My first ever gig on my own!!!
It was in Roubaix (north of France) this saturday, the 5th of May at the ARA-301!!!
First things first
I had put some "post-it" reminder that I shouldn't forget to put my guitar in her flight-case before leaving my place. And then there I was, in the metro, thinking "oh dear, I really should have left earlier, I'll never make it on time for the train!!!"
But I did get there on time.
Then, the one hour train journey, helping a little girl with her maths exercises... aparently she learns to play the violin, but I have no idea how old she was. I gave her a demo cd before leaving the train. You never know!
On my way to the festival
So yeah, I had been invited to be lining up for a festival called Roubaix Goes Rock by a band called "Winona", Roubaix being close to Belgium and Lille. I was picked up in one of the last belgian train stations before the french border (Tournai), which tremendously cut down the price of my journey, in time and money!
I was picked up by one of the artists playing that same night: Pierre-Elie from the band TANK. A very friendly chap with whom I'm most certainly considering musical collaboration. He gave me some information about the city we were gonna play and the kind of people I was gonna meet there. I immediately felt like I was amongst good old friends, and thus I felt very comfortable.
Once there
As I got there and had been introduced to the other bands, I was showed around the facilities, and the backstage: it was really like what you see on MTV, NO KIDDING!!! You know, like a place with huge sofas, drinks, crisps, sweets and all! We (=the artists) went on getting to know each other, trying our instruments (my baritone ukulele had quite some succes, as nobody seemed to have played or held one before).
The sound check
Well yeah, obviously... Except I was the last one who was gonna be doing it, so I had plenty of time to enjoy the bands before me, and I could exclusively hear the band "Winona" 's first time with strings on stage. I knew one of the songs without them, so I could tell the difference, and how BLOODY GREAT the new version sounds!!!
Eventually, it was my turn: it was gonna be my first sound check for the first gig where I'd be singing and playing on my own, to an audience who "knew" who I was and had come to see me (well, they had paid to be there) and with my brand new guitar: Mäge ("seagull" in danish). Many firsts, as you can see. I didn't go to Roubaix without any preparation, so the day before I'd done a short rehearsal with Tony Fotheringham (the guy who had me singing one of my songs in a bar for the first time EVER last october) and he'd taught me how to actually sing into a microphone, and how to place it according to the way I sing and play. And after meeting with Tony, I went to get my guitar at Ben's Guitar Repair Shop, my luthier, where I'd left her to be re-stringed and be checked up. While I was there, he plugged her to teach me how to use the different functionalities of the inner microphone and things I had to keep in mind during a gig/sound check, like telling before I do it that I'm gonna plug or unplug, and the kind of things a sound engineer might be asking me, what it technically ment, etc. But when I was doing the sound check, I didn't have to tell any of it: the sound engineer, put the microphone in the exact same position as Tony had, and my guitar was plugged directly to the sound table, as was my voice. That way, he could put some effects on them, and he also did that instinctively, and in a very great way! He programed several chorus styles which he then used during my set. Well, that's what I think he did.
The set
It had been organised for me to be able to sing and play sitting, and not standing, which was ideal for me. I started with a song on the ukulele. The one entitled "LGIBD" aka "Little Girl In A Black Dress", a song dedicated to Charlene, the girl I went to Scotland with, last summer. And the audience was standing listening to me. I was thinking "when I'm done with this song, I should tell them to feel free and sit down on the floor", but when the song was finished and I looked at the audience again, they were already doing so! It made me feel even more comfortable! And they were so quiet during the songs!!! They were actually listening to me, and very respectfully! I got a comment on my MySpace, from the sound engineer, that the atmosphere during my set was enchanting, very hippie with everybody sitting, fascinated, in cercles and an ambiance of fraternity (=rough translation here) :o)
This must be the best way I could hope my first ever gig would go!!!
Before I knew it, fourty minutes had passed and I was done singing... But the festival wasn't finished yet, with two more gigs, including Winona's.
How it went on
As usual, I had my camera with me and I tried to take pictures of all the bands who were playing in order to send them afterwards... Dunno if any are good since I haven't had my films processed yet.
