Played an interesting gig last night for several reasons. It was a 45th anniversary party for a nice couple and the gig was on Gibson Island. I was playing with my usual wedding band, New Monopoly. I mentioned before how huge the book is and even after nearly two years on the band I’m still amazed that we will pull up charts I haven’t seen before. Because of the nature of the event we ended up doing a lot of 50’s and 60’s music although the number of grandkids there did cause us to play Poker Face and Firework so I got to play EWI – didn’t set it all up for nothing. 🙂
The next thing will probably lead to a longer post in the future about gig survival kits but here’s what started the idea at least. Our lead singer, Jessica Deskin, is a wonderful young singer and she also doubles on keys, flute, and alto on the band. Before the gig her alto wasn’t playing at all and they were trying to figure out what was wrong with it so I asked to take a look. It turned out she lost a cork on her octave key mechanism so that lifting the G key did not cause the neck mechanism to operate. Of course there are no techs on the gig so enter duct tape. Over the years I’ve fixed all manner of emergency sax and clarinet problems with duct tape to hold me until I could get to the shop – everything from holding in pads that had come unseated to replacing corks to holding a key together. In this case I cut several small squares of tape and layered them on top of each other until they were the right thickness and then I attached them to do the job the cork used to do. It got her through the gig and that’s all that really matters in these situations. Luckily, the band had duct tape handy but I don’t like to rely on other people so I usually have some duct tape available in case I need it. I used to just stick pieces to the rack that housed my synths, mixer, and in-ear system until I switched my rig. I found a couple of cool ways online to have duct tape handy at all times. You can check them out here and here. Always keep some handy.
One more thing. Most times when you play a lot of weddings, private parties, and corporate events you get fed. Sometimes you get to eat off the buffet but often there is some kind of spread in a back room or an unused conference room somewhere. I think you can find out a lot about people, whether it is the clients, the caterer, or the venue by how they treat the band. For instance, this is an actual picture of a dinner that was supposed to “feed” an 8-piece band at a gig. DISCLAIMER: I was not on this gig but one of my friends was. The band, venue, and caterer shall remain nameless to protect the innocent:
It looks like two wraps cut into 4 pieces each…so it’s technically 8 servings. Notice there are two small bags of chips as well…maybe they thought the band needed to lose a little weight.
One of the many great things about New Monopoly is how well they front every job so all of the details are taken care of before we ever get there and that includes food. Of course, it’s not always the greatest food and I’ve had my share of “bandwiches” but last night was above and beyond the call of duty. Check this out:
Maryland Eastern Shore crab cake with asparagus and potatoes with a wonderful side salad and bread. It was served to us an hour before we went on so we had a chance to sit and really enjoy it. Great venue and great people for clients make a happy band.
