First ever Gig coming up - any advice

    - Try to be the first to leave stage, in order to get the best groupie around for yourself.
    - Get some beer from the fridge and hide it away BEFORE the gig, or you won't get one.
    - Take the mixer aside before starting and threaten to kill him if he dares to lower your volume.
    - Play crap and make mistakes as you like, but always look like it was meant to be that way. It's called the Cobain method.
    - Be cool.

    Get there early to check your equipment. If something isn't working you wont have to run about crazy trying to sort a solution. Try and have a spare of everything (if You can) you never know when something is going to break. Relax on stage most people wont know if anything goes wrong so just fly with it. Remember the audience have come to have a good time and forget about their every day problems Mortgage, bills girlfriend troubles etc. so they dont want to suffer your problems if you have any on stage. :)


    And most of all............


    ENJOY IT!!!!!!

    Allow plenty of time for a good sound check. If your levels/eq/monitor etc. is good it makes for a much less stressful night and let's you focus on playing and putting on a show.


    As far as Kemper specific advice, I would take some time before or after sound check and make sure your patch levels are consistent at gig volume in the FOH. My first gig with the KPA was about 3 weeks ago and we rushed through sound check (abnormal circumstances) but after the night my sound guy said, "that Kemper unit sounds great, but your cleans were way louder than you gains." At bedroom volume the opposite was true.


    As far as general performance advice; if you are nervous try not to show it. Be confident, false confidence if need be. No one will notice small mistakes unless you grimmace and call attention to it. If you are in a rock band, I can't stress this enough; swagger goes way further than perfect execution and even talent, in reality. Just have fun and own the stage like the stud that you are!! Lock and load!!

    All the above. Plus I'd take a USB drive with a back-up file. Something as simple as accidentally deleting a needed profile could be quickly fixed with a back-up. Good luck. Most of all, have fun.

    Take more than one guitar - no-one wants to wait for you to change a string. And if you capo for any songs? If you can, change to a guitar with the capo on it..... Whilst you get away with a capo on the fly at home, if you're playing alongside a keys player then the inevitable sharpness will come across and, in a swift setlist, you might not have the time to fiddle with your tuning.


    Ensure you've got decent monitoring - if you can't hear yourself, you'll lose confidence. It also makes you 'play harder' to try and make yourself heard and the chances of the above-mentioned string break go up.


    Take spare leads, spare batteries and a spare tuner for when the bass player decides he wants to actually tune the bass for the first time in 10 years ;)


    If you fluff something, keep your poker face - if it doesn't show on your face, you can get away with some absolute howlers. Yes, I do have the T-Shirt :D


    And, as others have said, enjoy it - it's great fun :thumbup:

    Listen, best advice anyone ever gave me. Make a mistake, laugh it off and move on, they're gonna happen, even your audience knows that. They come to relax, have fun and enjoy some good music, why not join them.

    Welcome! All good advice above. Also, it's a good idea to run the Kemper with a battery backup device. These are pretty cheap (though heavy for their size!), and will save reboot time if you encounter a power glitch. Enjoy :thumbup:

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer

    Quote from Zappledan

    Welcome! All good advice above. Also, it's a good idea to run the Kemper with a battery backup device. These are pretty cheap (though heavy for their size!), and will save reboot time if you encounter a power glitch. Enjoy :thumbup:


    That's new to me, could you please name such a device, so i know what to google for?

    • If you want to change strings, don't do it right before the gig. Chances are you spend half of the gig tuning.
    • Make sure you hear yourself everywhere on stage. It's really annoying when you run over to the bassmans side to do a guitar battle and suddenly find that you don't hear what you're playing.
    • Don't worry too much. Just get on stage and have fun. If you have, the audience will have, too.
    • Of course, there are always some guys from the "musician's police" who hear every mistaken note and can play everything better. Simply forget them. Believe me, most of the audience doesn't realize it. As already said, they come to have fun.
    • Be prepared that your drummer and bassman will play double the tempo they usually do :/
    • And remember Syre's tips, they are really essential :P
    Quote from Syre

    That's new to me, could you please name such a device, so i know what to google for?


    Just a regular computer UPS would suffice. The idea is to keep power going to the Kemper in case of a sudden cut, in which case you could find that your device is rebooting while everyone is still playing away.


    I'd also suggest that the OP carry a couple of extension boxes with built in surge protectors to safeguard their equipment. Power supply can be really dodgy.


