Gig

[CongaTick]

Coffee house gig tonight with one of my earlier groups. (Pix at past gig at Atlanta Bread Company). Any interest in setting up a gig thread much like the video thread? Stories, tips, venues that have sucked, those that rocked, the highs the lows. Or would that overcomplicate/clutter the current forum?

[umannyt]

Congratulations on your gig! Looks like a cool jazz trio.

This thread should be quite interesting and see some amusing anecdotes.

Luckily for me, all my past gig have been rather pleasant and happened the way I expected them to.

So, none have sucked--yet!

[windhorse]

We just did a free gig at my school two Fridays ago. Jeff was here, Dave - my teacher, Eric, Scott, myself, and several of the kids I taught in "drum class" after school Weds, were all part of the line-up. We played to very few people since it was a school event that involved the entire football field being used mostly as concessions and amusement rides, tours inside the school, and ceremonies in front of the school. They had a stage set up in the back corner of the field with chairs semicircled under canopies in front of the stage. We set up in the grass in front of the stage as a six piece jazz band set up behind us. We made the mistake of not moving our operation right up at or in the ring of chairs up front... Anyway, we did eventually blend with a small crowd for the last song. It was a mozambique with Scott playing four drums, and all the rest of us playing bells, and the kids playing shakers..

[CongaTick]

Windhorse,

Love those kind of gigs, small, tight group of dedicated listeners appreciating what you do. How cool. So often -- if not always-- bar gigs are just additional background music for pre-hookup conversations and cool posturings, poses and blather with only the occasional listener. It's only after 11:30 when several of the girls get drunk enough to dance that the fun begins.

Last night's gig started with an audience of 3 and by the end of the first set we drew people from the order counter like moths to a flame ending up with a rousing crowd of about 25, not bad for a place not much larger than a McMansion's walk-in closet. We had a good time reuniting after years (flute player was disinvited) and though rusty in parts warmed up to a reasonable fever pitch. And the coffee was good.

[Mike]

Congatick,
that´s cool, a tall djembe in your setup!
Do you use it as a conga, so to speak, or as an additional sound flavor?

Cheers
Mike

[tocandorumba]

Windhorse- had a gig like yours on Tuesday. An elementary school nearby has a day each year where people with all sorts of skills give demonstrations and teach the kids. I'm teaching my dad congas so I had him join me. We had three classes of kindergarten kids and one second grade class. We gave them a brief history and description of the instruments and encouraged them to make their own. With this in mind, I made the kids shakers they could keep out of film canisters & rocks. Showed the kids how to keep time and play with others, then had a free jam. The second graders were able to organize a little and play separate parts. During their lunchtime I played my drumset, my dad and my friend Mark played guitar. We rocked out and had the kids surrounding us like we were rock stars while we played. We even got them to sing one at a time at the mic!

Here's a few pics, thanks to my dad:






This boy was in special ed and the teacher says he rarely participates. She asked for pictures to give to his parents.

Speaking of kids with disabilities, I have also played at a special ed school. That was my most grateful audience I have ever had. I highly recommend these types of gigs as there is no pressure and it is something the kids will remember for the rest of their lives. I know that one reason I am a musician today is due to people giving performances for me when I was a kid. Also- some schools don't even have music programs anymore! This is a tragedy as we are losing future generations of musicians. So check out your local school to see if they might like to have some music!

[congamyk]

This is a great thread idea - photos of GIGS.
It's what we do. I think it would make a good sticky.

Congas are taking over the WORLD.

Trio JuJu at the City Market on a Saturday.










In San Francisco @ Macy's



Capoeira Group in the Crossroads Art District.
Capoeira and barbecue.... does it get any better?














Zeus sat in on a few so I could play sax

[tocandorumba]

Capoeira reminds me of break-dancing! Respect to playing sax and congas- I play around with trombone & sax. Nice pics!

[CongaTick]

WOW!!! I was hoping for some response, but you guys just blew me away.

Mike-- My full setup is the three tubs plus big djembe, bongos and perc toys. I incorporate all the drums while playing, taking the view (when appropriate to the music and the groove) that all drums within my "circle" are melodic surfaces to incorporate rhytmically. The djembe is tricky, demanding it be used at the right time during a tumbao or a fill, otherwise it sticks out awkwardly. It's versatility as an instrument is quite broad and will allow me a very nice split hand technique utilizing the djembe bass tones opens and light slaps to create a "heel/toe" with my right hand while my left works quinto and conga. The same discretion in use goes for the bongos. I use them quite often as part of a funk ride with conga and tumba. Yeah, it keeps me busy.

Tocando--- Oh man, what a wonderful thing you do. I sometimes work as a part time instructional assistant in the intermediate unit of our district primarily in autistic support classes and was thinking of incorporating music as an offering. You put the screws to my musings, bro. Your pics and story have made my day and inspired me and, I would venture to say, all of us.

CongaMyk-- Great pics!!! I love seeing performances that are out there. The marketplace!! Capoeria!! What a visual smorgasbord of fun, rhythms and performance you've offered us. Thank you so much for sharing.

Pictures tell it all. Keep 'em coming, no matter how odd. If it's a gig or a performance somewhere, anywhere, bring em on.
Yeah!!!! Is this sticky-worthy or what!

[windhorse]

Cool gigs guys! Toca, I agree with you! The best audience are kids!!!
I love 'em!

Dave

[CongaTick]

Hey, just realized this thread, sticky or not, might be more appropriately developed in the Congazine. What say you?

[ABAKUA]

Thankyou for sharing Congatick and and Mike! Some cool pics there, makes me feel like I was there.

Good to see pics up again of gigs, been a while since Ive posted my pics up on here, I will discuss a new section with our host owner to see if we can have a new section to share our gig and jamming photos.

I think the best way would be everyone has their 1 thread where they can post their past and present pics up and update them as we go on. Thoughts?

[blas]

Abakua,
I think that would be a good set up. I really enjoyed the threads you posted with pics. The pictures of you with Anga come to mind, I remember them from a while back. Always great to add the visual aspect you know? ...

[windhorse]

A few of us played with Belly Dancers this past weekend for the Boulder Bolder. Over 50,000 runners this year! We play just about every year at the same spot along the race course, along with 100s of other local musicians who do whatever they do in friend's houses that line the course.. It's a crazy event where the whole town comes out to party every Memorial day.. I love it!
We had a blast! Unfortunately this is the only pic I got from Eric ,, and there's several great shots of the racers, us, and many little side interests that they shot during the race.. Hopefully I can a get a few more out of him.

Dave

[pavloconga]

Hey CongaTick,
Great idea for a thread!
Here's my 2 congas worth - some recent gigs.
- Duo/quartet with vocalist from the Caribbean during the SA Fringe Festival summer 2008. (It was 38 deg c the night of this gig + lights = very hot!)
- Primary School performances and workshops - my setup.
- Latin gig.
- 20 piece classical orchestra/jazz gig in the city centre 2 weeks ago

cheers and play on,
pavlo