These are guidelines that I developed over the decades. Will every rule apply to you? Probably not, especially if you are opening for Elton at the Beacon. But for most basic gigs, these precepts tend to make the night go smoother than bumpier.
The first twenty were:
Gig Rule #1: The client is always right – in real time.
Gig Rule #2: Gently smile – not grin - at all times.
Gig Rule #3: You were hired to play music – not to be funny, tell stories, teach, or be therapeutic.
Gig Rule #4: Have a set list with more songs prepared than you will need.
Gig Rule #5: Get the venue’s wifi password and log on before you start to play so you can look up a requested song’s lyrics on the fly.
Gig Rule #6: If you have never played the venue before, bring extra extension cords as well as a few ground lifts in case of sixty-cycle hum issues.
Gig Rule #7: Pack an emergency bag with extra strings, extra bridge pins, an extra XLR cord, nine volt batteries, and _______________.
Gig Rule #8: Start on time and play an extra song at the end.
Gig Rule #9: Before you finish a song, know what the next song will be and start it as quickly as possible.
Gig Rule #10: The only person you are allowed to make a joke about when the mic is live is yourself. Anything else is an unnecessary risk.
Gig Rule #11: Don’t swear. Imagine that everyone in front of you has the morals of a born-again Christian.
Gig Rule #12: Find out what songs people what to hear and then play them.
Gig Rule #13: Make eye contact with the audience at least every ten seconds.
Gig Rule #14: Understand and perform to the lowest common denominator in the room and only deviate when fulfilling requests.
Gig Rule #15: Solicit requests on a face-to-face basis and then play them.
Gig Rule #16: If you have to announce any kind of information, write everything out - including phonetic spellings of tricky names.
Gig Rule#17: People hear what they see so give them both: something to hear as well as see. Don’t be a statue. Occasionally attract the customers’ attention by moving.
Gig Rule #18: Take the fewest amount of breaks as possible.
Gig Rule #19: It is better to be not loud enough than to be too loud.
Gig Rule #20: Don’t let customers sit in, sing, or play.
The final five starting with #21:
Gig Rule #21: Don’t perform at a static volume. Always be looking for ways to give variety to your playing and singing and change it up at least every four bars.
It’s easy to become stagnant over a three or more hour gig. Constantly be mixing up tempos and volumes and everything else in your quiver of skills that showcase your sense of variety.
Gig Rule #22: Even if food is promised, don’t expect to eat.
Just be happy if you do eat.
There is an old story about Miles with his quartet after a gig. All the guys in the band were gorging themselves around a sandwich and appetizer table while Miles was standing away from them.
When asked why he wasn’t eating, Miles croaked, “I didn’t come here to eat”.
As far as drinking alcohol, with the exception of soda or coffee, expect to pay for every drink you order.
If you’re working at a private party or a country club, odds are you shouldn’t drink. Even if you are friends with the client who hires you to play at a country club, the clubs general manager or beverage manger will be rankled if they watch you, ostensibly an employee, drink on the job while they can’t. They really don’t like watching you smile as you cut into their profits because you are drinking for free.
If you are playing in a bar, their whole financial model is based on alcohol so management is much more lenient and accepting of musicians drinking while they play.
If possible, wait until after the gig to drink. If someone appreciatively buys you a drink during the gig, by all means, bottoms up.
If you have a travel mug and feel like putting a beer in it so it gives the impression that you are drinking coffee, go ahead.
But if you drink during a gig, know your limits and always stop drinking sooner than later. Don’t advertise that you’re drinking. You’re not Dean Martin. Drinking shouldn’t be a part of your “act”.
Tip: if you drink while you perform, it is crucial that you record yourself on the gig so the day after you can analyze if the alcohol had any negative impact on your performance. If it did, cut out the drinking until after the gig.
Gig Rule #23: When the set or gig is over, don’t linger: get off the stand quickly.
In every venue, you are creating the illusion of a stage, proscenium, and audience space. You won’t have a curtain to open or close so the best way to visually communicate that the music its over is to swiftly get off the stand.
Gig Rule #24: Leave business cards everywhere.
You’re in business, aren’t you?
Gig Rule #25: Thank someone.
The server who got you a soda, the couple that requested the first dance song from their wedding, the lady at the bar who turned her head and clapped after a lot of your songs, the guy who was a fan of “Earth, Wind, and Fire” songs, the person who hired you, the table of locals or former co-workers who follow you on line and made a point of coming out to hear you a second or third time – thank all of them.
And if there are little kids in the house, I always make a point of going to their table, smiling, taking a knee, looking at them eye-to-eye, thanking them for listening to me, and giving them a personalized guitar pick to remember the occasion.
