Rock and Roll Stories #28 - "You got a gig son? This is what you need to do"

 Gigs? The holy grail for most musicians. When you first pick up a guitar, a harmonica or drumsticks, you dream of playing in front of a crowd. Sure, being in a studio can be fun occasionally, but we all want to be on a big stage with thousands of people singing along with our songs. For my band, The False Dots, gigs have really been the life blood of the band. Along the way, I've been given some great advice and learned a quite a few tricks. What amazes me is how much time bands spend learning songs and how little effort many put into actually preparing a show.

When I was still in the formative stages of putting a band together, in truth, just thinking about it, I bumped into Ian Dury in Camden Town. I think I was about 15-16. I was in a cafe and Ian walked in, I realised that it was too good an opportunity to miss. If the great Ian Dury could take us under his wings, then that would be a massive leg up the ladder. As I an slurped his cuppa, I approached him and the conversation went like this. 

Me: "Hi Mr Dury, we're putting a band together, could you give us some advice". 

Ian scowled a bit, clearly not wanting to be bothered and said "Have you done any gigs?"

I replied "No"

He replied "Have you actually got any instruments?"

I replied "We'll I'm borrowing my sisters Columbus guitar".

He then said "Well, get yourself a guitar, play some gigs and now **** off and leave me alone".

I was rather embarrassed, I'd made a bit of a tit of myself. Seeing my crestfallen look as I trudged off, He then added "Listen son, take it seriously, always give it big, if you want to get on, you have to make people know they've seen a show". My mate, who was with me smirked and took the mickey out of my humiliation, winding me up about being told to "**** off" by Ian Dury. But I took the advice seriously.  (I wrote a song about the incident, called Channelling Ian Dury, which we will be playing at the Builders Arms in New Barnet on Saturday from 8pm - it's free to get in!).  

Once we got things together, Hank Marvins son Paul joined the band. We got to rehearse in Hank's private studio. As I was the guitarist, Hank gave me some advice and was pretty supportive. He told me that catchy simple riffs were actually more effective than super complicated ones. But the advice he gave me about gigging was even more important. There were two things that stuck out. The first was about how you looked "Always make an effort, don't look like you are a member of the audience or you've just turned up after a day on the building site. Wear good shoes and have a trademark distinctive look". Hank explained how his glasses had become his trademark, and how Buddy Holly inspired this. The other thing he told me was a technical advice. He said "When you are doing gigs and the soundman doesn't know you, help him. Choose a first song where the instruments all come in seperately. That will give him a chance to get a balance. Many bands try and start with a bang. As the engineer is still trying to sort out the levels, this usually means it sounds awful!". This is a lesson I've learned. The band always start with a song that allows a soundman to get a balance. We currently use our slow reggae dub song Wacky Races. It works well, this is us playing it at Fabwick last year.

The next great influence in our gigging career was Alan Warner of the Foundations. Alan engineered and produced our early demos and became a life long mate. Alan gave us lots of brilliant advice. The best bit was that we should enjoy gigs. He said "You see so many bands that are terrified, they look scared to death. If one of them makes a mistake, they all scowl and restart the song, only do that if it all falls apart and make a joke of it, even if you are privately furious with your band mates. People want to be entertained".

Since those heady days in the late 1970's, I've done a few gigs! I've picked up a few tips of my own. The most important thing to me is to engage the audience. If you are doing a small gig, look at the people in the audience and work out how to get their attention. Always say who you are. You are "not just another band". Another important thing is to go with the flow. See what is working and what isn't. A successful career is built on the audience going home happy, not you feeling you gave a wonderful performance. Give them something to take home and tell their mates about. If you can convince the audience that you are worth watching and if they come back, they will have a good time you are on the way to building an audience.

The final bit of advice is to look at your set. The biggest mistake bands make is trying to make the live song sound like the recording. You should make your recordings as good as you possibly can, so they get played. When you play them live, they have to work in a live context. The dynamics of songs is different. The best live songs are ones with choruses we can all join in with, breaks we can all clap along with and moments that get people's attention. I've always tried as hard as I can to write songs that do this. You also have to help the audience. If you play original songs, as The False Dots do, you have to bring people back a few times to get them to a point where they know the set, so give them a hand, tell them where to clap hands, join in on the Ooh Aahs, and give them a clue as to the background of the song. 

Although The False Dots have not 'made it' as a chart band, we are a very successful grassroots band and people always show up to watch us. Come along on Saturday night and find out why!