Tag Archive - venue

Playing guitar at the local liquor store

June 5, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Believe it or not, I’m playing at the local liquor store. Today however, I’ll be playing inside with my guitar case closed.

I don’t always know who has hired me as many of the corporate events that come from agents and once in a while the only info I have is where and when.

So today I’m playing at the Signature Liquor Store in Vancouver from 3 pm to 6 pm. I believe the event is part of a Spanish wine festival and the client that hired me is the same that hired me for my performance a couple of weeks ago in Gastown at the Salt Tasting Room in Blood Alley Square.

You can read about my performance at the Salt Tasting room in a previous blog post.

I arrived at 2 pm to find my location within the venue and to get set up. I began my performance at 3 pm and 2 songs into my performance it was decided that my predetermined location just wasn’t going to work. I was blocking a lot of traffic so we decided to move me to a better location.

This kind of thing does happen once in a while and it’s no big deal. It’s all part of the job and the job description for me is “whatever it takes to keep the client smiling and to have a successful event” fortunately on this occasion the move was quick and easy.

So back to my guitar performance…

I played for an hour and 30 minutes. Then took a 15 minute break and played for another hour and 15 minutes to the end of the event. Everyone really enjoyed the music and I handed out a bunch of cards from the agent.

I was invited to enjoy a quick drink then it was time to hit the road and head home. Another successful event. I have tomorrow off then it’s back up to Whistler to perform with Gabriel Mark Hasselbach in a group called Zen Soundscapes.

Performing at the new Vancouver Convention Centre

June 3, 2010 in John Gilliat "Playing the Guitar" with 0 Comments

Today I’ll be playing solo guitar at the new Vancouver Convention Centre. It’s fantastic, beautiful warm sunny day! So much nicer than. yesterdays rain out. I’ve arrived at 4pm to set up for a 6:15 start and I’ll play straight through until 7:45pm.

I’m using my 4 speaker sound system and it should be an interesting load in. I’ll enter throught the main doors, go up to the 2nd floor by the main elevator. Then down a long service hall to the other end of the building to the service elevator. Then up the service elevator to the 3rd floor then walk another 15 feet to my performance location.

BTW… My 1.5 hour performance will cost me $23.00 in parking! It’s not cheap living in this beautiful city.

The event I was playing was called YPO X-Men. YPO stands for Young Presidents Organization and I believe this group consists of some of the most affluent people in the city.

The venue is amazing with a spectacular view of Vancouver’s waterfront. The convention center itself was constructed on pillars out over the water.

I arrived in the small ballroom to meet my agent and to find my performance location. I was to be playing in the foyer in front of the massive glass waterfront windows facing the ballroom entrance. Once I was finished the group would enter the ballroom and the Famous Players band would take it from there.

Once I was finished I went back to my green room to enjoy a cup of coffee and sneak a listen to the Famous Players. They’re a fantastic local band that has been in Vancouver for many years and the guitar player was great!

After my coffee it was time to pack up and get back home.

Performing in Whistler at the Squamish Cultural Center

May 22, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Today I’m playing in Whistler, BC. We’ll be performing as a trio with Lyndon Dewitt on percussion and Andre Stepanian on guitar. The venue is the Squamish Cultural Center and the client is CVS Caremark.

This is a big event to play as I will be performing solo guitar from 6:30pm to 7:30pm in the Iskten Hall on the lower level and the from 7:30 to 9:30pm I’ll perform with my rumba flamenco latin jazz trio upstairs in th Great Hall.

I’ll have to bring 2 sound systems. My smaller PA will be used in Iskten Hall for my solo guitar performance and my larger PA for the trio upstairs.

Whistler is a 2.5 hour drive from my place so I’ll be leaving at noon to pick up Lyndon and begin our trip. Andre will meet us in Whistler as he is working earlier in the day and doesn’t need to arrive until 6:30pm for his performance with us at 7:30.

Preparing for the gig…

I’m up early because I have to ensure I have everything needed to run 2 PA systems including a microphone for client speeches, performance contracts, cheques for musicians, client contact numbers, and a cd player to play background music for our breaks. There are a lots of little but very important details that can’t be missed. Then I’ll iron my clothes and pack up the truck.

Now it’s off to Whistler BC…

Half way to Whistler Lyndon and I stopped for lunch at a small town called Squamish. One would think the Squamish Cultural Center we’re playing would be located here but no, it’s in Whistler.

Ok, this doesn’t happen every day however, I watched a black bear eating grass across the street from our venue. How cool was that! I’m now setup for my first performance and heading upstairs to setup for the trio.

Once everything was all setup up for the trio, I had time for a very quick sound check then I had to rush to the lower level to play for the reception. At 7:30 I had a 15 min break to get back upstairs to the Great Hall to prepare for the trio performance.

We began playing at 8:45pm until 9:45 (with a short break in between). Once we were done, it was time to tear down the PA on the lower level, then upstairs to pack up the PA in the Great Hall once the client left. Once again the client enjoyed our performance and it was time to head home.

We left Whistler at 11pm and I arrive home at 1:30am to unpack the truck and jump in bed. I’ll be returning back to Whistler June 7th to perform with Gabriel Mark Hasselbach in Zen Dreamscapes.

Performing at Banana Republic

May 18, 2010 in Behind the scene at the Gigs with 0 Comments

Today I’m performing at Banana Republic. Sounds like a very exotic location! The Banana Republic is a wonderful clothing store and I’ll be playing for sepecial after hours in store event at their Park Royal North location in West Vancouver, BC.

I arrived on location very early to find out my location within the venue and to decide how to best fill the room to create the right ambiance for the event. I’m going to place my PA speakers in three of the rooms to spread the sound throughout the venue at a nice ambient level.

Now it’s time to head back to my vehicle to get the gear and start setting up. I’ll be playing my fiery Rumba Flamenco Latin Jazz guitar as a soloist for this evenings event.

The event went very well, everyone really enjoyed my music and I would like to add that the manager and staff were wonderful. I had a nice meal on my break and even received a gift bag to take with me. I also had an opportunity to say hi to a few others that I had worked with in past events that just happened to come out to shop at the Banana Republic event. This is a very popular clothing store!

Tomorrow I’ll have the day off to teach then I’ll be performing at a lunch in event the following day for the Painters Union District Council of BC. Then I’ll rush home to teach a few more guitar students. It’s a busy schedule and I love it!

Page 9 of 10« First...«678910»
lite 1.4email listsadd sitesubmit website