tookatooka
1714 posts
Sep 19, 2010
6:23 AM
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The hall was packed with just over 170 people. It was just a social quiz evening run by a Masonic Lodge and it was time to eat their fish and chips. I jumped up on stage (nervous as hell) with my Tookatooka trademark bowler and started with a slow number to warm them up. I was hoping the chatter and noise would drop to a reasonable level whilst they were eating but, no, it got L O U D E R ! !.
The first thing that happened was that someone quite close to the stage, got up and gesticulated that I should turn my volume down. Which I did, but only very slightly. Hmmm.
I then started up my 135 BPM backing drum track and launched into a faster number and started to let it rip. I was plugged into the PA and someone came and turned the volume down even further. Pratt! Anyway I got halfway through that number and lo and behold someone crept up on me and turned it down even more. Mega Pratt!!
Feeling defeated I realised there were no music lovers in the house. They didn't want a show so I just got my D harp out (to cut through the din) and gave them some soothing background music. Scarborough Fare, Greensleeves, Autumn Leaves, and a slighly jazzier number Saving My Love For You.
At the end of my session, I did get an uproarious round of mild almost inaudible sympathetic applause from a few ladies who I think were just being polite. Shame they could't have been polite and kept the noise down whilst I was playing.
I felt GREAT! once I'd pondered it for a while. The chances of me getting such an audience in the future must be pretty slim and un-beknownst to them they had stiffened my resolve.
All in all, it was a good experience. I know my playing wasn't at fault. If Sonny Boy Williams had been resurrected and been on that stage I doubt whether he could have done any better than me. The general public are ignorant about the harmonica.
I've got plans now. Just you wait and see. Tookatooka has left the house and moving to a mansion.
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1045 posts
Sep 19, 2010
6:30 AM
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tuff crowd man i dont know what i would have done exspecially getting turned down twice ouch,but hey like you said the exsperience might have sucked but you can look back and say hey it cant get no worse than that crowed was at the masonic lodge that 1 night:-)
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Hobostubs
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eharp
800 posts
Sep 19, 2010
6:31 AM
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how do you know it wasnt your playing at fault?
"Shame they could't have been polite and kept the noise down whilst I was playing."
lol
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tookatooka
1715 posts
Sep 19, 2010
6:35 AM
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Trust me eharp. I'm no great player I admit but as I said "If Sonny Boy Williams had been resurrected and been on that stage I doubt whether he could have done any better than me".
By "Done any better than me" I don't mean played any better than me but had any more success with the audience than me.
That audience wouldn't know about good playing.
Last Edited by on Sep 19, 2010 6:36 AM
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Rubes
119 posts
Sep 19, 2010
7:05 AM
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Not risking the creed too much I hope by sayin', Maybe the Masons are into their own kinda sounds!? I would've turned you up Tooks! :~)
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Oisin
671 posts
Sep 19, 2010
7:24 AM
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Tooka...I feel for you. You should get yourself along to a jam and play to an appreciative crowd. It'll boost your confidence a lot more than a bunch of dodgy hand-shaking Masons.
Good on ya though for getting up and playing in the first place.
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Oisin
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eharp
801 posts
Sep 19, 2010
8:28 AM
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folks dont always want to be entertained by somebody else.
we are social creatures (most of you, anyhow) that enjoy talking with each other. like many situations, the more conversations going on in a room, the louder all the conversations have to get. add your superlative playing and drum mix and folks just have to talk louder.
your volume was the only one that could be controlled so down you go.
if you werent a scheduled act, you become just extra noise.
it still sounds as if you had a fairly good time, got some always wanted stage time and even some recognition.
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Tin Lizzie
132 posts
Sep 19, 2010
8:50 AM
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It always amazes me that folks don't listen when live music is played. It especially amazes me when other musicians talk loudly when someone else is playing. But I see it all the time.
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Tin Lizzie
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oldwailer
1342 posts
Sep 19, 2010
9:48 AM
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Your story reminded me of a gig I did once--playing Xmas songs for a party of an old ladies club. Every time I started to play everybody else just got louder. I just went on playing anyway--it was a paid gig and I wasn't going to give up and leave until they paid me.
Polite applause after--same kind of thing--had to turn the amp down twice.
The damn ladies hired me back to play for the next three years in a row! They still want me to play their Xmas parties, but I don't live around there any more--go figure. . .
