Last night, I tried to help some friends do a barroom gig. I'm not a sound man per se (didn't know what wedges were until Mike Mccue helped me on this thread http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?high=&m=2746662&mpage=1#2746784).
 
Anyway, things went ok. Just before the gig, I needed a mic for the guitar. I dodged out to the car and looked at my stubby mic stands and the one with the clip for a regular sm57 type mic wasn't in the car. I had to choose between screwing on a drum mic or using a more expensive mic that might cause feedback. I grabbed the more expensive one and yep, feedback. During the show, the guitar bass and drums slowly out grew the vocals, keys and sax to the point that it sounded almost like listening to some guy in his living room wailing over a recording he was detached from.
 
This was the guitarist after playing softer for a couple of songs...
 
http://stabilitynetwork.blob.core.windows.net/g-tunes/LetsJustSoundRight.mp3
 
So, I was kinda hurt. Not trying to be a pansy about it... And his anger was obvious to everyone in the bar.
 
It really blew.
 

I couldn't hear him, he was too quiet...

Were you trying to run sound for the gig, or recording the gig, or both?

Running sound in a bar can be a little tough for the inexperienced. What sounds okay to the mixing position before the dance floor fills up, becomes a completely different animal once folks get out on the floor, and block the sound. If the stage isn't elevated, then the amps get blocked. The sound man starts turning things up thru the PA so he can hear it, and it all goes to hell. 

If one of the instruments isn't mic'd properly, then the soundman asks the player to turn up or down, then the stage dynamics get screwy. The player can't hear himself, or he gets louder and the other players start to crank up their amps so they can hear themselves. Now the singer can't hear himself thru the monitors, so he starts telling the soundman to crank up his monitor, and you start getting feedback through his mic. Now you've got the whirling dervish of volume wars.

Getting a proper soundcheck is really important in these situations. This way, all levels get set for the stage (monitors), and the PA. Once everyone is happy and there are no feedback issues, all the sound man should need to do is adjust the mains when the crowd fills up. Everyone onstage should leave the volume settings alone for the first hour. If its a loud band, hearing fatigue may set in after that, but they should have the discipline to leave their amp settings alone.

As for recording a gig, get everything mic'd with a good signal on individual tracks and mix it later. Trying to record a gig and mix the recording live is impossible in my experience.

Randy

I did my best. mixed monitors and Mains with RME totalmix. mixing with a mouse. one click at a time blows, but I did it. when I dropped the guitarist from the monitors and Mains the band got happy and had a happy if awful sounding third set. the guitar was.so loud that from a distance it sounded like he was jamming over top of rather than playing with the band. I think my big mistake was the microphone choice for the guitar and asking the guitarist to turn down. as mike m. said, if the band isn't in it for the money and no one is willing or had the authority to tell someone to turn down when necessary... or on the other hand, I could have given them all earbuds and done a separate mix for everyone, one click at a time. I appreciate the guitarist needing to be able to hear, but it ended up sounding awful. 

So, I listened to some of the recording from unused vocal microphones and it really wasn't so terrible using that as measuring stick. Sorry for just complaining.
 
Also, RSP, thanks for the helpful post. I found it helpful.