First proper gig in YEARS!!!

[YellowJacket]

So I called up my brother and my friend, and we spent one month learning music. It made a quartet: Drums, Bass (electric and upright), Keyboard / Female voice, Guitar (acoustic and electric) / Male Voice / Cello. Really cool. We played covers of Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Greg Graffin, and we did originals and some church music as well. I think it was like 15 tunes in total?
Anyway, It got me thinking. Basically, it was possibly THE best received show we've ever done. My wife has a killer voice and I can hold a tune. We spent a lot of time on arranging / etc., and the versatility of the ensemble made it a lot of fun. Like so many bands I have been in are very focused on doing only 'ONE' thing well but this time around, we really tried to let each musician express something authentic. For instance, I pounded out huge electric guitar chords and did several heavy numbers but we also did more acoustic guitar driven rock / folk music. It worked because one of my heavy tunes has a very folk like melody as an outtro which works as THE perfect segue.

So I am pondering what makes a show successful. In this case, it wasn't super loud and the stage volume was really low. (My Dual Rev F had 'just' enough volume to get a rude crunch happening) We all had monitors and the soundman did a proper mix through the mains. I think running at around 90db made things really listenable for people. I mean the music is still intense and all, but people can hear more when the room isn't filled with mud because of excessive SPL. Also, hearing one's voice properly makes singing in tune much easier and nobody likes to hear bad vocals. People like several things: they like to hear all the instruments clearly AND they want to hear the voice and the words. Playing in a crappy venue with excessive stage levels makes this difficult.

Another thing with bands I've worked with: Finding a great vocal is super hard. Heck, finding a decent vocal is also really hard. Having my wife's killer voice totally make the music click far better with people. People don't only appreciate good music, they also like the delivery. A good artist makes it come alive.

I guess I am just rather shocked. I've slaved away in bands for multiple years to no avail. It just seemed like things would never take off and nobody cared / appreciated what we did. So now, I reanimate the old tunes, add my wife for versatility, and things come together faster and better in one month than they have in the past over years and years of hard HARD work. With this winning combo, I am leaving the city here to go for my DMA in music composition in Toronto. =-( Believe me, I have been bemoaning the situation endlessly tonight but the reality of the situation is that I really REALLY want my DMA in music!

Oh, another thing. We had SOOOO many requests for CDs of all things. Merch is a great money maker and I highly recommend it. What we did: We had a BAKE SALE following the concert and it almost surpassed what we made from ticket sales. At $4 a baking tray, people were buying 2, 3, and even 4 of them. Having CDS for sale would have generated at least that much $$$s on top of the baking but we seriously did not have time to record prior to the gig. We'll work on it in TDot but I'm just kind of bummed that my brother and friend are staying in Winnipeg. They're both exceptionally gifted musicians and what I feel are key ingredients to success.

 

[lyman]

cool story. congrats on having a kick-a## gig!

it's funny - you toil away on one project/band/etc. and then the totally thrown together one-off project is way better than the one you worked on for months! maybe there's something to be said for what's going on in your own head. your expectations rise when you put more time and energy into something, whereas if you go into something will fewer preconceptions it's gonna be easier to be impressed. or maybe it's possible to over-work a song. 'tis a fickle muse.

i agree about vocals. it aint easy. but it's one of the things that listeners really respond to. and some nice male/female harmonies can really add another dimension.

the right volume for the style of music and the venue is really important too. too loud can be fatiguing for the listener, as well as difficult for the musicians.

 

[YellowJacket]

Well, we had an opportunity to play a second show before we left. Even with a different crowd, the music was appreciated and well received. We got compliments from all the other bands there on our skill and talent level. ^_^ I think my absolute favourite moment was doing an improv with fusion style drums, an upright bass groove, and a cool cello solo. I, of course, played the cello!

I think the real problem was that with our previous effort, we didn't have a terribly strong vocal and our style appealed to a much smaller niche because of the heaviness factor. We were going to do what we wanted regardless of what people thought. This time around, I used my classical training to work my voice up properly and instead of the one singer, we had my wife. Her 'folk' influence and strong vocal completely turned things around. We also lightened up the heavies a bit with cool piano licks and the variety made it easier for people to appreciate the different styles. It is such a shame we're leaving the drummer and bassist behind as we move. This group definitely would have a future!