First Gig Quotes

#1. When my dad toured in '91, I think my first gig properly was the Tokyo Dome, 50,000 people indoors. That was pretty scary. I was 12, or 13.

Dhani Harrison

#2. I didn't get paid for my first gig supporting Usher Raymond in the Temple in Tottenham when I was 17 or 18. I bugged the promoter to let me play and it went down a storm. And after that I got loads of gigs, which were paid.

Lemar

#3. Our very first gig in Melbourne was a confrontation.

Santiago Durango

#4. It is tough, every time. The ensemble is great. I would always ask Andrew, "Is this how Hollywood is? Is this how every TV show and movie is?" And he was like, "No, dude. This is not. Do not get used to this. Be thankful that this is how your first gig is."

Steven Yeun

#5. My first gig was at Radio City Music Hall when I was 13.

Questlove

#6. No matter what - rehearsed, under-rehearsed, over-rehearsed, doubts about rehearsing - the first gig is always the first gig, and you put on your little praying hat, batten down the hatch, and do what you do.

Mick Fleetwood

#7. When I had my first gig, I was 18 in January in 2007. My first gig that I got paid, I was playing for 10 people in a 250 people capacity venue. The promoter wanted to book me because he liked my music. I played a couple of songs that made people dance. To me, that rush has always stayed the same.

Afrojack

#8. I went to Montreal. My first gig went very badly. They just weren't laughing at anything. I found out they were a load of Christians, and it was a gig to raise money for a new church roof.

Allan Carr

#9. My first gig, I was about 17 or 18. But I'd been singing a long time. I got a guitar when I was 8, and started trying to write songs as a teenager.

Toby Keith

#10. My first gig ever was writing looplines for a movie that had already been made. You know, writing lines over somebody's back to explain something, to help make a connection, to add a joke, or to just add babble because the people are in frame and should be saying something.

Joss Whedon

#11. I made music with my friend, who we called Isabella Machine to which I was Florence Robot. When I was about an hour away from my first gig, I still didn't have a name, so I thought 'Okay, I'll be Florence Robot/Isa Machine', before realising that name was so long it'd drive me mad.

Florence Welch

#12. My first gig was a Corn Pops commercial. I did the first Vanilla Coke campaign. A Juicy Fruit commercial paid my bills for years.

Aaron Paul

#13. Our first gig was a battle of the bands. We did 45 minutes of comedy and never played a note - and we won!

Cheech Marin

#14. I saw my first gig here actually (Festival Hall in Brisbane) Duran Duran.

Bernard Fanning

#15. My very first gig was with the Sex Pistols, and it was also our first-ever gig. It was a very short set, and it was at Saint Martins College of Art in 1975. We were opening up for a band called Bazooka Joe, and their bass player at the time was Adam Ant, who went on to form Adam and the Ants.

Steve Jones

#16. My first gig was 'The Outsiders.' I was 14 there. And probably one of the more jading experiences in my whole life.

Jay R. Ferguson

#17. My first gig was in Philadelphia and I played the drums for my older brothers. That same night, I also played drums for Martha and the Vandellas. Ah, the fond memories of being 14.

Ernie Isley

#18. I still remember the first gig where I got people going, it was Rascals in New Jersey, and the place was packed. I was scared. People were expecting me to be funny. I gotta be honest, every time I walk into a club, it's that same fear.

Bill Burr

#19. The first gig we ever played was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I'm from. I was in a band called the October Game, and we opened up for a Vancouver band.

Sarah McLachlan

#20. My mother and father definitely encouraged me. People used to tell my mom that I should be in commercials, and then everything kicked off from there, and my first gig was some print work.

Raven Goodwin

#21. My first gig in the business was a guest star on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' so I'm neck deep in sci-fi. It's been a very good genre to me.

Wentworth Miller

#22. For my first gig, I got $75. I could make money being funny, so I pursued it as a career and have turned it into a lucrative business.

