6 weeks ago forgot the keyboard stand, no problem found a small circular table set the keyboard on there, but no keyboard stand means no where to mount my mic on the missing keyboard stand, I do carry an extra mic stand, that took care of the problem albeit being a little uncomfortable.

Worse than that experience I played in an old mansion in the city of Providence it was in a former funeral home converted into a restaurant. I should have turned down the job, but the pay was too good not to. When I arrived the manager said be careful some of the outlets' don't always work. Set up my keyboard and my old Bose L1 Model One and first thing after powering it on it blows a fuse. No problem had a spare fuse but
my haste to replace it I somehow broke the plastic housing. Still not at problem had about 45 minutes to spare so I drove the 6 miles home got picked up my Barbetta 32c Ok things are looking pretty good.............NOT.......... the haunted house blew the fuse in the 32c......still no problem a Radio Shack is around the corner but the clock to start playing is ticking. Get back with the fuse but now I have trouble locating the fuse on the Barbetta ( that will never happen again). Finally found the fuse replaced it then moved my power connections to another area of the building using one those 50 foot orange extension cords. Started about 45 minutes later with an understanding customer..........will never play a gig in that joint again. I know quite a few people who go there for dinner, I won't ever be one of them, rumor is too they make real "STIFF" drinks.

Last week I left the power cord to the KORG at home ... fortunately I was working 10 minutes from my house and while I finished setting up my wife drove the cord to me ... there is now a second cord in the 'wire' bag ...

Don, anybody, some time back there was quite a stir about a set of computer speakers that one or more of you guys were doing gigs with.

What would be a cheap set that I could carry just for an emergency if my amp blew? The smaller the better. I do mostly nursing homes now.

I think the farmers market got tired of paying me $150. They have many singing duets around here playing for free just to say they played the Farmers Event. I raised my price from $50 to $75 for the nursing homes and three of them hadn't called in over a year.

Have any of you guys ever heard of a check list? C'mon, sailors, pilots, and a lot of other folks use them every day. Sounds like it's time for you guys to put one together.

Fortunately, the way I'm set up it's pretty much impossible to forget anything. And, I can't recall forgetting anything associated with my gear - ever. But, what the Hell, I'm old and I may have forgotten that I forgot something.

Boo, you play too cheap, and you obviously need to market your musicianship skills. Without a good marketing plan, you'll end up sitting around the house and making Penny made at you. I know you can do it if you put your mind to it.

Gary

For some reason the nightmare experiences on this thread remind me of my first solo gig when I started back playing maybe 10 yrs ago. It was for my best friends 50th anniversary. I even took an extra Ativan I was so nervous.

Before this, I had only played a park gig with my friend Jack a few months earlier, Jack couldn't get me to play my keyboard and sing in the park. I hadn't played in so long, I could hardly play my sax. Man was I nervous and the small park was filled with my friends and Jack I had never seen before. I bought my keyboard from him and we chatted on the phone a bit. He was just passing through from Arizona to visit family in Chicago then.

Back to the 59th anniversary at a relatively new 18 hole country club. There must have been minimum 200 or more all coat and tie and also nicely dressed ladies. It was kids to 70 year olds.

It was about time to start playing. I went to test the equipment. No sound, mic, keyboard nothing. I was about to call the whole thing off and have the club turn the jukebox on. Checked all of the wires everything was plugged and tight. I plugged a light in the outlet and it was working.

I was about to explode, the folks were all looking at me, and I got more nervous. I popped another Ativan and gulped down a whiskey or two and I don't drink, but I did then.

Low and behold with my last ditched effort and about to drop dead, guess what? I forgot to turn the AMP on.

I bet most of you figured this out by the time you read my 2nd or 3rd sentence, huh? 60 years old and had't gigged since 1974 or there about. Think about it. And in the olden days I only played sax in front of an audience. I only sang a little doo-wop behind the vocalist in those days.

If I live to be 1000 years old, I'll never forget the time or the feeling. It was worst than a bar fight I had when I was hustling nine ball in Jefferson Parish. Really!!!!!

Boo the system is by Logitech. I had two of the Z2200 systems. Still have one in my office for computer and practice. The other I gave to my friend Dean Mathis and he is using it in nursing home jobs. I also have a Z5500 in the living room for TV and entertainment system.
Now I have a Nano 300 system in the office also, for backup in case I need a second full system somewhere, or if Susan needs a pa for a church project.

Yes, boo it's the Logitech ... I used the Z5500 for a while before going to the Podium 10s which Ii now use ... but the Logitech sufficed for many venues ...

"Just as much work goes into making custom MP3 backing tracks as if playing live"

Donny,

I agree to that fine point too!

I'm sure we all spend mucho hours creating our backing tracks for each song either via midi or MP3.

Ron

Agreed, because if there is even the slightest mistake, it will ALWAYS be there ... unlike a 'live' performance where a missed note or missed chord may go unnoticed ...

On top of that you can do certain songs SO Much more creatively vs just a repetitive style..custom bass lines, horn parts, breaks, background harmonies, etc, and really "make the song YOUR OWN"...mixing it up is what it's all about.