Thank you for sharing! Great report and pictures, looking forward to the video! 
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GIG REPORT
Band/Genre: The Invertants / 60s to 00s cover band
The Venue: UK Social Club / Birthday party
Gear Used: Dingwall D-Roc / BOSS ME-90B
THE SETLIST
- She Sells Sanctuary â The Cult
- Seven Nation Army â The White Stripes
- Mollyâs Chambers (Aâ) â Kings of Leon
- Rock ânâ Roll Star â Oasis
- All The Small Things â Blink-182
- Basket Case (Aâ) â Green Day
- Kids in America â Kim Wilde
- Bad Moon Rising â Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Venus â Shocking Blue
- Valerie â Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse
- Lithium (E) â Nirvana
- Common People â Pulp
- Donât Look Back in Anger â Oasis
- Get Back â The Beatles
- Twist and Shout â The Beatles
- Bohemian Like You â The Dandy Warhols
All songs in the original key, except where noted.
WINS
- This was our first paid gig. We were supporting another covers band that didnât have enough material for a 2.5 hr booking. We played an opening set of an hour.
- Given it was paid, even if the pay just about covered parking, a trip to Subway after âsound checkâ and a couple of drinks from the bar, it was paid, so I guess Iâm a professional muso now
- The gig provided more experience for the band, and more learnings (see below)
- Our guitarist didnât turn up on a checked shirt - maaaan, I hate checked shirts, especially in a stage environment. Weâre supposed to be putting on a show, not looking like an accountant, on a day off, on the way to the local supermarket for a loaf of bread
- I styled out my mistakes Specifically, I remember messing up in Lithium and also Donât Look Back in Anger, but hey, I just carried on!
- There is a run of 8th notes in the Kids in America pre-chorus. I played them and didnât screw up! Iâm actually quite proud of that one!!
- The set list worked in terms of a flow. We rehearsed a slightly different song order earlier in the week that didnât work. For the gig itself, it was fine
- I got asked if I would consider joining the other band as their bassist
CHALLENGES / LEARNINGS
There were quite a few learningsâŚ
- I clearly donât know the songs as well as I though I did. Under the pressure of the lights, I did make some mistakes, specifically on Lithium and also Donât Look Back in Anger. Drill, drill, drill, youâve got to know the songs backwards and be able to hit the required note without thinking about it!
- Now the big one. The primary band had real problems sound checking the PA before the show. They are mainly on in-ears and were using a digital mixer on a PC. They spent an hour trying to get the in-ear mix right before then looking at front of house. The trouble is that when they turned FoH on, their in-ear mix seemed to go to sh!t. Once they had finally sorted that, it was our turn to sound check, as we were on first. And guess what, we then had problems hearing ourselves through monitors, meaning they had to adjust the settings. I actually found it pretty difficult to hear myself throughout our set, probably contributing to the mistakes I made. One particularly challenging song for me was Valarie as the rhythm is syncopated. Not being able to hear yourself is a real bu66er! The problems for the âheadlineâ act were even more manifest. The FoH mix was all over the place. Sometimes it was fine, but then suddenly the vocal would fall away (they actually stopped at one point as the vocal was inaudible), or the lead guitar would drop away , or the bass would start booming. I think there are a few learnings here: 1) keep the set-up simple, 2) when using technology, make sure you know how to use that technology, and 3) if using pedals [whether a MFX pedal, or separates) make sure the output from the pre-sets or across the pedals are balanced (I think this was part of both the guitaristâs and bassistâs problems, jump on a pedal and the sound either dies or booms).
Unfortunately, I donât have any video, so hereâs a couple of pics 
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Fantastic gig report, thank you so much for sharing! I think this is so great for all of us to read, and I can really relate. Welcome to the professional muso club, by the way! Nothing screams ârockstarâ quite like a Subway sandwich and free parking. 
Also, what a killer setlist! That is a guaranteed party right there.
Great to hear that you were asked to play for the other band, that means you did great! A good sound guy is very important, and it sounds like you didnât have that. Itâs a dealbreaker for me. If we donât get a good sound guy, we donât play. Itâs one thing to have bad sound on stage, but it has to sound good for the audience. Too bad you didnât get any video, but nice pics!
Thanks again for the report, hope to see a new one soon. We are in the studio right now, so our first gig of the year is May 16th. 2x60 min sets and 70% originals! I really look forward to it, but it is nerve-wracking playing that many originals.
