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Band Guide

6. ABOUT GIGS

What level of gig do you want? Initially, the answer to this question is "any gig you can get." If you're determined to play exclusively original material, you may not attract a lot of people looking for wedding and party cover bands. Conversely, if you're strictly a cover band, you probably won't line up the artier gigs at local coffeehouses. Be realistic. Don't overreach and contact the promoter who books Aerosmith into the local arena. But don't underestimate your potential and simply invite two or three friends to hear you play in your drummer's backyard.

Until you generate a reputation, which could take months or even years, you'll probably have to play some of your town's smallest venues—like tiny campus clubs, coffeehouses, and friends' parties. You may be tempted to leapfrog these joints and go straight for the bigger-time clubs, but lightning rarely strikes like that.

Until now, your band has been relatively isolated, rehearsing in private spaces and allowing only friends, relatives, and the musicians themselves to hear the songs. So your only critiques have come from people who are predisposed to be optimistic and encouraging. (Not to say that's a bad thing! Early support from friends and family is crucial to your collective self-esteem. But at some point you'll need to move to the next level of feedback.)

To determine how good you really are, you'll need constructive criticism. Start this process by taping your rehearsals. Playback is an excellent way for the musicians to decide what parts they need to work on. But it's also instructive to pass your tape along to more discerning people—music teachers, friends in other bands, people you know who work for clubs or radio stations, or maybe, if you're adept at ripping songs into MP3s, random strangers on the Internet.

Before you play in public, you'll want to nail down the basics of continuity and flow (essentially, the art of not sounding choppy); keys and tempos (playing together in the same harmony and rhythm); and, most of all, listening to the other band members.

Once you've accepted your identity, whether it's a wedding band or a club headliner, you'll have more focus and a better sense of what songs to pick and what bits to re-rehearse. But that doesn't necessarily mean your band has to keep that identity for the rest of its career. After rehearsing for two months and accepting one bar-mitzvah gig, for example, you may wind up with other bar-mitzvah connections. But you won't have to be a bar-mitzvah (or bat-mitzvah) band forever (unless you want to). At any point, whether it's a month or five years from now, you can try to write original songs.

But being realistic will help your band's collective psyche. If you've played several weddings in a row and you've gotten good feedback (and a paycheck!) every time, try not to be frustrated that you aren't on the fast track to becoming the next Good Charlotte. (That may happen later.) Do what you're good at, bide your time, and work on expanding in your own direction.

Parties

The party band, to put it simply, knows how to rock the house. It specializes in danceable, up-tempo, familiar material—from the Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie" to the Village People's "YMCA" to Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy, Breaky Heart" (complete with line-dancing instructions). The party band will rarely succumb to the temptation of rolling out experimental, original material. (That's for another time and venue.) It will be prepared to honor fan requests as long as they're upbeat and encourage people to dance.

If you become successful as a party band, you'll be hired at schools, private events, fraternities, sororities, pep rallies, and plain old house parties. The key to landing gigs is in exposing your band name wherever possible—from campus bulletin boards to local newspaper classified ads. Word of mouth is incredibly important on this level. You won't get gigs if people don't know you want them.

And by all means, have fun with party gigs. Whether they're your financial base or just a "slumming" exercise until you find the resources and experience to write great original material, perform them with enthusiasm. If you're bored, the crowd will know it. Get into the party vibe and throw yourself into the songs—wear costumes, string cheap strands of holiday lights across your amplifiers, and make jokes if you think it will enhance the experience. It can't hurt to attend shows by other party bands. Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett puts on a classic party show, complete with skits, masks, dancers, and calypso rhythms. Rapper Snoop Dogg may be lewd, but his onstage manifesto is to make everybody in the crowd jump and shout. "Jam bands" such as Phish, String Cheese Incident, and Leftover Salmon are adept at making huge masses of people wiggle uncontrollably. You may not want to emulate these exact types of music, but study the performers' moves and styles.