The thing is, I was in audience-girl-taking-pictures-mode and I was suprised when people would come to me and congratulate me on my set, telling me how they liked it, how it was impressive considering I was simply playing and singing on my own *aaaaaow*
The Letter
That night was also the opportunity to meet several of the friends I'd made on MySpace, and particularly a guy called Patrice, who told me, like the day before, how much he liked one of my songs, the one entitled "The Letter", and that he'd done some guitar improvisation on it. He eventually sent me the recording and it sounds absolutely awesome!!!! It was a real pleasure to meet him that night and I really hope I can collaborate with him on my "Amused" project. But that's not the only surprise that particular song had for me: a member of Winona let me hear that song of mine... on his mobile phone!!! That someone actually has my song on his mobile phone which is like, AWESOME! And apparently I've been told it's a nice "smooth wake up tune" to use in the morning! Ha!!! It makes me smile in a silly way whenever I think of it :o)
The down part of this: I hadn't planned to play it that night, especially since I need a special "open tuned" guitar to play it, and I hadn't taken it with me... Oh well... Next time ;o)
The other bands playing that night
It was quite a top quality night!!! And I'm not telling that because I was one of them artist scheduled ;o)
First, there was the very talented Sim#6. It takes somebody to see him preform live to realise how great his work is. What you hear on his profile wasn't made like during a mix of several tracks recorded at different times. No, he does it all live with a looping station, playing keyboard and guitar as well as singing!
Then, I saw The Skyscrapers. Three fairly young boys (I think one of them is 15!) and they completely blew away the audience!!! I'd seen them during the sound check, which was already impressive, but oh waow!!! They should go far, especially considering their young age and all!!! While they were playing, I felt like I was at the Nambucca in London!
Third on the bill: TANK. Unfortunately, their set was during my final soundcheck and when I had to prepare for my set, so I only got to see them play one song before I had to go back to the stage where I was gonna play. TANK offers the best of what I'd call "darker contemporary New Wave". I really liked it a lot. The funny thing is to see how different the two members are, and it's most certainly the key to their succes and talent! I'm looking forward to be making songs with them!!!
After Tank came S.E.I.K. aka SEXUAL ERTHQUAKE IN KOBE: they were absolutely AWESOME (I seem to use that word a lot)!!! In french, I'd say "Ils déchirent". They had so much energy, it's incredible!!! Too bad I couldn't see their set from the beginning, but I was clearing the stage I had just been playing on... Luckily I didn't miss all of it and I took some pictures too.
Last but not least: WINONA! I really love their music, even more after I'd seen them perform in Brussels about a year ago. It was such a pleasure to see them play again, and in much better conditions than last time (see my post on the matter). I could really tell they had tremendously improved since I saw them, especially the singer's voice: he seems more daring at using it now, compared to when I'd first seen them and on the recordings. I was really impressed!!! And the last three songs had a string trio playing on it!!! It sounded just so WAOW!!! I know they've had it filmed, and I hope they'll rip the sound and send it to me. I just LUUUUUUUUUVVVVVV it so much!!!
After party
Well, after the festival was "done" we hung around until close to 3am before heading to the place where I'd be spending the night. Sleeping in a most friendly place after such a friendly and warm hearted festival day was the best full stop I could think of to conclude that wonderful day.
Thank Youzzz
I really wish to thank Alex from Winona, for thinking about me for that festival, and actually putting me on the bill FOR REALZ!!! And to all the members of Winona in general, and Johan and Marie in particular: thank for the very nice bedroom and the most delicious jams and tea the next day :o)
Thanks to Pierre-Elie for picking me up in Tournai, and waiting for me for 20 minutes in the train station, while I was waiting for him outside LOL! And also for the guided tour of Roubaix, both historically and culturally! Thanks to Cedric for the drinks and funny stories ;o)
Thank you soooooooooo very much to the whole team working at the 301: the funny guy grilling the merguez (nice shirt LOL), those working at the BAR LIVE (erm, no I really don't feel like trying the moka-cinnamon tea, thanks, I'll have a Bacardi Breezer, please) and most of all, the sound engineers for making it possible for me to hear myself so well I wouldn't sing out of tune... Well, maybe not all the time but during most of the set, ha!
A huge thank you to all those anonymous boys and girls who came to me after my set and told me how they liked it... I'm still finding it hard THAT actually happened too...
Thanks to those who couldn't be there but sent me messages on the net and on my mobile, to wish me luck and send me love...
