Your first gig experience.

This is like my 7th thread in the past two days but this is fun and it's awesome reading everyones experiences.
Anyways, I want to know what your first gig experience was.
My first PROPER gig was in January this year (almost two years from my last 'gig'. Which was a Battle Of The Bands).
It was in a small community centre and the stage was the size a table, if not slightly bigger. They had an uber crappy drum kit (Gears for music I believe). We were supporting a pop-punk band (who were like 2 years younger than me and the frontman of my band) so the gig started and I got set-up. So we started playing, I wasn't ever nervous at all, I was excited and couldn't wait. We opened with one of our own songs and instantly the crowd went insane and started mosh-pits and stuff. I was laughing the whole way through playing, and that was probably one of the best gigs I've played because I played all the songs perfectly. We then played Cee-Lo Greens "F*** You" and everyone was singing along, which was really funny then I did a drum solo and the frontman said "This is our new drummer Chris, you can tell that he's the next Dave Grohl. Who agrees?" And everyone screamed. So we went off the stage and the other bands drummer approached me and said "Your not a real drummer because you wear skinny jeans and you suck." I started laughing and said "Thanks." But he couldn't really criticise me, he couldn't play in time and stripped into his underwear, he was pretty bad.
And I came home, and had like 20 friend requests on Facebook leaded with "Your drumming is amazing" on my wall. Which I appreciated haha.
 
Woo hoo! What a triumph!

Much more memorable than my first gig. I can hardly remember it, other than it was at a party and I put my kick pedal through my kick drum head in the first song :)
 
My first was in front of a crowd of about 500 to 800 people ( local event here where i live). I remember being a nervous wreck and i almost forgot the opening notes to the first song we played. lol I made several mistakes that night. The band knew it but apparently the crowd didn't because they were into the songs and we got several compliments after the gig. I didn't have any technical issues but i must have dropped my sticks a dozen times..mostly due to me being nervous. lol After that gig playing to a crowd became alot easier and now it's an addiction. I haven't had my fix lately so it may be time to be looking for somewhere to play! lol
 
My first gig at a bar was a 50 minute set. Needless to say we played our best and most hard rockin songs. Everyone thought we were great, and some drunk guy kept telling me that he wanted to hear an original song by us, and we should write, and try and get gigs up in Toronto! Hopefully that will happen this summer!
 
It was just before my 16th birthday and I got chance to play in a trio that played everything from James Brown to Merle Haggard. We were playing at an
Air Force base enlisted club and I was nervous and probably a little timid. The band leader was 20 years my senior and a very good musician (guitar).
I remember him turning around several times during the evening and screaming obscenities at me for not playing in tempo or not playing loud enough.
I wanted to hide, and I was sure it would be my first and last gig with them. I got through it, and the band leader agreed to give me another chance. I
practiced my ass off and had a much better performance the following week. I played in that band for five years and learned a lot about Music and life in
general.
 
A small local bar, probably about 50 people watching. We actually did fairly decent, there were like 4 bands and we each did just a few songs. Our setlist was All the small things by blink 182, immigrant song by zep, and revolution by the beatles. Weird combo but it worked lol. Got a few compliments afterwards too, it was pretty cool.
 
I had to think about this one for a while. I had done a lot of playing in front of people in a school setting, but my first proper gig came after I got out of school.

I had started working in a music store, and one day a co-worker came up to me and said "we need a drummer, you're in our band." So we went over to his buddies house and jammed. No audition, no asking me if I even liked the music, we just went and did it. It was a mix of originals and some quirky covers. Then it was announced we had a gig at some bar. So I went and did it. The gig went well enough I suppose. I can't recall if we got paid, I think we did, but I'm really not sure.

But then the "musical differences" conversation came up a few days later, and we agreed to part ways amicably.

My 2nd gig went about the same way. Some guy wondered into to where I was working and asked me if I could jam with him. He'd give me gas money to drive out to where ever and we'd jam for a while on some songs he had written. I didn't really dig it, but I had nothing better going on at the time, and it was a good excuse to just get some playing under my belt. It was also easy, because he never would stick to any one arrangement. The chorus was whenever he decided we were going to the chorus, and the next verse was whenever he got tired of the chorus. No rhyme or reason to his songs. Next thing I know, he booked us at some bar I had never heard of. We would get the door, and split it between the "band members". Some how he dragged in a bass player and 2nd guitarist to the gig. One person came, my mother, who paid $2 to get in. So my cut was 50 cents. haha.
 
