Article No. 3: Your First Real Paying Show

Here we are at what is probably the most impostant Show of your life. This is the very first real paying gig, and how you conduct yourself will set the stage for the remainder of your career. You may laugh, but it is true; if you go in with the attitude that you are the best thing to come along since sliced-bread, you will make more enemies than fans.

I am going to assume that you have day jobs since this is your first gig, therefore conducting load-in at the proper time is going to be all but impossible unless you take off from work that afternoon. I would strongly sugjest doing just that. Considering that it is 99.9% certain your first real-paying gig will be in a resturaunt, load-in should be conducted between 2 to 4PM. You should call first to verify that this is acceptable to the manager. Youre going to be excited, near to urinating in your pants, so take a deep breath and make a list of what should go in first. Have all your lines, cords, etc aranged neatly in some type of box; RubberMaid makes great lightweight boxes which is perfect for carrying cords. Have your soundman set his board and rack up in the center of the room, or in the cone which is between both sides of the mains. Allow some room (a few feet at least) for the sound to pass by him and not stop dead at a wall behind his head.

Stack the mains so that you cover the room with sound, locting a visual point at the back which is where the mains will be aimed. Since youve never before played this room, be sure to Pink Noise the room with a spectrum analyser. If you dont own one, rent one. Flat-line the room (read the instruction manual, its a very easy procedure). Why flat-line? because this will soften the harsh frequencies and help fatten those which become lost if the eq is set strictly for the board and not the room. Do everything with a minimum of chatter making sure not to get in the way of the staff or leaving cases strewn about. Do a sound check now and ask the manager his/her opinion of the volume level. Sure, youre going to want to blow the walls off the place, but it has to be packed first as people help, becoming natural baffels. I suggest peaking at no more than 112db. Take a sound-plot of the room for future use. Now go home, take a nap and be prepared to come in fresh and alert.

Its Show-Time now and you have arrived at the club. Go in, check your equipment again, bringing out the sound-plot and verifying each channel on the board and the eq setting. Sometimes people think its funny to turn knobs or unplug cords and if you havent checked before firing-up, you could be in for a rude awakening. Relax, find a friendly face and try to lighten-up. Dont have more than one drink before the first set. Oh sure, youre going to want to live some old Rolling Stone article you read about drunk musicians and how everyone loves them. Forget it. Stay sober; you will need your wits about you because the butterfly in your stomach just became a flock of buzzards.

The next part is simple. Do what you have rehearsed for so long and do it better than ever. Smile at the audience, bring them into your world and make them want to stay there. If youre playing a full three sets, dont take breaks longer than 30 minutes and on your breaks make new friends. Dont just sit together being clanish. People will think youre snotty. If by chance anyone tells you you should be playing at the so-and-so club thank them and let them know youre grateful for their advice but youre having too much fun right now to think about that. People will blow smoke up your rear-end if you let them because basicly, they wish they had the gonads you do to play music. Everyone wants to be a rock star. The real stars are the ones who realize right away that there are many others out there ten times better and they dig in, working to hone their craft; they dont walk by mirrors and think Im cool.

Anyway, the gig probably went smoothly. Now that its over remember that the staff wants to go home and the people there want to stay. If you give them the chance at the end of the night they will try to stay and talk with you like you are long lost buddies. Be polite but let them know that you have to load out before socalizing, and then do just that. The staff will quietly take them and lead them out. Most of all dont let anyone outside of the band help with load out. They will wrap cords wrong, drop lights, misplace mike stands and leave speakers and amps sit out in the rain because they dont know any better. yes they have good intentions, but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Finally, when collecting your pay be sure to thank the manager for all his/her assistance. Who cares if they gave you any or not because by simply mentioning it, you are making them like you even more. Ask when it is a good time to call back to re-book, write it down so you dont forget and head home now. The Show is over.Oh, if you want to toss a few back now that the Show is over, go right ahead. You deserve. Just remember; dont drink and drive. Musicians in vans, trucks and trailers are like red flags to bulls with the police. They will stop you because everyone thinks musicians are druggies and drunks.Prove them wrong. Show them you are professionals, after all, you just got paid for making music...you are professional musicians now!

[Next Article: Important Decision, Agents or Not: ]Booking properly so you can quit the day job