How do you deal with a bad gig?

Bad gigs are bummers and leave you feeling pretty hollow. But my thing as Tutin said, is to record the gig.
You want to be a good gigging musician? have have to record yourself every time if you can.
Not so much for its acoustic clarity but a reference point of who was doing what and when. It really a working tool.. work in progress if you will.

It separates perception from reality, " How good you played..." from "...how good you actually sounded"

But here'sthe interesting thing I've experienced over my years of gigging. There are times when I thought we really sucked and were rushing or not musical enough, and then you hear the recording and it all sounds great and the people come up to you and surprise you by saying "hey, you guys sounded incredible" etc..

AND VICE VERSA...

So many times we though we were in the pocket and smokin', and then sure enough, the tell tale tape recording clearly told us a different story...


moral of the story; get yourself a little tape recorder.

So true.......and when in doubt, use more duct tape.
 
Hi agressivec, when I played in a band in school we had the same problem getting people to turn up. And after one gig our self-appointed 'manager' made off with the takings!

Ah thats why we let no body manage us! We do everything ourselves, booking, writing, financial stuff etc.
 
When I have a bad gig... and the only gigs I've played thusfar are strictly jazz related, I pack all my drums (sullenly, without trying to seem like a whiner to the band) and get in the car and then turn on something completely opposite of what I just played... for me, Christian rock haha. And then I drive at night for a while and stop at Burger King and eat a number 11 in the parking lot. And then go home.

And THEN when I'm in a good mood, sit down and write out where I can improve, or watch/listen to the tape if there is one. I don't know about you guys, but if I'm in a bad mood when I listen to myself playing what I thought was a bad gig, I just get angrier and it doesn't do me any good.
 
What a coincedence of this topic. Well my gig wasn't bad but it could of been better. First I forgot to bring my rug so I had to deal with my bass drum sliding forward most of the night. Since I was filling in for a drummer I didn't want to get too technical and I couldn't because the toms were far away from me. The hi-hat stand pedal is a pdp and it's one of those that is great for double bass pedals. Well that pedal kept on moving on me!

I'm going to absolutely make sure that rug is in the car next time. That was so aggravating. Overall it was fun, I was paid, and my sweetheart was there to watch me.
 
I played a wedding on Thursday night last. We played for 4 hours, the sound was terrible, and I couldnt get hold of a good groove until the last hour or so. I usually enjoy my gigs but I felt rotten after that one. How do you deal with nights like that?
I know your pain. But . . . keep in mind it's only for a few hours and you'll be on your way, so REALLY how bad is it?
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Most respect the badge, but all fear the drum.
 
What a coincedence of this topic. Well my gig wasn't bad but it could of been better. First I forgot to bring my rug so I had to deal with my bass drum sliding forward most of the night. Since I was filling in for a drummer I didn't want to get too technical and I couldn't because the toms were far away from me. The hi-hat stand pedal is a pdp and it's one of those that is great for double bass pedals. Well that pedal kept on moving on me!

I'm going to absolutely make sure that rug is in the car next time. That was so aggravating. Overall it was fun, I was paid, and my sweetheart was there to watch me.
PERMANENT REMEDY:
I have a piece of rug in my hardware case. It's a folded piece twice as wide and twice as long as the case, I've folded it once longways, and once shortways and put it at the bottom of the case, sort of like a piece of padding. Being as it's really not that big (it's about the size of a short hallway runner) it doesn't take up a whole lot of room and it's JUST big enough to use as a gig rug. Being as it's always there, I just forgedaboudit.
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__________________
Most respect the badge, but all fear the drum.
 
How do you deal with nights like that?
Deal with it by recognising that you are your own worst critic, and that 99.9% of the crowd wouldnt have noticed.

Also, youve got to have bad gigs in order to hilight areas of imrpovement. Imagine how boring life would be if we could play perfectly every time.
 
Great advice. I must get a recorder to record what I play in order to progress and learn.

The perception is everything part - I had my 11 year old daughter with me yesterday when I played at church. Two pieces were particularly challenging in that there were so many breaks and fills. We were jazzing up some holiday tunes and I was basically playing funked up / jazzed up patterns on the hats and snare. Sort of easy to start rushing if I didn't build in some quarter notes and quarter note rests to ensure I wasn't rushing. I thought I did ok, but I was on stage peforming. I asked my daughter if it sounded Ok, and she told me it sounded fine. Then several congregation members added their approval and said it was awsome.

That's after I dropped my sticks 3 times in rehearsal and lost my groove several times on several songs in rehearsal.... It's always a challenge to stay focused and in the pocket and not go wild on the kit.
 
I've had one bad show where I kept missing transitions and our bass player botched a few exposed moments, but compliments from the crowd and from our friends assured us that no one noticed any of the mistakes.

Unless the audience is extremely familiar with your material, I find that you critique yourself exponentially worse than anyone else does. If the gig was REALLY bad, I would suggest writing down specific problems that can be improved on in the future and make sure your next gig is a step in the right direction.
 
I have a good/bad memory just from our gig Saturday Night.

I played the first half of the gig the best I have ever played. I mean it was so good that I was expecting the Presidents of all the major labels to be calling my phone instantly while still onstage to sign me for life.

I mean everything went incredible! Everything I tried came off etc etc...... well then we broke and came back!

At least one new song I think my 4 year could of held the time better- just plain awful-

So I am stuck trying to stop what was essentially 4 poor songs out of 30 or so from ruining a great show for myself....


I guess the only advice - is what has already been said- try not to bring the negatives forward with you. Unless you use them to improve
 
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