What is the biggest audience you ever played for?

[hunter]

My biggest audience ever was in the early 90s, we played two times a local open air with around 3,000 people attending. Pretty awesome how short a 20ft cable can suddenly be when the stage is that big :O)

In terms of fun it was not that great, as there was a lot of pressure and obviously bad monitor sound. Guess today with my (life) experience I could enjoy that much more...

People liked it though, as they asked us to play again 2 years after the first one.

What was your biggest concert?
How was it?
Did you like it?
Did people like it?

[PhilKing]

In the early 70's while I was touring Germany with the band I was playing in (doing cover songs), we played a 4th of July outdoor show on the US Army-Airforce base in Heilbronn, but I don't know the size of the crowd, though I do know it was in the thousands.  The problem with the big outdoor gigs is that the sound dissipates really quickly.  I did something in Leeds in the mid-70's at Hyde Park (the other Hyde Park!!), and we had the same problem, in spite of having a 1,000 watt per side PA (that was a lot in those days!!).  Mind you the crowd for that wasn't anywhere near as big as the Heilbronn gig!

[gwEm]

What was your biggest concert?

I'm not sure if it was Blip Festival last year or a games festival I played in Barcelona in 2002. I'm no good at judging crowd numbers, but I suppose it was between 300-500 (?! no clue). I've DJed to larger audiences than that.

How was it?

They were both cool shows, and I had a good sound on stage each time. Nothing worse than bad sound is there? I always make a load of mistakes live, lucky I've always played to similing forgiving audiences really. Its a cliche, but I do think its the crowd that makes the show, not the band really.
 

Did you like it?

Yeah, I love doing shows \o/ Who doesn't I suppose (maybe Kraftwerk?). Its cool to travel, hang and and meet new/old friends, and then having an electric guitar + a big sound system is a fantastic bonus.

Did people like it?

Seemed to :) But music seems to split people, and its very hard to know. My worst show was editted and broadcast on Arte TV in France and Germany. In contrast, another show which I felt was a good/well received performance recieved a critical review. Another thing its, not being in a big band, most people don't know your songs - which is a help and a hinderance.

i always seem to enjoy playing germany generally, and specifically the golden pudel club, the best

[ToneMonkey]

The wife.... she thought I was cr@p  :lol:

[Twinfan]

What was your biggest concert?
How was it?
Did you like it?
Did people like it?

Mine was last year, the August Bank Holiday biker festival in a local town.  It was an all day gig, with bands taking it in turns on the back of an articulated lorry.  We headlined  :D

I guess there were around 500 or so people there, and we went down really well.  Bikers love 'DC, generally  ;)  I really enjoyed it, even though I blew an amp  :roll:  I was using my old Laneys at the time, fully cranked, and I blew an EL34.  I always take a spare head though, so a quick swap and we were back on rocking again.

The only thing I didn't like was the waiting around until the end of the night to go on.   I don't like to drink before or while I play, so it was a long evening!

For those of you who don't know, I never dress up as Angus for YC/DC? gigs.  No-one resembles their AC/DC counterpart, so we don't try to look like them.  Unknown to me, the rest of the band dressed up as Angus for this one gig.  It raised a smile or two!

[38thBeatle]

Mine was 10000 ( reportedly) and I enjoyed the playing and the punters seemed to like us but were not there to see us really and so we were probably tolerated. The PA and sound on stage was great. Band played well. Only had to play for 20 minutes too so blink and you miss it.I have had harder gigs than that with much smaller audiences.

[TwilightOdyssey]

What was your biggest concert?

Metal Meltdown, opening for Blaze and Symphony X was about 2,000 people.
Opening for Angra @ Lamours, about 1,500 people.
Opening for Nightwish @ Lamours, about 2,000 people.


Opening for Symphony X @ Lamours, about 1,300 people.

How was it?

Great, cept when my Rivera decided to blow up during the opening song for the Nightwish gig. PDT_008

Did you like it?

Yup.

Did people like it?

I seem to recall favourable reactions at the time ...

However, the most enjoyable gig I ever played was at Wild Spirits two summers ago. About 50 super diehard metalheads packed into the smallest venue you've ever seen. It was about 110 degrees inside easy. I don't think any TO show will match the vibe of that night. It was magical:

[gwEm]

How was it?

Great, cept when my Rivera decided to blow up during the opening song for the Nightwish gig. PDT_008

come on man, finish the story! what did you do?

[hunter]

Only had to play for 20 minutes too so blink and you miss it.

That's a very good point actually, these gigs always pass by FAR to quickly, so afterwards I always think, darn I should have more elaborated on this or more get into that, but swooosh and it's over....

[hunter]

What was your biggest concert?

Metal Meltdown, opening for Blaze and Symphony X was about 2,000 people.
Opening for Angra @ Lamours, about 1,500 people.
Opening for Nightwish @ Lamours, about 2,000 people.

This is an awesome Pic!

So indeed how did you deal with that blownup Rivera ... besides getting a Splawn later ...?

[Matt77]

Just about 100 on a packed acoustic night.
It was my first gig and the headline act didn't show.
Me and a mate ended up going on when people were expecting someone else
I couldn't hear anything as the monitors were terrible and I made a load of nervy mistakes
Felt glad I did it though and I got it right somewhere else the next week so it was good experience

[nfe]

1000-2000 I think, Glastonbury, 2003 and 2004, maybe it was 2002 and 2003. In fact, maybe it was 2001 and 2002. I forget. We played every day on one of the outdoor stages as well as later on in one of the tents both years. The tents audiences were bigger, I think it could take about 2500 but it was never absolutey rammed.

[Antag]

What was your biggest concert?
Around 400 people - my old school band used to play a "support slot" at the school disco to get everyone going.  This one was a rare "full" school disco (usually there was a junior disco & a senior one on different days).  We came onstage around an hour after the disco had started, once there was almost the whole school there.

How was it?
Awful.  We choked big time.  Played terribly, the PA speakers blew & we played the last 2 numbers through ear-splitting wailing from it.  Don't think I've ever felt so frustrated & humiliated.

Did you like it?
I much preferred our other gigs :)

Did people like it?
Well, the crowd reaction was still good & afterwards people were sympathetic about the PA blowing.  My friends all told me that we sounded good & they didn't notice my (many) mistakes.

[Ratrod]

I played for several hundreds. Not shure how many exactly or wich one was the biggest. The number of people isn't that important, I don't have stage fright. How good it is depends on how the band feels, how the audience responds and (if available) the PA guy.

[Ian Price]

First gig was at a small 'festival' in Basingstoke - headlined by Chesney Hawkes! Don't know how many were there - I guess around 700-800. I didn't enjoy it really, much prefer playing in pubs/clubs.