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Topic: What's it take to play a "Bad Gig"? |
Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2006 9:15 am |
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I know she didn't intend it for public viewing, but when your Dad's a sysop you gotta expect these things. My daughter Shoshanah has been practicing the fiddle for a couple of years. This morning I received this email from her: quote:
Hi Dad,
I played the violin for an audience last night, sort of by accident. I initially agreed to play with a few of Brian's friends, like, without anyone around, and then they sent us an invitation by email to jam with them at this party, which I thought was going to be, like, everyone playing something, but when we got there, this guy says to us, "You've got instruments! You must be Dave's friends!" Which gave me the most horrible feeling, because I then realized that we were like, THE BAND! YIKES!
So, we ended up playing with Brian's friends for about thirty people who were playing board games. Actually, I had a really good time, for about an hour I played duets with another violin player, who was much better than me, and we sounded all right.
But then we all got together in a "band," which consisted of a fiddle(me), a bass player(the other violin player played bass), a harmonica, a banjo (Brian), a synthesizer (a girl who only played chords), and a really good guitar player. We sucked so bad! It was awesome. We played, among other things, the twelve bar blues, ole lang sine, and Louie Louie. You can imagine.
There was a huge drum set there, but inexplicably, no one played the drums. Oh, and the bass player went and played ping-pong half-way through. What an abomination this all was. They paid us in brownies, but I think they were just offering us brownies so that we might actually STOP PLAYING! 
My first paying gig. Does it count when they pay you to leave?
Love,
Shoshanah
Yes, dear Shoshanah, it counts. And it also counts as your first "bad gig".
Love,
Dad
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 Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6) My Blog [This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 22 January 2006 at 09:20 AM.] |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 22 Jan 2006 9:36 am
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Bobby Lee..great letter....
t |
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Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2006 11:11 am
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| When I get screwed out of my money,Now I consider that a BAD gig!!! |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 22 Jan 2006 11:21 am
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b0b.
Sounds like she did OK, especially if they were the "right kind" of brownies.
And the "Getting paid to leave".
That's what "Getting Paid" is all about!
EJL[This message was edited by Eric West on 22 January 2006 at 11:29 AM.] |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 22 Jan 2006 3:28 pm
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| Quote: |
| ...any gigs where there are uncontrolled children running around |
Au contrare, mon ami, that is the best sort of gig in my book.
Speaking of other people's uncontrolled children, I recently got to play with what may qualify as the worst band in the world when my production company was asked to provide sound system services for a concert following a benefit bull riding contest at the Molalla Buckaroo grounds. The benefit was arranged by Ross Coleman and featured the best riders to be found anywhere in the world, champions all. The band was sent out from the east coast by the PBR and I thought this is gonna be a blast and so I offered to bring my steel out to the show. The band jumped on it and invited me out the night before the big show to sit in with them at a gig they were doing in a small bar.
I showed up to find one guy standing on a beer-drenched floor in a corner of the room playing guitar and singing (shouting?) parts of old songs we all know and love, interspersed with some sort of rap stuff that I did not recognize (although all the very young and VERY drunken girls on the "dance floor" seemed to know every word of it). When he ran out of verses that he actually knew he would simply segue without skipping a beat into some other song that he thought he knew a verse or two of. He continued like this non-stop for about two hours at a time, then took a pee break while one of his band-mates got up and sang the only song that HE knew (as it turned out, they only owned one guitar between them anyway).
I knew I was in trouble when - as I was setting up my steel - aforementioned band-mate excitedly exclaimed "wow, I've ever actually SEEN a steel guitar before, COOL!"
The guys were in truth really nice young fellows and since at this point I was in far too deep to back out I took advantage of the opportunity to work my fingers real hard for hours at a time (did I mention that the entire PA was one Mackie speaker set up right beside my head running at a painfully loud level?) - to his credit the lead guy knew almost all the words to "You Were Always On My Mind" and played it gently enough that I could hear myself for most of that song.
At the end of the night he explained that the benefit concert would feature the whole band and be much more together and "you're bringing your steel again, right?" so okay, sure, why not, it's good practice for my hands at the very least.
The next day we set up a big sound system and met the rest of the "band" - lead guy playing his acoustic-electric, pee-break bandmate had a little eight-pad synthesizer that made curious swooshing sounds when he hit it and a young drummer that looked and sounded like he should be playing sambas at Julliard. As the only black guy in town he was a bit nervous and so he hung out most of the day with my mix engineer and myself.
