Wednesday School Gig

WernHalen · #1 October 30th, 2006

Hey,

CK's thread about playing live has actually sparked my memory about somehting I wanted to talk about last week already...

We had a gig at a school last week Wednesday. WEexpected about 100 people, but they turned out closer to 500... We started playing and things were a bit rough around the edges, but after a break we got back on, played a couple of songs we did not practice before and we were great... Even if I have to say it myself. We were encored for about 30 minutes after we thought we had finnished.

It was absolutely amazing...

The unfortunate part about it was the fact that the lead guitarist was a professional session musician, and not me. WOW he is good, I strive to be just like him. He plays very natural and he can copy and improvise over just about anything. His solo's do sound like scales from time to time though... I had a couple of people come up to me afterwards and congratulate me on my playing. So I am not feeling bad about my playing.

What I found very interresting was the fact that I was not nervous at all about playing in front of all those people. I was really extremely relaxed. I had to remind myself to look at the people from time to time. I mean I have to make contact...

I struggled with my monitors for a while and then gave up. Next time we will get them right though... I have a couple of things up my sleeve.

Anyway I found it a great experience. Plus I gave a little solo lick evrey now and then when I forgot the chords. PT really helped alot there Kirk. ( I know it should not have when I dont know the chords. ) Thanks...

allthumbs · #2 October 30th, 2006

Sounds like a great time. Very cool.

Matty22 · #3 October 30th, 2006

Hey Wern, sounds great. Glad yer had a blast....
Hope all is well, long time no talk

coldethyl · #4 October 30th, 2006

What a great experience for you WernHalen!
500 people. Wow, that's quite an audience.

I'm glad it turned out well for you!

Genjiro · #5 October 30th, 2006

Very cool. What kind of music were you all playing? 500 people is huge, awesome that you had a good time!

krissovo · #6 October 30th, 2006

Great experience for you and use and abuse the experienced player as much as you can, I had a moment this weekend at the jazz weekend in Cork where I was handed a gold top at a gig at our great blues bar and told to craic on. I went from gobbing off and confident to the most shy man in town, well a few hundred people changed my mind but i jammed with the band for two songs and the lead man got me out of so much trubble. I applied a few basics and a little piece of PT that got a cheer, and once again my confidence jumped up a step. Oh and i turned the volume right down on the axe!!!!!!!!

WernHalen · #7 October 31st, 2006

Hey all, You are right I really did have a blast. I did abuse the professional player quite a bit and like I said it turned out great. I was just a little shy putting Plane Talk out here, I mean I could not really compare to the prof... but all in all things went well.

I also turned down the volume on my axe a couple of times just to get back into the progression when they became a bit complex but nobody noticed, well maybe the proffesional...

Genjiro, we played praise and worship, much in the way Hillsong united does it... Hey we actually played some of their music... 500 people is a great crowd, especially when they are all dancing and jumping to the music.

Matty, yeah we have not had a chance to chat in a while... I seem to miss you nowadays, but then again I am not online as often as I used to be... Hope you are doing well...

cheers.

bluesguy · #8 November 1st, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by WernHalen

WE expected about 100 people, but they turned out closer to 500... We started playing and things were a bit rough around the edges, but after a break we got back on, played a couple of songs we did not practice before and we were great... Even if I have to say it myself. We were encored for about 30 minutes after we thought we had finnished.

Very impressive. You know there are a lot of professional, working & nationally touring bands in the US who would kill for a 500 person crowd. Great job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WernHalen

What I found very interresting was the fact that I was not nervous at all about playing in front of all those people. I was really extremely relaxed. I had to remind myself to look at the people from time to time. I mean I have to make contact...

Even more impressive! I had the same feeling when I was the only instrumentation for an outdoor church service. Congrats on having that feeling. I bet you are hooked on playing live and want to do it again...

WernHalen · #9 November 2nd, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluesguy

I bet you are hooked on playing live and want to do it again...

I play live on a weekly basis at church, but I know that I will be playing live shows more and more regular with another band... But yeah I am hooked on playing live...