what you do when your band drinks to much

Vincent P · #2 10-21-2008, 06:27 AM

Seems to me they're more into getting free booze. Have someone video the event and show it to them. May be the awakening that they need.

How attached are you to this band? Maybe its time to start looking.

Old Cane · #3 10-21-2008, 11:28 AM

When my band has too much to drink I just fall down with the rest of them.

Zuhzuhzombie!! · #4 10-21-2008, 11:29 AM

Quote:

what you do when your band drinks to much

We record.

Gubna · #5 10-21-2008, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gary mitchell

last saturday we played a small club and we play this club once a month, most places we play are around williamson co tx we get free food drinks and payed sometimes. anyway i dont drink much. but they do and then blame me for slowing down and getting the timing off. and theres only 3 of us. and they do this all the time, the lead guitar player also the lead singer sometimes will forget lyrics are skip some. so i made a bet with them, we played last saturday and they didnt drink over 2 beers and they told me i was a decent bass players and you know we didnt sound to bad. so whats that tell you

I've heard stories about Albert King and how he would continually fire his band because of their timing. I always wondered if it was them - or was it him? not that I know if he was a boozer or not.

do they drive home after the gig?

I used to get pretty messed up at gigs, but I don't drive - and generally I wouldn't do it before the gig - maybe during - and party afterward, but I tried to keep it under control.

I have played with other people who had problems with drugs and alcohol and I'd personally not jam with them.

chaosMK · #6 10-21-2008, 11:37 AM

When we get drunk, we play sloppier but have better moves.

I don't drink at rehearsal or shows these days though. Get more done. Someone has to take charge of things (3 piece) and give it direction.

RCCollins · #7 10-21-2008, 11:43 AM

my drummer is a total lush, but he doesn't show up drunk - he knows he sucks when he's drunk.

Some folks probably DO loosen up after a couple beers or whatever (uptight people mostly), but anything more than that is ridiculous. I grew up on punk rock but I'm not into getting sloppy when it comes to playing.

mobax · #8 10-21-2008, 11:50 AM

There is absolutely NO excuse for getting drunk on the job. My advice is to ditch these losers now.

mimaz · #9 10-21-2008, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gary mitchell

what you do when your band drinks to much

This is obviously a serious imbalance in the organization. You need to drink more.

tZer · #10 10-21-2008, 11:54 AM

It sounds to me like you handled your situation well in making them prove to themselves that their comments about you were off base.

If they cannot control their intake and it gets to the point where your shows suffer, I'd let 'em know the score. You tell 'em that you don't care what they do during the show, but if they cannot deliver the goods, you're going to have to find another band to play with/they're going to have to find another bass player who'll put of with their sub-par performance.

Some players can have a few - even many drinks and still bring home the show in find fashion - so it's not a given that drinking = bad show. It does for some, not so much for others. For some bands, getting loose with the crowd is part of the fun - as long as the band doesn't drop the ball and perform poorly. So in my opinion, being a t-totaller (NO DRINKING DURING GIGS) is not a catchall solution.

But again - if the guys in the band seem to favor a buzz or a drunk over their ability to do their job, there's a problem and you can choose to leave. You can't control other people - but you can let them know how you feel and what you'll do if you can't get what you need from this gig.

Oric · #11 10-21-2008, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gubna

I've heard stories about Albert King and how he would continually fire his band because of their timing. I always wondered if it was them - or was it him? not that I know if he was a boozer or not.

heh- my band director in high school played with Ray Charles on a local gig, where they hired local musicians. In a rehearsal, it turned out four out of five of the sax players were classical guys and couldn't swing worth anything- it got to the point where Ray was playing the tenor and alto (all different keys) on the piano from ear better than they could with it written down for them. My band director said it was really embarassing, and they ended up firing most of the sax section and finding new ones.

buzzbass · #12 10-21-2008, 01:54 PM

laugh @ them

von buck · #13 10-21-2008, 02:47 PM

I was on the road for years with an older, established blues guitarist. For the first few weeks I constrantly got yelled at for messing up the time. I knew it wasn't me and told him so. I suggested listening to the drummer, who was constantly drunk.
The nest night, whill playing a slow blues the boss goes'
"You folks like the blues?"
yeahhhhhh!!!
"Yo folks like to drink?"
yeahhhhh!!
You folks think you can drink and play the blues?"
yeahhhhh!!!
"WELL YOU CAN'T,just listen to my drummer"
To silence.
About a month later we left the drummjer at a hotel in Wyoming, he was too drunk to leave and refused to get in the van, so we left him and used subs for the next three m,onths.

Andy

StyleOverShow · #14 10-21-2008, 03:28 PM

It happens. Hey it ain't all Carneige Hall or choir practice.

The best thing nowadays is that you don't come out of a club smelling like a cigarette factory. Back in the day it was murderous. Your amp even smelled like 'a bar'.

Duke Ellington for instance never disciplined his players letting peer pressure do the job.

CatfishStudios · #15 10-21-2008, 03:32 PM

I quit and find a band not full of drunks . I dont drink and have a hard time tolerating drunk people. The " I drank some alcohol so my behavior is acceptable" bs does not fly with me. My drummer happens to be a lush, but does not drink when we are playing..he waits till after the gig.

IanStephenson · #16 10-21-2008, 03:56 PM

Drinking is great. (pause for drink...mmmm). Drinking and playing SUCKS. Drinking and playing in PUBLIC is just a mess.

"free drinks" gigs are just a frustrating mess - I hate them. I'm in a bar, with free drink all night, and I won't touch a drop (well maybe one, but just ONE). Now if they were to say "play tonight, come back TOMORROW and get free drinks" that would be fine (work tonight, party tomorrow), but offering free drinks while I'm trying to work is no use to me at all.

Honestly, what kind of job pays you by impairing your ability to do the job? I bet the bar staff don't get paid in drinks. If the bar staff got drunk while working they'd get fired, then they ENCOURAGE the band to get drunk...

make no sense to me.

mmm - I apear to have finshed my drink. Time for another. Just as well I'm not playing tonight!

Scott Roc · #17 10-21-2008, 04:49 PM

I've always found that whatever your vice is, or isn't, the band has gotta be at the same level. It's why Joe Strummer kicked Topper Headon out of The Clash, you can't have a heroin addict keeping time for a bunch of speed freaks.

stflbn · #18 10-21-2008, 04:56 PM

No one in my band drinks when we perform. We also refuse to play in any venue that allows smoking.

Radical outlook isn't it. 8-)

.

Old Cane · #19 10-22-2008, 11:55 AM

Oh, you were wanting a serious answer? Then let me ask a serious question. How many of you that have day jobs drink all day long (and are able to keep a day job)? If this is my job (and it was for 25 years) and a drunk is threatening my livelyhood then he goes. If he drinks enough he probably won't even notice he's been replaced and is riding the "city" bus.

tweak · #20 10-22-2008, 01:20 PM

I play in a celtic/pirate punk band and naturally there is a lot of grog consumption. The mandolin player and myself are not huuuge drinkers but we do partake. The only one of us who seems really affected is our drummer who, at times, has screwed us up and just forgotten where he was in a song. It doesn't happen much anymore since he's sort of figured that's no good. Generally we get a good buzz on for a show but we try to avoid getting sloppy. Unless we're doing multiple sets - by the third we want to be absolutely STINKING.