Tue Oct 26, 2010 12:19 pm
I got a call on saturday afternoon, could i do a gig the following night, doubling on lead guitar and steel, about an hours drive away for me, i said i could, i asked if they could email me a set list with keys, i was told 'no problem', heard nothing more till sunday afternoon, asked could i arrive around 7pm, for a run through of songs, but there was no email with set list for me, so i arrived at 7 30pm, to find out there had been a big row between the band the previous friday, which had resulted in the singer, called 'jason travis' [real name? right!] and the lead guitarist walking out or getting sacked, still not sure which?!?
anyway, i set up and we started running through the replacement singers songs, bearing in mind, the bass player had never worked with me, or the keyboard player before, and we had only met the singer for the first time that night, and the gig was to commence at 11 pm, anyway, i decided early on, i didnt really like the bass player, he was a control freak, and insisted on writing everything down, and he didnt know half of the songs anyway, i thought, 'this is gonna be a disaster' but we ploughed thro a lot of songs, and got a set list down, but i kept thinking 'information overload, i'll never remember all these songs and intros' in the meantime 'jason travis' the sacked singer was apparently outside the hall, telling people he was not singing that night, and asking people not to pay in, as it was just a scratch band, so there were quite a few bemused people around, anyway, we finished the rehearsal around 10 30, i went into the bar next door for a much needed pint, then got changed into black shirt as requested, the 'new' singer changed into a white three piece suit, white shoes and white stetson, i just quipped he looked like Marty hopkirk [deceased], but he didn't know what i was talking about, cos he was only in his twenties, i suddenly felt old, the drummer came in and said he had peruaded the picketing singer into going home, when asked how?, he explained in true drummer style, by showing his clenched fist, anyway, the band went on, i opened with 'sea of heartbreak' then into an old shadows tune on guitar, 'dance on' [all i could think of] then we brought the singer [also called eddie] on, and we had an absolutely brilliant night, the 'control freak bass player' turned out to be an absolute godsend, telling me about 3/4 the way through every song, what was next, in what key, and saying either LEAD, STEEL or KEYBOARD INTRO, he was brilliant, and so organised, and we all did really well, a few gliches, but we all just kept smiling, and nobody noticed, i was thrown in at the deep end on a few songs, example, 'farewell party' which i had of course heard, but never played, but it all worked out pretty good, the singer, Eddie Cleary, was class, so all in all, just an average sort of gig, and we all wonder why we do it! thats show biz, oh, and me and the bass player are now great mates,
Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:34 pm
Sounds like you handled it like a true professional Eddie. I love those kind of gigs. As a matter of fact I have one next Friday - playing fiddle & harmonica with a Garth Brooks tribute outfit. (They're very good indeed and I'm really looking forward to it. In Galway actually). I had a similar experience at the steel festival when I had to deputise for the guitar player for the latter parts of the Saturday and Sunday shows. At least there were chord charts and most of the steel players actually stayed fairly close to them.