Tag Archive - guitar performance

Performing solo guitar at the Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver for HISCOX

May 2, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

The Bill Reid Gallery in Vancouver BC

 

Arriving in the Gallery with my cart full of gear!

Today I’m back in downtown Vancouver for a solo rumba flamenco guitar performance at the Bill Reid gallery located in Cathedral Place on Hornby street in downtown Vancouver.

I’m already at the entrance to the parkade and waiting for the clock to strike 4 pm to save $4 on my parking. So I’ll arrive in the gallery just after 4pm to begin setting up.

Once again this is a corporate performance and I have no idea who the client is. All I know is that there will be between 100 to 150 people attending.

My solo performance set up at the Gallery

The view of the gallery from my chair

The gallery was a lot bigger than I anticipated with 3 floors and a vaulted ceiling. This place was really nice and the art work created by Mr. Reid was fantastic!

I met with my onsite contact and was directed to my performance location. I used my 2 small Yamaha monitors on stands to fill both ends of the room. I also used my Behringer D212 powered monitor for my own personal monitor.

By 5pm I was all set up and ready to perform. The client arrived a little early so I began my performance a 5:20pm. I also found out HISCOX was the name of the company I was playing for.

My setup

The Bill Reid Gallery with my performance chair at the end of the room

HISCOX is an insurance company that helps to insure people and businesses with special insurance needs such as myself. As a musician it’s hard to get good insurance for my gear and instruments through the regular insurance companies.

I performed until 6:15ish then took a short 10 minute break for speeches. I even had a request for a jazz tune that I performed and was rewarded with a nice tip!

I took my second break at 7:30 pm for 15 minutes then performed for the rest of the evening until 8:30 pm.

The event

Once I was done I packed up my gear and headed to the parking garage. Unfortunately the doors to the garage elevator were locked so I had to cart my gear around the block to the main street entrance.

The event

Once I arrived at my vehicle I found a parking ticket on my windshield. The fee for parking was $30.50!! due to the fact that I hadn’t displayed my parking ticket properly on my dashboard.

Fortunately for me there was a parking attendent across from me ticketing other cars in the garage so he was able to amend my ticket to $21.50. (the regular fee)

A massive totem pole within the gallery!

Unfortunately I had to remit my payment by mail. It’s a standard practice here in Vancouver once the parking attendant has left the building to had out the mail in tickets.

Next up for me will be another corporate event Wednesday at the Five Sales Restaurant in Vancouver as a duo with Bass Guitar Slinger Brent Gubbels!

Stay Tuned…

Performing solo rumba flamenco guitar for a Flash Wedding!

April 9, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

My solo guitar setup for the Flash Wedding event

Today’s performance should be a lot of fun as I’ve been hired to play solo guitar for a flash wedding!

The event is set to begin at 7 pm so I’m planning my arrival just before 6 pm to begin setting up.

Some of the Flash Wedding guests watching the ceremony.

Ok, it’s now the morning after so last night I performed for a Flash Wedding!

This was a lot of fun as I was the only one aside from the bride and groom who knew what was about to take place.

So as I was saying… I arrived just before 6pm to get set up. It was just a solo guitar performance in a private residence so I didn’t have a lot of gear.

One thing that was very cool was that the person who was helping me set up almost had the same name as me! “John Gillette” (I get called that a lot as many people pronounce my name with that spelling)

The view from my chair before the performance as guest were beginning to arrive.

Anyways, I was set up and ready to go at 6:45pm and began playing just before 7pm as guests began to arrive. At 7:25pm all the guest were asked to join us in the main room as the host had an announcement and that was my cue to perform the wedding march. It was really cool to see everyone’s reaction and the ceremony was really nice. I performed Ave Maria for the signing of the register then an up beat Gipsy Kings song to end the wedding ceremony. And that was it! It’s a blast to be a part of a special moment.

Shortly after a little break I went back to my guitar and performed until 9pm. Then it was time to pack up and head back home.

Solo rumba flamenco guitar performance at a birthday!

March 5, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

It’s been a nice relaxing day after a very busy week! I managed to upload a bunch of new youtube video’s. Rehearsed a little guitar, walked the dogs and now it’s time to get ready for this evenings gig.

Tonight I’ll be performing solo rumba flamenco guitar for a clients birthday party at a private residence in Vancouver.
I’ll arrive at the venue at 6:30pm to set up as guests will be arriving at 7:30pm. My performance will begin at 8pmish and end around 10pmish. Basically a 2 hour call time from the time I begin.

I arrived at 6:30pm, what a nice place and really great people. I was set up by 7pm then relaxed for awhile. I began playing at 8pm as everyone had arrived.

I finished my performance at 10pm and had a bite to eat. The food was fantastic!

(btw… as a rule I never eat unless I’m invited. I’m hired to work and not paid to join the party. I think too many musicians overlook this and it can lead to a bad reputation as a corporate, guitarist for hire, working musician.)

Once I finished my break I then played for an extra half hour before packing up at 11.

For this performance I used my bose T1 mixer and 2 yamaha small pa speakers with my fender pa7500 power amp. I was the perfect sized sound system for the event.

Once again I used my Fishman Aura 16 for my guitar sound. I really love the way it’s working out with my bose t1 acting as a guitar preamp. With med compression and eq my guitar sounds fantastic! No problems with feedback.

Next up it’s time to prepare for Saturday’s big concert March 12th at the Chief Sepass Theatre with Ben Woods and the band!

Solo guitar performance at the Wishing Tree in Richmond BC

March 2, 2011 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Today I performed solo rumba flamenco in Richmond BC at the Wishing Tree. I believe the event was for the new and potential tenants is this newly built town house complex.

This was an interesting location to find. The address was located on Tomicki Ave. which I couldn’t find on Google maps. (Or in my map book)

Fortunately I had a phone number for the client. (As I usually do) Unfortunately I was unable to reach anyone on the phone. Yet fortunately, there was a message that gave me great direction to the venue. So, finding the venue was easy.

This was one of those rare gigs where I didn’t get to meet my on site contact. It was up to me to pick the best performance location.

The event and venue was really nice. I began my performance at noon and performed without a break until 2pm. There is never that much to do on a break so a lot of the time it’s nice just to sit a continue playing the guitar.

Once I finished at 2pm I was invited to have a sandwich before I packed up my gear to head home.

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