Weddings

Playing weddings is a little like playing parties, only you'll probably have to please a much wider audience demographic. Whereas a party is usually a bunch of people who work for the same company or attend the same school, wedding crowds range from 88-year-old, Glenn Miller-loving great-uncles to flower girls obsessed with Elmo.

Your challenge is to prepare a set list broad enough to satisfy everybody. You'll need to know the standards, of course, so buy plenty of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, The Beatles, James Brown, and Ray Charles CDs. You'll also need to know several audience-participation standards, from the Chicken Dance to the Macarena, plus ethnic traditions like the Hora (Jewish) and Tarantella (Italian). And keep an eye on the contemporary pop charts; if a band like the Backstreet Boys has had a No. 1 hit for the last six months, don't get caught unprepared when the bride's sister begs you repeatedly to play "I Want It That Way."

The more songs you learn for a wedding situation, the better. A wedding isn't like a party, where it generally doesn't matter what you play as long as it's upbeat. Attendees will be particular about their favorites. It's acceptable to politely refuse a request if it's obscure, but under no circumstances should you not be prepared to churn out the Village People's "YMCA" or Benny Goodman's Louis Prima-penned "Sing, Sing, Sing" (and yes, you can play that one without horns).

You'll also have to be more organized than usual to play weddings. At these events, it's not like you can just load in your gear, start at the designated time, play your songs, and leave. A harried bride, groom, family member, or planner will undoubtedly want to meet with you well in advance of the big day and may have very specific song requests and schedule demands. The first three or four songs at the ceremony, for example, are usually special dances for the couple and certain family members and friends. And you'll have to pause at particular times to allow for toasts. Beyond that, you'll have to pace the set list in such a way that the older attendees dance first to the slower, more traditional songs. As it gets later, generally, the younger crowd will stick around and demand faster, more contemporary hits. Either way, pay close attention to the crowd and have the flexibility to alter your set list as circumstances dictate.

A bar mitzvah is a rite-of-passage ceremony for 13-year-old boys in the Jewish faith. (A bat mitzvah is the equivalent for girls.) Often, local bands are asked to provide the background music—just as they are at other ceremonies. Like weddings, these gigs can be lucrative and fun, and formal enough that you shouldn't show up in sandals and T-shirts. (Again, check with the planners beforehand regarding the dress code.) Generally these events aren't quite as micromanaged as weddings, so you have a little more freedom to improvise the set list. (And at least for bar mitzvahs, your dominant audience is likely to be undiscerning 13-year-old boys.) But be ready for anything.

Nightclubs

There's nothing wrong with playing weddings, bar mitzvahs, and parties for your band's entire career. But if you aspire to write original material and perhaps get a record deal or some radio airplay, the next step is almost certainly clubs.

Clubs are places where people go specifically to hear music. Often, they charge admission. Often, they make their money off liquor and food sales. Not always, though. Some clubs don't or can't serve alcohol and are therefore accommodating to a much wider range of ages. To prepare for the club circuit, you'll need to do two things: Get better as a band, which means tightening up your cover versions and writing a few solid original songs; and network with other local musicians and club owners. The entrance exam for club gigs is often an audition, and when that opportunity comes around, be ready. Almost every famous band you can name started out playing one club or another.

Own Gigs

If no wedding, party, bar mitzvah, or club will have you—yet—consider organizing your own gig. Where do they hold rave parties in your town? Maybe you can rent out the same warehouse, set up your gear, and advertise the show via flyers and handbills.

You can set up and play almost anywhere, pending local crowd-control laws and fire-marshal approval. Does your band rehearse in a basement or backyard that would fit a few dozen spectators? Start a party, and book your own band as the headlining act.

And don't forget to invite all your friends and relatives. They may well be the supportive core of all your early concerts, and they're likely to stick with the band as it gets bigger and bigger. Don't take these "early groupies" for granted—they may be the difference between a crowd of 5 strangers and an energetic crowd of 50 or 75 fans.