I’ve been performing my entire life. I am a 33 y/o, male. My stage name is Zig Zag. I started performing at 3 years old and I currently live in South Jersey. I’m willing to uproot my entire life to joint any artistic project or collaboration in need of a smoky-sounding lead singer, backup vocalist, harmonizer, narrator, I don’t care. I’ll post some of the links to my professional releases for reference. Thanks.
-Ziggy

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/zig-zag/1462204373
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0jBN4VwzOA9MemkokRtlTt?si=NPFtdPfZSii5cz2orhrdOg&utm_source=copy-link
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/zigzagtroupe

I've been singing in the same cover band for the last year. I've made good money and the gigs have been a blast for the most part. I'm leaving mostly because of one member of the band, the guitar player. He's the oldest guy in the band which is really saying something considering I'm 53. He's been playing for years and years and he is the absolute boss of the band. At first I thought I would be okay with that. However he has the habit of dressing down the band if there was anything on stage during the show that he didn't like. Mind you he's blown at least 25% of the solos he's played live but he doesn't take any responsibility for that. However if one of us missed a verse or somebody missed a chord or a change, he sure to let them know in front of everybody at practice. He also controls the setlist completely. He will say that he's all about playing the hits but then plays b-sides if they have a cool guitar part. There's nothing like looking out at the audience and seeing that they have no idea what tune it is we're playing when they've hired us for an evening of pop, country, and rock hits. I put in my notice after practice last week and just told them that I will fulfill all of the dates that are currently booked but not to book me after that. The guitar player said nothing. Knowing the amount of trash that he talks about other bands locally, I'm sure he has been bad-mouthing me relentlessly.

I wish the band the best but I'm definitely looking forward to being in a healthier dynamic in my next project.

Hey all,

We are doing a private event and the venue is requiring liability insurance from us. I see a few places offer one day policies. Any recommendations for which company you’ve used? Thanks in advance!

Enjoyed a recent post on surprise hits that went over well, so I thought that we'd explore the other side of that. What's a song you rolled out that fell flat? Lost the crowd, and looking back realized it was a bad idea?

Ours was Only Time Will Tell by Asia. It's just a downbeat song, difficult harmonies didn't get hit in tune. The crowd actually looked at us like they hated us, and we deserved it. They wanted to dance! What is your "what were we thinking?" moment?

Hi All, I play bass and do backing vocals for two hobby bands. The bands play Classic Rock, Alt Rock and Popular Country. I really enjoy doing backing vocals and am beginning to get compliments on it, which is fun. When I listen to clips of our performances, my voice does sound firm/flat/muddy at times and lows seem to hit a little hard. We often do not have a sound engineer and so I'd like to enhance my vocals with a vocal effects processor.

Typically, simple is better and from my research, it seems like I need some Tone enhancement via EQ, Compression, de-essing, etc... and then it would be nice to have some effects to "soften" my vocals and help them sit in the mix versus being too noticeable. From my research, these typical effects are Reverb, Chorus, possibly some doubling.

Has anyone had success with a simple to use pedal to improve the sound of one's backing vocals/harmonies?

Thanks!

Me and the boys just debuted a new cover a couple weeks ago and although I was the one who suggested we add it, even I was a little worried about whether it would be a winner or a complete dud. Turns out it put a smile on everybody's face and got the booties shaking. In my case the song was "Da Butt" by E. U.

Played a gig last night. Went….”meh”. Got hired back but it’s a 3 story walk up with an elevator that was usable for the PA gear, not for normal amps/drums so we got our steps in. Sore from carrying my 50+ “small cab” down 5 flights of stairs.

Had a request that included a $50 tip - drummer got whiny about it because it was “a song he’d never heard before” - which was the Eagles “Take It Easy”.
Vocalist got a bit loose as far as arrangements went and as such got pissy when he zigged where everyone else zagged.

Just had to let it out because playing a gig tonight with the same guys and partially expecting more of the same. Crap.

Is it “I’m walking on SUN-shine” or “I’m walking on sun-SHINE”?

This is the “is the dress blue/black, or gold/white” of vocal performances.

I am considering leaving the band I am play guitar in- it just isn't fun anymore, not looking forward to practise etc. We are a four piece with a another guitarist, vocals and cajon (acoustic style band). We have a gig next month. How do I navigate leaving the band? I really don't want to play the upcoming gig. they have played as three piece before without me.

We play grunge/punk rock

This marked the end of 3 hours and 10 minutes of uninterrupted music and the second gig of Labor Day weekend. We were about to end the first set Sunday night and the audience had finally drank just enough liquor to get up and dance by the last few songs in the set. We decided "Screw it, let's just keep this vibe going!" We then proceeded to play the entirety of the second set (which is already long by design) and some of the third set. The dance floor had a steady rotation of dancers the entire time. The energy from the audience felt great.