    Also, don't forget to rehearse your setlist before the gig and make sure that your frontman knows how to work the crowd. Last gig I played as a drummer, the frontman was stuttering and mumbling stuff like an idiot on stage and even announced a song we weren't playing because that moron didn't show up to the last practice and work on his stage act.


    Could also help if you and the other guitarist synchronise some parts where you wander around to each other and headbang, play back to back, etc, because while cheesy, the audience loves that stuff. If you don't practice, however, you might find execution leaves a lot to be desired.


    Best of luck for the show. ^^

    Like was previously mentioned the most important thing is enjoy it !!! Put any mistakes behind you and don't let them phase you. Make sure you have new strings that a well stretched in, as an aside the NYXL's by D'addarrio are fantastic need next to no stretching in and incredibly stable.
    Check all your leads, plug everything in and wiggle it all to check for any problems.
    And my personal thing, and I know many disagree, don't drink too much before you play, save it for celebrating afterwards.
    And you can spend 5 minutes warming your fingers up before you start.


    But like I said HAVE FUN !!!!!

    remember that you are in a band and not a bunch of individuals playing different instruments. :)


    meaning:
    help the drummer set up. they have the hardest job and (usually) the most equipment.
    since setting up the Profiler is quick and easy, make sure to use your extra time well by helping other band members (again, most likely the drummer)


    think about what to play during soundcheck - choose something meaningful in regards to the songs you're going to play, not some fancy 8-finger tapping that won't tell the FOH guy anything.


    select a short verse/chorus part of your set to play through quickly as a band, no intros or other nonsense ;)


    soundcheck time is usually very short, make the most out of it


    bring enough song lists for everyone (and Gaffa, lots of Gaffa) in a big, easy to read font

    Some 2cents:


    - When doing vocals give the FOH-Guy the LOUDEST level you'll sing. Nothing is more annoying for FOH than re-adjusting vocal levels and compression when an adrenaline pumped-up singer starts shouting in his mic at the gig while being soft and gentle at the soundcheck. Please (!) Tell that your singer as well! Please.
    - Levels matter for your guitar signal as well. Quick cheating advice: Give the FOH the loudest Guitar Signal as well. After Soundcheck give your main output (Master) +1,5db ;)
    - When doing monitoring, make sure you'll do it in a predefined order (Drummer first, than Bass player, etc etc.). No one wants an anthill of voices when doing monitoring.
    - Have a spare cable for almost every cable you have. Your bassplayer will be grateful.
    - Do your stuff fast. I don't know if you'll be sharing a stage with many bands but everybody is happy if you are quick.
    - Don't be too drunk at your gig (tell that everyone in your band).
    - Don't be too drunk to pack your stuff. Your bank account will be grateful.
    - Help your bandmates.
    - Be nice to FOH. There is always prejudice that they are d*cks. But most of the time you are the d*ck. Or both are d*cks or just think that the other one might be a d*ck. Don't be a d*ck. Be gentle. :saint:
    - There is a theory that FOH guys are always jealous. They don't get any fame. If they are good, tell them you really liked what they did. Thats their reward.
    - Be five minutes early at the venue.
    - Have two spare setlists for lighting and FOH.
    - Bring Ducktape.
    - Steal Ducktape if the FOH was a d*ick
    - Send a technical rider! (Most of the time they won't read it, but if you are lucky they did and it saves you all 30 minutes of soundcheck)
    - Don't show off. Don't play if you do not have to. Don't do a spontaneous jam session on stage. Don't waste time and tolerance.
    - Don't forcibly engage other bands into "the gear talk". I love talking about gear but some are quickly annoyed by questions like "what kind of strings do you use? Why? blablabla".
    - All that "advice" is meant to to be as advice. Not a strikt rule. But compliance will result in a more pleasing experience. Trust me.



    For future:


    - Try to reduce the overall amount of gear. We (4 people) played professionally a lot of gigs and only used an Opel Astra Combi with a roof box. Yes, Including drums! Saves a lot of money for gas. We gigged with a Led Zeppelin coverband who carried around a big double-bassdrum kit. They miced up only one kick. 'nuff said. X/

    • Trust your sound, but beware that the sound you experience on stage (bandmix), can be very different than the FOH sound.


    • Move like Jagger...


    Oh....and don't forget to have fun!