Hope I'll get to repeat this kind of moments very soon!
First things first
I had put some "post-it" reminder that I shouldn't forget to put my guitar in her flight-case before leaving my place. And then there I was, in the metro, thinking "oh dear, I really should have left earlier, I'll never make it on time for the train!!!"
But I did get there on time.
Then, the one hour train journey, helping a little girl with her maths exercises... aparently she learns to play the violin, but I have no idea how old she was. I gave her a demo cd before leaving the train. You never know!
On my way to the festival
So yeah, I had been invited to be lining up for a festival called Roubaix Goes Rock by a band called "Winona", Roubaix being close to Belgium and Lille. I was picked up in one of the last belgian train stations before the french border (Tournai), which tremendously cut down the price of my journey, in time and money!
I was picked up by one of the artists playing that same night: Pierre-Elie from the band TANK. A very friendly chap with whom I'm most certainly considering musical collaboration. He gave me some information about the city we were gonna play and the kind of people I was gonna meet there. I immediately felt like I was amongst good old friends, and thus I felt very comfortable.
Once there
As I got there and had been introduced to the other bands, I was showed around the facilities, and the backstage: it was really like what you see on MTV, NO KIDDING!!! You know, like a place with huge sofas, drinks, crisps, sweets and all! We (=the artists) went on getting to know each other, trying our instruments (my baritone ukulele had quite some succes, as nobody seemed to have played or held one before).
The sound check
Well yeah, obviously... Except I was the last one who was gonna be doing it, so I had plenty of time to enjoy the bands before me, and I could exclusively hear the band "Winona" 's first time with strings on stage. I knew one of the songs without them, so I could tell the difference, and how BLOODY GREAT the new version sounds!!!
Eventually, it was my turn: it was gonna be my first sound check for the first gig where I'd be singing and playing on my own, to an audience who "knew" who I was and had come to see me (well, they had paid to be there) and with my brand new guitar: Mäge ("seagull" in danish). Many firsts, as you can see. I didn't go to Roubaix without any preparation, so the day before I'd done a short rehearsal with Tony Fotheringham (the guy who had me singing one of my songs in a bar for the first time EVER last october) and he'd taught me how to actually sing into a microphone, and how to place it according to the way I sing and play. And after meeting with Tony, I went to get my guitar at Ben's Guitar Repair Shop, my luthier, where I'd left her to be re-stringed and be checked up. While I was there, he plugged her to teach me how to use the different functionalities of the inner microphone and things I had to keep in mind during a gig/sound check, like telling before I do it that I'm gonna plug or unplug, and the kind of things a sound engineer might be asking me, what it technically ment, etc. But when I was doing the sound check, I didn't have to tell any of it: the sound engineer, put the microphone in the exact same position as Tony had, and my guitar was plugged directly to the sound table, as was my voice. That way, he could put some effects on them, and he also did that instinctively, and in a very great way! He programed several chorus styles which he then used during my set. Well, that's what I think he did.
The set
It had been organised for me to be able to sing and play sitting, and not standing, which was ideal for me. I started with a song on the ukulele. The one entitled "LGIBD" aka "Little Girl In A Black Dress", a song dedicated to Charlene, the girl I went to Scotland with, last summer. And the audience was standing listening to me. I was thinking "when I'm done with this song, I should tell them to feel free and sit down on the floor", but when the song was finished and I looked at the audience again, they were already doing so! It made me feel even more comfortable! And they were so quiet during the songs!!! They were actually listening to me, and very respectfully! I got a comment on my MySpace, from the sound engineer, that the atmosphere during my set was enchanting, very hippie with everybody sitting, fascinated, in cercles and an ambiance of fraternity (=rough translation here) :o)
This must be the best way I could hope my first ever gig would go!!!
Before I knew it, fourty minutes had passed and I was done singing... But the festival wasn't finished yet, with two more gigs, including Winona's.
How it went on
As usual, I had my camera with me and I tried to take pictures of all the bands who were playing in order to send them afterwards... Dunno if any are good since I haven't had my films processed yet.