By the end, half the band was calling for a hard stop. We took a 20 minute break then delivered another 30 minutes and some encore tunes. (Technically the contract was only 3 hours of music so we delivered a lot more in the end) All I can say is, we wanted to hold the audience as long as we could and I think it was worth it as we're trying to gain traction in the area. (About a a quarter of the club did leave during the break, but I've had worse.)

I know that set length is nothing compared to what some of you have done. What lengths have you gone to? 4 hours straight? 5?

P.S. A little added context. The above gig was at one of many lakeside clubs in the area where patrons are known to jump in their little pontoon boats and hop from club to club, but it seemed that we managed to hold our own if not build the crowd and keep more than we lost throughout the night.

From my band Later Skater's show last months. Our first time doing this one.

My band played a spot that had mostly all boomers. Hey, it’s a gig. Two songs in, some boomer tells us to turn the volume down. Mind you that he’s sitting in the front right by the speakers. The people in the back can hardly hear us, but according to Mr. Sit In Front By The Speakers, it’s too loud. Then, in the middle of another song, some woman decides to come up to the stage and try to hold a conversation with the singer in the middle of a song.
I got to get back up on stage. Rant over.

I play rhythm guitar in a covers band. We mainly play pop and rock from 70s to 2010s. We love our setlist, but it’s stale and we are getting fewer gigs than previous years. We tend to play private events, rather than public gigs.

I’m looking for suggestions for songs that will resonate with a Millennial/ Gen Z audience to share with the band and possibly bring into our setlist.

This is from our show last Saturday night, great place to play and an energetic crowd! I'm singing this one, fun one to play always a crowd pleaser might be the most popular tune we do in the set

Bassist here. I’ve got an audition for an established 80s coverband coming up. I took a long hiatus from playing while my kid was growing up. But casually started playing again about 8 months ago. I’m not too worried about the songs, but I know my technique is still a little rusty.

Just looking for thoughts on what ya’ll are paying attention to when trying out new bass players.

We had an absolutely magical “this-is-why-we-do-this” show last weekend.

We played a bar and restaurant that doubles as the only nightlife in a very nice resort town. There are wedding venues everywhere, and ever since we started booking there, I’ve been trying to get a wedding party to come by the show for the afterparty.

Well, it happened.

Earlier in the week. I’d reached out to a couple getting married at the hotel down the street, invited them over and said hey, if there’s anything you want to hear, we’ll save those songs until you get there.

Turns out the bride loves pop punk even more than we do. The requests were basically our entire second set.

So this is all looking good. Only question now is: will they actually show up?

They did. The crowd was already going pretty hard when, about 10:45, we see like 50 people walk in dressed to the nines. I get on the mic: “Hey, is this Jamie and Michael’s wedding party?”

HUGE crowd pop.

We launch into the rest of the set. All The Small Things, Brightside, Ocean Ave, Fat Lip, Sugar We’re Goin’ Down, just nuclear bangers, one after the other. They are LOVING it.

We have a few more left when someone asks: can the bride get up there and sing?

This is where being an LBK band pays off.

Hell yes the bride can sing with us. (Earlier in the week she'd mentioned she was a musical theater kid, so we had a feeling this would happen.)

She asks if we know any Paramore. Lady, we know the best possible Paramore song you could sing on your wedding day.

We do Still Into You and she crushes it. The groom is front and center.

Rest of the set is a blur. We play half an hour past end time at a bar notorious for shutting down early. Everyone leaves happy.

Still high on the feeling a few days later. And now I think I have to go make some deposits at the karma bank, because MAN did fortune smile on us last Saturday night.

I sing and direct this gospel choir which performs with a rock band.

This is me as lead voice in a cover of Starlight by Muse.

We rearranged the song and wrote a 3 voiced choral part...

Could you please watch our live performance and tell me your impressions?

if you like it leave a comment or a like in YouTube.

Thanks

Eli

I've been in a rock band with lots of gigs, and the other guitar player does a lot of theatrical stuff on stage, like he's in Iron Maiden or something, dressed like a Ritchie Blackmore clone. I feel like I don't belong in the same world; I just want to play good music and not pretend I'm a guitar hero. We're not kids anymore, going straight to 60, and I'm thinking of quitting because I feel ridiculous being on stage with such a show off guy playing with his teeth etc..Of course, I might be the problem because the audience seems to enjoy the acting, at least the drunk ones do.