Tracy Morgan

#23. One day I would love to do rock a gig on the moon - how rad would that be? Isn't Richard Branson flying planes to outer space? Motley Crue could be the first band to play on the moon.

Tommy Lee

#24. Back in the days of the Smiths, when we first started touring England - this is, like, 1984 - there were these two girls. They were literally vicar's daughters, and they used to follow us to every gig, no matter where we went.

Andy Rourke

#25. My first pilot gig, in fact my first job in television, was 'Freaks and Geeks,' and the experience of directing that pilot was probably the single most formative of my directing life.

Jake Kasdan

#26. My first real acting gig was probably playing Mamillius in my mother's 'Winter's Tale.' My mom and dad are both in theater, so I grew up acting and being a little theater brat as well.

Logan Marshall-Green

#27. My very first acting gig was in a movie for Russ Parr. He did this movie called 'Love for Sale,' and that was my first role in any film.

Terrence J

#28. It was my first time in Kansas City. In about two or three days I had a gig at a place called The Monroe Inn.

Jay McShann

#29. By the time 'Dumbo's Circus' wrapped production of its 120 episodes, I had an agent, and I had scored my first feature film gig.

Jim Cummings

#30. I realized that 'performing' was what I wanted to do when I did my first professional gig as a dancer with my company 'Synergy' in Canada. I was overwhelmed with how it felt to perform in front of an audience.

Catherine Mary Stewart

#31. My first big gig was as a correspondent on Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show.' My job was to parody TV reporters and political pundits. As a result, I was often invited onto cable news shows as comic relief.

Beth Littleford

#32. I ended up an actor, did my first professional union gig in 1974, and I've been doing it ever since.

Michael Ironside

#33. First acting gig was playing a victim in 'America's Most Wanted.' The night the show aired, they caught the killer!

Zoe McLellan

#34. I was so happy and content with in life playing music. Music was always my first job and my day gig was my second job.

Bo Bice

#35. My first big gig was an opening show for Frank Zappa, and I think that was difficult.

Tom Waits

#36. It took us two years to get our first real gig. That was a big dream. We ended up booking a lot of our own gigs and putting on a lot of our own shows. We were trying to get our actual music across, trying to make a connection there.

Greg Ginn

#37. I started working as an actor, semi-professionally, when I was 16, and got my first professional gig at 19. I guess I've kind of worked pretty consistently since then.

Chiwetel Ejiofor

#38. QUICK TALK Kelis The 34-year-old singer first hit it big in 2003 with a single called "Milkshake." In the decade since, she's diversified her menu with a stint at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, a hosting gig for the Cooking Channel and a new album, out April 22. It's titled
what else?
Food.

Anonymous

#39. I created, wrote, produced, and starred in my first-ever acting gig!

Greg Poehler

#40. When I was about 12, I had my first paying gig - 8 dollars to play rhythm guitar in a polka band. Pretty soon, I ended up playing in all the bars within driving distance of Abbott, Texas.

Willie Nelson

#41. My first acting gig was a skit for Jay Leno on 'The Tonight Show.' It was this Barbie commercial where I got to pour mud all over Barbie dolls and watch the heads pop off. It was so exciting, a lot of fun.

Brie Larson

#42. Working on 'Gossip Girl' was a fantastic experience. It was my first real gig and I'm thankful for it - I got to learn a lot. I'm glad I got to explore getting comfortable in my own shoes in the background on a show like 'Gossip Girl.'

Dreama Walker

#43. My first job in NYC was playing a gig in the early nineties at CBGBs.

James Iha

#44. My first professional gig was 'Once Upon a Mattress' at the Drury Lane Oakbrook ... I was in the ensemble. I was one of the ladies in waiting, and I covered Winnifred.

Jessie Mueller

#45. My father told me when I first started that standup is exciting and I should pursue it, but that writing would be the thing that would give me power over my career. I never have to take a road gig or a writing gig I don't want because I always have the ability to play one against the other.

Greg Fitzsimmons