The thing is, I was in audience-girl-taking-pictures-mode and I was suprised when people would come to me and congratulate me on my set, telling me how they liked it, how it was impressive considering I was simply playing and singing on my own *aaaaaow*
The Letter
That night was also the opportunity to meet several of the friends I'd made on MySpace, and particularly a guy called Patrice, who told me, like the day before, how much he liked one of my songs, the one entitled "The Letter", and that he'd done some guitar improvisation on it. He eventually sent me the recording and it sounds absolutely awesome!!!! It was a real pleasure to meet him that night and I really hope I can collaborate with him on my "Amused" project. But that's not the only surprise that particular song had for me: a member of Winona let me hear that song of mine... on his mobile phone!!! That someone actually has my song on his mobile phone which is like, AWESOME! And apparently I've been told it's a nice "smooth wake up tune" to use in the morning! Ha!!! It makes me smile in a silly way whenever I think of it :o)
The down part of this: I hadn't planned to play it that night, especially since I need a special "open tuned" guitar to play it, and I hadn't taken it with me... Oh well... Next time ;o)
The other bands playing that night
It was quite a top quality night!!! And I'm not telling that because I was one of them artist scheduled ;o)
First, there was the very talented Sim#6. It takes somebody to see him preform live to realise how great his work is. What you hear on his profile wasn't made like during a mix of several tracks recorded at different times. No, he does it all live with a looping station, playing keyboard and guitar as well as singing!
Then, I saw The Skyscrapers. Three fairly young boys (I think one of them is 15!) and they completely blew away the audience!!! I'd seen them during the sound check, which was already impressive, but oh waow!!! They should go far, especially considering their young age and all!!! While they were playing, I felt like I was at the Nambucca in London!
Third on the bill: TANK. Unfortunately, their set was during my final soundcheck and when I had to prepare for my set, so I only got to see them play one song before I had to go back to the stage where I was gonna play. TANK offers the best of what I'd call "darker contemporary New Wave". I really liked it a lot. The funny thing is to see how different the two members are, and it's most certainly the key to their succes and talent! I'm looking forward to be making songs with them!!!
After Tank came S.E.I.K. aka SEXUAL ERTHQUAKE IN KOBE: they were absolutely AWESOME (I seem to use that word a lot)!!! In french, I'd say "Ils déchirent". They had so much energy, it's incredible!!! Too bad I couldn't see their set from the beginning, but I was clearing the stage I had just been playing on... Luckily I didn't miss all of it and I took some pictures too.
Last but not least: WINONA! I really love their music, even more after I'd seen them perform in Brussels about a year ago. It was such a pleasure to see them play again, and in much better conditions than last time (see my post on the matter). I could really tell they had tremendously improved since I saw them, especially the singer's voice: he seems more daring at using it now, compared to when I'd first seen them and on the recordings. I was really impressed!!! And the last three songs had a string trio playing on it!!! It sounded just so WAOW!!! I know they've had it filmed, and I hope they'll rip the sound and send it to me. I just LUUUUUUUUUVVVVVV it so much!!!
After party
Well, after the festival was "done" we hung around until close to 3am before heading to the place where I'd be spending the night. Sleeping in a most friendly place after such a friendly and warm hearted festival day was the best full stop I could think of to conclude that wonderful day.
Thank Youzzz
I really wish to thank Alex from Winona, for thinking about me for that festival, and actually putting me on the bill FOR REALZ!!! And to all the members of Winona in general, and Johan and Marie in particular: thank for the very nice bedroom and the most delicious jams and tea the next day :o)
Thanks to Pierre-Elie for picking me up in Tournai, and waiting for me for 20 minutes in the train station, while I was waiting for him outside LOL! And also for the guided tour of Roubaix, both historically and culturally! Thanks to Cedric for the drinks and funny stories ;o)
Thank you soooooooooo very much to the whole team working at the 301: the funny guy grilling the merguez (nice shirt LOL), those working at the BAR LIVE (erm, no I really don't feel like trying the moka-cinnamon tea, thanks, I'll have a Bacardi Breezer, please) and most of all, the sound engineers for making it possible for me to hear myself so well I wouldn't sing out of tune... Well, maybe not all the time but during most of the set, ha!
A huge thank you to all those anonymous boys and girls who came to me after my set and told me how they liked it... I'm still finding it hard THAT actually happened too...
Thanks to those who couldn't be there but sent me messages on the net and on my mobile, to wish me luck and send me love...
Hope I'll get to repeat this kind of moments very soon!