GIG Evaluation

Evaluation:

The collection of the equipment from college was one by me and Tom, and we used my dad's van to load up the equipment ready for transportation to the venue. For the load up we arrived at the college at 3 pm and it took us 30 mins to get everything ready for transit. This gave us 30 minutes to get to the venue and we arrived at Phoenix bar a 4 pm, this gave us 30 minutes to unload and set up all of the equipment followed by another 30 minutes to mic up. If I was to do another gig next year I would leave some more time to unload and set up as it slightly overran the time we had allocated. This stems back from the time we loaded up, so next time I would leave earlier to load up and get to the venue. This would give us more time to unload and set up. Applying less stress to the running order and time schedule. For next time I would arrive at college to collect the equipment at 2.30pm so that we have 30 minutes to load up meaning we leave at 3.00 and arrive at the venue at 3.30pm this would give us plenty more time to get ready, unload and set up.

The night of the gig ran fairly smoothly with very little hiccups. The preparations on the night of the gig, lead to us being slightly behind schedule for setting up which led to a lack of time to sound check all of the bands. This did not have a huge impact on the evening as we quickly decided a way that we would overcome the stepbacks. When we first got into the venue, it quickly became apparent that the equipment on site was not to a sufficient standard that we could use for the performances. This meant that we needed to reevaluate how the set up of the equipment was going to go and we needed to establish a new method to amplify the instruments loud enough for everyone to hear. Due to the PA system not working sufficiently, we had to play the guitars through our amps loud enough to hear in the audience and use the Line 6 Firehawk 1500 stage amp to amplify the keyboard. Although the initial plan was to run the keyboard stereo through a DI box and into the PA. This was a step back that we were not initially planned for, although the recovery from it was dealt with very efficiently and effectively. Meaning the audience were not affected by the problems we faced and the performance ran smoothly as we initially planned.

Due to the sacrifice we had to make in terms of the sound for the evening and the delays it caused, it prevented us from being able to do a full sound check as we had initially planned to do, so we did a line check for most of the bands just to ensure that everything was working and in order and got each band to play a section of a couple of the songs and made sure that they were all set up as they should be for the performance.

Overall the strengths of our performance were the songs. We spent a long time during rehearsals to get the songs as tight as possible and ready for the performance. During our set, the songs were performed tightly and the transitions between the songs were short and prompt. This is because we had spent a lot of time during rehearsals performing the entire set in order. This meant that we all had the endurance to play the set without being phased by hands cramps or sore fingers. It also made the transitions between the songs very smooth and efficient.

📷

The performance could’ve been improved by us moving around more and engaging more with the audience. Instead of standing still and concentrating on the music we are playing. After the first song it would’ve also been good if we could’ve had the keyboard technician remove the keyboard from the stage so that we had more space on stage to move around and interact. It would’ve also developed the performance if we could’ve had backing vocals to create harmonies specifically during ‘In Bloom’ along with the other songs like ‘Deadliest Catch’ and ‘Feeling good’

Overall I think the performance went really well and was very good for our first gig together and I am proud of how the gig went overall. 📷

These pictures show setting up in progress and the building of the stage. This was taken on the night of the gig at just after 4 pm.

JWJ