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Joe_L
642 posts
Sep 19, 2010
10:02 AM
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Welcome to the world of performing. Down the road, you'll be able to laugh about this. You should have recorded this show. Video would have been great!
Perhaps, they took offense to you choice of hat. I don't know why harp players feel compelled to wear hats and sunglasses.
You may get more audiences like that. Be prepared for that possibility.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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nacoran
2759 posts
Sep 19, 2010
10:55 AM
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Everything is always the Masons fault. I saw that on a conspiracy show once. :)
I'd smack anyone who tried to touch my knobs unless they were the organizer.
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Nate
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Hobostubs Ashlock
1059 posts
Sep 19, 2010
10:59 AM
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yea you dont want to mess with him
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Hobostubs
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DeakHarp
190 posts
Sep 19, 2010
1:26 PM
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Remember You're only as good as you're last gig ....Everyone has a bad night ...But i hate when I do that ....
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Have Harp Will Travel
www.deakharp.com
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HarmonicaMick
144 posts
Sep 19, 2010
4:50 PM
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tooka,
I think that most of us who've played on stage more than a few times will have had a similar experience, and it always feels a bit shitty.
From the picture I've got in my mind, it sounds as though your act was meant to be wallpaper music, just something in the background for people to munch along to. Though, that's guessing 'cos I wasn't there.
Even when I've played and got the impression that no one was listening or even that interested, people have still come up to me afterwards - well, sometimes - and said good things.
Many times, I've been in the audience and seen someone shit hot up there. I've been utterly transfixed by their playing. Then I've looked around at the other punters and most of them seem to be completely deaf to what's going on. It bewilders me.
Live performance is a risky thing. You put a little bit of yourself on the line every time you do it. I suppose that's why it scares the crap out of so many people.
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YouTube SlimHarpMick
Last Edited by on Sep 19, 2010 5:03 PM
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Littoral
85 posts
Sep 19, 2010
5:12 PM
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Oh yeah, the Moultrie Georgia golf club Christmas party. Probally should have seen it coming. We had a great group and they pretty much wished we weren't there. Bad feeling that I get to remember & now laugh about.
Last Edited by on Sep 19, 2010 5:15 PM
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Honkin On Bobo
381 posts
Sep 19, 2010
5:28 PM
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Took,
Happens to alot of people. two musician friends of mine (guitars and vocals - sort of folk rock) were hired to play this bar (two rooms - bar area and back room with tables and stage). so they're in the middle of their set and the bar manager starts turning their sound down because they were drowning out the juke box in the other room.
It happens, a bad room and there is almost nothing you can do. kudos to you for not just packing it up and saying adios.
BTW happens to stand up comics too, if the room is not in a receptive mood for your show...it's tough
Last Edited by on Sep 19, 2010 5:29 PM
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nacoran
2771 posts
Sep 19, 2010
5:49 PM
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I heard a story once that Bruce Springsteen's once had a gig early in his career opening for Cheech and Chong. They thought he was going to be a folk act. They kicked him off the stage after one song.
The names in this story may have been changed because I heard this story a long time ago and my memory is Swiss Cheese, but that's how I remember it.
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Nate
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MrVerylongusername
1242 posts
Sep 19, 2010
6:01 PM
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Sorry to hear that Tooka, but hey! Onwards and upwards!
One thing I've learned from playing weddings and corporate gigs is never, ever agree to play whilst folk are sitting down eating. That is the time they want to talk and have quiet background music. I've been there a couple of times and learned the hard way.
Still, you've made a big leap, playing to a big crowd. Takes a lot of balls to do that solo too.
I hope at the next gig you get the appreciation you deserve.
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Heart2Harp
141 posts
Sep 19, 2010
6:10 PM
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Tooka: how does the saying go? ''Baptism by fire'?
Congrats anyway on sticking with it. Big crowds are tough to entertain when it's part of a social event. I tend to just close my eyes and play for myself when that happens. Sometimes we also just change the lyrics of the songs, improvise ridiculous melodies, or play without being in tune...might as well have fun right? The funny part is that even if we do this, people still come up to us and say ''That was great guys'' (that's how you know they wern't listening)
Mathieu
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Heart2Harp
Heart2Harp
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Jim Rumbaugh
301 posts
Sep 19, 2010
7:25 PM
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Oh the memories........
Been there, done that.
First, congrats on the "big gig".
Second, Welcome to the world of pleasing the public.
I would say, the reason the crowd got louder when you played was because they were not there to listen to you. It was time to "eat their fish and chips". They wanted to talk and eat, and now they had to talk over your music.
