This is how ALL your favorite bands started. Playing along with other bands in small bars with an expectant audience, bad guitars, average sound, lots of beer and fights. That's how we all start.
But there's something else behind all the show and lights and stuff. There is the business. There is all the things done to make the gig possible.
This was the first gig I planned and directed from head to toe, and let me tell you, there are sooo many things at stake. It isn't just tell some band "hey, come and play for me" 'cause why the hell they should go and play for you?... Here is where everything gets funnier (and harder).
I had this idea in mind since I was like... twelve, perhaps? But I wasn't really into "the scene" to make it possible, because who the hell would take a 12-year-old girl seriously? (If you are this old and able to do this let me know how). But this was my chance. I turned 18 on July 31st and was the perfect reason to make a gig for me. The Perfect Birthday Party. And I finally had met enough people in the plane to make this possible.
So I went with this idea with an older friend of mine who has experience making gigs. And there everything started. He said it was a pretty good idea. "Ok, this is a good start". Yes, it is. "And how do you plan to pay for it?". Wait, what? Well, yes, I saw that coming but...
Aaaand this is how the real business starts. Yeeey!. Ok no, it's... kinda hard. We had a month and half to make this possible or simply forget it from that day. That same week was one of the hardest weeks of all my life.
First of all, you have to get the bands.
How many do you want? 2, 3? maybe, I don't know... 7?! Yes, my first idea was to have 7 bands for the gig. So I went first with my favorite local band of all time. Which its guitarist is actually my guitar instructor and a good friend of mine. You may think "Yey! you had it guaranteed!" Weeeeell... not really. He said it was OK, but there was some issues with their bassist so they couldn't sure me if they would be able to play that day. That dissapointed me at first, but take deep breath and keep going.
Meanwhile this guy was checking for a place to play in. We couldn't just say "oh, this place is nice, let's do it here" is the place you want able the day you want? do you want under-age people in your gig? and is the place able to let them in? So little time. So much to do.
There was this bar a lot of bands use to play in, and it was able to let under-age people in. Well, this was the place. But it wasn't able the day I wanted. Only a week earlier. *sigh* Ok, as the Stones said "you can't always get what you want". So we had the place, now what?.
Keep looking for bands. Some friends have nice bands so I invited them to play, and well, yes, it was kind of a "free" thing, but it doesn't means it will happen to you too, so, you've been warned. Some bands want "something" for they work, ya know, money, drinks, I don't know. This sometimes makes it a lot harder, even more with foreign bands. And yes, I tried. There was this cool hard rock band from a neighboring state but they had to get paid for coming and I didn't had a single penny to bring them on. So, unfortunately, I couldn't had the chance. Let's keep going...
Also, we were going to have a foreing band. Well, this is other thing you have to take care of (and you would struggle with) in a gig: The "Dithers". This people who says "yes" for what you offer to them, but at last minute they say "no". DO NOT F*CKING TRUST THEM. And you may ask, "Bell, but how I will recognize one of those?" Well, this is simple. They are always the last ones to check anything related to the event, and the last ones to say a word. That's what they do, and if you still count on them, at last moment they would complain, so don't trust them a bit. At the end, we didn't had that foreign band, period.
We already had the bands (well, kind of, I'll tell you in a bit) and the place. What's left to do?
Well, people wouldn't magically appear in your gig, so what you need next is publicity, promoters. First of all, you need a flyer, and if you aren't good enough with that, you will have to ask someone to do it for you (probably a graphic designer or a publicist), I had to do it. You need a goddamn good flyer, something to make people look right at it while going on the street. Then, you need places to post it. You have 2 ways: Number One: Social Media. Ok, yes, it is easy to post a picture on facebook and say "come to my gig", but, how the hell you know if the people who's "interested" on your event would really go? (I'm telling you this because we made an event on facebook, we had the "attendance" of like a 100 persons, but that day just like 80 shown up) So here's Number Two: You need people to share it, physically and virtually. If this is your first gig it's kind of hard to get "sponsors" because for someone to have one, the sponsor has to know if they can trust you and your work, and you can't show it if you don't have any work done yet. So, for this time we will look for promoters only. Thanks to many friends and acquaintance from radio, record store and else, I made some publicity for the gig.
What kind of sound system the bar already owns? do you need different stuff? Does it has appropiate lighting? Would everybody bring their own pedalboards and cables?
The hard part of this one is that you have to deal with people. I personally don't like to do it, but guess what? I did. First, You need the Backline and the PA rider. "What's that?" Well, in a nutshell, a backline rider is a document that says what kind of "band" sound you are able to have, you know, like amplifiers, the drum set, etc. And a PA rider it's more a sound engineering thing, like speakers, mixing console and stuff like that. And of course you need a sound engineer. That friend of mine who was helping me to make the event is a sound engineer, so we were cool with it.
Then, between band members we have to discuss the riders. If this amp is more useful, If we need a footswitch, What the drum set is missing for each band... Then, after the final decision for the sound its done, there's a last thing to do. The Soundcheck. A Fact: The first band to get to the place is the one that has the soundcheck. It's kind of hard for all the bands to do it. And a little advice: Tell your engineer to save all of your band's settings for your turn to play (if you are playing), because if you don't YOU WILL REGRET IT. We didn't. Yes, we regret it.
So, that's all for external issues. But what about more "internal" ones? Like yourself and your band?
It was a troubling time for my band. (I've had a hard rock girlband for the last year, named The Diamond Curses.
I called out my best friend, who's also a guitarist, to play Hysteria by Def Leppard with us (Check out the Spotify playlist ;) ) He said yes and... OMG! it freakin' rocked!. We also played 18 & Life by Skid Row aaaand.... It was impossible for me to sing it. So I called out another friend of mine who was introduced to me by my guitar instructor and... He was the best vocalist I've ever heard. So eventually, that song rocked too. We had a lot of trouble and at the final moment some things went wrong, but, for everyone who was there to support us, was "pretty dang good to be your first time", yup, my guitar instructor said it. And that's what we came for. People who thinks we are good enough to be a band.
(Please, go to WGB's Spotify Playlist and play "Here's To Us" by Halestorm for this part)
And for last but not least, Myself. Yes, I was going damn crazy. And yes, not everything went as I planned. We had 2 bands included at the last moment, My favorite local band didn't played in, One band hadn't the chance to play that day, One foreign band let us down, I didn't played as I would have liked, but, let me tell you a thing:
"No pain, no gain"Because even if you struggle with it, even if you made it with your tears, blood and sweat, it is worth it. Why? 'Cause at the end, it wouldn't dissapoint you. It would be great. And every time you remember it, a smile will draw on your face for the good times. For the friends who were there. For the endeavor put in every song. For the people who told you can't do it. For that thing you did. And for everything in between.
Conclussion: If you want to do it, just go for it. It is worth it. Now, you have my advice to make your gig possible, a realistic possible. It can go bigger, and stronger, but only time will tell. So, if you try it out, good luck and tell me if all of this was even a little bit useful for you.
With my best goddamn wishes:
Bell xx