Naturally, the big post-rodeo show was every bit as artistically excellent as the one the night before, so my mix guy just cranked up the steel in the house so that SOMETHING would sound like country music so as to minimize complaints from the actual cowboys in the crowd - no matter that, they all soon ditched for the bars downtown and left the scene to the inebriated younger set, who soon managed to spill beer (and other mystery liquids) all over the amp racks and AC power breakers. I literally worked my hands raw trying to cut through the stage volume and after two hours of non-stop din the show was over but the show's organizers were too drunk to find our check so I had to drive down the next day to get paid.
I had to pay the mix guy a bunch extra for sitting through it all without shooting someone. In retrospect it was maybe not the worst gig ever, but quite possibly the worst BAND ever. So far, anyway....
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 Dave Grafe - email: dg@pdxaudio.com
Production
Pickin', etc.
1978 ShoBud Pro I E9, Randall Steel Man 500, 1963 Precision Bass, 1954 Gibson LGO, 1897 Washburn Hawaiian Steel Conversion
[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 22 January 2006 at 03:34 PM.] |
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 22 Jan 2006 7:26 pm
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This always makes me think of the assorted horror gigs I have seen.
Too many to number, and I can't write the book till more people pass on...
Like Dave G said, kids are fine with me.
When I played bluegrasss in NYC we would judge a good gig in the park or anywhere,
by the number of empty baby carriges around the band.
Our record was 32, with 3 twin units.
And toddlers fraidily coming up to throw a dollar
in the case out front, and RUNNING back to mom giggling.
Totally random children boucing of instruments no.
but kids around, sounds good to me
[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 30 January 2006 at 07:43 PM.] |
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John Steele (deceased)
From:
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 22 Jan 2006 7:52 pm
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Eric,
Neither the fiddle player nor I had thought of brownies. That's brilliant. Thanks.
-John
[This message was edited by John Steele on 22 January 2006 at 08:36 PM.] |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 5:02 am
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...not THE worst job, but one of 'em!
Once while with the Merl Lindsay band, we were booked for a week in Monte Vista, Colorado to play for the dances after the rodeo performances. Due to a contract dispute, the orchestra hired to play for the rodeo riding events, did not show up for the last day of the rodeo.
They asked Merl if his band could fill in at the rodeo so Merl sent me and the guitar player, the bass player, and the drummer with only a snare drum, over to the arena to play. We had never done that before and had no idea what to do, so the snare drum and the guitar ended up doing most of the playing during the 'timed' riding events. It probably sounded more like "Yankee Doodle" at a July 4th parade than it did a rodeo!
You would have had to have known the guitar player to appreciate the rest of this story. He was so embarrassed from having to repetitively play the "William Tell Overture" (the Lone Ranger theme was the most appropriate song we could think of) during the riding events, that when it was over he covered his face with a bandana, like a mask, and literally crawled on his hands and knees along the fence to the bus pushing his guitar before him so that no one would know he was with the band.
We may have sounded even worse than we thought, because a group of "fun seeking" cowboys threatened to beat up the band at our regular dance that night. Fortunately for us, that was our last performance of that job so we managed to load the bus in a panic and get safely out of town.
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WEBSITE
[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 23 January 2006 at 05:05 AM.] |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 5:46 am
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| Definitely a tough crowd.... |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 5:58 am
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Spaghetti with mushrooms, but they gotta be the REALLY GOOD mushrooms. Then chase them down with the brownies
Great post Eric. Love it. |
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Mark Vinbury
From:
N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 7:40 am
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We're playing in New Hampshire and during the day decide to go to the Freyburg ME Fair.
There is the usual assortment of farm animals and stuff but down on the Midway amidst all the shooting galleries and fortune tellers they had a strip show.
One of these tractor trailer deals with a stage in a tent hung off the back side.."Looky Looky Nooky Nooky" the guy's screaming out front.
Course we had to check it out.
The strip show owners give the girl in our band a really hard time.
She makes a huge fuss and they finally let her in.
She ends up talking and casualy invites the lesbian strippers to the club.
We didn't think much of it till Sunday nite when the circus has the night off.