There are times when our job is to be background music and to just be part of the ambiance. Sometimes the main event is not about the music.
Overall, be proud you made it through the whole gig. Not all jobs are fun...... maybe that's why it's called a job.
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intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
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oldwailer
1345 posts
Sep 19, 2010
8:50 PM
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Hey--early in his career, Springsteen *was* a Folk act. . .
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Ant138
578 posts
Sep 20, 2010
12:09 AM
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Good on ya Tooka, at least you didn't give up.
What doesn't kil you and all that...
I'm sure if you can play a gig like that you can play anywhere:o)
Maybe it was the bowler hat, don't the masons have secret handshakes, wear pillow cases on their heads and sacrifice virgins???lol
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http://www.youtube.com/user/fiendant?feature=mhum
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hvyj
617 posts
Sep 20, 2010
6:32 AM
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@tookatooka: Were you playing solo or with a band?
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tookatooka
1724 posts
Sep 20, 2010
6:41 AM
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Solo. On my todd with just a backing drum beat.
Got an email this morning from one of the audience thanking me for an enjoyable musical interlude.
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mr_so&so
360 posts
Sep 20, 2010
6:56 AM
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Congrats Tooka. It took some ballocks to get up there in the first place, and shows that you have accumulated enough of a repertoire to do such a show in the first place.
I think it's the nature of the beast that most of a pub or dinner audience wants to talk and would rather that you weren't there at all. This leads to an escalating volume war that has no winner.
It's my dream to open a pub with two rooms separated by sound proofing. The talkers can stay in one room and the music listeners in another... and I get to sell beer to both groups.
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HarveyHarp
120 posts
Sep 20, 2010
6:58 AM
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Animal Clubs. Thats what we call that situaton. This includes Eagles, Elks, Moose, VFW, American Legion, Masonic Lodges, and many others. They are all the same. You are hired for background music only. It really does not matter what you sound like, or how good or bad you are. As long as you don't interfere with whatever they are doing, you are OK. The lights have to be turned up, and the volume low. It is a social situation for them, and not a concert for you. Normally, if there are kids in the house, then that is your real audience. With them you can be a star.
On the positive side, they normally pay pretty well, and they hire a lot of bands. So stick with them. Every once in a while they want to listen. And if you can convice them that they need a better PA, see if you can buy their old Bogen, Masco, or other Vintage Tube PA head. They make great harp amps
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toddlgreene
1793 posts
Sep 20, 2010
7:21 AM
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Tooka said:"Solo. On my todd with just a backing drum beat."
Ummm...I thought my name meant 'fox'. You probably weren't sitting on a fox. ;-)
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Crescent City Harmonica Club
Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
Last Edited by on Sep 20, 2010 7:31 AM
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hvyj
619 posts
Sep 20, 2010
11:35 AM
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@tookatooka: playing a solo gig completely unaccompanied is extremely challenging. Sounds like you did just fine.
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jawbone
340 posts
Sep 21, 2010
3:23 PM
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Hey tooka - I think I know what you went thru - I had a situation - a seniors club wanted some entertainment for their monthly dinner - free of course (fed me lunch)
So the minister wants me to do a few tunes then he will talk for a bit and I will then finish. So up I go with my jam tracks, amps etc. - too loud, too loud (tough, when I sing blues I belt it out)
I do three tunes then the Minister gets up and tells a big long story about a woman who has been sick her whole life and slowly dies!!!! Whoa, way to get them wound up, Preacher. I was the opening act for this, geez louise!!!!
So up I go again and try to get a bit of mood going but man, it's heavy sleddin', everybodies still thinking about the dead woman!!! I shoulda wore a bowler!!!
I got a lot of compliments after, but...man I gotta be more careful about the venues I play at..but I felt sorry for the guy that wanted me to do it so I did it.
As Curley Bridges had told me "Sometimes it so quiet...you could hear a rat pissin' on cotton"
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If it ain't got harp - it ain't really blues!!!!
Last Edited by on Sep 21, 2010 3:25 PM
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Mojokane
109 posts
Sep 22, 2010
3:15 AM
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what would Jesus do?
Last Edited by on Sep 22, 2010 3:16 AM
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jawbone
341 posts
Sep 22, 2010
6:15 AM
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What would jesus do - probably play in second position with no overblows.
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If it ain't got harp - it ain't really blues!!!!
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