Next up; a summery of the "rules".
The first twenty were:
Gig Rule #1: The client is always right – in real time.
Gig Rule #2: Gently smile – not grin - at all times.
Gig Rule #3: You were hired to play music – not to be funny, tell stories, teach, or be therapeutic.
Gig Rule #4: Have a set list with more songs prepared than you will need.
Gig Rule #5: Get the venue’s wifi password and log on before you start to play so you can look up a requested song’s lyrics on the fly.
Gig Rule #6: If you have never played the venue before, bring extra extension cords as well as a few ground lifts in case of sixty-cycle hum issues.
Gig Rule #7: Pack an emergency bag with extra strings, extra bridge pins, an extra XLR cord, nine volt batteries, and _______________.
Gig Rule #8: Start on time and play an extra song at the end.
Gig Rule #9: Before you finish a song, know what the next song will be and start it as quickly as possible.
Gig Rule #10: The only person you are allowed to make a joke about when the mic is live is yourself. Anything else is an unnecessary risk.
Gig Rule #11: Don’t swear. Imagine that everyone in front of you has the morals of a born-again Christian.
Gig Rule #12: Find out what songs people what to hear and then play them.
Gig Rule #13: Make eye contact with the audience at least every ten seconds.
Gig Rule #14: Understand and perform to the lowest common denominator in the room and only deviate when fulfilling requests.
Gig Rule #15: Solicit requests on a face-to-face basis and then play them.
Gig Rule #16: If you have to announce any kind of information, write everything out - including phonetic spellings of tricky names.
Gig Rule#17: People hear what they see so give them both: something to hear as well as see. Don’t be a statue. Occasionally attract the customers’ attention by moving.
Gig Rule #18: Take the fewest amount of breaks as possible.
Gig Rule #19: It is better to be not loud enough than to be too loud.
Gig Rule #20: Don’t let customers sit in, sing, or play.
The final five starting with #21:
Gig Rule #21: Don’t perform at a static volume. Always be looking for ways to give variety to your playing and singing and change it up at least every four bars.
It’s easy to become stagnant over a three or more hour gig. Constantly be mixing up tempos and volumes and everything else in your quiver of skills that showcase your sense of variety.
Gig Rule #22: Even if food is promised, don’t expect to eat.
Just be happy if you do eat.
There is an old story about Miles with his quartet after a gig. All the guys in the band were gorging themselves around a sandwich and appetizer table while Miles was standing away from them.
When asked why he wasn’t eating, Miles croaked, “I didn’t come here to eat”.
As far as drinking alcohol, with the exception of soda or coffee, expect to pay for every drink you order.
If you’re working at a private party or a country club, odds are you shouldn’t drink. Even if you are friends with the client who hires you to play at a country club, the clubs general manager or beverage manger will be rankled if they watch you, ostensibly an employee, drink on the job while they can’t. They really don’t like watching you smile as you cut into their profits because you are drinking for free.
If you are playing in a bar, their whole financial model is based on alcohol so management is much more lenient and accepting of musicians drinking while they play.
If possible, wait until after the gig to drink. If someone appreciatively buys you a drink during the gig, by all means, bottoms up.
If you have a travel mug and feel like putting a beer in it so it gives the impression that you are drinking coffee, go ahead.
But if you drink during a gig, know your limits and always stop drinking sooner than later. Don’t advertise that you’re drinking. You’re not Dean Martin. Drinking shouldn’t be a part of your “act”.
Tip: if you drink while you perform, it is crucial that you record yourself on the gig so the day after you can analyze if the alcohol had any negative impact on your performance. If it did, cut out the drinking until after the gig.
Gig Rule #23: When the set or gig is over, don’t linger: get off the stand quickly.
In every venue, you are creating the illusion of a stage, proscenium, and audience space. You won’t have a curtain to open or close so the best way to visually communicate that the music its over is to swiftly get off the stand.
Gig Rule #24: Leave business cards everywhere.
You’re in business, aren’t you?
Gig Rule #25: Thank someone.
The server who got you a soda, the couple that requested the first dance song from their wedding, the lady at the bar who turned her head and clapped after a lot of your songs, the guy who was a fan of “Earth, Wind, and Fire” songs, the person who hired you, the table of locals or former co-workers who follow you on line and made a point of coming out to hear you a second or third time – thank all of them.
And if there are little kids in the house, I always make a point of going to their table, smiling, taking a knee, looking at them eye-to-eye, thanking them for listening to me, and giving them a personalized guitar pick to remember the occasion.
Next up; a summery of the "rules".
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