By Michael Gallant
There are times when gear explodes, drunks attack, and people vanish. But even the worst music gigs can be valuable learning experiences.
Every musician has stories of the best gig ever, that performance where the music clicked, the crowd roared, and the stars aligned to create a brilliant, uplifting, and transformational evening for everyone involved.
Then there are the other times when nothing goes right. Gear explodes, drunks attack, vehicles break down, and that’s just the beginning. But even the worst music gigs can be valuable learning experiences for indie musicians of all stripes and genres.
Backline featuring a toy drumset
WHO: New York drummer Rob Mitzner
THE GIG: While living in Boston about eight years ago, Mitzner got called for a pop/rock date in Atlanta — or what he thought was Atlanta. “After flying all day, we were picked up in a van and driven two-and-a-half hours to a little town in northeast Georgia, somewhere way out in the woods,” he says. “We discovered that we were playing at a summer camp in an outdoor amphitheater for about 1,000 teenage kids.”
THE PROBLEM: While Mitzner and company weren’t thrilled at the unexpected additional travel, the show still sounded fun — until the equipment arrived.
“Usually, these large outdoor gigs are backlined with gear from a sound company and a local pro sound engineer,” Mitzner continues, “but for this, our sound man was, in reality, a thirteen-year-old ‘sound boy’ with no experience.” Mitzner also noticed that there was not a drum anywhere on stage, when he’d been promised a full kit.
“I was assured by the well-intentioned but overwhelmed soundboy that drums were being brought soon. Apparently, I was to play the camp’s drums and not a rented kit. Not encouraging, but I’ve played all sorts of drum sets touring over the years and …Read the full story
Source:: Echoes