Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

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Guitarbilly
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Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by Guitarbilly »

So Friday night, a few hours before a gig, our drummer calls me to let me know his car broke down and he can't make it. He's in NJ so picking him up was out of question.

We have a philosophy that we don't cancel shows - ever - unless someone literally dies. So I had to scramble and get some of our album's isolated drums tracks and load them into my phone and we played the show that way. Turns out that was the biggest audience we had so far with this band - on the day we don't have a drummer, figures!! But they were really supportive. And honestly, it was our best sounding show so far :lol: the drum tracks sounded great live and Kimmi and I are super tight so the show went really well.

Also , my DSL rig is dialed in so well, I feel stupid buying more amps. It's really the perfect tone for me. And yet, I will be getting the Triple Rectifier this week :lol:

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spawnofthesith
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by spawnofthesith »

That sounds like one of my worst fears but glad it ended up going well!!


In before Billy loves the triple recto so much he sells the DSL.....

and then buys one again in april :cop:
Guitars: PRS/Gibson
Amps: Mesa Mark V | '76 Fender Deluxe Reverb | EVH 5153 6L6 50w| Mesa Mark IV | Badlander 50



Band: https://linktr.ee/jawaofficialband

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Guitarbilly
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by Guitarbilly »

Yeah it is scary to do something like that without having the chance to rehearse with the tracks. But we had experience with playing with a synth and a drum machine in our previous project so I figured it wouldn't be that different. The main issue was making sure we could hear the drum tracks in the monitors since we were not using IEMs. But the soundguy was good and the PA was great so it all worked out.

haha I learned my lesson on the DSL. Not selling it anymore. Any of my other amps is fair game though :cop: :lol:

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jamminjohn
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by jamminjohn »

Yeah, that is scary. What I think is cool is that you had your drummer in your phone and could play like that.

Did you also have the synth track playing during your show?

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Guitarbilly
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by Guitarbilly »

jamminjohn wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:18 am Yeah, that is scary. What I think is cool is that you had your drummer in your phone and could play like that.

Did you also have the synth track playing during your show?
No synth, this band doesn't use it. Just the isolated drum tracks and the live guitar and bass. I think we got some video of it, I'll post it later :lol:

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Marc G
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

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damn.... that's being committed to a gig! I remember a few years back my drummer got violently sick on the day of a gig.... thankfully we play covers so we were able to get a friend of ours to fill in on the day with no practice.... we were outside the bar going through the set to confirm he was familiar with the songs and then he sat with his phone and gave the songs a listen to refresh his memory.... it was a fun gig lol

on a similar note, we have a St Patrick's Day gig on Sunday and my singer has come down with a nasty throat infection.... we are trying out a replacement singer tonight lol
I can't remember what my signature was..... I'm sure it was something interesting..... :quote:

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ninjaraf
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by ninjaraf »

I played a show, maybe 10-12 years ago, where my drummer just decided not to show. No call, no text, nothing. We were a 3-piece lol. So me and the singer got on stage and did a pseudo acoustic set. 5150 combo on the rhythm channel, set clean. All the songs a little slower and cleaner. Some lady in the audience had some bongos and started jamming. Turned out OK.
I like 5150s. The rest of you bullshit amps can get fucked.

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linthat22
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by linthat22 »

A Triple Rec?!?!?

I've always wanted one, just because of all the knobs :lol:

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Guitarbilly
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by Guitarbilly »

linthat22 wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:50 am A Triple Rec?!?!?

I've always wanted one, just because of all the knobs :lol:
That's on the other thread but yeah I love the way they look with the metal knobs and faceplate :lol:
ninjaraf wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 1:53 pm I played a show, maybe 10-12 years ago, where my drummer just decided not to show. No call, no text, nothing. We were a 3-piece lol. So me and the singer got on stage and did a pseudo acoustic set. 5150 combo on the rhythm channel, set clean. All the songs a little slower and cleaner. Some lady in the audience had some bongos and started jamming. Turned out OK.
Yeah doing an acoustic set was going to be plan C. If I couldn't get the tracks ready on time :lol:
Marc G wrote: Thu Mar 14, 2024 1:30 pm damn.... that's being committed to a gig! I remember a few years back my drummer got violently sick on the day of a gig.... thankfully we play covers so we were able to get a friend of ours to fill in on the day with no practice.... we were outside the bar going through the set to confirm he was familiar with the songs and then he sat with his phone and gave the songs a listen to refresh his memory.... it was a fun gig lol

on a similar note, we have a St Patrick's Day gig on Sunday and my singer has come down with a nasty throat infection.... we are trying out a replacement singer tonight lol
Yeah covers make things a bit easier but it's still nerve wrecking to have to find someone in the last minute. Hope the replacement singer will work out tonight :thu:

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Marc G
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Re: Had to play a gig with drum tracks this weekend

Post by Marc G »

Guitarbilly wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2024 2:42 pm Yeah covers make things a bit easier but it's still nerve wrecking to have to find someone in the last minute. Hope the replacement singer will work out tonight :thu:

singer worked out well, figured he would TBH, he's been gigging in bands about as long as I have but he's just hasn't done anything in a few years so he was just feeling a little nervous, after the first song you could see he got over it lol.....
I can't remember what my signature was..... I'm sure it was something interesting..... :quote:

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