Just had my very first gig..!

Just a very casual party setting on a lake. A few people / groups got up and did a short set. Out of our 5-piece group, the 2 singers couldn't make it, so the power trio decided to put together some songs that the bass player could sing. Hashed it out for 2 rehearsals, and sounded pretty good. Practiced at home a few times, and the drum parts were very solid.

So, the day of the show, the bass player had to "maybe" bow out due to a family thing. He wasn't sure until the very last minute, but I took off to get to the place anyway. Sat there socializing as much as I'm willing to do (not as much as people who drink, apparently) and was bummed we couldn't do the gig. But lo and behold, one of our singers showed up! Still no bass..

We talked about it for a few minutes and decided to recruit one of the other bassists from the evening. And, we had to abandon our set list in order to switch to female vocals. The bass player was obviously very talented, but young and not familiar with half our songs. Jeez that kid was a trooper though! He followed along brilliantly.

They already had a kit set up, so I didn't have to bring anything. A nice Pearl Masters 5-piece with K's. Every other drummer that evening was much shorter than I am, and realized about 2 bars in that I needed about another foot of leg room!

It was very fun, and we got some great applause and compliments, despite all the hiccups. I don't think anyone noticed my few flubs..

Can't wait to do it again!

Congrats! I did my first gig (on drums, at least--wasn't my first time ever on stage) about a year ago. There's something about performing for others that makes you want to raise your game above the "usual" level... fun stuff. Glad you enjoyed it!

Awesome sauce!

My very first gig ever was also a house party for a guy turning 30.

Now that you've moved a few butts you're going to get hooked! You'll be playing stadiums before you know it!

Fantastic, it really is quite a buzz isn't it. Well done for doing a job under a very unnerving build up to the show.

You earned your stripes with that one, hopefully the next is a little more relaxed for you.

It is a buzz-all your work, all your insecurities, all your wants, all mix together. I guarantee you the only person who noticed any inconsistencies was you-we are often our own worse critics. I had a long hiatus from playing as a younger man and when I started back only played at home. But then at 45 I started playing at a church-about 1,200-1500 people attended over the time I played. Man was I nervous that's a big crowd and at the time I had no idea it was that large-seemed more like hundreds (I was trying not to notice)-I'd been having a heart attack-ignorance is bliss sometimes. I was pretty shy at first but once the "spirit" hit I started wailing and had a great time. As I spent more time practicing to recordings they gave us and I spent more time with Music Minister Director (he really liked my drumming ) and other musicians it really started to sizzle. Interest grew and both the orchestra and choir grew-it was awesome-we made some great music-the walls were breathing at times LOL. Even with everything up in the air it all turned out OK-you lost your...., well broke the ice. Now you'll make a habit of it-it can be addictive LOL "Can't wait to do it again" oh yeah like crack baby you're hooked.

Wow - what a cool thing! I'm being 100% serious too because it's kind of a landmark - going from a practice room player to a gigging player. At this point I've done literally thousands of performances and gigs as a trumpet player, singer and drummer, and I'm not sure I can even go back to remember my very first real gig.

You've got the bug now! Just keep after it. One of the things that I've learned over the years is that for me, it doesn't matter if I'm drumming and playing to a handful of people in a Christian coffee house, playing liturgical trumpet in a cathedral, playing a wedding dance, or doing an Army band gig in a stadium in front of 15,000 people, they are all cool in their own way, and every one of them is worth it.

Congratulations! I'm now trying to remember my very first gig. Not quite sure, it was 25 years ago...