The unseen part of playing Gigs.

I thought this might be a moderately interesting read for people who enjoy watching and listening to bands and singers. This blog post is all about what happens behind the scenes, before and after the concerts and gigs.

Preparation:

Find that Song:

Whatever type of music you play or sing there is usually a long period before-hand when musicians find what they are going to sing or play. This could mean listening to CDs of collected songs; spending time on Spotify or other streaming services; listening to songs performed by other bands; looking through books or searching YouTube for likely new numbers. Developing one's repertoire is a time consuming, and sometimes frustrating, experience.

Searching through the books, Cds and the Internet!

Arrangements:

    

It's then necessary to "make an arrangement" of the song. This could include:-

1. Choosing which verses to sing
2. Choosing a key in which to sing - too high and it can be painful - too low and there is little chance of voice projection
3. Organising the chords to play
4. deciding if the singers will have harmonies
5. Making copies of the music for various band members
6. Will there be an introduction? 
7. How will it end?

Rehearsals:

Before-hand, most good bands share the newly created music with the band members so they can undertake some private practice and spot anything that might need further discussion. I'm lucky to have played, and still do, in bands who are well-organised before the event. 

Most bands have a rehearsal room. This may be someone's living room or a bespoke studio. Either way it's a dedicated space with an appropriate acoustic and hopefully no neighbours who might complain or make in-appropriate suggestions such as (?) - well, I'll leave that to your imagination.

At the appointed time and place the band or singers arrive and begin to rehearse. This is much easier when there are 3 or 4 musicians as everyone can have a say or ask to try things once again. It's much harder when there are 30+ people rehearsing and the "leader" in that situation has a much harder task on their hands.

Packing the equipment for the Gig.

In England, most non-professional bands have their own equipment. Instruments, Music stands, lights, amplifiers and speakers. 

We're not famous enough to have "Roadies" who deal with all the equipment, so we have to, like so many others, However, it always nice when you are offered a professional sound technician. This in itself can be a great relief and remove some of the stress, or it can be a  problem if they are, for example, late arriving (i.e. at the start of the gig and not 2 hours before.) or don't know how, in our case, to deal with acoustic instruments.

All this equipment is kept at band member's homes and needs to be taken out from it's storage place and put in the car along with instruments, music, clothes etc.

Arriving at the Venue.

Bands who don't know a particular venue are advised to arrive early as there can be all manner of issues which slow down the preparations. In cities, the performance hall could be up several flights of stairs or accessed by a minute lift. Sometimes, the venue is locked and organisers scurry around trying to find someone with a key.

Plugging in....

Switching on........

Moving things around.....

Playing the Gig

Well, maybe you were there....... enough said.

Celtiqua playing in Le Grand Pressigny, France.

Celtiqua playing at Le Lavoir in Preuilly-sur-Claise

Photo © Jim Craig 2024

Once we finish playing then there's the clearing up to do.

All bands have a preferred system of packing up. It means that everything goes in the right boxes and goes home with the right person. It also means that it's ready to use for the next gig without the need to check every time.

It's lovely to be offered help and many people do offer these days. Thank you friends. The difficulty is that the offer arrives too soon, when we haven't packed up. By the time we have, most people have departed. It's then we need a lift to the car where everything has to be repacked and taken home.

Unloading the transport.

Once the gig is over, and we've returned to our homes, it's often too late to unpack the car, so that job is left until the following morning. Everything taken out of the car, cleaned if necessary, repaired if necessary and then stored ready for the next gig.

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