Every band has a bad night... right?

[Haysoochreesto]

We played a Halloween party this past weekend. It was an outdoors gig and a tad on the chilly side...

Anyway, we sucked, all the way around. My guitar player is ready to jump in front of a bus and our keyboard/sax player is making statements like, "If we suck this bad again on next week's gig, we oughta call it quits". For a while on Sunday, our singer seemed like he was gonna bail.

What the F?

We did suck. I missed soundcheck due to work constraints and our opening 3 songs were the worst I've ever played personally. After that I pulled it together a little bit more and wasn't so wretched but I never did get to my A game.

Our drummer was fast and then plodding and then middling and then plodding and then fast--you get the picture.

Our Key/sax's keyboards were screechingly loud on songs where he should have been very much in the background.

Our singer... When it sounded like he was going to quit, I wasn't going to argue with him too much. He was the most consistent one of us being consistently terrible from beginning to end.

Our guitarist was fine. Frankly I don't know what he's in an uproar about in regards to his own playing. His biggest problem is his amp's constant vaginal infection. It's never loud enough. I think it's that Boss effects system. Neat effects but rips the balls right out of his sound.

At any rate, I was embarrassed but I also know that we're better than how we played at that party. And I know that come Saturday, when we play indoors, have a real soundcheck, are getting paid and treating it like a job, we'll be better. We'll be like we've been at every other gig we've ever played. We've had bad opening sets a couple of times but we've always pulled it together after that.

Also, we're still relatively new as a band, having been playing together about 9 months or so---3 of those months without the key/sax player being present and only having 1 practice a week.

In the end though, everyone has a bad night, right? Right?

[Jlinnell7]

just be sure your not faulting everyone else in the band just because your embarrassed about the gig. I tend to do that sometimes, but catch myself quickly. everybody has good gigs and bad ones. If practice is what the band needs, get together and have some free for all jam sessions, so u can better learn your bandmates musical ideas and how to use them...another thing......talking to them about your concerns isnt out of the question...they are your friends!......good luck with the band!

[Honk'n_down-low]

Gremlins is what we call it. We can play the same place - with essentially the same songs - the same equipment and some nights we are just killing and other nights we could not get out of our own way.

IME - you have good and bad nights - if you can be diligent you can turn some of the less than great nights into good ones. Also, I know I have a tendency to be hyper critical of a performance even when out front it did not sound as bad as you may have thought - you'll tend to notice more and dwell on it than your audience. IME and IMO.

Music is spiritual and has an energy of its own IMO - some nights you tap the main-line and other times it is just a trickle. The on nights are so good though we want them everynight!

[jnuts1]

we played an outdoor fest north of millwaukee last month & we were horrible. i blame the poor playing on the weather. it was about 35 degrees when the sun went down & we went on right at dusk & my finger were frozen instantly. i am not sure i could have played much better than i did given the temperature. everyone still liked us but it was the worst set we have ever played.

the worst part is that there was this guy that i wanted to impress cause he has some killer chops but a bassless band! it doesn't matter anyways, his band is killer even without one.

[scottbass]

I've been in bands that had gigs where one of us (usually the lead guitarist) or more than one of us admitted to being uninspired. Lackluster solos, lack of vocal emotion, and sometimes (yes) uninspiring bass grooves. But a drummer who can't keep tempo correctly is much worse than simply "uninspired" - he's being a bad musician. Same with missing chord changes, forgetting the roadmaps of the songs, etc. Those are relatively worse than just being uninspired.

All of us are uninspired from time to time for whatever reasons. But the "bad musician" stuff is always caused by too little practice and/or too many performance-reducing chemicals, IME.

Uninspired playing can and should be "coached" away by other members of the band being extra inspired and supportive. "Bad musician" stuff has to be dealt with by discipline, whether it be self-discipline or group discipline, between gigs so the improvements will carry forward into the next gig.

[Matt-77]

Hey you take the rough with the smooth, one of the worst gigs we done was in this little **** hole place where we played in a tunnel type of room, we had to put our amps on tables our we were that close to each other we couldn't move. My bass rig fell on the drummer half way through and bent his crash and ride and it knocked him to the ground haha drummers :O) crazy fools. the sound was shite the place was shite and we were shite half the crowd got kicked out for under age drinking and we pissed about so much we all go banned from the pub which is what we wanted at the end of the night co's it was rubbish. Anyway we played a gig a week later and we were smoking big time and we played like pro's and that gig got us a long way. I never said sorry to the drummer as it was come upence for the time he detuned my bass during a gig cos he was so drunk. that cut on his head made me smile for weeks. stupid drummer.

[TrevorOfDoom]

the worst i get is when the note-goblins come in the middle of the night and move all the notes on my fretboard. they like to put the F# where the G goes, and the B# where the C goes, so on and so forth...

[Bloodhammer]

What is it about open air? Same happened to me a few months ago and the lead guitarist/singer DID quit until he calmed down a bit while we all discussed what we should do to prevent such sucking in the future.

Luckily it was our 20+ minute drone/doom experiment so all the drunk people had no idea we were screwing up... At one point I got so frustrated that I couldn't hear my bass AT ALL that I put it down and walked to the back of the yard to hear if it was worth me even pretending. Nobody even noticed the change in sound!

Most of this all occured due to equipment crapping out at the worst time possible - the rhythm guitarist's amp just turned into an atonal noise machine 5 minutes in and it threw the drummer off because all she could hear was his rig...

Anyway DON'T GIVE UP. It sucks but it happens.

[TimK]

Originally Posted by TrevorOfDoom

the worst i get is when the note-goblins come in the middle of the night and move all the notes on my fretboard. they like to put the F# where the G goes, and the B# where the C goes, so on and so forth...

