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Doing gigs
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rogeliocan
Posts: 811
Joined: Nov. 23 2009
From: Canada
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 Doing gigs
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This year, I, along with 2 dancers have begun playing at different events.
My number one enemy was nervousness, something I improved by playing every week in coffee shops.
Doing shows was always a goal of mine, even though I did not know if I would be able to. Originally my goals were just to do events like we do now, private parties, festivals, cafes, etc...
Now that I am doing that, it has lost a lot of its, call it glamor, if you will. I find that I don't like these crowds at all. Mainly because they limit me in what I can play. Like I read in other posts, people don't want flamenco (they don't know what it is), so we end up having to rip out all serious stuff and make sure that everything is 'lively and entertaining', which is just half of what I like and a lot of what I am not interested in... playing and signing rumbas.... but that is where the crowd wakes up.
So my thoughts on giving shows have changed, until we can offer dedicated flamenco shows where people pay, all this stuff is just practice and I have to make the best of it, if I ever get there.
My worst show ever happened last night... we played at a home... the toughest crowd ever (and I bet there are worst). But this caught be off guard. There was one or 2 folks whistling and humming (their own unrelated tune) constantly (figured there was senility involved). That distracted my first solo, for a split second, I paused, looked up, wanting to stop and ask them to stop, then realized it was probably uncontrollable. Later, an old man walks out, walks on the stage and has the courtesy of saying 'this is not worth 5 cents'. No big deal, I understand that they would rather hear music they are used to, stuff from the 50s... but that is not why I am there....anyways, it was an experience. Way worst than playing in coffee shops. Note taken, shows at homes, 30 minutes max.
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Date May 15 2013 15:42:29
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gj Michelob
Posts: 1531
Joined: Nov. 7 2008
From: New York City/San Francisco
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RE: Doing gigs (in reply to Morante)
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quote:
So don´t lose heart Be cynical only until you have the right audience
Exactly...
When I entertain guests from abroad in NY or in Venice –my two home towns [twenty-five years in each], I try to show them the hidden secrets of the cities, what most visitors would never see, and even if they did, would not appreciate. But ultimately, I know they want to see the tour-guide classics, the Empire and Fifth Avenue, Piazza San Marco and Murano, and I would not be a good host if I denied them that. Occasionally, however, a repeat guest will oblige my alternative route and truly appreciate what I can show them.
I suppose the metaphor holds true for any form of entertainment. People attend Paco Pena's concert expecting the purest flamenco, and the few who mistook it for a less known spin on Gypsy Kings will grow bored and disappointed. But, coffee-shop and bar gigs, are non-destination event. And patrons will get annoyed if the television is set on PBS instead of ESPN. My view is that if you want to play those venues, and you should, you must compromise, and work the crowd, indulging the one occasional true soleares, perhaps introduced by a few words, explaining its special place in your heart and art. You can then take the pulse of your audience, and direct your repertory accordingly. This may also educate one or two, and perhaps slowly build a following if you ever have a chance to perform in a recital or concert.
The moral of this story is that you can play for your own enjoyment or play for the audience. Sometimes, but rarely the two can tie the heavenly connubial knot, and that is only when you have your own following, i.e.: people to come because of you playing, not just stumbling upon you in their way.
_____________________________
gj Michelob
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Date May 15 2013 18:06:20
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Adam
Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
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RE: Doing gigs (in reply to rogeliocan)
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I'm not that experienced playing gigs, but when I do I usually play a set that's pretty close to what I like playing at home - bulería, soleá, farruca, alegrías, tangos, and so on. A danza mora because I've heard the crowds like that 
Aaaand people probably are bored by it. So why do I do that, and not just a bunch of rumbas? Ehhh, because they're solo shows and I don't sing  Is it just me or are most solo rumbas pretty boring, even to a non-aficionado audience? People will get up and dance for Ketama and Gipsy Kings and what have you, but I would think they'd find a solo rumba as unexciting as most of the other stuff I play.
What sort of material have people found their audiences like best when playing solo?
(And be specific with song names - I'm asking this so I can augment my repertoire! Next gig, in a couple of weeks, is my department's garden party...)
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Date May 15 2013 23:44:07
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xirdneH_imiJ
Posts: 1890
Joined: Dec. 2 2006
From: Budapest, now in Southampton
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RE: Doing gigs (in reply to Adam)
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if you have a dancer, you're good, people mostly pay attention to the pretty(ish) ladies moving around, even if the music is alien to them...if you have a singer as well, great...if you only have a singer, very much depends on his/her energies...if you have noone else, you're fcked :)
of course much will depends on the venue as well...i've had some restaurant gigs which i really hated, but i learned the lesson not to go there, because i'm no rumbero...it's very-very good practice though, in sound engineering as well as getting used to all kinds of disturbing factors around you...it's made me a better player i think, the experience was great...of course, i prefer a bigger stage and i don't do restaurant gigs without a dancer...
btw in my last performance, the flamenco dancer and a belly dancer were doing the dances, i had a solo piece before the belly dancer, and in the middle of my solo, her song start playing...turkish sounding, with horns and whatnot...it was there for about five seconds, i had to stop playing for a sec, then continued, but i've never ever laughed so hard during a dramatic granaína :D (it didn't bother me because i didn't care so much about this gig fortunately)...had to experience that!