DED - lol

That guy sounds like a master Svengali.

My first good band started out of the ruins of a group created by a Svengali of a similar ilk to your guy. There was a raw vocalist, a raw bassist and a guitarist friend of mine who was playing percussion with the group to put his conga lessons into practice.

They played one gig - a freebie (not even 50c :) outside a town hall. That was quite a first gig. The Svengali's guitar solos were so bad that the people standing next to me were laughing. The bandleader was the only one in the band without talent. Soon afterwards my guitarist friend had lead a revolt - the three of them left to form a band and he called me to play drums.
 
I think I was around eight playing Trombone in the local shopping plaza.

Not that inspiring.
 
When I was 17 my band jammed at our old school every Saturday. While we were jamming an old mate turned up and said they needed a band at the local pub for a wedding that night. As we were setting up my mate mentioned that he had told everyone that he was in our band. So we humoured him and let him sit in. (He was that drunk he had to sit down and luckily couldn't sing a note).
The guy that was getting married (to a local girl) was a in the navy so there were a lot of sailors there (the brides friends didn't know what hit them). Sailors love to drink so It was a wild night. Lucky for us the crowd really enjoyed the band and everybody had a great time. I remember an older lady kept on comming around behind the kit and asking me to play some Kenny Rodgers ( we were a rock band ) and I said I'm the drummer ask the singer ( I still use that one today ). It was a great first gig and made us realise that we were actually a good band. Maybe the alcohol made us sound better.
 
My first gig was when I was 18. Had a garage band with a couple of guys from high school, we knew 3 songs (one was an original), and the singer/guitarist got us a gig playing at a dive bar that his uncle owned way out in BFE. My girlfriend and her friend got all dolled up in little black dresses so we even had groupies. We played our 3 songs, didn't know what to do then, so we played them again, and by the last song someone walked over and turned on the jukebox. :)

We packed it up, and went to a nearby lake, started a bonfire, and sat around the fire and sang some songs (the guitar player brought an acoustic) and made up a couple of silly songs on the spot. Not a very auspicious first gig, but it sure was memorable!
 
My first gig was when I was 18. Had a garage band with a couple of guys from high school, we knew 3 songs (one was an original), and the singer/guitarist got us a gig playing at a dive bar that his uncle owned way out in BFE. My girlfriend and her friend got all dolled up in little black dresses so we even had groupies. We played our 3 songs, didn't know what to do then, so we played them again, and by the last song someone walked over and turned on the jukebox. :)

We packed it up, and went to a nearby lake, started a bonfire, and sat around the fire and sang some songs (the guitar player brought an acoustic) and made up a couple of silly songs on the spot. Not a very auspicious first gig, but it sure was memorable!

Hahaha! Great story :) I'd love to do something like that;
I think next year (when one of us has a car) me and my other band are going to go out camping and take acoustic guitars and bongos and stuff. A laptop, camera's etc. etc. so we can have a day out and fun! :)
 
9th grade talent show, 1972, part of a 2 guitar and drum band. No bass. I felt sooooooooooooooooooo cool carrying my gold sparkle Stewart drums in the school. My first load in, sigh....

After that age 17 at a local pool party. That's when I realized that I attracted 10 year old girls. If I'm underage and they're underage, does that make it OK?
JK I can't believe you would think that.
 
9th grade talent show, 1972, part of a 2 guitar and drum band. No bass. I felt sooooooooooooooooooo cool carrying my gold sparkle Stewart drums in the school. My first load in, sigh....

After that age 17 at a local pool party. That's when I realized that I attracted 10 year old girls. If I'm underage and they're underage, does that make it OK?
JK I can't believe you would think that.

I felt soooo cool carrying my Rootbeer burst Meridian Maple snare into a major venue in my town last night haha and I also felt cool using my 18" EFX on my first gig.


I think there are limits to the ages haha. In the UK it's 16 to have -not going to say- and 14 if the girl is 16.
 
My first gig was in the early 70s at a Mormon Church.
We played nothing but Rolling Stones covers.
The only thing (other than where we played) that I remember was this Native American dude standing right next to one of our PA columns with his arms folded across his chest and a deadpan look on his face.
Good times.
 
If I'm underage and they're underage, does that make it OK?
JK I can't believe you would think that.
Not if you're 18 and they're 17

If they're 10 and you're 17, it makes you akin to Gary Glitter
 
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