Last I checked B# and C are the same note, just in different keys. Or maybe I'm missing your joke.

Anyway I just teasing, I know what you mean. Those gremlins suck!

[bassbully]

It happens try to get past it and focus on the next show. Anytime i have not had a great show i focus hard on the next one to make up for the last .

Has your band been tight most shows? Were the problems in places where you have had problems before? tempo, ending, starting songs, dynamics etc. If its any of those ...practice more and everyone needs to do thier homework before the gig.

[TrevorOfDoom]

Originally Posted by TimK

Last I checked B# and C are the same note, just in different keys. Or maybe I'm missing your joke.

Anyway I just teasing, I know what you mean. Those gremlins suck!

funny thing is, drinking heavily increases the likelihood that the gremlins will show up. : /

[ric stave]

Yes, we all have bad nights, and the more you play, the more chance that bad nights can/will happen.

But also, the more you play, the more GOOD nights you will have too.


The thing to remember - as bad as you thought it was, most other people didn't notice. And the next time they see you, it'll be better, and they won't know why......

[azureblue]

when you think you totally sucked, but the audience thought you were great. And the other way around. Just chalk it up to a retrograde moon in Klutz or something, and go play another gig...

[Jimmy Bones]

If his effects are doing in his sound, have him get a signal booster.

EHX had one in the nano series, LP1 or some other letter/number combination. Fairly cheap.

Or lend him a Submarine.

[Lazylion]

Originally Posted by azureblue

when you think you totally suck... Just chalk it up to a retrograde moon in Klutz...

I like to blame sunspots.

[tranceFusion]

I suspect most audience membesr won't know the difference between your good nights and bad nights.. especially if you pretend you are having a good time up there.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by Haysoochreesto

Also, we're still relatively new as a band, having been playing together about 9 months or so---3 of those months without the key/sax player being present and only having 1 practice a week.

In the end though, everyone has a bad night, right? Right?

Sorry to hear about the less than stellar performance. These can take a toll on the ego and confidence.

Let me see if I have this right: One practice per week, which is not uncommon, for nine months (except the keys/sax player). That comes to around 36 rehearsals. Nine months of learning and rehearsing. That's a good long time, bro. No offense, but either (A) the material is really challenging or (B) you and your bandmates need to do a lot more homework. I'm thinking it's (B).

After this amount of time, no musician who can handle his/her instrument should be feeling horrible after a gig.

This is a good time to sit down as a band and discuss it. The only thing worse than taking an inordinate amount of time to get ready to perform live is sucking when you finally do.

[steveksux]

Originally Posted by TrevorOfDoom

the worst i get is when the note-goblins come in the middle of the night and move all the notes on my fretboard. they like to put the F# where the G goes, and the B# where the C goes, so on and so forth...

Having the B# where the C goes is standard for 4 and 5 string basses, you have to get a 6 or 7 string bass to get a seperate B# and C...

There are some nights you just hit a lot of clunkers. The best thing to do is not worry about it at the time. Freaking out or getting mad just makes you either play careful (sterile and lackluster), or leads to more mistakes. Music is an emotional experience, bad mood caused by bad notes leads to MORE bad notes, it is a self fullfilling prophesy.

The trick is to not let it get your head messed up. That's the good thing about music, usually its temporary. That bad note is in the past, never to be seen again. Not like a painting or a sculpture you have to see that mistake forever. Leave it in the past or you will affect your future.

Obviously this refers to random mistakes, they'll happen from time to time. If someone is consistently screwing up the same parts, its a problem that needs to be worked on (not on the gig).

Randy

[Jason P Bass]

Originally Posted by electracoyote

Let me see if I have this right: One practice per week, which is not uncommon, for nine months (except the keys/sax player). That comes to around 36 rehearsals. Nine months of learning and rehearsing. That's a good long time, bro. No offense, but either (A) the material is really challenging or (B) you and your bandmates need to do a lot more homework. I'm thinking it's (B).

Either of these may be correct, but I submit that it could also be (C) You guys were over-rehearsed, over-practiced, over-studied, had built up your expectations so high, that you couldn't overcome minor issues.

Adrenaline is going, nerves are high, it's FINALLY the "Big Show," and everyone desperately wants it to kick ass. When 1 thing turns out less than perfect, the seeds of panic & anxiety are sown. Instead of just rolling with the punches and rocking out, things start to snow ball.

If you think that might be the case, I would take 1 or 1.5 weeks away from the band, then have 2 more practices and play ANYWHERE. Play an open mic, play a friend's party, play in your front yard for your neighbors. It'll be MUCH better and you'll FEEL much better about it.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

[Lazylion]

Originally Posted by Jason P Bass

...it could also be (C) You guys were over-rehearsed, over-practiced, over-studied, had built up your expectations so high, that you couldn't overcome minor issues.
Adrenaline is going, nerves are high, it's FINALLY the "Big Show," and everyone desperately wants it to kick ass. When 1 thing turns out less than perfect, the seeds of panic & anxiety are sown. Instead of just rolling with the punches and rocking out, things start to snow ball.

Yep, been there. All you can do is laugh it off, study up on your own mistakes to avoid them next time, and nail it at the next gig. No use obsessing about it, that just makes everybody more nervous next time.

To the OP; No one should quit based on one bad gig.
I've always found it hard to play outside in the cold. Can't feel my fingertips, I mash down too hard on the strings. When my hands finally warm up, ouch!

If I know it's going to be cold, I dress warmly enough that my bare hands can hang out there and still be warm. Coat, hat, scarf, long johns, all that stuff your mom used to tell you when you were little. Not glamorous, but hey, better than freezing!

Better luck next time!