Damn if they don't all show up. Yahooo!! Fire eaters and everything.
Well needless to say after a few "cordials" things start to liven up.
We're about halfway through our "50's" set with the girl in her poodle skirt and us all greased back.
A piece of glass goes whizzing past my ear.Here we go!!
A huge fight breaks out. One of the strippers,in a jealous rage, goes after her lover with a busted ashtray.
Turns out the lover was starting to get it on with the Mechanical Man.He gets into the middle of it and gets cut.
All the Stilt Walkers, Side Show barkers and Pony Wrestlers must of had some beef with each other cause they all start sluggin'.
What a mess.
The Carnival owners and cops had to be called to come and break it up.
[This message was edited by Mark Vinbury on 23 January 2006 at 07:46 AM.] |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 23 Jan 2006 8:40 am
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| Hey Rube! |
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Mark Vinbury
From:
N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 12:24 pm
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| "Daddy is he a nice man?" |
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Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 3:22 pm
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| A bad gig is when there is a three foot hole in the chicken wire on my side of the stage. |
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KarlKoch
From:
Cathedral City, California, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 5:07 pm
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| How 'bout a drunk drummer? Also the bass player. Also they hate each other. |
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KarlKoch
From:
Cathedral City, California, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 5:09 pm
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| And the leader's wife/girlfriend can't sing but thinks she can and he lets her. |
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Bob Cox
From:
Buckeye State
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Posted 24 Jan 2006 8:55 pm
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| A bad gig is when the teli man kicks the show off with a banjo on loud mike .Then comenses playing bluegrass licks on tele for remaining show ends show with banjo. |
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Bob Hayes
From:
Church Hill,Tenn,USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2006 12:05 pm
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sOME OF YOU KNOW ME ..AND SOME DON'T.
I'VE BEEN PLAYING THIS MONSTER SINCE I TOOK MY FIRST LEASONS FROM BUDDY CHARLETON...IN 1975. SOME SAY THAT I PLAY LIKE I DID WHEN I FIRST STARTED,SOME SAY WORSE,AND SOME LAUGH AND SAY FORGET IT.bUT i PERSEVERE..BUT I KEEP ON TRYING. I GOT INTO THIS BAND ,WHERE I HAD TO TRAVEL ALMOST 50 MILES TO PRACTICE AND MORE TO PLAY THE JOBS...MOST WHERE THE BUCKET WAS PASSED ..AND A COUPLE WHERE THERE WAS A SMALL "DONATION" AT THE DOOR.i HAD WORKED WITH THE MAIN SINGER FOR A FEW YEARS....IN A COUPLE OF OLD OTHER BANDS....WHICH WERN'T GREAT.....bUT HE DIDN'T "own" THE BAND..THE LEAD GUITAR HADMOST OF THE SOUND EQUIPMENT.hE THOUGHT THAT HE WAS Roy Nichols reincarnated..and because he had the CD's and tapes that he was Right on everything. They wanted a steel..but didn't want me to play. we also had another "singer"..with a fancy Martin...that thought he was george strait...but sounded like Homor & Jethro's cousin...We had a disagreement on a new song....I got the CD ...and I was right...However ..because I was late for practice a couple of times...do to taking my daughter and granddaughter to a sitter.....I got fired. And I was instrumental in getting a few of the jobs!!
The moral of the story is.....not how you PLAY the instrument..but HOW you play the Game!...I'm gonna keep trying!
Grouchy |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jan 2006 12:48 pm
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Yup, GV, and it sounds like you got your "spark" the same place that I did, from BC bless his heart..
I think it's more "If" you play.
There are a million reasons to "give up", or "direct your attention to more important things, but you are not doing it..
Some people aren't cut out for it, and some have a "good long run that had to end some time".
Some are content to have a hundred gig "career" that they blow up into a life long mastery status.
Some are content to sit home and listen to recordings of "what they usd to do".
No person's motivation, or satisfaction level is "wrong". It's a personal thing.
I wonder sometimes if people like Mr Emmons, Franklin, Green etc really have been "minus" all these "bad gigs", and it's really tempting to think that they'd "quit" if "things got that rough".
I don't think so.
Probably Mr Emmons didn't let himself spend a couple years in a moose lodge behind drunken singers, or wear a scanty summer dress in a freezing mule barn at a halloween party, but I think they've always "had to play", or chose to in the light of sitting home.
