About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2011)
Available online 6t www.project-&afe.org ATHENS FIRST BANK & TRUST FIRST AMERICAN BANK & TRUST Bertis and Katherine Downs THE LAW OFFICES OF JOHN LYNDON REM DRS. MCDONALD AND MANUS, LLP St Marys ER Physroans XSAV notobeiia designs, lie. ETL CONSTRUCTION SERVICES ✓ CLASSIC CFNTrR. iT s WO O IT ^ ^ Athens Regional A ST. MARY S ' .. OF c • M r f I VT ■ DliAilllTT l*«V Sponsored by lives, a time CT SAFE Couples Boutique Celebrating jGovc and Staying Sexy W ,,s store has everything you ^fb expect from Sexy Sui and more... upscale • women couples friendly sophisticated * names <si sexy fun toys for lovers • adult novelties • sexy shoes incense, candles & oils • fetish and bondage adult movies & DVD's Athens' Largest Lingerie Store BOTH LOCATIONS OPEN 10am -11pm Mon-Thu • 10am - Midnight Fri & Sat • Noon - 8pm Sun No one under 18 admitted * Photo ID required &dull Smporium 50 Gaines School Rd. Next Door to Haverty’s 4124 Atlanta H wy., Bogart www.sevysu*on me. com HOW TO WIN GIGS AND INFLUENCE DRUNK PEOPLE you're ready to play out. All those months of living on someone's f floor, eating ramen and bologna to save money for gear, punishing the neighbors with late-night practices, and amassing snow drifts of wadded-up lyric sheets have finally led to a club gig. Your band has arrived. Not so fast, Tex. Your band may be ready to shred some licks and blow out some ear drums (or expose the dark workings of your tormented soul, depending on your genre), but this is Athens. The Classic City is a music town, and while that means there are lots of venues to play, it also means there are more bands than those venues can possibly show case. Furthermore, it means that the local club-going public is jaded, because they can afford to be. No matter how good your songs may be, the hard truth is that most bands in this town have the life expectancy of a fruit Jj Most people would rather dance than w • groove on your jam. Be tight and prac ticed. The place for fmprov is your living room. 5 * However clever or smart it is, never give • your band a name drunk people won't remember or sober people can't pronounce. Jt The vocals need to come up. The vocals 9* need to come up. Vocals. Up. 7 ) Never stop your set to rant about poli- • tics. Bono can get away with it. You are not Bono. tf Screw the "crowd energy." Play as hard 9 • for five people as you would for 50. Those five are hardcore enough to come see you, which means they'll be hardcore enough to plug your band. 0 Respect the other bands. Watch their w t sets and say good things. You may not like them, but they may like you. It's called networking. Bubble Balls: Not for Beginners. fly with a smack habit, so it's not enough to play a great set. You need to play a set that will bring them back, and you need to make ) sure you have something for them to come | back to. Until you're established, every gig is really I an audition for the next gig. Here are some pointers from the audience you want to rock and the club owners you want to impress. / > If there's a cover charge, you're work- • ing. Treat your gig like a job. Show up on time. Start on time. Finish on time. Clean up your workspace. Get loaded and hit on girls after you punch out. 2 Unless you're Elvis Costello and have a * big wheel of songs onstage, you have a set list, so you know what the next song is. Play it. Nothing kills the momentum of a show faster than 10 minutes of banter between numbers. Rehearse your set, not just your songs. Until you start selling CDs and down- * loads, nobody is going to know your songs. You have to sell them onstage with your musicianship and your energy. Don't just play—perform. Stop staring at your shoes. tth ^ es P ect c ^ u ^* S ave your appetite f for destruction for when you can afford to replace things. ## Respect everyone in the club. You never m know who's an owner, a booker or the bed-partner of an owner or a booker. I know bands who've gotten blackballed because their friends insulted a waitress. The grape vine works for you and against you, and it is always fast, vast and unforgiving. The bottom line is that while club owners may like your music, they hire you to bring in customers and keep them drinking. If you can't do that, or if the cost of doing business with you is greater than the returns, you're not coming back. Gigging is work, and your band is your company. Treat it as such and you may just get to quit your day job. Don't, and you'll be the most smoking guitarist work ing the drive-thru window. John G. Nettles Having trouble booking that first show? Read our tips for getting your foot in the club door on our music blog, Homedrone, at Flagpole.com. 26 FLAGP0LE.C0M AUGUST 17. 2011 MIKE WHITE deadlydesigns.com
