Another Gig

JohnnyGoo said:
You provide a very important service there Smitty helping folks forget there troubles for awhile and have a good time.
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Thank you for the kind words, Johnny. Yes, we aim for maximum crowd involvement. I don’t care about applause at the end of a song as much as I care about seeing the crowd singing and dancing and participating during the song. Our lead singer, Gina, is very good at developing that.

At our New Year’s Eve gig, a girl came up a couple of times and wanted to sing with us as we played a couple of songs she knew. Gina really loves that and practically let the girl sing the whole song.

We try to play a multi-generational setlist. We like to say that we are “dancing through the decades” and that we play “ Beatles to Beyoncé”.

It‘s a little bit of modern Pop, a little bit of R&B, a little bit of Motown, a little bit of Classic Rock, a little bit of Country, a little bit of Hair Metal, a little bit of GoGo, but a whole lot of fun for the crowd!

I don’t get paid much. We’re still small-time, but the crowd reaction is it’s own reward.
 
Well, as the band has played more venues, we've come to expand our repertoire, and we've started to get requests.

This past Saturday we got a request to play anything by a particular band - a band whose name is derived from electrical transmission.

So, I'm gonna learn this song:


Plus, the drummer and I were talking and it seems we need another rock tune.

He had I have discussed doing this one:

 
smitty_p said:
Well, as the band has played more venues, we've come to expand our repertoire, and we've started to get requests.

This past Saturday we got a request to play anything by a particular band - a band whose name is derived from electrical transmission.

So, I'm gonna learn this song:


Plus, the drummer and I were talking and it seems we need another rock tune.

He had I have discussed doing this one:

Click to expand...

Back in Black was one of the first songs I ever learned..
 
smitty_p said:
Well, as the band has played more venues, we've come to expand our repertoire, and we've started to get requests.

This past Saturday we got a request to play anything by a particular band - a band whose name is derived from electrical transmission.

So, I'm gonna learn this song:


Plus, the drummer and I were talking and it seems we need another rock tune.

He had I have discussed doing this one:

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“Whole Lotta Rosie” was one that got the floor packed up for us. “Ace of Spades” was pretty good for that too…surprisingly so.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
“Whole Lotta Rosie” was one that got the floor packed up for us. “Ace of Spades” was pretty good for that too…surprisingly so.
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Thanks for the feedback.

We actually had three requests this last Saturday night. These requests came during our breaks. It's not like they were shouted out, or something. One request was to do something MoTown. Well, "Dancin' in the Streets" is one that we play almost every gig, so that was easy to do.

The other request was for an AC/DC song, our choice of song. Then, we had a request for something by Black Sabbath. I told the rest of the band that I could play "Paranoid", but I didn't have the solo memorized, so I'd have to improvise that. In the end, we didn't do that one either because the drummer and I were the only ones who were familiar enough with it to do it. While it doesn't matter to anyone but a guitar player, if we had done either of those songs, I would have had to do them on my Les Paul, which would feel weird to me! I mean, those are SG songs!

So, that highlights kind of one of those lessons learned. It's good to have a couple of songs you can do for an encore or for requests.

On the upside, maybe it also means we are perceived by our crowds as being a good and exciting band. My thinking is that if we didn't come across as being a good band, the crowd probably wouldn't bother with making requests. Maybe I'm just fooling myself, though.
 
smitty_p said:
Ha!

We actually did have someone yell that out at a gig last year!

I just looked in the general direction of where the shout came from with a look, like, “Really?”

The crowd kind of chuckled.
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Couple years ago we were visiting a friend in FL. Went to a bbq joint for dinner. We knew immediately we’d picked a good place. No napkins on the table….. but they did have a roll of paper towels as a center piece. And yes…. Food was great.

But I digress. Had live music. Even if the live music is accordion…. I always look at my wife and do the “Freebird” thing. Quietly. Was a good band. Played a wide range of songs. They came back from a break and first song was….. Freebird.

It was a Sunday night. There were always empty tables…. So we sat and listened till they were done. Had a great evening out.
 
Well, y'all...I haven't posted in awhile. It's been VERY busy with the band and just life.

I suggested in another thread that I may bow out of the current band. Well, that time has come.

I put in my resignation last week, but am sticking with them for up to three months to give them time to replace me.

What happened is that another band that is just forming asked if I'd join them and I agreed to sit in on a rehearsal. I already knew everybody there and I really liked the vibe of the group. For the past couple of months, I've been feeling a little like my heart is moving in a different direction from the current band and, honestly, this band is a better fit. The other cool thing is that this new group is probably going to do original material, as well. So, that interests me, too.

The other band was very supportive of my decision and it has been a very amicable process. No hard feelings and (as may be expected) they are very pleased that I'm not just leaving them in a lurch.

I have learned a LOT from my experience with the other group, and it has been a very rewarding experience. As I told them, I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to have played with them for the last couple of years. Everything is an opportunity to learn and grow.
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Good job, Smitty,

Be sure to message me any dated I I can bring Kathy with me to come see you.
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Well, we don’t really have any gigs scheduled with the new band yet, but I still have a few to go with the old band. Right now, we don’t have any up in your neck of the woods, but if traveling an hour or so south is not a problem, we have a few in June and July. We have some in August, but I can’t be sure I’ll still be in the band at that point.
 
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