I can't imagine travelling in a bus for either ET, RM, LJD, or others for years on end was a total walk in the rose garden.
I look back and try to get some semblance of "accomplishment" once in a while. I gould dig through old "playbills" check out old calendars that showed years on end of 5-7 nite gig schedules and records, or loosen up old cassettes of live shows, CDs I've done for local dummies with an extra hundred bucks for steel tracks, and remember 'how cool I was', when I did this tour or that, but it just doesn't seem to do any good for my self esteem, or really "get to" where I need to be with my playing self.
No. It's what's coming up "next week", or at the longest, going over my next three months, and finally looking at a couple "empty weekends" as "time to rest" and remembering the last gig that was good. At least last Saturday Nite..
Maybe I'm plagued with self doubt, that only lifts itself when I'm out in public making money with a couple good musicians in whatever gang I've hooked up with, and is subject to the risk of having a "Bad One", or a less than perfect "friday nite" in hopes of having a better "saturday nite".
If I have a rotten gig, and a tree falls on me Monday morning, then I've been a failure. If I have a good one, and a train runs over me monday, I've been a success.
It's a fearful addiction to a type of russian roulette, at worst, and reminds me of the movie with Steve McQueen and the little guy minus a couple fingers with a Zippo™ lighter sometimes. They usually don't light ten times in a row...
At best it's the knowledge that I'm willing to risk a string of bad ones to do a good one with my entire reputation (such as it is..), self respect, and satisfaction "at stake" for the irreplaceable good feeling of having a "Good One".
Usually with the odds agin' it.
It's been worth it for a quarter century and a few thousand gigs so far..
Next Weekend, "The Safari Club" and three weeks of Vancouver Moose after that with the Ferrante Brothers, etc. etc. etc...
EJL |
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Boomer
From:
Brentwood, TN USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2006 8:44 pm
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| Money. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2006 11:03 pm
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I missed this one the first time out.
I think I understand some of your "off topic" posts a bit better now.
Hope it's looking up for you this year.
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 30 Jan 2006 8:04 pm
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Saturday night:
Plugged in the rented Marshall.
Smoke comes out.
Plugged in the rented mixer,
and rented 1600w power amp.
Mixer lights up, yes flames, and smokes for 3 minutes AFTER the plug is pulled....
Power amp blows 8 amp fuse, gets a 5 amp replacement,
but never seems to send sound out of speakers again.
Another PA comes in from somebody's house. Stolen from the 16 year old sons band.
No monitors, no power to speak of...
An hour later another Marshall shows up. yeah!
The rented Peavey Transtube amp runs for most of
the 1st 2 hours of the 4 hour set,
but then nods off.
Fortunately a 15w Fender Champ came uninvited with the PA system.
It becomes the lead amp for around a hour.
The Austrailian sound engineer can't be paged from the stage,
seems he was too cold in the room,
so he is called on the portable phone.
"Please come inside and mic this mini amp." click!
Later the Peavey starts running on it's own. Back into service.
We were playing for the president of Haliburton,
VP's of Unocal, and several more of this level.
My estimate of the net worth in the room was at the "Forbes" level...
All dressed down for a 60's beach bum theme party.
Nice to have working tools for show like this.
Seems someobdy rewireded a stage outlet, VERY, VERY wrong....
Fried 3 amps in 5 minutes flat,
and then venue management tries to blame the band for the damage,
AND wants to charge $60 to RENT the house mixer so that the show can go on...
THAT didn't fly...
Our host, paying the tab, is CEO of a $600 MILLION medical equipment company.
Wants us back "every quarter."
Who knows what equipment we will get next time....???
Can't tell if this is a good or bad gig.
For the audience we were "incredible", their word..
I just sat in a stuffed chair and shook my head for 2 hours before we started.
And then played for 4 hours straight.
Not even a toilet break... |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Jan 2006 8:51 pm
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Thanks MVa, and indeed it is.
Mostly I'm grateful not to have taken a job that prevents weekly gigs and in two years, I'm at the top of the 12 man "seniority list".
There's an "Off Topic" section?
EJL |
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Mike Cass
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 8:16 pm
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| to address the original question: a bad attitude. |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 2 Feb 2006 8:21 pm
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EJL |
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