Weird gig tonight

Mark_S

Silver Member
Just got back from a gig - just at a local venue in town. Very strange. My last gig was in January at a different venue and it went great, it felt great to play. I've practised lots since that gig yet today's gig just wasn't happening. Nobody else really noticed, but nothing came easy. I felt like I had to force everything out, plus I felt like I had to hit harder than usual - I don't think there was any drums in the monitors.

The kit didn't feel great either - the kick drum made my kick drum pedal beater vibrate on every hit - know what I mean? And the toms were a bit lifeless, dull and quiet too.

It just put me on a bit of a low - everytime I have a gig like that I wonder if I'm cut out for it, yet the last gig was great. Oddly, the last gig used a different configuration to what I'm used to (5 peice but with 2 floor toms) whereas this config I was used to, but struggled much more.

Anyway sorry just felt the need to vent and share that! It's really upsetting when you've practised so much and then played a gig worse than last time. Who knows maybe the next gig will be great.

Thanks for listening.
 
You win some, you lose some.

Don't let this one bad run get you down! That's what keeps people from improving and eventually getting to the point where they never have a bad gig (if that ever happens!).
 
I think most, if not all, of us would know this feeling well.

All sorts of things make a difference - the stage sound (acoustics and monitoring), crowd vibe, management vibe, people's moods, energy levels, biorhythms ...
 
Thanks for your responses, I feel a bit better now :)
 
These are the sort of gigs I refer to as "feeling like work" as opposed to a more organic experience. It can happen for any number of reasons - anything from the kit not being set up quite right, to forgetting your fan, to having gas or something. The mark of a professional is that the guy who came to your last gig as well as this one doesn't notice that you're having an "off" night, even if you are. I agree with Pol, we all have them; the trick is to have as few of them as possible, and to never *look* like you're having one of them.
 
Hi Marc, After 30 years of drumming I can confidently tell you that this happens all the time. Even with my current band, whom I'm really enjoying and am totally comfortable in, these nights happen. You're right about other members not noticing it, but it eats away at your confidence. It usually starts with the way you perceive the sound balance on stage. If it's not what you want then your attention and concentration wanders. Next thing you know you're starting to get a little 'lost' within songs that you know really well. That leads to that sinking feeling.... 'oh dear what will people think?'. They, of course, have no idea and it's all in your own perception.
My advice is to accept that it has happened and if your confidence is dented, concentrate on the really good gigs that you've had. This should make you realize that you are good enough. You really do have to look at your positive experiences as the reference of your ability. The fact that you have posted this experience tells me that you indeed are worthy of the throne! Cheers.
 
Yes feeling like work would be one way to describe it. I think it was the general flow of the evening that didn't help - I had a tiring week at work, I rolled up to the venue and it sounded too loud even from outside. I got up to sound check and couldn't position the toms well because the tom holder was "not good", then the monitor wasn't loud enough during sound check, there were no drums in the monitors as far as I could tell and the bass drum didn't feel good to play, and my monitor generally was too quiet. Flippin heck I moan don't I ;-)

This feeling of having to hit hard was strange. Yes it was a rock/metal night but even so. I don't know if I was just trying to get through the gig by brute force or what - I normally rim shot the snare on those kind of gigs so you'd think that'd be loud enough already!

I think the kick had a lot to do with it, oddly. There was no satisfying thump for sure.

Oh well I'll just chalk it down to experience and move on! I'll report on my next gig that is in a few weeks time.

Thanks again for your supportive responses :)
 
Hi Mark,

Don't be too discouraged. A lot of the things you said are indications that:

1. You care.

2. You have very good fundamental musical listening skills.

and

3. You try to do the best job you can.

In other words, the fact that you noticed these problems are an indication that you were listening and paying more care and attention to the music then perhaps the other people who were on the gig were (you mentioned others did not seem to notice the issues, not sure if that was the audience, your other band members or both). It is actually funny how 4 or 5 different musicians on the same stage can have a completely different take on how well a gig goes. I have done gigs that I thought were pretty bad while the other musicians loved it and vice versa. Even if the problems all come from one musician (which is not likely) the other musicians should have noticed the problems no matter how well they were playing. If they do not notice then they probably are not lisenting enough.

Anyways, the first step to getting better is being open to noticing problems and you have shown that you are open to that. You cannot solve a problem if you are not aware of it, so it is actually a good thing in a way when you notice things that are not going well on a gig. Even if noticing this stuff makes the gig less enjoyable, at least you will be helping yourself to improve as a musician and helping the music to improve over time and even immediately while on stage during the gig. People who do not pay attention to these things do not tend to improve much over time and neither does the music.

I am a full time drummer and I have been doing about 100 gigs a year for the last 4 years or so. I have come to realize that how well you play on any particular gig is based approximately 50% on your current skill level and 50% on the situation (please excuse these obviously estimated numbers). So when you have a bad gig, try to not to make big assumptions about your skill level, because bad gigs sometimes do not actually have as much to do with your skill level as you might think.

The skill level part is self explanatory but the situation part is made up of lots of elements including:

1. The skill level of the other musicians you are playing with.

2. The quality of the sound system, sound check and the acoustics of the room (room acoustics can make 1 drum set sound and even feel completely different from one room to another)

3. Drums are usually a supportive instrument so it can be difficult to play well when the people you are supporting do not know their own material very well. So, how well the other musicians know their material can affect the situation as well.

I have checked out recordings of myself from years ago and thought "Wow, I have improved so much since then". But I have also checked out recordings of myself from years ago and thought "Wow, my playing on this old recording is actually better in some ways then my playing on some gigs I did last week haha".

So, it just goes to show how much the "situation" can affect your playing. Sometimes you play very close to the upper range of your skill level and other times you play well below the upper range of your skill level to the point where you are actually playing at a level you were at years ago. When I say upper skill level, I do not mean in terms of how complexly you are playing. I just mean in terms of how well you support the music through the use of all of your knowledge and skills. I like to think that the situation effects your playing less and less as you get better and get more experience (and I think this has been true in my case) but I still think that the "situation" will always have a significant affect on someones playing on any particular gig no matter how good they get. I guess the basement level and ceiling level of any musicians playing is set by their current skill level. Both the basement and ceiling levels will both get higher as they improve. However, the level they play at within that range (on any particular gig) will largely be decided by the various aspects of the situation.

I do about 110 gigs a year and to be honest the majority of them are not amazing. We do the gig and it is usually enough that people enjoy the music or dance etc.. but it just seems that the realities of full time local level gigging are just not conducive to the idea of playing really great "polished” gigs every night. However, I can say that when you do the odd really great gig it feels pretty good and playing music in any way is a great experience anyways. At the very least you end up with a number of great "bad gig" stories (that are hopefully funny) to tell and these stories are what pass the time at rehearsals :)

Anyways, I think if you stick to it, the gigs will probably get better.

Hope that helps Mark and happy gigging!
 
Back
Top