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Date May 16 2013 0:03:51
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Arash
Posts: 4495
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)
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RE: Doing gigs (in reply to rogeliocan)
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For me its pretty simple.
I realised that (at least here in Germany), 90% of audience don't appreciate/understand da real thing! I am now praticing with a fella for a future program. We will do only Duos from now on. No one man show. Plus we are looking for a cajon player, maybe a bass player, etc. And we will play pieces like Pharaon from Gypsy Kings, Entre dos aguas, etc. and even add pieces like Classical Gas!
And when i am at home, grab my guitar, put a "don't disturb" sign on my door, lock it, run foroflamenco in the background, and play what i prefer personally. period.
I am now officially 30% fakemenco, 30% cheasy fusion, 30% flamenco, 10% whatever is needed, depending on the situation.
I am even working on a website for both of us with the very cheasy name "persianflamenco".
But one thing i will never do, no matter how much money, fame, girls, drugs, etc. are involved: play f.uckmenco , barefeet.
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Date May 16 2013 10:41:30
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rogeliocan
Posts: 811
Joined: Nov. 23 2009
From: Canada
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RE: Doing gigs (in reply to shaun)
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It is nice to read all of your comments, it is pretty clear how gigs are.
Shaun, that is exactly where I am.
GJ, very good metaphor and it does apply to everything. This experience and reading all of the comments reminds me that if you want to entertain people, it is about them and not me, not what I like, otherwise I have to be ready to receive negative vibes.
It's funny because I would do a lot better as an entertainer playing my acoustic guitars and playing popular songs that take me literally 10 to 30 minutes to learn as opposed to pieces that take me 1 to 3 months to learn and polish. The thing is I am not doing this to make money, I originally thought I was doing this for pleasure. As Shaun as wrote, I have to re-evaluate what that pleasure is exactly. I will have to redefine it, otherwise I will be done with doing that. But I am still a child when it comes to performing and have a lot to learn so I will continue. And I agree with Hendrix, that all of this is a very good learning experience. I have to accept also that I am not perfect, I still have some stage fright to work with and if I can't give a 95% perfect show, I can't expect a 100% perfect crowd, and as Fred said, that will never happen regardless of my level. Damned humans.
Arash, if I looked like that girl in the video, I bet that old man would have stayed till the end.
And yes, to get people moving... Gipsy Kings!... stuff that makes people tap their feet, clap hands or get up and dance,... and as Flamencosaint said, fast playing, crazy seco also does it, even if it is completely out of compas (and how can you be out of compas if nobody knows what compas is...).
GJ, your description of people is so on the spot with Paco Pena shows. You have the people who know and the ones that don't and expect Jesse Cook style music... I think it's the cante that is the toughest on them.
All the time I spend practicing for gigs, setting and clearing the audio gear, the show itself, is all valuable time that I could use to learn stuff I really care for.... but it is all about the trip and not the destination so let's see if I can find some pleasure in all of this.
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Date May 16 2013 13:31:05
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FredGuitarraOle
Posts: 898
Joined: Dec. 6 2012
From: Lisboa, Portugal
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RE: Doing gigs (in reply to Leñador)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Lenador
Don't TRY to insight a riot, that's just being an instigator.
Haha zero tolerance.
quote:
ORIGINAL: Arash
But one thing i will never do, no matter how much money, fame, girls, drugs, etc. are involved: play f.uckmenco , barefeet.
Just found out who the "desvirtuoso" is. Unfortunately, that's exactly what people want to hear. Anyway, I just took a look on his wikipedia page and here's a little quotation taken from the section called "Controversy":
"Yet despite Liebert citing Paco as an influence, Paco himself was moved to describe Liebert's music as "una degeneración, una caricatura del flamenco" (literally, "a degeneration, a caricature")."
Paco said it all...
quote:
ORIGINAL: aeolus
I believe he calls it nuevo flamenco.
In my opinion, the nuevo Flamenco is what guys like Diego del Morao are doing.
EDIT:
Nope, I wrote that too fast and without thinking. What Diego and all the other guys from more recent generations are doing is Flamenco. Nuevo Flamenco is just crap.
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Date May 16 2013 16:03:42
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Kalo
Posts: 400
Joined: Jan. 25 2011
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RE: Doing gigs (in reply to rogeliocan)
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What I would like to know is...
How come professional Flamenco Guitarist really don't have the same problems with audience per say the way some of us who play occasionally out and have day jobs?
I hope, I am not stirring things up...
But, Jason McGuire seems to have no problem with playing for the RIGHT audience and looks to be quite contented with performing and teaching.
Jason's student Roberto Granados doesn't seem to have any problems as well...He played for the President, and played a conservatory filled full of people who seemed to love what he was playing both classical and flamenco!
What I am trying to express is that they don't just throw in the towel or re think whether they want to do this professionally..It's almost like KARMA follows them....
We might have to asks ourselves, and AGAIN, I mean no disrespect to anyone, but, is it that they are just better then we are and get BETTER gigs, i.e. an audience who appreciates the music/culture?
I do this for a hobby, but, for some of us who have day jobs and do this as a side seem to have more problems finding the right audience! Especially those of us who didn't start young!
I played ROCK guitar for 8 years before I decieded to put down the pick and play flamenco guitar.
Kalo
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Date May 16 2013 17:45:22
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Be cynical only until you have the right audience 
