What was your "funnest" gig???

[Katastrophe]

Robert's thread about gigging brought up a good memory... A few years ago, my dad had his 60th birthday, and my family rented an old dance hall for the party. There was a band there named The Fossils (made up of more "seasoned" players), who played classic rock. They invited me up on stage, and the lead singer/guitar player graciously handed me this beautifully aged Telecaster to play (might have been late 60's). I didn't know any of the songs on their set list, so we went to the ol' standby, a fast 12 bar blues. Man, what a blast! The band was tight, and we all traded off solos. I've got a pic of it at the house, and I gotta smile every time I see it. Good times.

Of course, can't forget the first ever gig. I had the worst case of nerves, ever. Our drummer broke a stick that *almost* smacked me upside the back of the head. His cowbell assembly broke a few seconds later and he pitched it, too, narrowly missing the other guitar player's head and crashing into a metal door, loud enough to be heard over the music! What fun...

[Nelskie]

Hmmm - that's a tough one, but I'd have to say it was the Alpha Tau Omega Fall Rush Party back in Sept. 1986. One of the guys in the house had his dad pull a flatbed up onto the lawn, and our band at the time (Axis) was summoned into service. The weather was perfect, and the crowd was "primed" for action! If you've ever been to a rush party, then you know what kinds of hijinx (for the lack of a better term) goes on. Anyways, my buddy, who was a master shredder, joined the band on stage, and we burned through three tight sets of 80's metal classics, with a few standards thrown in for good measure. My Crate 2x12 combo was literally in "melt-down" mode, running wide-open for the entire duration. We played for a good 3 1/2 hours or so, before the campus police decided that things might get out of hand if they let it go any longer. We closed the show with Judas Priest's "Livin After Midnight", and it was nothing but arms and faces for a solid city block, joining us verse-for-verse!! That night we delivered the goods to a very appreciative, energetic, albeit completely intoxicated crowd. But damn, was it ever FUN!!!

[Katastrophe]

That sounds awesome! Having a crowd getting into the music and cheering is the best.

[Tone2TheBone]

Nelski,

Thats hilarious. I remember those ATO Rush Week parties very well. I had fun times during pretty much most of the gigs I played at but the funnest for me were back in high school, playing for "keggers". Reading Nelski's post above brought back FOND memories of those wild nights... hehehe It's so cool to do covers of everyone's favorite songs and have the crowd yell along.

[Nelskie]

I figured that post might stir up some good memories for quite a few of us. As a matter of fact, I still have that setlist somewhere - written on the back of a Psych 203 quiz that I'd taken that afternoon. Wouldn't it be a kick to dig that up, and post it?

[Nelskie]

My wife and I were digging through some stuff in the basement earlier this weekend, to get a load ready to go to a local charity, and I *found* a box of stuff from back in my college days. Lo' and behold, I found that very setlist that I'd mentioned in my earlier post. I would have scanned it, but my buddy Rich's handwriting is terrible, and he's abbreviated many of the song titles with just letters - might be a tad difficult to follow. Anyways, I thought it would be a kick for all of the old metalheads on this forum to see what was "goin' down" with my outfit way back when in 1986. My guess is that a lot of these songs were staples for your own bands and / or playing.

Set 1

1. Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions
2. Looks That Kill - Motley Crue
3. Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
4. Breakin' The Chains - Dokken
5. High N' Dry - Def Leppard
6. Lick It Up - KISS
7. Problem Child - AC~DC
8. You Really Got Me - Van Halen
9. Headin' Out To The Highway - Judas Priest

Set 2

1. Back In Black - AC~DC
2. Lack of Communication - Ratt
3. Rainbow In The Dark - Dio
4. When Lightning Strikes - Aerosmith
5. The Zoo - Scorpions
6. Cat Scratch Fever - Ted Nugent
7. Too Fast For Love - Motley Crue
8. Long Stick Goes Boom - Krokus
9. Slide It In - Whitesnake

Set 3

1. Shout At The Devil - Motley Crue
2. You're In Love - Ratt
3. Rock of Ages - Def Leppard
4. Talk Dirty To Me - Poison
5. Rock N' Roll - Led Zeppelin
6. Mony Mony - Billy Idol
7. Highway To Hell - AC~DC
8. Rock & Roll All Nite - KISS
9. Livin' After Midnight - Judas Priest

Notice the effective placement of the "sing alongs" at the end of the third set. Gee, I wonder why that is . . . ??!!

In case you're wondering, my rig at the time was a gun-metal grey Electra-Westone Strat copy, with a rosewood fretboard, a H-S-S set-up, with a DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge. My amp was a Crate 80W Crate 2x12 combo, with two very *HOT* Scorpion speakers. To achieve that "ultimate metal" tone, I was also running an Ibanez Tube Screamer.

Are those eyes misting up yet!!! Ha ha ha!

