Girls just ignore me all the time :rolleyes: Well, not after a good gig ofcourse, but I'm not to used to the attention - so I guess I don't need it...

Solo performing has lots of advantages:
- YOU get all the credit, not some kind of overrated singer (no offense)
- You can practice when ever you want and as much as you want.
- You don't have to rely on other members: the songs you create are 100% yours: you don't "loose" them, if you quit the band for example...
- Less members = more money :biggrin:

A good solo performance is only possible with synthesizers, IMHO. That means that solo performers has to have very sophisticated synths to compensate the lack of man power... but it doesn't matter - I just love good hardware!!

[rlainhart]

Not to brag, but here are some of my performance highlights (and lowlights):

Gigs played: somewhere over 2000

Largest audience: 55,000

Most gigs in 24 hours: 5, with travel between each one

Longest gig: 9 hours (a standard 4 hour party gig, with 5 hours of overtime - they liked us)

Latest gig: I played a lounge gig for a month in Atlantic City from 2AM-6AM, 7 days a week.

Best jazz gig: opening for the Count Basie Orchestra (with Count Basie, Freddie Green, Frank Foster, and all the other greats)

Most uncomfortable gig: 4 hours at a bar somewhere in Massachusetts in the middle of summer with no air conditioning, no fans, and all the windows closed because of complaints from the neighbors. It was easily over 100 degrees in there; I played vibraphone in that band, and had to mop my sweat off the bars between each tune.

Most violent gig: playing at an outdoor bar just off the racetrack in Saratoga NY in August during the racing season. A group of drunks got mad at a waitress for some reason; one of them slapped her; all the kitchen help attacked him; all of the drunks' friends joined in; soon about 20 people were fighting; the cops showed up, and the drunks attacked the cops; within minutes we were watching a full-blown riot between 20 drunks, 10 waiters and other bar staff, and 15 cops. It lasted about 15 minutes. No serious injuries, about 20 arrests. We kept playing.

Most disturbing gig: playing at a hotel in Albany NY, at a big corporate party. My band was playing the dinner set; there were serving tables set up with food in warming trays on the dance floor, with chefs serving the meal. While we were playing, one of the chefs had an epileptic seizure and pitched head-first into a warming tray, setting his hair on fire. He wasn't badly hurt, but the ballroom filled with the smell of burning hair, which put a serious damper on the rest of the evening.

[Staccato]

Haha, damn Richard, time to make a movie out of your life!:)

@AnatomiC: Well, it is nice to play solo by many reasons, but when playing music and creating it with people you like, nothing beats that. I recently went around to some musicschools and did playing tests so see if I´m good enough to attend them.. I hadn´t played with the guys there before, but damn it was fun. Played two songs att every place, and every time it was more and more fun!:)

[Maximus]

HOLY CRAP... Richard, those are good stories (loved the fight one) just one question, who showed up to the 2AM-6AM jazz gigs?

[-=AnatomiC=-]

@AnatomiC: Well, it is nice to play solo by many reasons, but when playing music and creating it with people you like, nothing beats that. I recently went around to some musicschools and did playing tests so see if I´m good enough to attend them.. I hadn´t played with the guys there before, but damn it was fun. Played two songs att every place, and every time it was more and more fun!:)

Everything has pros and cons, of course. A great band is very cool - if you have one...
But - I don't have a car personally to move my gear to the band (still a student, like I said).
Where I live, there are only punk rock bands - I hate punk rock, and punk rock hates me :tongue: (punk rock hates keyboardists)
Nobody takes synthesizers serious around here - they think it's some kind of inferior instrument. :frown: Drum/Guitar/bass = cool. Keyboard = lame and gay.
Even people who play classical piano think that way: the sound and keys are fake - well ofcourse, if you only played some cheap casio crap... :rolleyes:

So, right now, it's best to play solo - gain some reputation/experience: maybe a decent band will notice me that way - who knows?
But no matter what happens, I will always do solo stuff also...

[Staccato]

True.. but I´m lucky enough to have a good band!:) And about carrying around stuff, I have carried my keyboard to soo many places, so now when I have got a car I have almost stopped walking at all, haha!:) And yeah, it was the same here, just pop and punkrock, but after had som gigs people started to like the progressive heavy songs.. so now we are accepted!:)