It's Official!

[Hydroman52]

On Saturday evening, our band (Phat Acrobat) played our first "gig". We opened for the band Serious Trouble. The reason that I put gig in parenthesis is because we were actually playing at a party that Bassman Jerry and his wonderful wife throw every year, so we didn't have to actually solicit the job. Besides that technicality, it was a full blown gig. A little roadie work getting Serious Trouble's gear setup, plug in to their sound system, sound check with Soundman Steve, play the set, remove our gear for the headliners to play, and then some more roadie work at the end of the evening to help the headliners on their way.

Bassman Jerry, Drummer Kim, and, our very special guest star sitting in on harmonica, Harpman Joel had all performed in front of audiences before, but this was the first time for me. It was all quite a blur.

If you are interested, here are the things that stood out to me the most:

1. The eyes of the audience on us waiting for the first note to be played.
2. The first note that we played. It was a B (Neil Young - Out on the Weekend).
3. My first "mistake" (not much longer after the first note that we played.....best to get it out of the way right away......actually, a relief when it happened). There were a few more before the end.
4. Looking up and seeing people in the audience tapping their feet to the music.
5. Seeing the members of the headlining band watching us from the audience.
6. A gust of wind blowing my music notes closed, my mind went blank at the distraction, and then I sang the wrong verse. Then the wind blew my notes back open to the correct page, and I got back on track (Bassman Jerry taught me the most important lesson about perfoming....there's no stopping when you're up on stage). No one seemed to notice.
7. Soundman Steve coming up and adjusting my mic while we were in the middle of a number so I could get a better angle on it while singing. I was in a jam, he saw it and helped out.
8. Seeing people get up in front of us and dance to the music. That was too cool for words!
9. Backing off for one of Harpman Joel's solos and thinking what a superb job he was doing on it (The Band - The Weight).
9. Seeing someone with a hat stuffed full of money come up to the stage while we were in the middle of a song and leave it next to the base of a microphone stand. Wow, they passed the hat and people actually put money in it!
10. Playing Secret Agent Man on electric and thinking how good everyone else in the band was playing.
11. The last note we played. It was a D (The Decemberists - Calamity Song).
12. The members of the headlining band shaking our hands and telling us we did alright.

This has been a goal of mine for quite a while, part of my bucket list. We played for over an hour (our set list was 15 songs), but it felt like only 5 minutes. Of course, it was quite humbling to watch Serious Trouble play afterwards. It was a bit strange to see our band's name on their website as opening act. They all were very encouraging and helped me feel at ease for my first gig. Check out more on them here:

Serious Trouble on Facebook

Serious Trouble website

The TG site, its members, and the TARGET program has been an integral part of the learning process to make this happen for me. Thanks all to of you.

I have been told that after our performance we got a couple of job offers. So, we'll see how that turns out. We do have another party at the end of August where we'll be opening for another really good blues band.

The journey continues........

Hydroman52

[daryl]

Way to go Rick! Sounds like you really enjoyed it and that you now have the itch. Any videos? Were you standing or sitting? If standing, how did that feel? I've always seen you sitting while you play.

[Music Junkie]

Hydro:

That is awesome, congratulations!!!

Thanks for sharing this good news, and your journey to this point. I always enjoy the tidbits you and Jerry share with us. Keep us posted of your rockstar life... B)

Jason

[lueders]

Dang Rick! Way to go, Dude!
Congrats to you are in order!

Congrats!!!
You and Jeff both...hitting the BIGTIME!

I really enjoyed your breakdown! Very, very cool!

Can expect to see you fellas touring in a van anytime soon?
Maybe well see you rockin out across the cheesehead-FIB borderline one of these days.
If not , ROADTRIP...then it's off to OHIO to check out Jeff's outfit.

[Craig]

Congratulations Rick! That's GREAT! Hopefully you can let us take a peek at the next gig.

Craig

[AcousticAl]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Rick.

Great descriptions and sounds like you had a blast!

Btw- LOVE that you opened with 'Out on the Weekend'! One of my fave NY songs.

Did you sing on most of the songs?

[BigBear]

Rick- that is just fantastic! Congrats to all of you. I wish I could have heard you guys play. Maybe on your world tour?

Please keep us posted on future gigs. I really enjoyed your comments about the experience of playing in front of others.

Cheers! :cheer:

[cosmicmechanic]

Hi Rick (just put "Hydroman" into Google translator),

Very good idea to do your first gig at a venue where you are friendly with the promoter of the event

Good for you and your band, and I suppose you are already saying that the first gig you played led to Serious Trouble ? :side:

Thanks for the insights you shared, I'm sure the buzz from the performance will carry and inspire you for a while still !

Hope you show us some more !

Pierre

[TGNesh]

What a great summary of an obviously great evening and performance, very enjoyable to read!

Thanks for sharing it with us and congratulations, i'm sure you've done an awesome job! :cheer:

Ness

[haoli25]

Very cool, Rick. Thanks for sharing the experience.

Bill