[Katastrophe]

That setlist rocks! No wonder you had the crowd jumping!

In a weirdly related story, Monday I had to stay up late and empty our kitchen cabinets and do a general scrub down of the kitchen, as the apartment manager was sending people over for pesticide spraying... Anyhoo, I'm up late (past midnight, WELL past my normal bedtime). I changed the old digital cable to the "Arena Rock" channel, which plays music only. Lo and behold, almost all (no Krokus, dernit) of the bands on your setlist were featured, and a majority of the songs as well. It was hilarious, jammin' and headbangin' while doing the dishes!

It's amazing how music from that era still evokes the same ol' emotional response.

My former rig at the height of my metal days?

ADA MP1 for distortion and sparkly clean tones
MosValve power amp
ART SGX T2 for effects
Rocktron HUSH II noise gate
Marshall straight cabinet
all hooked up to an ADA midi foot controller. I could peel paint with that rig!

[dougb415]

My funnest gig.... I'd have to choose between 3:

Sept 2000 - J.C. Flyer (with me on organ) opened for Merl Saunders and Little Feat at Maritime Hall in San Francisco. 80 of my friends (and other band mates) were right down in front cheering me on.

June 2004 - J.C. Flyer was chosen to play the side stage at Shoreline Amphitheatre, getting things going for Robert Hunter and The Dead. Halfway thru our set we were joined by Phil Lesh and Jimmy Herring, for a rousing version of "Silvio" - you can hear it if you visit jcflyer.com.

July 2004 - one week later I was doing reunion shows with one of my bands from high school. We hadn't played together in 28 years and it was a blast. People were lined up waiting to get in Saturday night, the club was packed wall to wall and the *young* girls were dancing and showing skin exclusively to me and one of the guitarists. Both of us were 47. Gotta love it!

[SuperSwede]

the *young* girls were dancing and showing skin exclusively to me and one of the guitarists. Both of us were 47. Gotta love it!

Yeah! I heard that Gary Glitter loves that too

Just kidding, seems like a good gig...

[warren0728]

if i ever "gig" i'm sure it will be hilarious and i'll tell you guys all about it!

ww

[Spudman***]

SS
Good Gary Glitter joke except that he likes the non legal ones these were in a bar so thay had to be older.

[SuperSwede]

You should always have a few Glitter jokes ready...

Warren, I expect to get a VIP ticket when you have your first gig

[Matt]

Ive got my first gig coming up in April. And I'm not looking forward to it- our promoters are going to be there...

[warren0728]

Warren, I expect to get a VIP ticket when you have your first gig

no prob ss....you're on the list!

ww

[Spudman***]

I think my funnest gig was playing the Harley Rodeo in Red Lodge Montana. We had a captive audience of hundreds. The town fills up every year for this totally out of control Harley Davidson Bash/Drunkfest/Rodeo. Rodeo you ask? Yup, they have events just like the cowboys do but for motorcycles, sort of.

The club we played had the band situated at the end of the bar up in a loft. We could overlook the whole bar from one end to the other. There was a bar right below us. The first thing that happened is some horses come in through the front door and then out the door beneath us. Next come roaring Harley Davidsons - through the bar! That was followed by the cookie contest right outside the door beneath us. The sound was deafening and the smell of burning rubber overpowering. It sounds like I should be complaining, but I'm not. It was such a thrill to have so many people just cutting loose and we hadn't started playing yet.
Now on to the show. These folks we really letting their hair down. As soon as we started gyrating bodies were sandwiched into the room like sardines in a can. It must have been really hot on the floor below us because all of a sudden the majority of the dancers were mostly naked. The ladies (if you could call them that) got up on the bar beneath us and graced us with very gratuitous ta-ta shots and the like. And when we finished a song the place roared.
I have no recollection of what I played. I just remember watching the party and loving the fact that no matter what I did that day everyone had a good time.

[Katastrophe]

Ive got my first gig coming up in April. And I'm not looking forward to it- our promoters are going to be there...

Why? Playing music is FUN! Play for yourself, and your band, and don't worry about everybody else. For me, the nerves go away after I hit the first note and remember that I haven't forgotten the song or the whole setlist. Mistakes are gonna happen, cover 'em up and keep playing! You'll have a great time.

Spud -

That gig sounded NUTS! I think I'd be on an adrenaline rush for 3 days after a show that rowdy!

Warren -

You gonna set up a Fret.net guest list? I wanna be there too!

[SuperSwede]

Sounds like a blast!

[warren0728]

Warren -
You gonna set up a Fret.net guest list? I wanna be there too!

you guys are seriously hurting for entertainment if you guys would want to be at my first gig!

I've been reading this thread from the beginning and until just now i thought the title was What was your FUNNIEST gig....not funnest!

ww

[SuperSwede]

Too bad that a few of us fretters live so far from you americanos. It would have been really fun to meet you all and have a couple of grilled barbie´s (from a previous post).