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Awesome report. Despite the troubles, I bet it was fun!
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WOW!! Kudos to opening with She Sells Sanctuary!!! Awesome set list 
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Awesome gig report, and those are fantastic pics!!
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Our First Gig!!!
GIG REPORT
¡ Band/Genre: AM Static / Cover Band â Classic Rock, Blues Rock, etc
¡ The Venue: The Barn of Harpers Ferry, WV
¡ Gear Used: Sire P5 > Zoom B2-Four >FOH
THE SETLIST - This was just an open mic and we played three songs
1. Laid - James
2. Hoochie Coochie Man â Eric Clapton version
3. Seven Nation Army â White Stripes
WINS
¡ This was our first time playing out. We formed in December 2025.
¡ As with most Open Mics, this was mostly Acoustic, and a lot of originals. I was a little concerned as we were the only full band. I was the only bassist in the place. But the crowd really responded to us.
¡ The sound guy was super efficient and he said we sounded amazing.
¡ The owner came up to us after and asked if we were available to play there on our own. We need more songs. We have about 70 minutes now and once we get to 2.5 hours or so, he wants to have us back.
¡ This was a very cool venue in historic Harpers Ferry. It is about an hour from my house, but totally worth it.
¡ The other musicians were so nice and welcoming.
CHALLENGES / LESSONS
¡ We were limited in what songs we could play because it wasnât a full drum kit. Our drummer has this pretty cool stand-up mini kit that worked well for these songs. I know it looks like she is sitting downâŚlol
¡ A lot of people (including the owner) came up and asked us about our socials, website, etc. We have nothing. So, now we need to figure that out. Any tips would be really appreciated. Basically, how do we go from a group jamming together, to a real band.
¡ The guitar player and I need to work on our stage presence. LOL
VIDEO LINK
Here is the full unedited 3 song set. This is our temporary youtube page and has some of our rehearsal tunes there. I put timestamps in the description. Thanks for listening and open to any feedback.
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great job, you all looked like you were having fun. Youâre halfway to a setlist, keep going!
A website is nice, but facebook, youtube, and instagram are going to get far more hits than a website. post lots of shorts, as they get better traction in the algorithm than full length videos as a general rule. Also when you have an upcoming gig, its a good idea to pay some money to get more eyes on you. In other words boost your posts. Its fairly inexpensive $10-20 usd will get you a few hundred views and if 1-2 xtra people come out its worth it. Have friends and family share your posts as well.
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Awesome advice. Thanks a lot.
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Huge congrats on your first gig! Thatâs an amazing win getting asked back for a full night by the owner right awayâthat says everything about your performance. Thanks for sharing the video, really enjoyed it!
Iâve followed you on YouTube with both my personal account and my bandâs, so your numbers are slowly growing, hehe. I second @fishmongerjoeâs advice on starting with social media, but I also like a good, dedicated band site!
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Thanks, Johnnyb. I followed you back. Weâll keep working on the online stuff. Our singer is an IT guy, so he should be able to figure it out.
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I guess this goes here - had my first âgigâ of a sort this past weekend. Took a pause from Module 13 and I did a thing this past weekend where I was matched up with other folks who Iâd never met - Ladies Rock if youâre curious
We had to WRITE a song, learn it, and then perform it at a public showcase Sunday night, after basically 7 hours total together. It was crazy but it worked!
And testament to the Bassbuzz course, because despite the fact that I havenât finished it I got several âyouâve obviously been doing this a whileâ from some people there and was even used as a technique example by one of the instrument instructors. Also Joshâs introduction to chord progressions was helpful when trying to decide what to do for our song.
Here are some photos. The last one is all blurry because itâs a photo of a quick printout from rehearsal but nonetheless it might be my favorite picture anyoneâs ever taken of me.
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That is Super Cool. Congratulations!
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Great work, writing and performing a song in just 7 hours is impressive! Keep it up!
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It was definitely a challenge especially given the varying levels of experience in our group. But it demystified the process and made me feel like I could probably do it again.
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Super cool! Love hearing stories like this. And that pic is 
!
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Doea anyone play Wild Flower(The Cult)? I think it would make a nice opener.
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Cool tune. Never tried to play it. I also think this would be a good place to discuss songs to add to setlists, order of songs, etc.
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Wow! Congratulations! It must have been an awesome experience! I love the pictures!
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awesome thread ! 
very good to see, and inspiring..
only spotted this thread today, but its a real good one
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