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The Bandshop Guide to a Hassle Free Gig!

If you perform your music live, there is always the possibility of gremlins creeping in and ruining a fantastic show. A bit of foresight and preparation beforehand can prevent any interruption to your performance and give you and your audience a trouble free and brilliant gig! Here are a few simple things you can take to your gig to avoid any embarrassing interruptions to your performance:

1. Guitar strings - make sure you have a spare set. Even better, have another guitar set up and ready to go, as it will avoid any tense breaks in the show whilst your guitar strings are replaced! Bass players also need to carry spare bass strings, as they can break! I speak from personal experience - I was left playing a 3 string bass after my E string broke. I had neglected to pack a spare set of bass strings!

2. Make sure you have a collection of spare cables and connectors. Work out what leads you use to connect all your backline and PA equipment and make sure you have spares for the essential connections, such as microphone cables or guitar leads. Adapter connectors (XLR-Jack, for example) are also very useful. If you use them, make sure you have plenty of MIDI cables - you'd be surprised at how many times I've been asked to 'lend' a MIDI cable to other bands on the bill!

3. Carry a basic tool kit with you - pliers and screwdrivers are essential, but don't forget a drum key and a string peg puller! Learn how to use a soldering iron and take it with you - it will save your gig one day!

4. Batteries - always carry a healthy stock of all the batteries you use and make sure that each guitar, radio microphone or effects pedal has a battery that will last the gig - you do not want to be fumbling around mid-song to change a flat battery.

5. To alleviate health and safety risks and to give a professional appearance to both the audience and the venue, good quality guitar stands and music stands are a must. Robust and stable guitar stands and music stands will also provide security and protection for your valuable instruments on stage. Hercules Stands have a great range of high quality guitar stands and music stands.

6. If you use backing tracks, bring along backups of all the media files or discs. For the ultimate backup, put your backing tracks onto an mp3 player (or even your mobile phone!) so that you can play them back through the PA if necessary. If you use a click track, record the tracks with the click to one side and the backing track to the other, so that they can be separated on the PA mixing desk. I used to use a minidisc player for this and it got me out of trouble on more than one occasion!

Hopefully, this is all too obvious to you, but a reminder never does any harm! It is easy to forget the basics when you are focussed on other things. But it is the attention to detail that will make it a great performance for you and a fantastic gig for your audience!

Graham Burton has been a performing bass player and singer for over thirty years. Graham also helps run the Bandshop online music accessory store - a fantastic resource for bands, musicians and performing artists. Visit Bandshop today to see a full range of guitar stands, microphone stands and music stands, as well as guitar strings, effects pedals and music accessories.